complementarianism

complementarianism

• Belief that men and women have different but complementary roles/ responsibilities in marriage, family life and religious leadership 

• Some christians interpret the bible as prescribing complementarianism and therefore adhere to gender specific roles that preclude women from specific functions of ministry within the community 

male priority + female submission

• Man was created with ‘headship’ over woman by being created first 

•  Believe that both old and and new testaments set a pattern of male leadership (for example the Apostles of Jesus were all male) 

• While women may assist in the decision-making process, the ultimate authority for the decision is the purview of the male in marriage, courtship, and in the polity of churches subscribing to this view. 

• A husband is considered to have the God-given responsibility to provide for, protect, and lead his family. A wife is to collaborate with her husband, respect him, and serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. 

ministerial roles

• Complementarians have traditionally held that christian ministers ought to be men, because of the need to represent Jesus Christ, who was the ‘son’ of God, and incarnate as a male human being 

• The woman shares in the divine image through the man because she was created out of him, and in his ‘glory’ 

aquinas

• quinas declares that women are ‘deficiens et occasionatus’ meaning defective and misbegotten 

• Aquinas asserts that females are inherently subordinate to males, an that this subjection existed even before sin 

• For Aquinas, female subordination is not a result of the fall, but part of the created order 

• ‘Women should have been produced in the eden, since she is necessary for the generation of the species’ 

• Women are important not for any inherent value or virtue, but for their ability to reproduce 

STRENGTH: john piper

• Argues that women are not inferior when it comes to copacities of guidance and doesn’t think that men are innately more competent than women 

• But, argues that there are clear pointers, especially from Paul, that men are to assume a God-given, holy, humble, Christ-like servant responsibilities 

• argue that passages such as 1 Timothy 2:12 ("I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man") and Ephesians 5:22-33 ("Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands") clearly establish gender-specific roles 

COUNTER to piper

• Feminist theologians argue that complementarianism denies women agency, particularly in spiritual leadership. 

• Elizabeth Johnson, a Catholic feminist theologian, critiques complementarian models of leadership as excluding women from full participation in theological discourse and decision-making. 

• She asserts that restricting women from pastoral roles reinforces the perception that women are spiritually subordinate, limiting their contributions to Christian thought and practice. 

• complementarian teachings on submission in marriage, arguing that they can contribute to justifying domestic inequality and even abuse. 

• religious communities that uphold rigid gender roles often fail to recognize the harm caused by these teachings, particularly when they discourage women from seeking independence or protection from abusive relationships. 

WEAKNESS: misinterpretation of scriptural instruction

• Texts such as 1 Timothy have been misunderstood when read without their cultural and situational context 

• Complementarian readings impose modern hierarchial structures onto ancient documents that actually promoted mutuality 

• Egalitarian theologians highlight passages like Galatians 3:28 as evidence that early christianity broke from patriarchal norms 

• They argue that complementarianism, while appearing biblically faithful, selectively reads texts in ways that reinforce historical power structures rather than the liberating message of the gospel