"Every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense." - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Love this. Mr Bennet is the real villain of Pride & Prejudice despite his lovable quirks. Great piece, I was thinking about the whole “submission” question this morning. I grew up in very conservative baptist circles where submission was interpreted as “absolute obedience in all things” and urgh it was awful. Loved the excerpts from St John Chrysostom especially.
Meant to also say, one of my musings this morning was that maybe St Paul instructs men on the need to lay down their lives for their wives because they naturally tend towards domination, whilst women, who are forced by biology to lay down their lives for their children in a way that men aren’t, often struggle to accept love or help, preferring to martyr themselves, hence the need for St Paul to admonish them to submit to their husband’s love and guidance.
Did you read Emily Chapman’s piece recently on male and female roles in the family? She articulated something very similar to this. I think it’s a good explanation
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I agree about Mr. Bennet. Also yes, the submission conversation is so interesting because I never heard these conversations until a few years ago! It does feel like some of it is coming over from the Baptist space!
The debate has got such a Reformed flavour to it for sure. I am honestly surprised and disappointed to see Catholic men embracing this kind of thinking.
Love this. Mr Bennet is the real villain of Pride & Prejudice despite his lovable quirks. Great piece, I was thinking about the whole “submission” question this morning. I grew up in very conservative baptist circles where submission was interpreted as “absolute obedience in all things” and urgh it was awful. Loved the excerpts from St John Chrysostom especially.
Meant to also say, one of my musings this morning was that maybe St Paul instructs men on the need to lay down their lives for their wives because they naturally tend towards domination, whilst women, who are forced by biology to lay down their lives for their children in a way that men aren’t, often struggle to accept love or help, preferring to martyr themselves, hence the need for St Paul to admonish them to submit to their husband’s love and guidance.
I think this is a really insightful way to look at it and likely the way he meant it - definitely not that women simply need to obey without question!
Did you read Emily Chapman’s piece recently on male and female roles in the family? She articulated something very similar to this. I think it’s a good explanation
I haven’t but I’ll check it out, thanks!
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I agree about Mr. Bennet. Also yes, the submission conversation is so interesting because I never heard these conversations until a few years ago! It does feel like some of it is coming over from the Baptist space!
The debate has got such a Reformed flavour to it for sure. I am honestly surprised and disappointed to see Catholic men embracing this kind of thinking.