[af_vet_1981]

Does the bride of Christ, contain only women, or can men get a piece of the action too?

Do you mean the "body of Christ" since The ekklēsia is never explicitly called "the bride of Christ" in the New Testament. , or do you think it is also Israel like the woman in Revelation ?

• 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

• 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
• 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
• 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

[Mark17]

I am referring to the marriage feast of the lamb, described in Revelation 19. The groom needs a bride. Whether you call them the body of Christ or the bride of Christ, it’s the same to me. Whether or not, the actual, physical words “bride of Christ,” are there, or not, doesn’t matter to me. Remember, the word “Trinity,” is not in the Bible, but the concept surely is. The word “Bible,” is not in the Bible, but the concept of the Bible is there. The words sola scriptura are not in the Bible, but I never go beyond what is written. By the way, that’s why I don’t accept “tradition,” as legitimate, since no one can say, specifically, what those traditions are. If they could, perhaps I might accept some of it, and reject other parts. Since I don’t know what “traditions” are, I can’t accept or reject them, till I see them. If you want to call the church the body of Christ, you can. I will also call the church the bride of Christ. We are both right.
This issue is not really all that important. What IS important, is the plan of salvation. How do you plan to stay out of the fires of hell?