Alright cage-stage Calvinists, this might not be a discussion on God's sovereignty, but it is a moment you have been waiting for (as ordained by God from eternity past).
Responding to Baylor professor Beth Allison Barr's "takedown" of Biblical complementarianism, this Twitter user goes 180° in the opposite direction, arguing that patriarchy is the biblical model instead of complementarianism or egalitarianism.
Before we dive in any further, let's just quickly define each term.
Got Questions uses a couple of different sources to define the conflicting terms:
Summarized by "The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood," complementarianism is the viewpoint that God restricts women from serving in certain church leadership roles and instead calls women to serve in equally important, but complementary roles.
Summarized by "Christians for Biblical Equality," egalitarianism is the viewpoint that there are no biblical gender-based restrictions on ministry in the church. With both positions claiming to be biblically based, it is crucially important to fully examine what exactly the Bible does say on the issue of complementarianism vs. egalitarianism.
Generally, conservatives side with a complementarian model, which denies women can be pastors or serve in positions over men (1 Timothy 2:11 – 14), and liberals tend towards egalitarianism or the "equality of the sexes" approach.
Smash Idols has a different perspective, throwing out this binary completely.
Here are his thoughts:
God created men and women equally as both were created in the image of God. (Gen 1:27) However, God created men to be the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the Church. (Eph 5:23) This is not a difference in value but of authority.
Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. In 1 Peter 3:17 we are told women are the weaker vessel. This is the same way that fine china is weaker than a regular dinner plate. They are to be handled carefully because they have been made more delicately.
Women are told in Eph 5:22 to submit to their husband. This hierarchy of authority existed before the fall and the curse of the fall for women was that their desire would be to rule over their husbands. (Gen 3:16) This is Biblical Patriarchy which means father rule.
While we are thankful to our complementairian brothers and sisters who stand firm that the office of pastor is explicitly for men it falls short of a consistent Biblical ordering of society.
In Isaiah 3 God tells Israel He is going to judge them. The Lord said He will remove the mighty man, warrior, judge, prophet, diviner, and elder. In their stead God says, "their oppressors are children and women rule over them."
Jeremiah 51:30 describes the mighty warriors of Babylon as becoming like women. How much worse is it that we send our mothers, wives, and daughters to defend us?
In a rightly ordered Biblical society men would rule well. However, men often fail and God's curse of removing these male leaders can be seen in examples like with Deborah.
With no man to be judge, Deborah was judging Israel which was itself a judgment. When Barak refused to go into battle without Deborah by his side it was proclaimed that a woman would get the glory for defeating the Canaanites.
This isn't a girl boss moment but another judgment of the cowardice of the Israelite men.
A Biblically patriarchal society will have men ruling well who provide and protect their wives so they can relax into their femininity to love their husband and their children.
In conclusion, God created man and women equally in value. However, he created man to be the head of his wife as Christ is head of the church. Women are to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord and an excellent wife is the crown of her husband.
While I may not be ready to abandon the complementarian movement, these are definitely compelling arguments to consider.
What do you ladies and gentlemen (and I do mean ladies and gentlemen) think? Feel free to share in the comments or discuss with your friends – just keep it civil and watch out for those cage-stagers!
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