Masculinity

Brian asked 'What would Paul say to a Salaryman? Exploring the implications of masculinity in the New Testament for Japanese working men'. Brian observed that to a Japanese Christian man, it is the "man" bit in which he is most likely to unthinkingly transmit an Australian, rather than a Christian perspective. This was an interesting observation - even if we are aware of our culture, I think we're often unaware of how our culture defines our masculinity/femininity.

When Paul is explaining how people are to live, he starts with Christ and then appropriates helpful cultural ideas. But some Christian books about masculinity (eg Wild at Heart) will start with cultural ideas and then appropriate the Bible.

Brian had lots of other interesting things to say, but I'll stop there.