her husband. On this basis, some adopt this "conservative" Christian position and others may feel obliged to reject the Church as a guide to understanding marriage. The second interpretation is that Paul here presumes as fact the cultural situation that husbands exercise authority over their wives (as he elsewhere presumes the practice of slavery), but this does not make that fact normative for all time. What is normative in the apostle's teaching is how authority is to be exercised and how it is to be respected. In cultures where authority is shared equally between spouses, what Paul says about the exercise of and obedience to authority remains valid and applies equally to either spouse. I favour the second position, but present purposes do not require resolution of this issue. Five points about the text will, I hope, meet with more universal acceptance. (i) Although the text speaks more about the wife being subject to the husband, verse 21 makes it clear that subjection to another is a normal part of Christian life. It is a matter of serving others. Presumably the husband can also to be subject to his wife. (ii) The relation of Jesus to the Church is a model for all who exercise authority, whether in marriage or outside of it. The words of Jesus concerning what it means to be master support this view.117 Those who exercise authority must serve and seek the good of their subjects. In the case of husbands, the call to serve wives is particularly demanding, extending even to the sacrifice of life if it is to imitate the love of Jesus for the Church. (iii) Those subject to legitimate authority, whether within marriage or outside of it, should respect authority just as the Church and its members should respect the authority of Jesus. Paul states: "Let everyone obey the authorities that are over him, for there is no authority except from God, and all authority that exists is established by God. As a consequence, the man who opposes authority rebels against the ordinance of God."118 As Chapter Four of
117
See, for example, Matthew 20, 20-28.
118
Romans, 13, 1-2.
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