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by E. S. John, Australia
I am neither a theologian nor a learned man. Here are my comments on Rev. Fr. Ninan's communication:
" i. God has created man and woman in His own image. This is the Trinitarian image within human beings, where both the man and the woman are bestowed with this Godly image in all its fullness. There is no partiality here. Genesis 1: 26-28 is the root passage where we understand this better."
Never have I said that women are denied of the image and likeness of God because man and woman are the both sides of the same coin. Gen.1: 26-28 is the introduction of the creation man and woman, whereas chapter 2 displays the creation paradigm that makes it transparent that man was created first and woman later in a slightly different mould by taking a rib from slumbering Adam for the propagation of the species, provided they fell from grace. Breathing into the nostrils and handcrafting by the same God proclaim that they both are inherited with the image and likeness of the Creator.
Man is made to serve God, whereas woman is made to serve God by serving Adam, the reason for giving the commandment to Adam not to eat the forbidden fruit. Adam was created as king, priest and prophet, the reason for Cain and Abel to give sacrifice to God, not by any daughters of Adam, though Abel had sisters then. It was not a male-dominated culture but a male-oriented creation by a male Father without the help from a woman.
Eve was created later as a helper, Gen.2: 18, not for sharing or ruling over Adam, a comforter to Adam and a caring mother to the offspring in case they became a prey to the vicious fruit. Here the role function of both is in question; she to serve God by supplying enough sons to Adam, the representative manhood of the celestial plane, who perpetually serve God.
Here comes the role of the primary creation and secondary creation or there is no Eve without Adam, but Adam lived in the beginning without Eve. Adam was with God without making any transgression, whereas Eve's presence dragged away Adam from God, from his priestly position.
"ii. God's image in human beings is not just at an individual level, but it also has social connotations. Just as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father in the presence of the Holy Spirit, human beings need to be one in each other."
I fully agree your conclusion. A perfect God and a perfect Man is in unison with the creation of man; thus Son of God and Son of Man is in agreement in the Trinitarian God. We are created in that image.
"The creation of sex is an essential part of human relationship, where it is intended to be practiced only in the context of mutual love, where human dignity is prime."
There was no feeling of nakedness before the taste of the fruit, but sex impulse became imperative for the dissemination of the race that is implicitly evident with genuine mental and erotic love.
"We need to realize and accept that much of what we have been practicing in terms of role of women in the church has had cultural influences in different times of history. While culture has its own place in the expression of faith and tradition, we need to understand that it cannot define or correct a theology. Theology in practice needs to find its appropriate expression within culture, and our Church is lacking in giving expression to the Trinitarian theology in practice today. "
There is an unbridgeable gulf in our opinions here. Cultural differences may peep into peripheral matters, but not in the fundamental doctrines and covenants. The statutes established in Eden stipulate salient role functions for both sexes. The violation of this ordinance makes imbalance in the nature that governs our everyday life.
There are false christs and false prophets, according to Jesus, in the society, but we are not to follow that culture. Pornography is a sub-cultural element, and we are not allowed to follow but resist it and change the order of the society is a Christian duty. Following that culture is detrimental for the survival of the church. Hence going with the flow is suicidal in all respects of a social and religious life.
Run against the destructive cultural elements is the duty of a Christian who is obliged to listen to the original command. We are therefore poles apart in this issue. When the time is proven to be unripe for Christians is the time when the Lord comes for the collection of the remnants from the infernal fire of this life.
Man, the giver, and woman, the recipient, is the natural order of creation that supply males for the altar service of the Lord. She gets salvation if she bears forth children and serves both man and children in modesty and love, 1.Cor.2: 15.
Going against natural selection is the mode of rupturing the fibre of the creation and society. But it is set to happen by woman dominating over man as the Kaliyuga signs which flower 'at the end of days'.
"I write in the context of our Church at the anvil of considering voting rights for women in the Church. It comes out of my recent reflections on the Holy Trinity, based on teachings of Church Fathers."
Rights, freedom, individualism are all legal utopian terms, whereas spirituality is akin to the celestial planes that are governed by cosmic laws which we have no rights to infringe upon. Why these lobbyists' rights have not been exercised so far is because of a spiritual law that governed our lives so far was our lifeblood. The infection of an apocalyptic spirit at the end of days that overrule human race for the destruction of God's rule is a must for the transportation of human species to the infinite heights and is a naked reality. Our duty is to resist the devil at any cost for a spiritual awakening. Taking woman as a scapegoat for the devil's triumph is detrimental to the Holy church.
The present situation is due to the induction of inexperienced and young spiritual hierarchy that uses the vote-catching bait as the next step of availing of the higher position in the church administration. The senior bishops who need the help of the junior bishops, nearly half of them, have made use of them for getting votes for their next position.
For example, the imminent election of a Catholicose –designate in the near future need the support of the junior bishops who in turn become a pressure group for introducing secular agenda in the church because they are the product of a secular system and high-tech lifestyle.
When the top hierarchy swerves from their tracks, it affects the lower layers of administration in an adverse manner. Thus the church discipline has been in tatters lately, the personal agenda and power gambling is the nucleus of our political spirituality. No need to blame anyone because of a global spirit that dictates our life during this era of hybrid culture which ferment for a crossbreed church, the last phase of human history (his story) is a naked reality.
See Also:
Concept
of Trinity and the Role of Women in Church
The revelation of the Holy Trinity, through the Bible and then through the
reflections of our Church fathers has profound implications for our life today.
While the understanding on the Holy Trinity has been one of the most complex
themes that has been dealt with, the studies so far by early Church fathers and
then of late by modern theologians helps us to understand certain aspects of the
Godhead.
God,
Trinity and Role of Women in Heaven
There is only manhood and son-ship in Heaven, making it
transparently clear that femininity is meant only for
the procreation process that is akin to this earth only.
Anything thus associated with Heaven has no womanhood or
maternity.
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