More Food for Thought

Well, this has been a great, and I mean GREAT discussion! Thank you to all who were willing to write such thoughtful and well reasoned comments. It has been very helpful to me and I hope to others.

Some follow up thoughts:

Very little comment addressed part of my question dealing with what masculine and feminine mean. One comment I heard frequently on and off line was "It depends what you mean by that."

Mmmmmm.....

These are very basic ideas, very basic words. In the 21st Century we don't know what they mean any more. John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe, we are not, and probably rightly so. Stereotypes are the enemy. So what are we left with? More "feminine" men? More "masculine" women? Perhaps this is just the problem. Boys don't know what it means to be a man anymore, girls a woman. Could this be one of the major reasons for the crippling divorce rate, even among Christians who supposedly hold marriage to be sacred? How about the increase in homosexuality?

I also leave you with another question: What do you think of I Peter 3: 1-6? Included in this passage: "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands... Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, instead it should be that of your inner self...of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight...." (of course, this should be read in full context).

Liberals among you will probably just reject Peter as another male chauvinist. But if not, does this not at least hint at a biblical idea of femininity? I still find this hard to reconcile with encourageing our young girls to be agressive or assertive on the court, in the board room, or in the church.