Accommodation, Avoidance and Submission
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Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses CAHSS Theses and Dissertations and Dissertations 1-1-2015 Accommodation, Avoidance and Submission: How the Interpretation of Biblical Submission as the Low-Self Conflict Modes Affects the Christian Marriage Relationship Kipi L. Fleming Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] This document is a product of extensive research conducted at the Nova Southeastern University College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. For more information on research and degree programs at the NSU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, please click here. Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Share Feedback About This Item NSUWorks Citation Kipi L. Fleming. 2015. Accommodation, Avoidance and Submission: How the Interpretation of Biblical Submission as the Low-Self Conflict Modes Affects the Christian Marriage Relationship. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Department of Conflict Resolution Studies. (43) https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd/43. This Dissertation is brought to you by the CAHSS Theses and Dissertations at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Accommodation, Avoidance and Submission: How the Interpretation of Biblical Submission as the Low-Self Conflict Modes Affects the Christian Marriage Relationship by Kipi Lee Fleming A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Nova Southeastern University in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Copyright © by Kipi Lee Fleming March 2015 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my three daughters, Haylee, Jalayna, and Brooklyn. You are my greatest blessing and the light of my life. Thank you for believing in me. You are beautiful, strong, intelligent young women, and I am proud and honored to be your mom. Acknowledgements I have so many people to thank for supporting me through this journey. First would be my chairman, my friend, Dr. Dustin Berna. Thank you for your encouragement and patience. You taught me to think like no other teacher I have ever had. I am no longer the person who began this program nearly five years ago. You not only made me a better student, you made me a better teacher and a better person. I would not have finished this project without your help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you also to the other members of my committee, Dr. Judith McKay and Dr. Jason Campbell. Your insight, critique, and suggestions made all the difference. I also want to thank the faculty and staff at the Duncum Center for Conflict Resolution at Abilene Christian University. Drs. Garry Bailey, Joey Cope, and Matt Dodd, thank you for showing your students how to be peacemakers. Thank you also for the opportunities you have given me to work with the students in the ACU Conflict Resolution program. Thank you to Lori Anne Shaw for helping me learn how to be a better facilitator. Thank you as well to Pam Horn who holds the Duncum Center together and is one of the kindest persons I have ever known. I would also like to thank Stacy Allsop for the time she spent helping me learn how to use all the tools available to researchers in the Alvin Sherman Library. Your help was invaluable. An enormous debt of gratitude goes to my fellow ACU and Nova students, LaToya Campbell, Chris Garner, and Wynona James. I am only here because of you. You helped me when no one else understood. You inspired me when I was at the end of my rope, often in ways of which you probably were not even aware. Chris, you urged me to begin the Nova program. LaToya, you have always encouraged and cheered me. Nona, your kindness knows no bounds. Thank you for being there with me at my defense. I cannot express how much that meant to me. The three of us have walked much of this long path together. I know that I will only be the first to see it through to the end. To three important men in my life – My sons-in-law Alan Swinford and Bobby Ray Hooten, III, thank you for being the Christian men I prayed for on behalf of my daughters since the day they were born. My grandson, Gavin, I pray that you will grow into the kind, loving, servant-hearted man of God that He designed you to be. To my grandparents, Raymond and Marie Fleming and Loyd and Maxine Widener – So much of what I have done in my life was inspired by you. I am a Christian because of your influence. I love to learn because of what you taught me. Honor and gratitude go to my parents, Ray and Jan Fleming. You always taught me to give everything my best. My greatest wish is to make you proud. Finally, to my heavenly Father be all honor and glory and praise forever and ever. Amen. Table of Contents List of Tables .......................................................................................................................v List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ix Chapter 1: Introduction and Statement of the Problem .......................................................1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 Justification ..................................................................................................................... 5 Goals................................................................................................................................ 5 Organization of the study ................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature ...................................................................................11 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 11 Hellenism ...................................................................................................................... 13 Aristotle’s household code ........................................................................................ 14 Inferiority of the female body and mind .................................................................... 16 Woman as the source of evil ...................................................................................... 20 The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament ...................................................... 23 Early Church Fathers ..................................................................................................... 28 Augustine of Hippo ................................................................................................... 28 Tertullian ................................................................................................................... 34 i The Middle Ages and the Reformation ......................................................................... 36 Thomas Aquinas ........................................................................................................ 41 Martin Luther ............................................................................................................. 43 The Church in America ................................................................................................. 47 Early America ............................................................................................................ 47 The Church in America ............................................................................................. 49 Previous research on marital satisfaction ...................................................................... 51 Previous research on faith and conflict resolution in marriage ..................................... 54 Submission and spousal abuse ...................................................................................... 54 Submission and Christian feminism .............................................................................. 55 Submission as accommodation/avoidance in conflict ................................................... 56 Hypotheses .................................................................................................................... 56 Central hypothesis ..................................................................................................... 56 Sub hypothesis #1 ...................................................................................................... 56 Sub hypothesis #2 ...................................................................................................... 57 Sub hypothesis #3 ...................................................................................................... 57 Sub hypothesis #4 ...................................................................................................... 57 Sub hypothesis #5 .....................................................................................................