Craig

Dave @79,
You said “I find it frustrating that this has degenerated to a discussion centred around word meanings.”
I am not sure what you mean by this, or if it is directed at me at all, but if it is any encouragement to you, I am new to all this and don’t believe it has “degenerated ” at all. I am genuinely interested in the debate on word meanings. It seems that determining Paul’s meaning of words like “head” and “submission” are critical. The information I have been reading has been helpful, even if it has been to realise that it is not an easy issue. It makes sense to me that if Paul really meant something, the meanings given to the words should blend with the context in a natural way and should be consistent with the range of meanings at the time of writing.
I think I am satisfied that “submission” doesn’t require one to be under authority, but I am still thinking through the “head” passages. I can see how Eph 4 and Eph 5 fit well with non-authoritative concepts, but I still have some questions on Eph 1 and the input from others has been helpful.