Frank

Dave, which dictionary/thesaurus did you check? I checked my Webster’s New School and Office Dictionary, which gave me the following definitions:

Submit: 1. To yield to the authority, power, etc., of another. 2. To present (something) to the judgment, discretion, etc., of another. 3. To offer as a belief, evaluation, etc.; suggest.

Subordinate: 1. Inferior in rank, value, power, importance, etc. 2. Subject to the authority of another. 3. In grammar, something that cannot stand alone.

The main difference I perceive between the two is, to use the philosohical terms, one involves a voluntary or volitional choice, while the other, being a relation of inferior to superior, is one of necessity which negates any voluntary choice. So I think I agree with you.

As regards the relationship of the Divine Persons of the Trinity, I agree with Athanasius, Kevin Giles, and Thomas F. Torrance: While they are distinct, none is prior to or greater than the other as regards their divine nature and attributes; all are fully and equally God. The submission of the Son to the Father, as our Redeemer and Mediator, applies primarily to the Incarnation. As far as I am concerned, the modern doctrine of the Eternal Subordination of the Son is nothing but an ancient heresy put into new packaging. But is heresy, nonetheless.