Liz Bruno de Peredo

MEN AND WOMEN: EQUAL, BUT DIFFERENT

(Alexander Strauch)

Men and women, created by the same God, with different behaviors and roles. A
controversy in which today it has a lot of weight, since it is said that there must be
equal conditions, that women must be treated the same as men. How can these
happen, if we are naturally different?

I found the author's position very interesting, because he does a study trying not to
separate the scriptures, rather, using them all the time as support in almost
everything he says. Unfortunately, the feeling I have when reading it is that he has
little tact to say things and says them in such a crude way that it is annoying,
although I agree with almost everything he says.

God made us in his image and likeness, which means that we have an essence of
Him, both man and woman that cannot be denied, and in this we are equal, we are
humanity together.

“ The New Testament uses the fact that Adam was created first to demonstrate that
the Lord designed him to be the primary leader and teacher in the family of God .”
The fact that God created man first gives us a lot to think about. This explains why
men always tend to excel more than women in almost everything. The Lord has a
plan and an order to do things, I believe that He did that from the beginning and
always, it is not something that simply occurred to Him, He created an order from the
beginning so that we understand where they had to go. each.
Something I have always thought about is that we women were created because of
man, not the other way around. I once heard an expression that said: "God did not
create the woman from the head of Adam so that she would lord it over him, nor did
he make her from the feet so that the woman would be trampled, but rather he made
her from the rib so that was by his side, together .” When I heard that, I was so happy
to see how God cared about that “minimum detail.” It doesn't take away from the fact
that Adam was created first, but he needed that company. It was flesh of her flesh
and bone of her bones, but “ she had a physiology and psychology of her own. “She
was made as a complement to man, to help him populate the earth and lord it over it
and join him as a lover, companion and partner .” God made a team, a complement
for Adam, not an employee who can be treated as he pleases, he gave Adam his
better half.

There is a paragraph that caught my attention, and that I do not agree with the
author, he says that: “ the fact that the woman was made for the sake of the man is
proof that the man is the image and glory of God, that the woman is the glory of the
man .” If God made man and woman in his image and likeness, how can it be that
woman is not also a proof of the glory of God and only of man, I think I differ from that
and that the author is taking too much of a position. sexist without theological
argument.

“ The Lord created a partner for Adam using one of his ribs ”, they had the same
essence, it was not less, they were equal, but different.

Another thing that shocked me a little was: “ The fact that Adam named the woman
suggests that he had authority over the first couple .” This makes me think that not
every time I name someone I will have authority over that person, putting it in
circumstances other than that of a father. It doesn't seem to me, giving the name
seems much more special to me for that someone, because you always look for
someone with whom you feel good, who complements your way of being. Not the
simple fact of having authority over that person.
“ The fall was not only humanity's rebellion against God, it was putting aside the order
established by God for relationships between male and female .” This is very true,
when Adam and Eve sinned to begin with, they looked for someone to blame and did
not accept their own guilt, they accused each other, this was the beginning of a
distancing between man and woman. As a consequence of their sin, each one
received a punishment, and neither one was punished more than the other, they
simply both received punishment.

In chapter two where he talks about Jesus Christ appointing men to lead his church, I
found his comments very interesting and accurate, starting with the fact that Jesus
had to be a man: “ To be one hundred percent human, Jesus had to be or male or
female. He assumed masculine nature and manifested himself to the world as the
Son of God, not the daughter of God .” It had to be like this, the first thing I created to
lead was a man, not a woman, this makes the position of the man within the
leadership of the church more understandable and acceptable. I always learned in
church that a man is better as a pastor than a woman. Women involve their emotions
much more than a man, they are more sensitive when things have to be taken coldly.
God knows why he made us different. And speaking of the pastorate, God created
women as a complement, that is, a pastor without her ideal help is not complete.

“ Adam is the prototype of Christ. Jesus is the last Adam and the second man. The
first Adam failed; The last one triumphed. Like Adam, Jesus is the head of a race, a
new humanity. So if we deny the necessity of Christ's manhood as it relates to the
divine plan of redemption, we distort that plan ." This is very interesting, because
today what is seen most is the diminished male, as a father, husband, man. The
masculinity that the world tries to show is distorted, fallen, without strength or
authority. Jesus was a man and today they try to take away everything that he is,
starting from the masculinity that he had as a human.

“ According to the divine design of the relationship between the sexes, man was
assigned the function of being head, representative and authority. So the head of the
church is Jesus Christ, a man .” In the book “The D'Vinci Code” the authority of the
masculinity of Jesus is greatly removed, putting Mary Magdalene in a much more
important place, and it was a book that caused a lot of controversy, and sowed a lot
of doubt regarding the authority. of Christ. And it is just a small point in the midst of so
much battle that occurs with this issue every day.

I like the comment they make about the position of women that Jesus put in “ what he
said about women was against the culture of his day. He did not hesitate to challenge
the traditions that favored the male, nor to confront the stubborn defenders of it .”
Jesus revolutionized everything in what he said, and the point of the position of
women at that time and in that culture could not be missed and he gave us a
guideline of what it should be like today. “ Jesus Christ came to manifest the right
way, which is cooperation, not competition; peace not war between the sexes. He did
not incarnate in order to change the established order that supports the leadership of
the male and the submission of the female .” He came to order what had been lost. I
like to see it that way, because Jesus wanted to show the way to do things with love
and understanding, not with war and unjust inequalities as excites between the
sexes.

In chapter three, when he talks about the submission of a woman to her husband
according to what the scriptures say, he mentions: “ The Christian husband is not told
to force his wife to submit. Rather, she helps her husband voluntarily and submits to
his leadership because she knows that this is the divine design for her .” This is the
way a team works, and this is how God designed us, as a complementary, united
work team that follows his will, supporting each other. No one has to be humiliated,
trampled on or mistreated, every relationship is in complete harmony with love. This
brings me to another point, where Peter told husbands to understand their wives by
naming the following points:
o Be understanding
o May he honor his wife
Two points mentioned in the Bible by Peter that contain much more than just words. I
am a woman and I think I am the least qualified to say this, but sometimes husbands
do not try hard enough to understand their wives and they let it go; The woman on
the other hand generally does nothing to make her husband understand her and can
look for resources to improve that.

The passage of the apostle Paul from Ephesians 5 where he mentions that the
husband must love his wife as Christ loved the church, is very tender, dedicated and
dedicated: “ the husband must love his wife in the highest way, giving everything for
her, even if this includes life .” I had never seen it from that point of view, Pablo
speaks of a deep love that goes beyond the simple fact of being a “husband”, it is a
total dedication. I found the author's interpretation very beautiful.

Within marriage, as we have seen previously, you must see a complete surrender of
yourself: “the husband does not have complete authority over his own body to do with
it whatever he wants. The wife has authority delegated by God over her husband's
body and he has it over her." Good communication in all areas of marriage helps you
be completely satisfied with every decision made, because you make it together.

It is interesting to observe a community and the role that each person plays,
especially between men and women, because each one has different responsibilities,
just as Timothy mentions in his letter, it is the responsibility of the men to pray and
pray with good spirit, not having anything in the heart that could hinder that
communion with God. It is good to understand how the Bible puts it, the
responsibility of men and women within the church as well as:
o The prayer of men, which I mentioned before.
o The attire of women, which is important to mention, so that the woman dresses in
a prudent manner and not as some sisters dress today who leave much to be
desired.
o The submission of women in the church. This point causes much controversy,
since in some denominations, women can participate in leadership without
problem, and in others they follow the Timothy passage to the letter.
“The principle of male direction does not diminish the importance or need for women
to work actively in the work of the Lord.” Women within the ministry can be of great
help and support to their husbands as well as working alone. Sometimes it is easier
for a woman to present the gospel to another woman because she can be better
involved with her feelings, is an example. The complement that God made so that
both men and women work in his work is wonderful, because they balance working
together and carrying out his perfect plan.

I thank God for making us equal, but different and being a perfect complement.