The Creational Design of Male Headship

Some heirarchicalists teach that male headship was instituted by God as a part of creation and must therefore be permanent for all times and places. Even if headship were mentioned in the creation story of Genesis, it does not follow that it must be permanent. In Genesis 2:2-3 God creates a seventh day Sabbath day of rest, and yet most Christian denominations celebrate a different day of the week and do not follow the Seventh Day Adventists’ claim that the seventh day sabbath was for all times and places, that it was creational and cannot be repealed.

There is, however, no mention of male headship over the female throughout the Genesis account. With the clear account of the hierarchy of human over animal, one would think that the heirarchy of male over female would be emphasized there if not at least mentioned, if it were true, but it is not. “Nowhere is it stated that man was intended to rule over woman within God’s creation design.” [Gilbert Bilezikian, Beyond Sex Roles (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 1985), p. 25.]