Since this topic has come up in the third yahoo group in a row now, let me elaborate a little on the issue of submission.

1. People try to dance around the simple fact that submission means being obedient, that a wife has to be obedient to her husband like a servant to his master, like a child to the parents, like Christ to the Father. Gen 3:16 states already that the man is to rule over the woman - why ? Because it was the woman who was deceived, and who took the lead in what resulted in them being thrown out of the garden of Eden, while it was the man who let her do that. The curse says that in order to overcome man's sinful nature, husbands have to take the lead, while wives have to follow them. The New Testament repeats this plenty of times. Both parties seem to have a lot of difficulties with this these days though, and try to argue their way out of it by saying that submission is merely an attitude and doesn't actually mean that the wife has to obey her husband practically.

2. The two main Greek words used for "submission" and "obedience" are used synonymously, and do not denote different attitudes, as an article recommended on one of the groups suggests. Besides the fact that both are translated as "obey" and "submit/ be subject to" in different places in the bible, 1 Pe 3:5-6 uses both Greek words in one comparison: "For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement." If they referred to two different attitudes, one that doesn't leave the one who has to be obedient a choice, while the other indicates willful submission, as the article states, Peter could not compare the two without somehow explaining that he was comparing apples and oranges. You can look this up quickly in Strong's concordance which is also included into eSword, a free bible software that can be downloaded here:
eSword

In short: There is no difference between obedience and submission, and you cannot have one without the other, neither is one worth more than the other - they are the same.

Please read on here:

On Submission Part 2

Go to Part 3 here:

On Submission Part 3

Go to Part 4 here:

On Submission Part 4