---
title: 1 Corinthians 11:3
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-11-3/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-11-3.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 Corinthians 11:3
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 Corinthians 11:3

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

## JW Usage

The Watchtower cites 11:3 as clean proof of Christ's permanent subordination: "the head of Christ is God." If God is the head of Christ, Christ is a subordinate under God — therefore not God. This is deployed especially against Trinitarian claims of equality, pairing with John 14:28 ("the Father is greater than I") and 1 Corinthians 15:28 (the Son will be subjected to the Father). The verse becomes a standard Watchtower proof-text for ontological hierarchy between Father and Son.

## Protestant Usage

The Watchtower conflates role-order with nature-hierarchy. Paul's analogy is telling: "the head of the woman is the man." Husbands and wives are equal in nature — both bear the image of God — and distinct in role. The same pattern governs Paul's description of the Father and Son: equal in nature, distinct in role during the incarnation and its economy of salvation. Philippians 2:6-11 is the controlling text: Christ "was in the form of God" and "equal with God" before emptying himself into the servant role. The headship relation in 11:3 is within that economy, not against it. At the door: "If 'head of the woman is the man' meant the wife is not human, the verse proves too much. The Watchtower's reading turns equality-of-nature with distinction-of-role into hierarchy- of-being — the same category error in both directions."

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Incarnation Framework](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/philippians2.md) — Philippians 2:5–8 [Deity of Christ]
- [You Can't Cite a Bible You Say Is Corrupted](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/consistency-corrupt-bible-self-defeat.md) — The Selective-Appeal Inconsistency [Authority]
- [You're Already a Trinitarian — The Watchtower's Eternal Logos Problem](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/watchtower-eternal-logos-tu-quoque.md) — If two persons existed before creation, where's the "one"? [Deity of Christ]