Wives?

[Orthodox Andrew]

Is a wife to be submissive to her husband?

 

[Suzannah]

I dunno...I suspect so...and if so, I'm in real trouble...

 

[Orthodox Andrew]

I dunno...I suspect so...and if so, I'm in real trouble...

 

[Suzannah]

Andreas: I have read the Holy Fathers on this...the answer from them, seems to be: yes, wives are suppposed to submit, but this does not extend to "the faith"...in other words, if the husband wants to raise the children as "atheist", the wife is to then pray, pray and pray some more, and then sort of, somehow, with as little disruption as possible, assume the "spiritual" head of the house and raise the children in Orthodoxy.. I read this in the Philokalia somewhere. I hope someone else has a better answer.

 

[MariaRegina]

Is a wife to be submissive to her husband?

This understanding is taken out of context. According to the Orthodox Priests who have given sermons at weddings, both spouses are to submit to each other, neither lording it over the other. One must read the whole epistle to reach the proper understanding. The husband is to love his wife and be willing to lay down his life for his wife. Both are to love and respect the other.

 

[Momzilla]

Elizabeth has it right. The very scripture that tells wives to submit to husbands also tells husbands to submit to wives. I do read the scripture as emphasizing the wife's submission, and honestly I don't have a problem with that. In our house, my husband and I make our decisions together, with mutual respect to each other's views. If we disagree, we can usually at least reach agreement on who is owed deference in a given situation. Failing that, I will defer to my husband. This is for a couple of reasons--one, scripture says to do it this way; two, I am blessed to have a husband who is almost always right about things. In almost 7 years of marriage, he has yet to steer me wrong.