God may not expect unquestioning obedience, but God does expect obedience, unquestioning or not. If God tells you to do something, feel free to question it all you like – then go do it.
Yes, but He expects us to reason on why. Again, define ‘obedience’. God expects us to reason on the necessity for obedience.
That presumes (1) you’re in a position to judge whether the advice is bad or not, and (2) you’re in a position to refuse following the advice or not.
Everyone who has been baptised into the life of Christ is in position to judge, in spiritual sense, if the advice is bad or not. God does not remove the choice of the individual when he chooses leaders. Relationships are two way. We consent to the advice. We need intellect and grace to consent to the advice. If we consent to advice because of our intellect and embrace of divine truths, we have a greater concept of why the advice is given.
Code:
if, for example, a husband were to try to get his wife to do something sinful, then of course the wife should refuse because God is a higher authority than her husband -- but most situations (I hope) aren't like that. But if a husband and wife are at a complete impasse on which way the family should go, it is the husband's prerogative to make the final call, and it is the wife's duty to submit to his decision.
The reality is some situations are like that. You cannot say a husband will never ask his wife to do something sinful. Relationships are complicated, not clear cut. What are the duties of those in authority? When is it the husband’s perogitive to make the final call? I don’t go with ‘do what the husband says anyway’ approach. If the husand and wife are at a complete impasse, you cannot say, go with what the husband says, the wife may be making the better decision. I’m not saying she will be, but she might.
Is this an uncomfortable position for wives to be in? But rather than overthrow the order of the household, he instead told wives, “be in subjection to your own husbands” (1 Pet 3:1), and he encouraged them to emulate “Sarah [who] obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.” (1 Pet 3:6)
There is no need to ‘overthrow’ your husband and there is no need for the wife to be in an uncomfortable position. ‘Overthrowing’ is a quest to have power over that person to get what we want. We should not see a decision that goes our way in ‘I am right’ or ‘I am the boss’ terms. We reason and discuss in the manner God enabled humans to do so. God told Abraham to listen to the voice of his wife when Abraham made a decision regarding Ishmael. Abraham was not a bad man. He was a righteous man. This was a totally alien concept to Abraham. God asked him to listen to his wife. He did it, out of faith.
When a husband and wife have a disagreement, the wife has the intellectual capacity, and the grace in herself, to know if the husbands decison is one that benefits the family in terms of spiritual and emotional development or not. It cannot be said that a man, because of his gender, is better placed to do this. Sometimes he is, sometimes he isn’t. A decision reached through agreement is an easier one to implement, even if neither party gets their way, than one, in a case of disagreement, requires one party to give the other, right or wrong, their way. A decision reached in this manner causes rancour and as I said, the man may be making a bad decision.
When I talk to people who interpret the Pauline letters a certain way, they always associate the terms ‘head’ and ‘subject’ with decision making when there is disagreement. How can we be sure this is how Paul intended the terms ‘head’ and ‘subject’ to be interpreted as such? ‘Head’ does not necessarily mean if there is a difference of opinion, what the ‘head’ says stands. He did not necessarily mean a husband should only listen to his wife if what he says is sinful. To explain, is a bad financial decision always sinful? Can every decision a husband, or a wife for that matter, make in their lives be called ‘sinful’ simply because it is not a good decision? Sometimes it can, but sometimes it cannot, depending on the decision. In relation to what should the husbands decision always be given priority in?
Regarding the Church, which is what this thread is about, on what matters should men exercise authority, as in they have the final say, and what matters, if any, should they not?
This question at the beginning of this thread was, ‘why can women not be priests?’ In relation to the Catholic tradition, I believe this question has been answered. As another poster, to me, quite rightly said, it has nothing to do with biology, or God says in the case of disagreement, I have determined males will decide to prevent rancour. I believe it goes much deeper than that. There is a deep, sacrificial and sacramental meaning to the maleness of Christ that has nothing to do with men being the decision makers.When we get to grips with the deep meaning of the Incarnation, all other arguements concerning ‘God put men in charge’ pale into insignificance, and the fact that the Catholic Church does not ordain women also pales into insignificance, as it is not about men making decisions because God put them in charge.
