"Federal Headship" refers to the
representation of a group united under a federation or covenant. For
example, a country's president may be seen as the "Federal Head" of their
nation, representing and speaking on its behalf before the rest of the
world.
The term, "Federal Headship," joins a long line of terms created by the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) in elevating men over women. The term has no scriptural basis and therefore no authority.
This business about Adam being the "Federal Head" of humanity is absurd.
But thanks to massive funding that extends the reach of CBMW, the teaching has caught on and is taking hold even in denominations that, historically, have not been complementarian.
Claiming that Adam is the "Federal Head" of all humanity, is nothing more than the "My Sin is Better than Your Sin" paradigm that I wrote about in the book, Woman this is War! Gender Slavery and the Evangelical Caste System."
Proponents of Male Headship are so desperate to lionize manhood and subjugate women, that they go so far as to glorify and elevate Adam's . They transmute it from a tragedy to a veneration of the male sex by [essentially] saying, "See how important men are? Even a man's sin causes more devastation than a woman's!"
The fact that all humanity did not fall when the woman sinned had nothing to do with "Federal Headship." Her sin was equally as bad as his sin, except that he had not sinned...yet.
Wait, there was still one human on earth who had not yet sinned? All humanity had not yet fallen? So, Adam could have legitimately continued eating from the Tree of Life? He could still have lived forever?
What, at any point before he sinned, would have prevented him from continuing to walk in unbroken fellowship with (and obedience to) his creator?
The answer to these questions are obvious to those not blinded by prejudice and tradition. Humanity did not fall when the woman sinned, because God is just, and there was still one sinless human left on the planet.
Adam would not have been punished for the sin of someone else.
Humanity did not fall when the woman sinned, because there was one sinless human left on the planet. It had nothing to do with the sin of a man being more important than the sin of a woman
When Ishshaw disobeyed God, she sealed her fate, but not that of her husband's. Iysh, could have gone on with God and lived forever. Elohiym may have even created another Ishshaw for him (Iysh and Ishshaw are Hebrew for the words, man/husband and woman/wife). We cannot know what the possibilities might have been. But we do know that Iysh stood right beside his wife and allowed her to commit suicide in his mad hope that the Serpent was telling the truth.
He did nothing to stop her.
Both, the woman and the man wanted to be as gods. Their sins were equal. They both paid the ultimate price for their own individual sin. Humanity, paid the price, because we are all descended from a pair of fallen humans.
Sin had became genetic. Both, of our first parents passed the sin-gene on to all of their descendants.
Adam, rightly, gets credit for causing the Fall of humanity,but not because his sin was more important than that of a woman. Rather, because he was the last sinless human in existence; and he made the wrong choice. From that point on, the only kind of off-spring the first couple could produce, would be off-spring infected with death.
It is no deeper than that.
Matt Slick, at Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, wrote, "if Eve had as much knowledge as Adam did regarding the command to not
eat from the tree, then sin entering the world through Adam and not her
is strong support of the teaching of a Federal headship. All the
egalitarians can do is deny that Eve had sufficient knowledge of
prohibition to not eat of the tree; but, this they cannot rationally do..."
That statement, by Matt Slick, is patently false. Ishshaw had the same knowledge as Iysh regarding the command to not eat of the Tree. She was deceived into believing that she would not die, but she knew exactly what she was doing in regards to eating the fruit and wanting to be as God, and so did her husband, Iysh.
So where is the evidence for a Federal Headship?
When Adam sinned, Ishshaw was not yet "Eve.". Genesis 5:2 tells us that she was also Adam (pronounced audawm). Her husband had yet to pull off his successful coup by "naming her" as if she were one of the animals. We all know the story of how Iysh usurped the name Adam [audawm] for himself alone after the Fall, by naming his wife "Eve."
God never gave him that right., but it stood, because it was God's prophecy being fulfilled when sin compelled Iysh to make that first move to dominate Ishshaw by naming her.
Up to the present day, Iysh continues in his tireless efforts to dominate Ishshaw. And the Father of Lies still deceives women into believing that this is right. That too, is prophecy fulfilled.
Iysh stood right beside Ishshaw, and watched--saying nothing--to see if his wife would live or die after taking that fateful bite.
Where was the love? Why the willingness to allow her to take such a chance? Why didn't he cry out, or reach
out, to prevent her hand from stretching forth to pluck that fruit? What
was it that made his sin more glorious, and of greater import, than her
sin? What was it about the sin of that first man that somehow proves that all
men are now entitled to be lords of all women?
Federal Headship is just another name for Male Headship or patriarchy. For the idea of a Federal Headship to fly,
in the face of Adam's willingness to lose his wife in the gamble for
godhood, complementarians have also transformed
Adam's sin into a noble suicide of sorts. They convert his desire to
follow the Serpent and
"be as God," into a love for his wife so desperate that he was willing
to die with her
rather than live without her.
Of course that argument collides with the
fact that he immediately threw her under the bus (so to speak) when
Elohiym confronted them both with their sin.
So much for the sacrificial love idea.
Male Headship is sin.
The good news is, that Jesus [the only person in existence who can be called the Federal Head of humanity] forgives and delivers from sin. He said we could know the truth that would make us free. The Bible says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Ishshaw [along with Iysh] is commanded to walk in the liberty wherewith the Lord has made us free.
Woman
this is WAR! Gender Slavery and the Evangelical Caste System Chronicles
the early history of the women's rights movements, as well as the role of
church leadership in aggressively suppressing both women's rights and the
historical record of Christian initiatives within the movements. Through the
complementarian movement, many of the same arguments used to support the
institution of slavery, are still used today in suppressing the rights of
Christian women. This book documents identical arguments used by Christian
leaders against both movements, and is an unparalleled resource for all who
desire an in-depth study of gender equality from a Christian perspective. The
book also examines Bible commentary and
translation practices which have historically been
androcentric (male centered) and even misogynistic (anti-woman). These have
adversely effected understanding of the scriptures, relations between women and
men, the happiness of men and women, and hindered the work of the gospel. The
history of women’s rights is traced back [much further than usual] to the very
first feminists…who were Christians—godly women, who brought the issue
of women's rights to the forefront as they struggled to alleviate the suffering
of others, and found they were hindered in doing so for no other reason than
the fact of their sex. This work, provides valuable historical insight into
Christian initiatives in the movements for women’s rights, that are rarely
included in Christian literature. Visit this link for more information or to
buy the book: Woman
this is WAR! Gender Slavery and the Evangelical Caste System
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