SOME RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In recent years, complementarian theology has continued to evolve, thus providing further evidence that, in spite of what its proponents claim, it does not represent what the church has always taught. Kevin Giles notes that: 

'For centuries Christians simply reflected and endorsed the prevailing cultural norms of society, arguing that women are to be subordinated to men in all spheres of life - in the home, in the church and in every part of society. Theologians and clergy along with everyone else until the 1960s generally spoke of women as 'inferior' and of men as 'superior' and the Bible was interpreted to teach just this.'1

'Prior to 1960, virtually all theologians were agreed that:

1. Man was created first to show he is first in rank. For example, writing as late as 1957, the evangelical Donald Guthrie says, 'The priority of man’s creation places him in a position of superiority over women.'

2. Woman is responsible for the fall. The historic interpretation of 1 Timothy 2: 14 is that Paul blames the woman for the fall and the lesson to be learned is that  women are more prone to sin and error. Donald Guthrie says that Paul has in mind 'the greater aptitude of the weaker sex to be led astray.'

3. Women should not hold authority either in the home, in the church or in the state. Charles Hodge writes that '(Man's) superiority...enables and entitles him to command... His superiority is...taught in Scripture, founded in nature and proved by all experience' In no sphere of life should women be in authority over men.

4. Women should keep silent in all public settings, not just the church. Charles Hodge says the Scriptures forbid women from 'speaking in public, especially in the church.''1

However, in the light of the social revolution of the 1960s the view that women are inferior to men could no longer be maintained. Complementarians could no longer use this as a basis for the subordination of women and were forced to rethink their theology. As a result, the complementarian arguments put forward for the subordination of women today are not the same as those put forward by theologians before 1960. A number of elements in the contemporary complementarian position are therefore entirely novel.

A Novel Use Of Language

Using a phrase first suggested by George Knight in 1977, complementarians started describing men and women as 'equal but with different roles.' This was a subtle change of language to make their case more palatable to the modern ear, acknowledging that they believed women were equal with men in value and dignity but disguising the fact that essentially they still believed that men were designed to lead and women were designed to obey.

A Novel Basis For Their Arguments

As well as this, complementarians now started to base their arguments for the subordination of women not on their inferiority but on the concept of male headship. 'George Knight argued that 1 Corinthians 11: 3 speaks of a 'chain of subordination'. In descending order of authority stand the Father, the Son, man and woman. In making this argument Knight grounded the subordination of women not only in creation but also in the life of God in eternity. But in arguing that the divine persons of the Trinity are in eternity hierarchically ordered, he...broke with historic orthodoxy.'1 As we have seen, this view had been branded as heresy by the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and, according to Aimee Byrd2, was firmly rejected again by a conference of evangelicals in America in 2016.

Novel Interpretations Of Key Bible Texts

The complementarian position today also includes novel interpretations of key texts. Kevin Giles writes that unlike theologians of the past, complementarians these days claim that: 'Junia, mentioned in Romans 16:7, cannot be an apostle like James, Apollos and Timothy, despite the fact this is what Paul seems to say. She cannot be an apostle exercising authority and teaching because she is a woman.'1

'Complementarians agree that women were prophets and prophesied but prophecy, they now tell us, is not an authoritative word ministry like teaching and so it must not be seen as a form of preaching. In contrast, most Protestant theologians and commentators before the complementarians came on the scene argued that prophecy is a form of preaching...and it was one of the most important ministries in the early church.'1

In 1 Corinthians 14: 33b–36 (many) complementarians argue that Paul specifically forbids women from judging prophecies. Kevin Giles, however, says: 

'I cannot find this interpretation of these verses in any commentary or theological book before 1960. Furthermore, it is novel to say that the commands for women to keep silent (1 Corinthians 14: 34; 1 Timothy 2: 11) only apply in the church and that 'male headship' only applies in the home and in the church.'1

'Contemporary complementarians reject the historic idea that in 1 Timothy 2: 14 Paul grounds the subordination of women in 'ontological arguments'. Instead they now argue that women’s subordination is grounded in the 'creation order'. They also reject the historic interpretation of this verse, that women 'are liable to deception' and opt instead for their own novel interpretation that Paul is speaking of the dire consequences of 'role reversal.''1

'When it comes to the translation of the highly disputed verb 'authentein' in 1 Timothy 2: 12, complementarians reject the translation given by the Authorized Version of 1611, 'to usurp authority,' and the somewhat literal Revised Version of 1884, 'to have dominion' over a man. They argue instead for the neutral modern translation, 'exercise authority,' which...has no historical or semantic support.'1

'Lastly, I mention 1 Timothy 2: 15 which says that women 'will be saved through child bearing.' This text has had a number of interpretations over the centuries but never the characteristic complementarian exegesis that 'women will be spiritually preserved if they devote themselves to their God-given role in the domestic and familial sphere.'1

Notes

1. What The Bible Actually Teaches About Women by Kevin Giles

2. Recovering From Biblical Manhood And Womanhood by Aimee Byrd