1) Definitions (Biblical terms, not modern slogans)
Head in Scripture is not a joke word. It is the governing term for authority, source, and accountability within an ordered unity.
- Christ → Church: Head → Body pattern (the governing template).
- Husband → Wife: household headship framed to reflect that template.
- Unity is not sameness; unity is many members under one head, moving together.
2) Core propositions (claims that will be used later)
- Headship is sacrificial, not predatory. The model Head lays down His life for the Body.
- Marriage is presented as a living parable of Christ and the Church, not merely romance.
- A divided body collapses. Scripture treats division as destruction, not “freedom.”
- Submission is not inferiority. It is ordered cooperation in a covenant structure.
- Authority implies accountability. The head bears weight, responsibility, and judgment.
Important guardrail: This series does not justify tyranny or cruelty. In Scripture, abusive headship is condemned, judged, and removed.
The pattern is Christlike: protection, provision, holiness, and self-sacrifice.
Why this matters: If you deny head/body order, you will inevitably interpret marriage as a disposable contract, not a covenant structure.
The rest of the argument depends on establishing the template first.
3) The pattern is rooted in creation, not the curse
Ephesians 5 appeals back to Genesis. The household parable is not invented in the New Testament—it is framed from the beginning.
- The woman is created as a corresponding helper; the man is accountable as the covenant head.
- “One flesh” is presented as covenant union, not merely physical chemistry.
- The curse distorts order, but does not create the order.
4) Household unity mirrors covenant unity
The Bible uses marriage imagery to describe covenant fidelity (and covenant infidelity). This is why household disorder is never “just personal.”
- Christ is described as Husband; His people are described as Bride/Body.
- When the covenant people rebel, Scripture depicts it as adultery/whoredom (spiritual unfaithfulness).
- The goal is restoration under one Head, not fragmentation under competing wills.
5) Practical implication preview (why men must understand this first)
This series is written primarily to Christian men. If the head/body pattern is denied, everything downstream becomes “emotion-first,” covenant breaks become “freedom,” and the church absorbs Babylon’s definitions while still speaking Christian vocabulary.
- If Christ is Head, then covenant unity is the ethical baseline; division is a sin against order.
- If the household mirrors the covenant, then “husband swapping” and serial monogamy are not neutral lifestyle choices—they are covenant chaos.
- If headship implies accountability, then men cannot pretend there are no consequences “in Christ” for covenant disorder.