Dean Anderson

Any chance of giving the numbers involved in that calculation?

I'm not disputing it - I am just interested...

Ehud

Need to finish the passages you quoted.......


5:25 "Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 5:26 to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, 5:27 so that he may present the church to himself as glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. 5:28 In the same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 5:29 For no one has ever hated his own body but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church, 5:30 for we are members of his body."


3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.

Then, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, 3:2 when they see your pure and reverent conduct. 3:3 Let your beauty not be external—the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes— 3:4 but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight. 3:5 For in the same way the holy women who hoped in God long ago adorned themselves by being subject to their husbands, 3:6 like Sarah who obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You become her children when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so. 3:7 Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers."

Were women treated as equals? Nope. Were they supposed to be treated badly because of it? Nope.

Malachi151

Its not a calculation, its based on the traditions of the Jews at the time of the story. According to Catholic researchers, at that time it was traditional for girls to be married off at the age of 13 in that society. Mary was in her waiting period prior to being married. They site a few things that note that these traditions were being followed, etc, and conclude that based on other knwoledge of the culture at the time, she had to have been 12 years old according to the story.

I'm sure you can google it and find something out.

Gawen

Being treated badly or not is not the question. And it deserves looking at things from a point of view of long ago. At any rate, a man can love his wife immensely and still keep her down without treating her badly. She must keep her place in the skeme of things. And if she is fine with that, so be it. She will have no thought of being or aspiring to be her husbands equal. The Lord hath sayeth so. And if everyone else she knows does it, then it can't be wrong, right? So the history teacher is wrong in saying there was equality amongst the sexes of biblical times, let alone the issue of keeping slaves.

Craigart14

Paul urges equal treatment for all among Christians--I believe it's in Romans--when he says there is neither Greek nor Jew, male or female, slave or free in the church. Perhaps your teacher has this particular advice from Paul in mind. But as many people have already pointed out, he contradicts himself many times in his letters, and there are a number of "Paul's" letters that, according to Duling, Perrin, Mack, and others, were not written by Paul, and parts of his letters that were added or changed long after his death. So at least in one letter, Paul does urge young churches to treat everyone equally, but there is no evidence that the churches--or even Paul himself--ever complied with that advice.

Craig

Amos

They may have been researchers but they sure did not understand Catholic theology to even suggest such a thing.

Adora

Slaves weren't meant to be treated badly either. Just as you are not meant to treat your house, car, ass, stove etc badly, you are not meant to treat any other of your posessions badly.

The fact is, they were treated very badly, in most cases, because they were human beings, who simply tried to act and be human beings, but everytime they did, they were punished, because they were only meant to act like property.