Under Much Grace

To those interested in the topic of where these ideas originated, there is some insight in Kevin Giles book “Jesus and the Father.” In the early 1800s, the concept of the “eternal subordination of the Son” was introduced at Princeton and in Charles Hodges Systematic Theology (who taught there and was affectionate to slavery and subordination of women).

In the 1970’s, in a response to feminism, the concept of the subordinate Christ (eternally and in authority as well as “role”) to the Father was connected with the concept of wives submitting to their husbands. A 1977 book by George Knight, III was one of the first publications, followed by Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology. Most Evangelical seminaries and Bible Colleges use Grudem’s “Systematic Theology” (published in ’94) today, so these concepts could have originated at any Bible college that uses this text.

Giles calls their distortion of the Trinity “subordinationism” (as it argues for the ETERNAL subordination of Christ beyond the knosis concept described in Philipians 2). He states that the concept is taught in such a way that anyone who learns it perceives any question about male headship as a rejection of the Authority of Scripture. Hence, especially the CBMW and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary boys claim that this is “open theism.” Giles states that they refuse or cannot subsequently separate their concepts of the Godhead from their understanding about men and women.

This issue, if you accept Giles argument, is an issue of Trinity at its foundation. This distortion provides an onotlogical argument for the headship and superiority of man over woman. Ten years or so later, ministers take this concept to the logical conclusion and start preaching strange doctrinces as a result.