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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Keely,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Thank you for the well reasoned reply to my question. For now,
I’ll focus on what I consider to be the two primary theological issues
you reference. (The exegetical stuff can wait).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>First, I’m not convinced that we should separate biology from ontology.
I would think that our bodies are who we are, or at least an indispensable part
of who we are. Our biology is our ontology—at least to some important
degree. Likewise, I don’t know why we should separate our functional
‘roles’ in the world from our biological abilities and
limitations. It would seem that God’s design plan would have determined
our role and biological framework as mutually supportive. The role design
would be dependent on biological design, and the biological design would be dependent
on role design (e.g. when designing a house the foundation plans and the roof
plans cannot be created independently; any determination in one will determine
the design in the other). I’m also not clear why we should not consider
‘child bearing’ an important role. It is an amazing and long term
experience for a woman per child; at certain times in each child bearing drama
the woman is given totally to her ‘task’ of child bearing: new
clothing, learning more about her body, preparing for the birth, labor,
healing, breast feeding, etc. And if child bearing is a gender specific role,
then why not suppose there could be more layers and modalities of gender
related roles? Is child bearing ability the only difference between the body of
a man and woman? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Second, although you do have equality in the Trinity, you also have
subordination of sorts. The Son eternally proceeds from the father, and when
the Son became man, he submitted to the will of the Father. And the Son did so
not merely in His human capacity, but also in his role as Eternal Son. So the
‘ontology’ of the Trinity you mention would seem to evidence a form
of subordination between a man and woman; as the Father is head of the Son, so
is a man the head of a woman; in so far as ‘head’ means
‘source,’ the woman comes from the man as the Son comes from the
Father. The eternal dance allows one party to lead the first step.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Michael Metzler<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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