Garth Engwall

Here I go again. No, I am not going to go down the same rabbit hole as before.

Not sure if you are monitoring Cheryl, but I AGAIN am devouring these posts as I have some women in a bible study who are inclined to think that God did institute a hierarchy in humankind. (They don’t like it, and aren’t abusively subject to it, but never-the-less think there is something to it.) I suspect that the teaching they received stems from this passage so I am familiarizing myself again with your arguments, which I have found so convincing in regards to 1 Cor 11.

As I was going through, another epiphany hit me regarding verse 3. Prepositions! The text of verse 3 is clear – so and so is the head “OF” such and such. Not “over”, and not “above”. These are different prepositions – ones of which Paul is well aware and ones that he uses quite often (compare “authority OVER” in vs. 10). In fact, I believe that Paul even uses “over” in relation to “head’ in Ephesians 1. So Paul certainly knows how to declare a relationship of position if he needs to. But he doesn’t in vs. 3. To me, that is as compelling as any evidence that “head of” means something different “authority over”. Since the preposition in vs. 3 is “of”, “origin of” makes perfect sense in context here.

I hope you are doing well. I miss hearing your insights on these topics. God bless!

Created order does not equal hierarchy. If that were true, then the animals would be “over” humans, yet we see the opposite. If one wants to use a created order argument, then woman would actually rule over man. But there was no hierarchy in the garden. Hierarchy was introduced along with sin. “He will rule over you” is an ungodly consequence of the fall. not a godly mandated “order” of things. We see male dominance manifested throughout human history, proving God’s prediction of the consequences of sin.

Paul presents an antidote for the human condition in Ephesians 5, calling for mutual submission manifested through love and respect. There is no hierarchy present in Paul’s head/body metaphor – although hierarchy is read into the text by those who do not want to give up their power.

The only teaching passage that might suggest a hierarchy is 1 Cor 11, but that too is a biased misinterpretation. Cheryl has successfully rebutted the notion that this teaching deals with a God ordained “order” in either human relationships or the church.

I’d be curious to know the biblical basis for Castro’s assertions (although I can probably make a pretty good guess). Specifically, where in the text is it stated that “God placed a man over you to provide and protect”?