This is part of a series on patriarchy, headship, and submission. See this index.
Over at Sigma Frame, Jack and Red Pill Apostle have coauthored a piece on the biblical male-female marital roles by citing 16 different passages. In the introduction, they set up Headship Submission and mock the notion of mutual submission, dismissing it as a modern feminist invention.
Free Northerner continues:
Ephesians
Let’s review the passage in Ephesians in its fuller context, undoing non-literal Greek-to-English verb translations that had removed the ellipsis in the original:
And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled with the Spirit:
speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
singing and making music with your heart to the Lord
giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
submitting to one another in the fear of Christ, wives to their own husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, himself the Savior of the body, but as the church submits to Christ, so also wives to their husbands in everything.
Contrary to Free Northerner’s claim, the use of “wives” here does not show a clear transition from one thought to another.
First, the imperative verb filled is the key that grammatically ties all of the participles (speaking, singing, making, giving, submitting) together into a single unified whole. The whole stands in contrast to reckless living, as John Chrysostom reasoned similarly[2]:
— John Chrysostom, Homily 26, 1 Corinthians 11:3
Third, the church submitting is mentioned twice in the passage above, both before and after the mention of wifely submission: first in “submitting to one another” and then in “as the church submits.” The submission of the church and the submission of wives are simultaneously in view. Given the statement “…as the church submits to Christ, so also wives to their husbands in everything…”, it is absurd to say that “submitting to one another in the fear of Christ” is unrelated to “wives to their own husbands as to the Lord.” The two concepts—mutual submission and wifely submission—are clearly related. The example of mutual submission of the church to each other, in their submission to Christ, is the very reason for wives, in their submission to Christ, submitting to their husbands![4]
Fourth, all of the acts are tied together by their connection with the Lord: being “in the Lord” or “as to the Lord” or “in the name of the Lord” or “as is proper in the Lord.” Most importantly, the phrase “in the Lord” does not modify any specific word in the sentence, but governs the overall context of the verse(s). Submitting—of the members of the church, or wives to their husbands—occurs under the umbrella of our connection with the Lord and nothing else.[5] The reason for the submitting (along with the singing, giving, etc.) being in the Lord is to be filled with the Spirit.
Fifth, the verb participle ‘submitting’ when referring to the husband and wife is elided, an ellipses that forces together the two halves of the fragmentary clauses (v22 and v23) into a grammatically dependent relation with each other. It implies that the submitting of the members of the church is of the same type as the submitting of a wife to her husband (and all under the same connection with Christ). In particular, as per the third point above, the wifely submission is best understood as an example of mutual submission in the church.
Contrary to Free Northerner’s claim, the context of the passage shows a clear dependency of thought.
Colossians
Free Northerner cites two relevant passages in Colossians and 1 Peter. We can now examine these to see if the Word of God itself supports the claim being made. Let’s start by comparing Ephesians with Colossians, both written by Paul:
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is pleasing in the Lord.
Ephesians 5:18,22-23,28
Be filled with the spirit [..] …submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ, wives to their own husbands as to the Lord… [..] In the same way, husbands are obligated to love their own wives as their own bodies.
First, as in Ephesians, Paul groups submitting, loving, and obeying together as submissive acts.
Second, Paul differentiates between obedience, submission, and love. While they are all submissive in nature, the precise nature is not equivalent. Submission, for example, is not obedience. Nor is the submission of a wife to her husband the same as the submissive nature of loving his wife. In practical terms, their implementation is different: domain specific. All are submissive in their own way, but the focus of each is unique.
Third, in all cases the submissive act (obedience, submission, love) is an act of free will by the person performing the act, not a thing commanded by another. This is confirmed by the use of the Middle Voice in the Greek.
Free Northerner is correct that Colossians and Ephesians say the same thing, but incorrect when he says that neither teach mutual submission. The key flaw is treating loving separately from submitting and obeying, as if only the latter are submissive. The three are clearly grouped together. We can see this even more clearly in Peter.
Peter
1 Peter 5:5-6
In the same way, you who are younger, submit to the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that he will exalt you at the proper time…
Second, as I pointed out in “The Context of Genesis 3:16“, Peter uses “in the same way” three times in his letter: 3:1, 3:7, and 5:5. In each case, the context is submission, which is mentioned 2:13, 2:18, 3:1, and 5:5. This is important because of 1 Peter 3:1,7:
Peter broadly states that members of the church, in Christ[7], will need to submit to every good or evil human institution, be it king or governor (2:13-14), or masters (2:18), or in the same way husbands (3:1), or in the same way wives (3:7), or in the same way elders (5:5) or the members of the church (5:5-6).[8] Peter strongly asserts that all members of the church must show submission and humility in the way that fits their specific situation.
Third, Peter wants the submission to occur voluntarily even when the recipient of the submission is evil and responds with evil actions. Even though submission in the church is expected to be mutual, the requirement to submit is not based on the other party also submitting, whether it be to commoner’s kings, slave’s masters, wive’s patriarchal husbands, husband’s unbelieving wives, or the young one’s elders. While Peter is mostly concerned with submission by a believer to an unbeliever (1 Peter 2-3), if both parties are believers, then mutual submission is the logical result of each person fulfilling their duty to be submissive (1 Peter 5).
In commanding each member of the church to voluntarily submit to each other, mutual submission is the necessary consequence of a properly functioning church of believers. And so contrary to Free Northerner’s claim, the Bible does indeed teach mutual submission by teaching the individual components that necessarily make it up. It builds this foundation in the very three passages that Free Northerner claims do not support it!
Fallacy of the Excluded Middle
Jack and Red Pill Apostle have committed the fallacy of the excluded middle. That feminists misuse scripture and Jack and RPA oppose the feminists does not make mutual submission a false doctrine. The Word of God is what it is. Just because anyone can use or abuse it does not validate or invalidate their views.
We can identify the flaw in both feminism and patriarchy as focusing on power dynamics and grasping authority.[9] In the seven New Testament passages given by Jack and RPA, not one of them sets up a husband as a leader over his wife, nor do any suggest that wives should ever seek power over their husbands. Indeed, the overriding commands to all Christians in the church are to be humble and submissive, giving honor and respect due and service to others, even to the unbeliever.
The New Testament teaches mutual submission. It instructs all members of the church, which necessarily includes husbands and wives, to submit to each other. This submission is not equal (for example, the reasons the young submit to the old is not the same as the reasons the old submit to the young), but it is still submission and it is still mutual, that is, goes both ways.
— Eye of Sauron @ Sigma Frame, “16 Bible Passages for Teaching Wives and Daughters about Male-Female Roles and Marriage”
Lastly, the commands to submission in the Bible are qualified by the governing context of it being in Christ. We conclude, therefore, with Paul’s statement that…
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Galatians 3:28 (KJV)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Additional Reading
- Matters of Interpretation, “Study Notes — Ephesians 5:21-33“
Although, by the time the husbands have gotten done loving the wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, submission might look like the easier job description.
- Carolyn Oseik, “Household Codes“
- Ian Paul @ Psephizo, “Aristotle and the Household Codes“
Footnotes
[1] John F. Hobbins is the pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He specializes in ancient Hebrew poetry.
[2] John Chrysostom was decidedly patriarchal. Of 1 Corithians 11:12, he quibbled over the Greek prepositions used and argued that it still implied male superiority. Nonetheless, Chrysostom did not view male superiority as originating with creation or Christ being the head, but rather justified it as the natural way of things, a consequence of the curse of the fall, and a practical way to avoid contention (or chaos; recklessness).
[3] Not unbelievers.
[4] The church submits to one another because they submit to Christ (v23), that is, they imitate Christ’s example. Wives submit to their husbands because the church submits to Christ (v24), an example of the church submitting to each other in imitation of Christ’s example. Both the submission of the church to one another and the submission of wives to their husbands is because everyone is to imitate Christ, who himself submitted to his Father. Submission—acts of sacrifice, service, humility, honor, love, obedience, and peace—is desirable for all, regardless of authority.
[5] The governing context of in Christ also applies to everything in “…so also wives to their husbands in everything“. This is made explicit in that everything is qualified by “as the church submits to Christ.”
[6] 1 Peter 2:18 says that slaves should submit to their masters in fear of God. The same word is used in Ephesians 5:21 where the members of the church are to submit to each other in fear of Christ. Compare Ephesians 5:22 with 1 Peter 2:1, which is the submission of wives in the same way.
[7] Just as Paul set the governing context to being in Christ.
[8] Do you submit to the government in the same way that you want your wife to submit to you? Do you submit to your pastor in the same way as you want your wife to submit to you?
[9] Feminist egalitarianism must fail because it is rooted in power dynamics and rebellion, not cooperation. Similarly, male-female relationships that attempt to force submission by way of a power dynamic will be unlikely to succeed, because they are not based on cooperation.
[10] Women are not standing by waiting for men to teach them how to serve and obey men, nor are they waiting for men to explain how they can behave properly. They are in complete ignorance, bereft of a man teaching them how to do all of this. They are, like men, created in the image of God and have minds and the full moral agency that comes with it. This is why, like men, their choice to submit is a real meaningful choice subject to discernment. It is impossible to submit in Christ unless one already knows what is in Christ and what is not in Christ.
[11] Authority in the church is given by (or yielded by) others, there is no inherent exercise of authority. Just as Christ had no authority on his own, but that which was given to him by the Father, so to does no one in the church have any authority of their own, but that which is given. We are to submit to each other as Christ submitted to the Father, but although Christ was granted authority vertically—by the Father—members of the church are granted authority horizontally—through the submission of others. No one in the church has inherent authority over another, for the servant is the greatest leader.
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