The Headship of Men and the Abuse of Women by Kevin Giles

Author:Kevin Giles [Giles, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781725261396
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2020-06-19T20:20:55+00:00

What this means is that most of what the Bible says on the marriage relationship gives no support to the idea that God wills that the man should rule over his wife and the wife should submit; indeed it seems to exclude the thought that this is God’s good and perfect will, binding until the end of all things. Genesis 3:16 certainly says the man will rule over his wife, but all agree this text speaks of what is not good; of marriage not according God’s good and perfect will.

Two Contrasting Understandings of Marriage

What is now clear is that in Eph 5:21–33 we have two contrasting and irreconcilable understandings of marriage standing side by side, a radically new and distinctively Christian one, and one that is as old as the fall and which prevails in this world. This argument is very hard for most evangelicals to accept. They fear it might undermine their high view of Scripture. My high view of Scripture demands I accept what I find in Scripture.

In support of my argument that in Eph 5:21–33 we find two contrasting and irreconcilable understandings of marriage, I note that both evangelical egalitarians and complementarians do hermeneutical gymnastics to get around this problem. They seek ways to minimize any possible tension in what Paul says.

Evangelical egalitarians often argue that kephalē/head in this passage does not imply the idea “head-over”/ “authority over,” but rather “source.” This is a possibility; the Greek word can definitely carry this meaning, but this does not overcome the tension. Paul goes on to ask wives specifically to be subordinate. We are rightly subordinate to those set over us.

Complementarians seek to overcome this stark tension between what is said on the one hand in vv. 22–24, and on the other, in vv. 21 and 25–33, by explaining away anything that would undermine the idea that the husband rules over the wife. They do this in two ways. First, they argue that the exhortation to be subordinate to one another (v. 21) is not reciprocal in any strict way. The argument is as follows:147

Wherever the word hypotassō/submit is found in the New Testament it implies an ordered relationship where one party is set over another.

The reciprocal pronoun, allelōn/one another, does not always indicate the same action by both parties.

Paul cannot be asking for mutual subordination because wives are to submit to their husbands, not husbands to wives.

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