gengwall

I simply can’t hold back any more. Sorry for the length but this simply must be resolved. Below is a breakdown I did some time ago on the use of kephale in the NT. I present this as textual proof that this Greek word is not used to convey authority, let alone authority of the head over the body. Mark – the challenge to you is to prove the opposite from the same texts. I have shown the absence of authority in these texts. Moreover, I have shown the presence of equality. It is no longer sufficient for you to baselessly claim that kephale “was never used in relation between PEOPLE without the notion of authority”, you must prove it. No more circular reasoning, arguments from silence, and simply “sayin’ it’s so”.

The word kephale occurs 75 times in the NT. It is used literally in all the occurrences in the gospels EXCEPT for the synoptic references to Psalm 118 where it is used as “cornerstone”. This is also its use in Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7. All the other non-Pauline uses in Acts and Revelation are essentially literal (referring to a person’s or things anatomical head).

That leaves us with the Pauline uses, which are predominantly metaphorical.

Only in two of those uses – Ephesians 1:22 and Colossians 2:10, is there an implication of authority, rule, or “Lordship” associated with kephale.

In Ephesians, the church, as body, is mentioned in the very same verse. But it is not as the object of Christ’s lordship, but as the benefactor of it. The object of Christly “rule” is every “rule and authority and power and dominion and name” (vs. 21). This authority is given to Christ “for the church, (23) which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Later, in Ephesians 2:6, we are told that God “raised us up with Him (Christ), and seated us with Him in the heavenly {places}…” So, we are seated with Christ “at His (the Father’s) right hand in the heavenly {places,}” (Eph 1:20) and SHARE his authority over the powers, etc. In summary, the authority Christ has as head in Ephesians 1 is not OVER the church but for the benefit of and shared with the church.

Colossians 2:10 expresses a similar vision for Christ’s authority as Head: “and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority”. Although the church/body side of the metaphor is not fleshed out in the text of this passage, it is clear that “you” is the church which is still in view AND “you”, the church, are not the object of the authority which dwells in Christ but are instead the benefactor of it. (this passage has more to do with worldly rules and whether or not we are free in Christ. It is hard to make any marriage parallel here.)

Those are the only two times that authority is referenced in the Pauline metaphorical uses of Christ as “head”. But, of course, Paul uses the metaphor more than that.

The only major passage which uses the head/body metaphor referring strictly to the marriage relationship is Ephesians 5. Complimentarians read authority into that passage but it is not even remotely implied by Paul. In fact, the only thing that headship relates to in Ephesians 5 is love. Complimentarians apparently believe authority and agapeo love can coexist. To me they seem mutually exclusive.

The other major passage which uses kephale and has any semblance of a marriage context (although no corresponding “body” reference) is 1 Corinthians 11. This is, of course, an infamous passage in the comp/egal debate. Cheryl does a great job, IMO, of making the case that head in this passage means source. Anyone can read her verse by verse commentary by looking under her 1 Corinthians 11 section of the blog. What seems to me very clear in this passage is that head does NOT mean “authority”, unless one dogmatically assumes that head universally means authority. Never-the-less, authority is not implied in the passage. Because the passage is more about the conduct of worship and far less about marriage, and is focused on how one shows the glory that is inherent in Christ, it is a very big leap to even assume husbandly authority over the wife is the topic here.

The head/body metaphor is used again in Colossians 1:18. Here, that relationship is simply given amongst a list of the attributes of Christ. In essence, it is stated as a matter of fact. There is no teaching about the head/body relationship involved. Again, no authority can be derived from this brief citation.

The final two references to Christ as “head” are in Ephesians 4:15 and Colossians 2:19. These are kind of a mixed metaphor in that it is using the literal head and body arrangement but referring to Christ and the church. Both passages are very similar. Here is the Colossians (starting with vs. 18):

“Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on {visions} he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, (19) and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”

These verses have nothing to do with authority but echo much of what Ephesians 5 says about the “head” and support the argument that “head” in Pauline metaphor means something much more closely related to “source”. The church/body “grows out of” Christ/head; Eve was “fashioned” from Adam’s rib; Christ “proceeded forth” from the Father. None of these references imply a hierarchy of authority; one has to read that in based on presumptions about the English word for kephale.

The final instance of head and body being used in metaphor by Paul is in 1 Corinthians 12:21. Here, Christ is not involved. Instead, the “head” refers to any member of the body in relation to other members of the body. The teaching here is that no member of the body, including the head, has more preeminance than any other. In fact, the lesser members of the body are to be elevated “in honor” above the greater. Not only is authority not granted or even in view here, but the passage suggests exactly the opposite relational paradigm – equality.

That’s it – just two direct applications of Christ’s authority as “head”, both of which explicitly remove the “body” as an object of that authority and one that directly imparts that authority equally onto the body. All the other references with head/body as a metaphor lack any authority component. In order for one to believe it, they have to read it into the text (and presume it as a universal truth). That isn’t to say that all those other references don’t teach a lot about headship. On the contrary. But what they teach is that the head, rather than taking authority over the body, is to sacrifice for, serve, nurture, build up, and love the body. Again, if one believes that authority has a place in that list, it has to be read in. The bible surely doesn’t say it.