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IS THE SON NOT SUBORDINATE TO

THE FATHER IN THE TRINITY?

Some evangelical feminists claim that the doctrine of

the eternal subordination of the Son is contrary to

historic orthodox Christian doctrine

Several egalitarians, such as Gilbert Bilezikian, have recently claimed

that the doctrine of the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father
(in role, not in being) is contrary to the historic Trinitarian doctrine of
the church.

But first, let me repeat a bit of the background on this issue.^1 Why
does Bilezikian write about the Trinity in relationship to the debate over
men’s and women’s roles in the church? It is because many complemen-
tarians, including myself, have claimed a parallel between the Trinity and

marriage. Just as the Father and Son in the Trinity are equal in deity and
equal in importance but different in roles, so the husband and wife in
marriage are equal in human personhood and equal in importance but
different in roles. This is based in part on 1 Corinthians 11:3:

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ,

the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

(^1) The following two paragraphs are essentially repeated from chapter 12 above, where the doc-
trine of the Trinity came up in relation to Kevin Giles.