Objective Reality

Paraphrasing the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 18,"How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Allah is God, follow him." I’m not interested in “interfaith dialogue” that espouses cooperation and harmony in vague, academic terms. The point of examining the life of Muhammad and the life of Jesus Christ, their teachings, and the behavior of their followers is to arrive at objective reality (also known as Truth).

The sacred texts of Islam endorse the cruelty and selfishness of men, and the oppression, subjection, and suffering of women. The founder of Islam, Muhammad, lived a personal life that demeaned and marginalized women, sexually and intellectually. The sacred text of Christianity, the Bible, advocates the kind treatment of women. The fulfillment of Christianity, Jesus Christ, lived a personal life that valued and loved women, spiritually and intellectually.

The God of Israel and Father of Jesus Christ revealed in the pages of the Bible created men in authority over women, with the direct command for the man to love and care for his wife (not wives).
Below are a few biblical passages concerning the role of women laid out in the Bible:

  • Genesis 3:16 (God places the husband in authority over the wife)

  • Judges 4:4-9 (Deborah tells Barak to get it together and go to Mount Tabor)

  • 1 Corinthians 11:3 (God is head of Christ, Christ is head of man, man is head of woman. Appropriate authority is part of God’s order.)

  • Ephesians 5:22 (just as church is subject to Christ, wives subject to husbands. Husbands must love their wives like they love their own bodies, and serve their wives like Christ served the Church—servant leadership)

  • 1 Timothy 2:14 (Eve, not Adam, was deceived. Her transgression had earthly consequences.)

  • 2 Timothy 3:6 (Evil men are able to sway weak-willed women to indulge in all kinds of evil desires)

  • 1 Peter 3:7 (husbands must treat their wives with respect, as the weaker human)

  • Titus 2:3 (Older women should be teachers of good things)

  • 1 Timothy 5:14 (young widows ought to remarry to avoid immorality. Women are the managers of the home under their husband’s authority)

C.S. Lewis said, “For wise men of old, the cardinal problem of human life was how to conform the soul to objective reality, and the solution was wisdom, self-discipline, and virtue. For the modern mind, the cardinal problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of man, and the solution is a technique” (The Abolition of Man).

As a Christian, I am not interested in subduing reality to my wishes, and neither was Jesus. He suffered on the cross because it was his Father’s will–the one man who COULD have subdued reality to his wishes instead submitted himself to incomprehensible humiliation, self-discipline & perfect virtue in order to maintain the standard of holiness inherent in his Father's character. As I study what Islam says about women and what God says about womanly submission, I want the back-drop to be that Calvary hill where eternal death was conquered through obedience.

For "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:28


 

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