Sue

First, wou seem to agree that these phrases support the interpretation of source?

“woman is FROM man…but all things are FROM God (verses 12, 8).

Then the interpretation of authority must be derived from some other phrase. What would that be?

Second, you agree that with regard to the body, masculinity and femininity entail mutual authority. But in worship this mutuality is cancelled out. Why would this be? Is our masculinity and femininity essentially different in the body and in the spirit?

Third, wearing a covering was not only a sign of marriage but also respectability and of not being a slave. I would be interested in what F. F. Bruce said about this.

Fourth, it seems that Paul is saying that being single is the ideal, so I would be surprised if this was not in his thoughts.

I do find this passage very difficult and I think the best exegetes are stumped. However, in sum, I find that the complementarian interpretation has many difficulties and is not an obligatory interpretation, but it is an interpretation which is chosed by some in spite of the many problems that it poses exegetically.

So, I would ask if you think it would be valid for the wife to simply chose not to accept the complementarian interpretation if she did not read it that way. Shouldn’t the interpretation of this text be at the moral discretion of each Christian, since it is not clear what the meaning is?