Hollie Atkinson's column appears in the Marshall
News Messenger every Saturday morning.

July 7, 2001

Last Wednesday we celebrated Independence Day - the birth of democracy, a government of the people and by the people. Along with the change in government structures, there has come a change in the governing structures in the home. Some kind of democratic structure exists in most families, i.e., there are at least two voices that carry the family power.

Historically, home government has mirrored civic government. Prior to 1776, there was one ruler in the state (king, emperor, etc.) and one ruler in the home, the husband/father. After 1776, the system of the husband/father being the ruler of the family came under challenge. Was this really the intent of God in His creation?

Here we are 225 years later wondering what God intended the government of the home to be, hierarchy, democracy, or what. Does the form of government under which a home exists determine what God’s will for the home is?

The Creator’s intent for marriage is to be discovered in the drama of creation found in Genesis 1-2. In Genesis 1:27 the Scriptures announces, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Creation speaks of God’s creation equally - equally in His image. Males and females were created equal in terms of status and worth. Creation of equals in terms of worth and status calls for mutuality in marriage that I would describe as a "PARTNERSHIP OF EQUALS."

In the account of creation in Genesis 2, the intent of a "partnership of equals" is also indicated - "The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’" (Genesis 2:18).

The word translated "helper" in Genesis 2:18 is used else where in the Scripture to refer to God as Savior (Deuteronomy 33:7; Psalm 70:5; 121:1,2). The word "helper" does not carry the idea of subservience or of being power-down. In fact, it could be concluded that the intent of the Creator was for woman to be man’s savior - saving him from the only "not-good" in all of creation - loneliness.

The word translated "suitable for" means, literally, "a helper according to what is in front of," i.e., corresponding to, equal and adequate to himself. "Suitable for" means equal and adequate to - on the same level with. The implication is that woman was created capable of responding to man. In marriage, each partner is able to respond to the other - to work to meet the needs of the other.

There is no indication in the creation account that God intended man to be in the power-up position and woman to be in the power-down position. Every indication seems to point to the intention of the Creator being that men and women live together in a PARTNERSHIP OF EQUALS - a relation of coequality, complementarity, commitment, and community.

Join me next week to see where the idea of "ruling over" came from. We will talk about the inevitability of conflict that results when the family’s power is in the hands of more than one.