OK, I finished the entire hour-long discourse. As I said above, it's obvious that authority is paramount in McLeod's understanding of the passage in 1 Cor. 11. He neglects, however, to provide an overview of the conditions at the church of Corinth due in part to the large number of gentile converts who came from pleasure-seeking, sensuous practices, worship of idols, close friendships with heathens, etc. Also worth mentioning is the fact that Paul receives numerous reports of behaviors that have needed correcting; questions from them that needed clarification; and the letters Paul sent regarding immorality, food sacrificed to idols, marriage, etc.
So McLeod begins with stating (rather emphatically) that the words "head of" reflect God's governing order. In that ordained order, "head" means one who is authority over...."
He ridicules "source" as the meaning of head/Kephale, but had he skipped down to verses 11-12, he could have confirmed the meaning as "source" as Paul clearly summarizes the passage by leveling the field (so to speak) by emphasizing the word "originate" between God, Jesus, man and woman.
1Cor 11:11 However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
1Cor 11:12 For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God. The problem with reading a hierarchy into verse 3 is that Christ was indeed subordinate to God, but that was true only His human nature, not His deity. Also, scripture qualifies His subordination to God by stating it was true " for a time" not eternally. (Heb. 2:9) And though He was equal with the Father, He took the form of a bond servant and both humbled and emptied Himself. (Phil. 2:6-8)
Next, the problem with reading authority and/or hierarchy in the phrase: the head of every man is Christ...implies that Jesus is not the authority over every woman. Absurd.
And finally the problem (with verse 11) implying authority of a husband over his wife, is lacking scriptural evidence that supports such authority required or commanded of a husband. To my knowledge, the only command in scripture for a husband is that he love his wife. Ephesians tells husbands to love their wives using Christ's love for the church in giving Himself up for it as the example. Furthermore, Ephesians 5:21 (and others) clearly speaks of mutual submission of one to another. Additionally, scripture speaks of
59 One-Anothers with nary a one mentioning having authority over others.
So much for incorrectly interpreting 1 Cor. 11:3 imo as it contradicts many other passages regarding the equality of believers and trying to emphasize the "equal but different" theory that has no support.
Enough for now....
Thoughts?