Men And Women Essays (1165 words) - Cultural Anthropology

Men And Women Men and Women by Larry Crabb Men and Women is a book that describes the struggle that men and women have when they relate. The struggle they have happens when men and women relate to one another because they are self-centered and do not recognize and honor the God-created differences between men and women. The book begins with a number of stories that serve as examples for later discussion. These stories create interest in the subject and show how men and women misunderstand each other and why. The auther then turns to Bible passages and psychological theories to begin a discussion of the problems presented in the stories. The book is then divided into twelve chapters that discuss specific topics. The author then concludes with his opinions and own recommendations. Yes, the author uses illustrations. On page 67 he describes a simple illustration to make his point clear. A husband arrives home late, detained at the office by pressing deadlines. His wife greets him flatly. Many defensive reactions occur to show how the man and woman feel neglected and poorly treated. This story sets up a simple example of how husband and wife have to reconcile by admitting, explaning and examining their own behavior. The main sections of the Bible the author uses for his main idea are: Hebrews 4:12 (12) For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. The words in the Bible are alive and function in life. Gods word is sharp and digs deep into the soul and sorts out problems. Then the issues are decided and the better way is made known. This process should also happen between men and women in a marriage. Psalms 139:23-24 (23) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (24) See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. This is a plea to God that my life be examined and that my heart be known. The reason why God is asked to do this is so that any bad habits be known and God can show me the correct way that lasts forever. This passage is used to encourage married men and women to look at themselves for the problems that are inside us before we look to the problems inside others. Proverbs 20:27 (27) The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches ot his inmost being. The light of God reveals the heart of man and and goes even deeper to shed light on the most personal thoughts that are deep inside. The author used this passage to support his main idea that God will do personal surgery on men and women so that they won't fail. In fact, with this process, the author believes that men and women will be succesful. A major theme of the book is the selfishness of men and women. Being committed to ourselves is a deadly problem that men and women share. This makes good sense but this seems unclear in the explanation. The Bible teaches that we are to search ourselves and find our own problems. Proverbs 139:23-24. What seems unclear to me is how I can look at myself and fix my problems and not be committed to my myself. Stated another way, how can I be concerned about my wife and still solve my weaknesses? The first thing I thought about the book was, that I have major problems in understanding Larry Crabbs thoughts, because I'm not married. I struggeled with the difficult vocabulary and the authors experiences that I thought I don't have. I tried to understand him and to learn. His real events seemed to be right out of the authors environment so that I could imagine the weaknesses or strength the people had. By working with this book many thoughts came to my mind and I felt that I should look deeper in the authors ideas. Then I noticed, for the first time, that this book does not just describe the problems of marriage but it also talks about daily differences in thinking between