Kristen

Mark said:
“Your whole argument is an argument from silence.”
Yes, I argue that the New Testament is silent about men having authority over women based on their gender alone. It seems to me that silence is a very good argument here. If you want to add male authority to the mix, you are doing so in spite of the silence of the Bible on this issue.

The difference between Kay and I on church authority is, I suspect, very minor– but it has no bearing on what you and I were discussing. I maintain that there are specific instructions from Paul and Peter to church leaders indicating that Paul and Peter considered these leaders to in fact be leaders, by God’s calling, to their flocks. There are absolutely no such instructions from Paul or Peter to husbands. The silence is somewhat deafening. ALl you’ve got are two words, “head” and “submit,” with no instructions tied to them about husbands leading wives– only instructions on husbands and wives mutually yielding to one another, and husbands loving, giving themselves, cherishing and nurturing their wives.

As for Chrysostom and “kephale,” I agree that by the time he wrote, the meaning of the word may have evolved from NT times. However, I still find it interesting that he finds it necessary to say “head and ruler,” as if the word “head” by itself were still not quite enough to convey rulership.