Cheryl Schatz

Mark,
You said:

Sure some things are e.g head coverings, but in the wider picture Christianity brought women to a place where they had never been before, so the early church is not inerrently sexist or stuck in their culture of the time.

I do not believe that the early church was inherently sexist, but I do believe that some were and they tried to stir up trouble. As far as the head covering issue, there is a very important cultural meaning to the head covering that the church has failed to discuss. You can find it in the Jewish oral law and in John Lightfoot’s commentaries. You can get a good feel for what the head covering means by watching the preview clip on the head covering issue that I have put on youtube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C33wUR9zcBg

You said:

It seems Cheryl that you think Comps demand submission from another- am i right in assuming this?

The way I would describe it is that comps teach that males have an inherent authority over women due to their special privileges as males in the home and in the church. They are to take this authority and use it as it is a mandate given by God. I lived this life for a lot of years so I know intimately what male rulership looks like even if the intent is benevolent.

If there is no authoritative aspect to a marriage for example, then it is not a true reflection of Christ’s covenant with His church.

Christ’s covenant with His church is that the church will rule with Him. The enemies will be placed under our feet as we are the body of Christ. The bride is not placed under Jesus’ feet. This is a typical explanation but it is only tradition, not Scripture.

Do you think the husband has any authority over his wife?

Yes. The husband has authority over his wife’s sexuality.

1 Cor 7:4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

But note that the wife also has authority over her husband’s body in just the same way as his authority. This is the only place in the Scriptures that I have ever found where either a husband or wife is told to have authority over the other. If you know of something that I have missed, I would appreciate seeing the text of Scripture.

TL did a very good job in answering the rest of your comments so I don’t think I need to say any more here.