[Philip Payne, in his egalitarian treatise Man and Woman, One in Christ (Zondervan)] argues that the call for wives to submit to their husbands is culturally limited, for [as Payne claims] Paul doesn’t draw on creation in Ephesians 5:22–33 or Colossians 3:18–19. The Pauline resistance to hierarchy [according to Payne] is evident in his call for Philemon to free Onesimus and for slaves to avail themselves of freedom if possible (1 Corinthians 7:21). The Pauline paradigm for marriage is mutual submission (Ephesians 5:21) and mutual love. The reciprocal pronoun “one another” in Ephesians 5:21 cannot mean that only some submit to others. The pronoun is comprehensive, so that all believers (male and female/slave and free) are called upon to submit to one another. [Payne argues that the] word “head” in Ephesians 5:23 means “source” since it is in apposition to the word “Savior.” Husbands, as the source of their wives, nourish and support their wives.
Payne rightly sees that Paul does not endorse slavery. Instead he regulates and modifies an existing evil institution. Nevertheless, it is quite unclear that Paul demanded Philemon to free Onesimus. Indeed, in 1 Timothy 6:1–2 Paul exhorts slaves to serve their masters and does not command masters to free their slaves. It seems that Payne has a tendency to accept too easily readings that are palatable to our culture. He also seems to assume that if the pronoun in Ephesians 5:21 is reciprocal, then husbands should submit to wives. But this reading should be rejected, for as I pointed out above, does it also follow that parents should submit to children and masters to slaves? Some may answer in the affirmative, but such an interpretation betrays a modern mindset. Neither Paul nor any other biblical writer ever calls upon husbands to submit to wives, parents to submit to children, or masters to submit to slaves. Those in authority must love and treat well those who are under their authority, but they are never called upon to submit to them. I understand Ephesians 5:21 to speak of mutual submission in the church. As believers we are to submit to one another, but it does not follow from this that husbands should submit to wives. In other words, I agree with Payne that “one another” (allēlois) does not designate the submission of some to others, but it does not follow from this that mutual submission is enjoined for husbands and wives. Verse 21 specifies the need to submit to one another as fellow believers in the body of Christ. Such a calling does not yield the conclusion that husbands should submit to wives.
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Author: Thomas R. Schreiner
Keywords: head covering, Covering one's head, Female head covering, Headship, Male headship, Kephale, Philip Payne, Authority over, Subjection, Submission, Wives subject to husbands, Wives subject to their husbands, Wifely submission, Egalitarian, Women, Feminism, Female equality, Equality of sexes
Bible reference(s): 1 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Corinthians 11:8, Ephesians 5:22-24, Eph 5:33, Col 3:18-19
Source: “Philip Payne on Familiar Ground,” Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, Vol. 15, No. 1, November 30, 1999.
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