Wives Submit?

“Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22).

There are two major views about this injunction by Paul. Is this a universal principle or a cultural construct?

Complementarianism

The first is called complementarianism. It is the view that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family, and religious life.

This view says that women are supposed to be homemakers, housewives, and be submissive and obedient to their father, and after their married, to their husbands. They are not allowed to teach, preach or have authority over men. This is usually called patriarchy.

Egalitarianism

The other view is egalitarianism. This is the view “that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities” (Oxford English Dictionary). For them, “there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28)

A good case can be made that this isca cultural construct and not a universal principle. For in the same context of wives submission is the injunction, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ” (Eph. 6:5).

Now clearly slavery was a cultural construct. And in the same passage where Paul said there is “no longer male and female”, he slso says there is “no longer slave or free” (Gal. 3:28). If the first was a cultural construct, then clearly the second is too.

Personal Experience

I can tell you from personal experience, complementarianism will ruin your marriage. No woman wants to be treated as a second class citizen. And to do so is to deny that they are truly equal

A better way is given in the verse just before this where it says, “being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21). Mutual respect and cooperation is a better model for a marriage.

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Jay N. Forrest

I am a Christian Teacher focused on the Pursuit of God through Prayer, Contemplation, Silence, Solitude, and Simplicity. I became a Christian in 1983, attended Bible school, and eventually earned my Doctorate in Ministry. I served as a Protestant minister for 27 years and also spent about a decade practicing Buddhism. In 2005, I was baptized into the Catholic Church, but have since joined the Episcopal Church. I live in the desert southwest of the United States.

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