[Nell]

Women have been disparaged since God put enmity between the woman and the serpent in the garden. The woman was deceived by the serpent and she admitted/confessed her state to God. What God did next was an honor to the woman he formed; the woman who was deceived; the woman who admitted her state to God. Maybe not his specific intent, but God honored her with the first prophecy in the Bible. That being, the offspring of this formerly disceived woman would bring about the END of the one who deceived her. This prophesy was fulfilled with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. While God forgave the woman and blessed her, not everyone has followed suit.

The final end of the deceiver has not been executed yet. While he still has time, the deceiver is out to exact revenge on the woman who he blames for his end. He sees his final destination--the lake of fire--and it's all her fault. So the next time you hear "the woman is to blame" remember who blamed her first. This vengeance by the serpent-deceiver has been, and still is, carried out around the world to this very day. This vengeance has been seen in male dominated cultures around the globe, ad infinitum.

I believe today, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, many Christian men have been blessed with a different mindset. From what the men post here, it seems that most of the men on this forum are of this different mindset to one degree or another. That is, there is a movement underway today to practice the truth of God's word toward all members of the Lord's Body, half of which are women.

Regardless of all the verses that support women as functioning members of the Body of Christ, I believe the powerful, overriding verse is Eph. 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We wrestle against the serpent-deceiver...not the woman. This speaks to the enmity that has existed since the times of the garden in Gen. 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Christian women are not the enemy. Christian men are not the enemy. Women have never been the enemy. Yet to save his sorry hide, the sinister, subtle, lying enemy lies to men (and women) as follows: because the woman was deceived in the garden, women deserve to be beaten down to "keep them in their place."

As for the man in the garden who apparently was not deceived, this should not be worn as a badge of honor. It could only mean one thing. Man's sin was willful. He knew what he was doing, and did it anyway.

Western Women in the 20th century finally openly reacted to this serpent-deceiver inspired mistreatment, and the "feminist movement" was born. Soon men and women both went off the rails. The "masculine movement" had been off the rails ad infinitum. Then women finally said "enough", and here we are...and the rails are way over there somewhere.

In summary, secular men and women, as well as Christian men and Christian women are fighting the wrong battle--the wrong enemy. They/we are fighting one another instead of the serpent-deceiver; the fight is waged against the flesh and blood of men and women instead of against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

As CMW said, the Bride of Christ is a woman. The Bride of Christ consists of Christian men and Christian women. Today's Christian misogynists appear to be a shortsighted lot who could do worse than learning something from a woman.

Nell