UNPUBLISHED BOOK: GOOD ORDER IN THE CHURCH

Leslie McFall

CONTENTS

2. THE THEOLOGICAL REASONS ON WHICH THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS

2.1. THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS ON THE ORDER OF CREATION

2.2. THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS ON THE ORIGIN OF WOMAN

2.3. THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS ON THE ORIGIN OF THE FALL

2.4. THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS ON THE ORIGIN OF THE NEW CREATION

2. THE THEOLOGICAL REASONS ON WHICH THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS

There are three crucial texts that must be taken into account in any discussion of the subject. The central texts are:

1 CORINTHIANS 11:7-10

7 a)nh_r me_n ga_r ou)k o)fei&lei katakalu&ptesqai th_n kefalh&n, ei)kw_n kai_ do&ca qeou~~ u(pa_rxwn: h( gunh_ de_ do&ca a)ndro&j e)stin. (8) ou) ga&r e)stin a)nhr e)k gunailo&j a)lla_ gunh_ e)c a)ndr&j: (9) kai_ ga_r ou)k e)kti/sth a)nh_r dia_ th_n gunai=ka a)lla_ dia_ to_n a!ndra. (10) dia_ tou~to o)fei/lei h( gunh_ e)cousi&an e!xein e)pi/ th~j kefalh~j dia_ tou_j a)gge&louj.

7 On the one hand, man, indeed, ought not to cover [or: hide] the head, being the image and glory of God, but on the other hand, ðtheÐ [woman ought to cover the head because] woman is man's glory. (8) For man is not of woman, but woman [is] out of man. (9) And also, man was not created on account of the woman, but woman on account of the man. (10) Because of this the woman ought to have authority upon the head on account of the angels.

1 CORINTHIANS 14:33b&emdash;37

(Wj e)n pa&saij tai~j e)kklhsi/aij tw~n a(gi/wn, (34) ai( gunai=kej u(mw~n e)n tai=j e)kklhsi/aij siga&twsan, ou) ga_r e)pitre&petai au)tai=j lalei=n: a)lla_ u(potasse&sqwsan, kaqw_j kai- o( no&moj le&gei. (35) ei) de& ti maqei=n qe&lousin, e)n oi1kw| tou_j i0di/ouj a!ndraj e)perwta&twsan, ai)sxro_n ga&r e)stin gunaiki/; lalei=n e)n e)kklhsi/a|.

(33) As in all the assemblies of the saints (34) your women in the assemblies&emdash;let them be silent. For it has not been permitted to them to speak, but to subject themselves, as also the Law says [teaches]. (35) And if anything they are wishing to learn, in [the] house of their own men let them question; for it is a disgrace to women&emdash;in an assembly&emdash;to speak.

1 TIMOTHY 2:11-15

(11) gunh_ e)n h(suxi/a| manqane&tw e)n pa&sh| u(potagh~|: (12) dida&skein de_ gunaiki; ou)k e)pitre&pw ou)de_ au)qentei=n a)ndro&j, a)ll )ei}nai e)n h(suxi/a|. (13) )Ada_m ga_r prw~toj e)pla&sqh, ei]ta Eu#a: (14) kai _ )Ada_m ou)k h)path&qh, h( de_ gunh_ e)capathqei=sa e)n paraba&sei ge&gonen: (15) swqh&setai de_ dia_ th~j teknogoni/aj, e)a_n mei/nwsin e)n pi/stei kai_ a)ga&ph| kai_ a(giasmw~| meta_ swfrosu&nhj.

(11) Let a woman in quietness learn in all subjection. (12) And a woman to teach I do not permit, nor to rule a man, but to be in quietness. (13) For Adam was first formed, then Eve. (14) And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been thoroughly deceived, into transgression came. (15) And she shall be saved [as she goes] through the [cursed] child-bearing, if they remain in faith, and love, and sanctification with seriousness.

2.1 THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS ON THE ORDER OF CREATION

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For [here is the theological reason] Adam was formed first, then Eve" (1 Tim 2:12). Adam was the first human being formed in the image of God. From him emanated the entire human race including Woman. "The first reason is that the order of creation of man and woman (Adam and Eve) is expressive and determinative of God's order of relationship and authority. The one formed first is in His image and likeness, the one formed after and from him is to remain in a loving and obedient relationship to him."

Waltke noted from his study of the two creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 that:

The order of creation, which is set forth in these two accounts, stands behind the order of redemption, which is represented in the rest of Scripture. For example, the Fourth Commandment (Exod. 20:8-11) to refrain from work on the Sabbath is based on the first creation account that God ceased his own work on that day (2:2-3). The Seventh commandment (Exod 20:14) to not commit adultery is founded on the institution of marriage in the Garden of Eden according to the second account (Gen 2:18-25). The Sixth Commandment (Exod 20:13) protects innocent life because every life is created in God's image (Gen 1:26-28; cf. 5:1-3; 9:6).

Moreover, our Lord aimed to recapture for his church the Creator's original intention for marriage (Matt 19:3-9), and the Apostle Paul based on these accounts his arguments concerning the roles of women in the home and in the church (1 Cor 11:3-12; 1 Tim 2:12-15).

In sum, the Bible is a story of Paradise lost in the first Adam and being regained in the Second. The Garden of Eden symbolically represents the ideal culture that was lost and that Moses restores in the Law and that Christ restores more perfectly in his church through the Spirit. These accounts present what is normative for the role of women in "worship."

. . . . male authority in the home and in the Church is founded on the order of creation and reinforced in the order of redemption as presented in both the Old and New Testaments.

Is it not plausible to assume . . . that had he [God] intended equality in government he would have formed Eve and Adam at the same time and have said, "It is not good for the man or the women to be alone, I will make them to be helpers suitable to each other"? If he had wanted a matriarchy, would he not have formed Eve first and created the husband to be a suitable helper to his wife?

Waltke rightly recognises the importance of the two Genesis accounts of the creation of mankind for the restoration of God's original plan for mankind, which both Jesus and Paul point up in their uncovering of the new life lived according to the Spirit. It is worthwhile, therefore, spelling out some crucial, theologically laden facts about these two accounts.

God formed Adam on the sixth day of creation as His master-piece. He was created to rule and control the earth, and this is reflected in his physical and psychological make-up. He was not only created in the image of God but created to reflect that image in his control over the earth. He was born a controller, a governor, a king, a leader. Taking the Genesis story as a whole, we cannot fail to notice a being of singular nobility and endowed with phenomenal powers and attributes; a being who towers high above all other creatures, in fact, their king and their crown. He bowed to none, all were subordinate to him. He showed his dominion over them by giving to each of them a name.

Unlike any other creature God made, Adam was the first "son of God" (Lk 3:38); the first who was made in His image. To him was given dominion over all His world before He created woman (Gen 2:15). Man was created with the primary purpose of governing the creation that God had made. He was given the authority and ability to accomplish what he had been assigned to do. Woman, on the other hand, was created with a totally different primary function in mind, namely, to fulfil a need in Man's desire for company. She was designed and formed specifically (in her whole constitution) to be a fit companion for Man. Her role was a supporting one. It was never intended that she do anything but help him to achieve his ends. Their roles were different, fitting, beautiful and complementary because of their love for one another.

The apostle contrasts the two glories that man and woman display.

Of the man he says that he is the "glory of God," but of woman he says that she is the "glory of man," (verse 7). As verses 8 and following seem to indicate, this evaluation is based on the more immediate creation of man by God and the creation of woman from and out of man. Thus, the man will reflect the one who directly created him and thus, also, the woman will inevitably reflect and be the glory of the one from whom she was created, namely man.

Stitzinger has noted five signs of Man's headship in Genesis 2. First, in 2:7 man is created prior to woman. Second, Man is called "adam" (2:20), a term that is used to cover Eve and all their offspring. Third, Adam was invested with the position of leadership, authority and responsibility to keep the Garden before Eve was created (2:15). Fourth, God prepared Adam for his leadership role by having Adam name the living creatures (Gen 2:19-20) before giving him his bride. Fifth, Adam's leadership role is emphasized by his need of a helper (2:18-20). Up until this point Adam's helper/companion had been superior&emdash;God, now God supplied him with a human helper who would not threaten him by being superior or equal in physical strength, but a perfectly formed "weaker vessel" who would respond to his love and his need for companionship.

Waltke having examined the two stories of creation came to the conclusion that:

the situation represented in these first two chapters of Genesis is regarded as normative for humanity in the rest of Scripture. This ideal is not imposed on men and women but presented to help them understand their natures and the roles for which they were created. Their sexuality lies deeper than their physical characteristics to reproduce, but in their very embodiment as human beings, in the way they view the world and in the way they are perceived.

2.2 THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS ON THE ORIGIN OF WOMAN

"On the one hand, a man ought not to cover his head, [here is the theological reason] being the image and glory of God; but, on the other hand, the woman [ought to cover her head [here is the theological reason] because] she is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man" (1 Cor 11:7-9).

Just as God is sometimes glimpsed taking counsel in the heaven, for example, "Let us make man . . . .," and pictured as having communion with a Being of like nature, so He understands Adam's solitariness and his need to commune with another being of like nature. He therefore resolved to alleviate his loneliness saying:

It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make an help meet [suitable] for him. . . . And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen 2:18-23).

Adam's words of joy on seeing his wife are the only recorded words of a human being before the Fall, when he had all his God-given powers in their full prime. He is able instantly and joyfully to recognise in her someone who was on the same level as himself as regards her humanity. She was not "man" like himself, so in this sense he did not see her as "equal" if by equal we mean identical in form. He saw her as the female counterpart to himself. But his words "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh" are a penetrating insight into her equality with him as regards her person and worth. She emerged from him and her life was derived from his own life, and yet she was attractively "different" and "complementary." In his words the Creator knew He had successfully completed His creation. She was the last of His works.

Eve, together with Adam, is given dominion over all living creatures (1:27-28). Both Adam and Eve are called "adam" in Genesis 5:2, so that it is clear that Woman is not inferior to Man in her moral nature, though of course she was designed at the root level to be subject to him: "Now I want you to realise that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor 11:3). "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church . . . . Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything" (Eph 5:23-24).

Woman was designed physically and psychologically to complement man and to be his perfect helper. Any disparagement of Woman, per se, is an attack on her Creator's wisdom to equip her for a very specific role in Man's life. Eve was not left in the Garden of Eden to find Adam, or left there for Adam to find her. When the Creator begins a work He completes it. When He finished creating her He brought her to Adam. She was never intended to be independent of him. The theological importance of the Creator bringing the Woman to the Man (and not vice versa) should not be under-estimated theologically. The "bringing" is an affirmation and extension of Man's love-control. He named her, just as he named everything else in his world. She was now answerable to him as he was answerable to God in how they carried out His will to subdue the earth. In Packer's words:

God . . . gave woman the role of "help meet" for man, and her fitness for it depends on God having made her a "side" of man which he would otherwise lack. So the way for men and women to be free and fulfilled is that in all their joint activities the psychological dynamics of the "help meet" relationship be maintained, and the woman be felt throughout to be helping men. Anything less would be more or less unnatural, and would issue in something less than contentment for both parties. This relational pattern matters most in marriage, the closest and richest of man-woman relationships, but it has some importance wherever men and women work together.

Thus in the Genesis story we see that woman&emdash;perfect woman&emdash;was subject to her husband before either of them fell. So that even if men and women could be restored to their original states the wife would still be subject to her husband.

The Genesis account (2:21-22) of Woman's origin establishes another important Scriptural doctrine, namely, the solidarity of the human race. The human species has descended from one man (Rom 5:18ff.). For if the sexes had two separate sources or origins, mutual contempt or envy or contentions over equality might have arisen. But God removed that possibility when He formed Eve from Adam and brought her to him to stay with him and to be subject to his perfect love and guidance. The world has never seen a more perfect marriage, nor indeed can it, for sin has separated man and woman beyond complete recovery of the Edenic state in this life (Gen 2:25b). Only when the Husband (Christ) comes for his Bride (the Church), who will be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, shall the redeemed Adamic family understand how perfect was the first human marriage. Every marriage is a shadow of what God once designed it to be.

We see, then, that in the origin and purpose of Woman in the original and perfect creation loving submission was a suitable and fitting element in her constitution.

2.3 THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS ON THE ORDER OF THE FALL

"And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner" (1 Tim 2:14).

"But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ" (2 Cor 11:3).

"Unto the woman he [God] said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over [kurieu&sai ] you" (Gen 3:16).

Paul uses the word "deceived" to refer to the whole account of the Fall. Adam also sinned, but Eve led the way and caused him to sin. Her initiative in breaking the commandment they both were under is an historical fact. Adam's sin consisted not in his listening to his wife's voice, for that was music in his ears (as any lover knows), but in not questioning her about the fruit and where she got it from. We do not know how she managed to persuade Adam to eat the fruit. He must have known what the forbidden fruit looked like. Paul does not develop this reason and we must be content with the brevity of his statement, which looks like a summary reference to something that Timothy was familiar with. One may logically infer that in citing this foundational incident Paul is telling Timothy that when the role established by God in His creative activity and order was reversed by Eve, it led to the break-up of a perfect creation.

It is of note that no cultural reason is given or even alluded to in this passage [1 Tim 2:8-12], but rather the most basic foundational reasons which are always germane to men and women are given, namely, God's creation order and the fall. Nothing more basic and binding could be cited. Paul thus follows the example of Jesus Christ in dealing with the basic question of the relation of men and women; he cites the Father's basic creative action (cf. Mt. 19:3ff.).

In the text of Genesis the ultimate responsibility before God rested with Adam who allowed himself to be knowingly led astray by his wife. That Adam was responsible can be seen in Romans 5:12, because it was through him, and not through Eve, that sin entered the world. God recognised his headship by addressing His questions to him first, and not to Eve. God blamed him for listening/obeying the voice of his wife.

Paul's point is that God's perfect creation was plunged into its present groaning state of death and decay because Eve reversed roles. The implication is that woman's reversal of roles must not be repeated in the church or in the home. She must not be permitted to lead the man in obedience to her initiative or to overthrow/reverse what is accepted as the transmitted tradition of doctrine and practices. Eve questioned the original commandment and was deceived by her own initiative. The impulse to take the initiative should never have been followed. It was not her place to initiate a way of getting round the commandment. Adam, it would appear, was prepared to live in obedience to the command but she was not content with her allotted station.

The character of the temptation illustrates Satan's craftiness. There was nothing said at first to awaken suspicion in Eve, or to shock her moral sense; merely a shy insinuation calculated to excite a natural curiosity. Then there was a direct lie, combined, however, with just enough truth to give it plausibility (Gen 3:4-5). Three steps lead to Eve's transgression: (1) doubt about God's Word (cf. Rom 14:23); (2) an addition to God's Word (cf. 2 Cor 4:2-4; Rev 22:18-19); (3) and an outright contradiction of God's Word (cf. Gen 2:17) (suspicion, addition, contradiction). Adam's sin was not caused by the deception that brought down his wife (the inference of the story is that the serpent's method would not have worked on Adam). Eve's mind was engulfed by the deception, she was "thoroughly deceived" (1 Tim 2:14). It would appear that she did not set out to disobey God deliberately, but was tricked into doing so through the appeal the forbidden fruit had physically, aestethically, and intellectually for her.

On the other hand, Adam thought about the possibility of disobeying God's command and then he made a conscious decision not to obey God. Paul seems to have thought deeply about the manner in which mankind fell. Sin entered into two perfect, sinless human beings in different ways which are gender specific. The sinless woman was tricked into sin, and the sinless man made a conscious decision to sin. For this reason there was a command of Christ given (1 Cor 14:37b) that the new Eve in Christ must never teach or exercise authority over the new Adam in Christ (1 Tim 2:11-14). Paul, drawing on the analogy of the original sinless pair, feared that "by some means, as the serpent deceived Eve in his cunning, so your thoughts might be spoiled from the pureness which is due to Christ" (2 Cor 11:3). He is addressing "brothers" here which indicates that the new man in Christ is not in the same advantageous position as the first Adam, who was not deceived. The Christian man in Christ is now as vulnerable to sin through deception as much as the sinless woman was in Eden. Hence his oft repeated warnings to be on their guard. But if Eve, in her state of sinless perfection, could fall for a trick, how much more vulnerable is she in her fallen condition. She can be tricked at will (it would seem) by Satan, at any time he chooses. Paul taught that even in her restored position "in Christ" the vulnerability is still there in her feminine nature, hence his theologically-based disqualification to teach or rule men in the Church is gender specific and is for all time and in all places.

A woman could lead a man into the truth (e.g., Priscilla [assisting Aquila] and Apollos) but in this good deed lies the potential for leading him the other way; it is for this reason that leadership per se is taken away from her altogether, so that there is no opportunity given to her to lead man into sin again, despite all the potential there is to lead him into the truth. By coming under the oversight of her husband and receiving her doctrine from him ("ask your men at home"&emdash;1 Cor 14:35) the orthodoxy of her knowledge can be secured. But the impulse to take the initiative to change what has been handed on to her may always be present. If this impulse was present when she was in a sinless condition, then how much more after she is fallen? The regeneration of her soul does not restore her to her sinless state, consequently the impulse to change her allotted place will always remain a potential threat to her salvation and to good order in the Church.

Some see Satan in the form of a serpent who tempted Eve to commit the first trespass, I am not so sure that Satan was present in a world which God pronounced "very good." Eve may have sinned without involving the necessity for Satan to be present in the Garden of Eden. The serpent who spoke to Eve was an amoral animal who could not sin, who was not capable of sinning. We are told that he had superior guile to any other animal that God had made. He did not acquire this ability: he was created the way he was. Now for an amoral creature to suggest to Eve that she might be equal to her Creator was not a sin, but Eve was a moral creature. So that what the serpent said and what she heard were two different things. In the serpent's "not-possible-to-sin" world what he suggested had no moral connotation for him, but what Eve heard had moral connotations. This is how the idea was conveyed to Eve in a perfect creation. We have a parallel in the words of Peter to Jesus&emdash;words full of concern for Jesus' safety&emdash;but nevertheless what Peter said and what Jesus heard were two different things. What Jesus heard, made him rebuke Peter with the words, "Get thee behind me Satan" (Mt 16:23) muc h to Peter's surprise and consternation, no doubt.

In the biblical account sin entered the world when Adam and Eve reversed the leadership order: she led and he followed (deliberately). In 2 Corinthians 3:11 Paul stresses that Eve was completely deceived. She&emdash;a sinless, perfect creature&emdash;was, as Stitzinger noted, "led to believe something that was not true. She was doctrinally beguiled into hostility toward God and sensual desire for the unknown." In 1 Timothy 2:14 Paul again notes that it was the woman who was deceived, not Adam, and he uses this as a supporting argument for the limitations given to women with regard to positions of leadership in the church. Stitzinger notes, "In contrast to Paul's appeal in 1 Corinthians, the deception described in 1 Timothy could only happen to women." He goes on to say:

The apostle may have had more than one idea in mind by this mention of the woman's deception in 1 Tim 2:14. He may be suggesting that a woman's emotional faculties are different than man's in such a way that she is more apt to be led into a course of unintentional error, and/or he may be using this verse as an argument for what her deception precipitated, namely a usurpation of her role as helper.

In either case, Gen 3:1-7 indicates that Eve allowed herself to listen to the serpent. In the course of this, she was deceived and subsequently sinned. She then introduced her husband to sin, who wilfully ignored his headship and partook of the fruit. Eve's sin was disobedience to God, which expressed itself, in part, by a self-assumed position of leadership above her husband.

Adam freely chose to obey the voice of his wife, maybe because he realised what she had done and that it could not be undone, and in order to stay with her through the consequences he joined her in eating the forbidden fruit. His sin began the moment he failed to maintain control over his own decisions. It is yet another indication of his headship that not until he sinned was the entire human race plunged into decay and death (Rom 5:19; 1 Cor 15:22). One wonders what would have happened if Adam had not followed Eve into sin. Paul has warned the Church not to permit women to reverse the roles again, hence the prohibition on her speaking in His Church which would lead to her talents taking up a position of authority once again over man.

Two aspects of Eve's punishment are worth noting:

First, "and your desire shall be to your husband."

There is no need to emphasize the aspect of sexual desire, though that is there. It is more likely that the idea is that woman, because she has less physical strength, will desire man for protection after they are banned from the Garden of Eden and placed in a hostile world in which brutality and force would be the order of the day. Then the desire would also have as a result that man would rule over her, which is the second aspect:

"and he shall rule over you."

What is remarkable about the state Eve was in when she was completely deceived by the words of the serpent was that she was sinless. Even while she was in the perfect state, and under Adam's faultless care&emdash;she fell, and was the first to do so. What was to prevent her from falling again into a worse state? Hence God put her more firmly under her now fallen husband's rule, and how despotic history has shown that to be. She has, since that fateful day, been cruelly treated, exploited, abused, raped and dishonoured. Who can calculate what she has suffered at the hands of what was once a perfect being, whose every movement was once for her well-being?

But it has been suggested that God is not here ordaining her subjection but predicting it, just as in the case of Adam's punishment thorns and thistles would spring up. And since no one would consider it impious to rid the ground of them, so neither is woman's attempt impious to be free from man's dominance (it is argued). It is simply an attempt to ameliorate the evil caused by sin. The fact is that there is not a single nation or tribe where women or children rule men successfully. And it would appear that there is not a single country that is free from thorns or thistles&emdash;even the deserts have them. But there is one nation&emdash;the Israel of God&emdash;where, by a strange paradox, the more lovingly and willingly the wife fulfils her God-given role the less she experiences the more evil consequences of fallen man's force-headship. Peace comes to her through obedience, whether her husband is a Christian or not.

The New Testament writer, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, understood "he shall rule over you" to be both causal and descriptive; in God's saying it He was ordaining it. He could see the consequences because He ordained them to come into effect should disobedience occur. He is the Cause (sometimes direct, sometimes indirect) behind every effect.

In Paul's thinking the teaching of headship is reinforced at the time of the Fall. Man can no more turn back the fallen nature of men and women to what they were originally than he can cause thorns and thistles to revert to what they were originally. Both in her perfect state and in her fallen state God ordained that Woman should be accountable to her head. What, then, is her position under the New Covenant, in the new creation in Christ Jesus?

2.4 THE TEACHING OF HEADSHIP RESTS ON THE ORDER OF THE NEW CREATION

"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without talk by the behaviour of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewellery and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past . . . used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right" (1 Pet 3:1-6).

Many interesting points emerge from Peter's exhortation to the women. First, he is not culturally bound when he tells the wives to be submissive to their husbands, since he goes back to around 2066 BC for his ideal Christian wife&emdash;to Sarah. Two thousand years on Sarah still remains the ideal for the daughters of the Church to follow. The use of Sarah does not suggest that the New Testament writers were culturally bound. It does, however, suggest that they combed the Scriptures carefully for their models.

Second, he says, "Wives, in the same way . . . " and this takes us back to the verses immediately preceding this passage, where we find Peter exhorting the slaves in the following manner: "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh . . . ." He then goes on to set before the slave the example of the Lord enduring the cross without any resistance, showing how far one can take submissiveness to one's master.

And third, Peter mentions two qualities that every Christian woman should seek to cultivate, since they are said to be of great worth in God's estimation, namely, a gentle and quiet spirit. A "gentle" spirit, denoting the absence of self-assertion, or speaking in public with an authoritative voice. A "quiet" spirit, denoting calm tranquill disposition that pervades all she does, and which communicates itself to others producing a similar state in them.

"Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord" (Col 3:18). "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church . . . . Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything" (Eph 5:22-24).

These are very instructive passages since it is highly unlikely that the Church would ever have the audacity to tell Christ what to do, therefore wives should not put themselves in a position of telling their husbands what to do.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God (Titus 2:2-5).

These four texts explicitly state that the wife in the New Creation is to be subject to her husband. It would appear, therefore, that whether a woman lived in the Garden of Eden, or at the base of Mount Sinai, or on the top of Calvary, she was to be subject to her husband. The example of submission is that of Man to Christ and of Christ to God, and of the Church to Christ, "as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything" (Eph 5:24). And if wives are to submit after the example of the Church, then husbands are to love their wives after the example that Jesus has left of his love for the Church:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to make her holy . . . . In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church . . . each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband (Eph 5:25-33).

From which it may be inferred that if Christ's men were to love as Christ did, and the Church's women were to submit as the Church should, then the governments of this world would have a model example of a peaceful and harmonious society. A society held together by mutual love for its members, and built upon a patriarchal authority structure, where the natural laws would be in harmony with the spiritual. The Church's calling is to be such a model, not as an end in itself, but because it is the desire of its Head&emdash;the Lord Jesus Christ.

Given the clear, unambiguous role that God had designed woman to fit into, in relation to man, is it appropriate that she should aspire to exercise leadership over her own husband? The answer is clearly, No. It follows that if her position is one of submissiveness to her husband then she is in no position to exercise any role of any description over another woman's husband. Her sphere of influence is best fulfilled in the home environment, under the leadership and headship of her own husband (or the direction of her father if she is unmarried).

The older women are given the role of teaching younger women how to be good wives, but the sphere in which women are to operate and exercise this teaching role is clearly in the home according to Titus 2:2-5, and just as clearly it is exercised over other younger women. If older women fulfilled this God-given function today would there not be greater harmony between men and women in Christian marriages? Would there not be less divorces among Church members? Have women failed women to reach their God-given potential? Where are the books written by older women for younger women? The areas delegated to older Christian women to pass on to the next generation of women are set out in Titus 2:4. They are: (1) to teach what is good, (2) to encourage the young women to love their husbands, (3) to love their children, (4) to be self-controlled, chaste, and kind, (5) to be good managers of the household, (6) to be submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited. The home and family is the sphere in which women are envisaged fulfilling God's will for their lives and bringing credit to His Gospel.

SUMMARY

We have noted that the teaching of Headship rests on the order of creation. Adam was formed first; the first of a new order of beings directly related to God and made in His image (which the lower creation is not, being amoral creatures). To Adam (representative Man) was given dominion over all the earth before Eve (representative Woman) was formed.

We have noted that the teaching of Headship rests on the origin of woman. Whereas Man had his life breathed into him directly from the mouth of God (denoting something emanating from the very being of God Himself, rather than God taking a pre-existing creature and "converting" it into a Man), Woman receives her life from the directly created living substance of the Man. A living part of him is taken away and from it a Woman is formed and brought to Man to be with him for life.

We have noted that the teaching of Headship is reinforced in the Fall of creation through the first sin which was made by Woman, who was deceived into reaching for power and authority which was not hers to take. She was in a state of sinless perfection when she sinned. Having lost that state she was instrumental in bringing her husband into a state of disobedience: but he was not deceived into sinning; he chose to sin. If she could be deceived in a perfect state how much more in a fallen state? She is not permitted to put herself in a position of authority over Man lest she be subject to the same deception, and again lead Man, renewed Man this time, into sin once again.

We have noted that the teaching of Headship is upheld in the New Creation in Christ Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit, women are commanded not to speak in the Church, and not to aspire to positions of authority over men. We noted that even in a pure state she fell because she reached for a position of authority that God never intended her to have. Speaking, and speaking powerfully with authority, is one sure way of gaining (or regaining) dominance over one's hearers, and inducing them to be one's followers. God prevents this avenue of opportunity from opening up by demanding that women be silent in the New Testament Church, as He had ensured they were in the Old Testament Church. But man and woman are part of the New Creation in Christ Jesus, and this opens up a new era for both: they have a real opportunity to fulfil the roles that He had set for them "in the beginning." With the presence of the Lord Jesus within, and all the resources of the Holy Spirit at their disposal the Christian man can be a second Adam again, and the Christian woman can be a second Eve again, and both can try once again to live within the spheres of their God-given powers and responsibilities and do a better job of it this time round.

END OF SECTION