Dear Arnold

Christian Party

Dear Arnold,

It's VERY difficult to confuse yourself over the meaning of "head" given the context of it's appearance in this verse THREE times:

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

An equation is made between the relationship of God to Christ, namely that God is the "head" of Christ, of Christ to man, namely that Christ is the "head" of man, and of man to woman, namely that man is the "head" of woman.

Even by itself, that's real hard to miss. But let's see what Strong's says anyway:

G2776

?efa??ï¿½

kephaleï¿½
kef-al-ay'

Probably from the primary word?aï¿½pt? kaptoï¿½ (in the sense of seizing); the head (as the part most readily taken hold of), literally or figuratively: - head.

Here's an example of how Jesus Himself used this very word:

Mat 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?

Paul also used this exact same word to refer to "above all" in relationship to "principality", "power", "might", and "dominion".

Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

As a minimum, wouldn't you agree that "head" refers to "authority over"?

Sincerely,

John Knight

Dear Arnold,

Of course the word "head" is used metaphorically in many verses, and in particular in these. Your usual clarity of head seems to have completely abandoned you on this particular topic. Is that a literal or a metaphorical use of "head"? How could you possibly read these verses and believe that Jesus was the literal "head" of principality and power, and might and dominion? It's hard to envision how you believe that could be possible unless He was the metaphorical head, or leader of, or ruler over, principality and power, etc.

Ditto for the relationship between Jesus and God, man and Jesus, and woman and man. When you read this in the past, did you always read it literally, envisioning all of God in the literal head of Jesus, and all of Jesus [including His body and His head which contains God] in the literal head of man, and all of that in the literal head of woman? I suppose it's possible that you never considered the metaphorical use of "head" as ruler over, but now that you have, you are finally released from such delusions and free to appreciate the real beauty of God's Orderly Arrangement, or "kosmos".

What's the relationship between Jesus and God which is equivalent to the relationship between man and woman? Jesus called God His "father", "thou shalt worship the LORD thy God", "him only shalt thou serve", "with God all things are possible", "love the LORD thy God with all thy heart", "there is none good but one, God".

Modified Tuesday, November 02, 2010