The latest Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS 58/1, pp 131-149) has a fascinating article by D. Glenn Butner, Jr. entitled “Eternal Functional Subordination and the Problem of the Divine Will.” In it he argues that maintaining eternal functional subordination of the Son to the Father “is completely contrary to classical Christology” (p 131). In fact, “positing submission within the Godhead jeopardizes the metaphysical foundations of classical Christology and soteriology” (p 149).
He takes on the likes of Wayne Grudem and Bruce Ware (among others) who have forcefully argued that the Son eternally submits to the Father, which, as is well known, is their theological footing for maintaining a model of authority/submission between a man/husband and woman/wife. Butner (wisely) limits the scope of his paper to Christological and soteriological concerns, concluding with these bold words:
This debate is not just a matter of egalitarians versus complementarians. It is a matter of fidelity to the theology we have been given so that we can rightly proclaim the gospel today and preserve sound doctrine for the generations to come.
(p 149)
I highly recommend Butner’s article to you.
