– The words we have in the bible about how we should live in marriage still apply, Espen Ottesen says to NRK. The debate about whether women should submit to the man in the marriage has created engagement in the Christian newspaper Vårt Land and on social media in recent days. Ottesen is a theologian and information leader in the Missionary Association. He says he is provoked by the fact that many equate subordination with oppression. – It is not the same, the theologian believes. Women are encouraged to submit Ottesen met Ingunn Elisabeth Ulfsten, general manager of the Pentecostal movement, for a debate in Dagsnytt 18 on Tuesday night. There he was asked if he was against equality. – What does that mean? – Should one be equal in the home? – Maybe not 100 percent, says Ottesen who emphasizes that he is not opposed to equal pay or female prime ministers. Ottesen explains that he does not believe that men’s task is to subordinate women. – The Bible is very clear that women are encouraged to submit. But men are never encouraged to make it happen, he emphasizes. – I think that Espen Ottesen beautifies the picture a bit here, says general manager of the Pentecostal movement, Ingunn Elisabeth Ulfsten. Photo: Mathias Moene Rød / NRK – Not connected Ingunn Elisabeth Ulfsten does not agree. She believes the message that women should submit to men in marriage can have consequences in Christian circles. – I think Espen Ottesen probably beautifies the picture a bit here, she says. Ulfsten believes that the Bible can be read in several ways. Men and women should rather subordinate themselves to each other with equality and gender equality in the home, she says. – I do not think this is completely connected. The fact that we can have female prime ministers and then there should be subordination in the home, she says. Different roles in marriage Espen Ottesen, for his part, believes that men and women have different roles in marriage. – It means that men get a different message than the woman gets, he says and refers to the Bible. The statements have created reactions on social media. «A debate about women’s subordination in marriage. In any case, it’s okay to get the trolls out into the light, so they crack “, writes a user on Twitter. The Bible should be read in the context of the times we now live in, writes another Twitter user. Photo: Twitter In a debate post in Vårt Land from 20 May, Ottesen writes that marriage should be about the man and the woman complimenting each other. In other words, not “that one should rule over the other,” he writes. The debate comes in the wake of a reader post from the pastor of the Pentecostal church Frisk Church, Tone Lise Gustavsen. She writes that the woman’s subordination should be “her genuine, devoted response to his love.” Ingunn Elisabeth Ulfsten, on the other hand, believes that such views do not represent reality. – We experience that this is out of step with how very many Christian married couples live in mutual subordination, she says.
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Believes the woman should submit to the man in the marriage – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
