Ethics
in Unethical Times
P. Andrew Sandlin, Editor
Summer 2010
Rejoicing in God’s
Lordship
While Rejecting the
Problematic Patriarchal
Paradigm for Women
(pp. 127 -137)
(pp. 127 -137)
An article by
Cynthia Kunsman
What Makes Patriarchy Significant?
There are currently many different
types of patriarchy within Evangelical Christianity, a term that
simply translates as “father rule,” describing a concept of male
governance. Though issues of gender were once previously viewed as a
non-essential observance of Christian doctrine in evangelical
circles, a formal movement began in the late 1970s to advance a
particular patriarchal view of gender hierarchy as essential
Christian doctrine, the observance of which is suggested to be
essential to the practice of Christian orthodoxy.1
These patriarchal concepts espoused in the Danvers Statement of the
Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood have become increasingly
popular and institutionalized since the statement’s original
publication. 2
From Wade Burleson’s advocacy to keep unmarried females in active
missionary service during his tenure on the International Missions
Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 3
the popularity of the “True Woman” Conference that boasted an
attendance of 6,300 women in October 2008, 4
the dismissal of female professors from Baptist seminaries, 5
to the protest of Sarah Palin as the 2008 U. S. Vice Presidential
Candidate,6 the gender
debate continues to demonstrate its growing relevance.
The very broad concept of contemporary
of patriarchy within Evangelical Christianity crosses nearly every
denominational boundary through the vehicle of home schooling, where
a Reformed presence exerts a great deal of influence. Some, but not
all, patriarchalists derive their core concepts from Covenant
Theology’s “Covenant of Redemption,” which has been
reinterpreted to support the belief in an eternal hierarchy within
and among the divine Persons of the Godhead.7
This concept of Eternal Subordinationism (ESS) maintains that God the
Father reigns as supreme over the other divine Persons in the
Trinity, followed in authority and position by Jesus the Son and the
Holy Spirit respectively.8
This is the commonly accepted term,
originally coinedby Giles, but it now accepted by Ware and Grudem,
the theory’s most contemporary and zealous evangelists. This
concept is then applied by analogy to support a permanent submission
model, relegating women within both marriage and family to the role
of “submitted sonship” to their personal patriarch.9
Christ is constrained to do the bidding
of God the Father under a novel social interpretation of the
Trinity,10 and
likewise, all women are analogously, ontologically, and eternally
subordinate to men.11
Though some groups reject a hierarchical view of the Trinity and vary
in regard to how they apply the concept to gender relations, these
patriarchal groups do share basic beliefs in a subordinate and
subservient role for women, beliefs that lead to both sacerdotalism
(priestcraft) and a unique type of familial and gender-based
ecclesiocentricity (church-centeredness). Activity in all areas of
life revolves around the designated family patriarch. Please explore
with me the comparisons and contrasts of a balanced view of women
with a few of the most notable problems with the gender agenda of the
patriarchalists.
The Basis of Balanced Conduct for
the Woman Who Honors God
Eternal Salvation by Grace
through Faith. Without distinction of gender, Paul
declares in chapter 2 of his epistle to the Ephesians that all
believers, given the gift of salvation,are created to do good works.
We are God’s workmanship without respect to gender, though Paul
tells us that believers have a particular and unique duty to carry
out God’s ordered plan for each of us, finely crafted by the
Creator for his marvelous plans and purposes (Rom. 6:13; Isa. 55:9;
Eph. 3:20). Considering God’s will through a process of deduction,
it is God’s desire that both genders embrace his irresistible
invitation or calling (klesis) to receive eternatl salvation
(Rom.11:29; 1 Cor. 1:26; 1 Cor. 7:20; Eph. 1:18; Eph. 4:1–4; Phil.
3:14; 2 Thess. 1:11; Tit. 1:9; Heb. 3:11; 2 Pet. 1:10). God gives
every believer special spiritual gifts of grace and virtue
(charismata) in order to equip him or her individually for his divine
plan (Rom. 1:11, 11:29, 12:6; 1 Cor. 7:7, 12; 2 Cor. 1:11; 1 Tim.
4:14; Tit. 1:6; 1 Pet. 4:10). Through the individual’s ministry of
love and use of their gifts, God fitly joins each believer with the
Body of Christ to both advance the ministry of the Church through
evangelism and to edify the Body in love (Eph. 4:1–16; 1 Cor. 13).
Ways in Which Women Honor God.
The New Testament establishes even more specifics of conduct for
women who believe in Christ (1 Cor. 11, 14; Eph. 5; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim.
2, 5; Tit. 2; 1 Pet. 3:1–12). A woman first becomes a Christian and
then serves God in a capacity that is appropriate to her gifts, which
he endowed in special creation as female. Marriage represents one
possible ministry for a woman, serving as a suitable helper to her
husband, though remaining single presents another equally valuable
alternative. A woman also powerfully serves God by working alongside
her husband to raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
A woman’s activities flow first from her identity in Christ and
then manifest through the unique gifts bestowed upon her by God (1
Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:16–24; 1 Jn. 3:17–19). Her activities flow
into more specific acts of worshipful vocation as directed by her
gifts, talents, and personality.
Faith-Based Locus of Control.
Scripture also encourages all believers to follow the
guidance and the witness of the Holy Spirit as God divinely puts his
very laws into the hearts and minds of those who believe in him (Heb.
10). In 2 Corinthians 5:7, Paul teaches us to walk by faith rather
than by sight, for our afflictions here are temporary and our
suffering will not compare to the glory that shall be revealed in us
(Rom. 8:18). In fact, we are called to be of good cheer and to
rejoice when we suffer because the experience works to bring forth
great blessings for us (Mt. 5; Jas. 1:1–2). Confidence and the
peace that passes all understanding do not come from outward
circumstances but through the assurance of trust and faith in God
(Jn. 14:27; Phil. 4:6–7). The Christian’s sense of control comes
from faith within and is based neither on the appearance of
circumstances nor on the outward standards of comparison of the
flesh.
Problems with the Patriarchal
Standard for Women
Patriarchal Roles Dictate Gifts
and Callings. When those who espouse the patriarchal
view mentioned earlier seek to understand how we should live in this
world on a practical level, their presuppositions concerning gender
teleology demand an interpretation of Scripture that follows a
humanistic perspective as opposed to a Christ-centered one. Rather
than beginning with woman’s soul, patriarchy starts with a woman’s
role, applying inductive reasoning to derive purposes from narrowly
defined standards as opposed to a deductive celebration of finding
that woman’s unique ministry in Christ.12
Gender role determines her gifts under the patriarchal paradigm, and
the earnest woman who desires nothing more than to submit herself
unto God’s Lordship is often called upon to forsake her gifts and
any personality traits that fail to neatly conform to the
patriarchalists’ vision.
I find it ironically fascinating to
note that the term “role” does not appear in the New Testament
but actually derives from the French language and is applied to
denote performance in a play. The only close equivalent to the word
“role” found in the New Testament is “hypocrisis,” the
transliterated term used by Jesus to condemn the legalistic standards
and performances of the Pharisees.13
Lacking true faith in God, the Pharisees acted out the religious
standards of their prescribed “roles” like the acting out of the
parts in a play about the outward manifestations of those expected to
have faith. The Messiah mocked these disingenuous performances of
legalism as a counterfeit of the spontaneous fruit of true faith.
Ontological Subordination of
Women. The patriarchal teachings regarding Eve’s origin
suggest that because Eve was taken from Adam’s substance, she is of
lesser essence than Adam, thus making all women tools created from
men for the essential purpose of enhancing the lives of men.14
Aberrant patriarchy defines Eve as the “indirect” image of God or
only a “derivative,” secondary created being, just a little lower
than Adam in essence. Adam was made in God’s image; but this
paradigm suggests that unlike Adam, Eve was made in man’s image,
thus only bearing God’s image indirectly. Nancy Campbell expands
upon this presupposition by stating that Eve was the only creature
that was not made as a new creation. Unlike all inanimate objects and
all other created beings including “all the animals, she was not a
new creation…. She was part of man. Out of man. Made for man.”15
Campbell’s extreme example not only
dehumanizes women by classifying them as less contingent upon the
Creator than inanimate matter itself, she highlights a more common,
vaguely defined teaching found throughout patriarchy subtly
suggesting that women require a male spiritual intercessor by
employment of the rhetorical technique of unstated assumption. Though
many in patriarchy employ this same technique in order to argue male
intercession for women by distorting Ephesians 5:22–32, Campbell’s
statement also echoes language that is traditionally understood to be
part of the Gospel of Reconciliation suggesting that the process of
redemption for women differs from the process of redemption for men
(1 Cor. 5:17–21). It also creates a false dilemma most easily and
directly satisfied by a human male mediator that has already been
suggested by this ontological argument.
Many believe that this patriarchal
paradigm objectifies and scapegoats women and subtly facilitates and
justifies spiritual, psychological, and/or physical abuse on a
theoretical level. As promoted by the presuppositions about a woman’s
constitutional subordination (a belief that women are more prone to
deception and sin than men), some patriarchalists find it easy to lay
blame for undesirable outcomes in life on the failure of the
inherently flawed woman, his ontological lesser. Many within
patriarchy tend to attribute marital problems and failures to the
“weaker vessel” that is presumed to be morally inferior to her
male spouse.
Some men scapegoat and blame women for
domestic abuse, framing physical abuse as an inevitable consequence
of a wife’s resistance of what patriarchy claims to be God’s
ordained “authority-submission structure.” The Christian husband
finds no other alternative but to resort to physical abuse of his
wife in response to what is defined as his wife’s sinful resistance
of his authority.16
Wives, therefore, not only provoke their own physical abuse but are
also required to submit to abuse because of their ordained
subordinate and submissive feminine role.17
For those who accept this concept of the Eternal Subordination of the
Son within the Trinity, it naturally follows that men rule over their
wives like God the Father reigns eternally over Jesus the Son,
assigning something of an analogous type of eternal Suffering Servant
role to women, albeit lacking any expectation of God’s satisfaction
with her travail (Isa. 53).
Controlling Outcomes Through
Works. Although the Reformed Faith clearly declares that the
believer can and should rest confidently in faith in God’s
sovereignty to order the circumstances of life, many patriarchalists
ardently strive to control circumstances by human means. Rather than
contentment through dominion over the self in every circumstance as
manifested by walking after the Spirit through faith, patriarchy
redefines Genesis 1:28 in terms of a system of pessimistic avoidance
of negative consequences through legalistic striving which demands a
focus upon formulas, lists and performance as the operational means
by which to please God (Rom. 8, Heb. 10–11). Followers believe that
negative circumstances and outcomes in life stem from the failure of
the believer to manifest a sufficient level of humility and
submission, a failure that exposes one to punitive harm and
consequences. Patriarchalists thus embrace a works-based causality in
practice rather than the causality of God’s sovereign providence
that they ironically claim in their statements of faith. In so doing,
these believers who profess a Reformed Theology actually manifest
semi-Pelagianism wherein a believer magically directs his or her own
fate through good works.
For the patriocentric woman (one whose
life centers on the desires of the family patriarch), extra-Biblical
and cultural imperatives enforced through positive and negative
pressure required by the manipulative religious system promote shame,
condemnation and employ manipulation. To ensure the understanding
that their own works must be covered morally and approved for merit
by their patriarch mediator, earnest women who fervently desire to
honor God follow a system of works-merited grace through submission
can develop relationships that are not based on love but upon
striving, fear of failure, fear of negative outcomes, obligation and
guilt.18 Although
Proverbs 29:25 reminds us that the fear of man brings a snare for us
and Paul admonishes us in 2 Corinthians 10 to refrain from measuring
ourselves against others through comparison, this practice of
condemnation emphasized within this type of patriarchy fuels
compliance with established cultural patriarchal standards that are
promoted as express Biblical mandates.
Summary
The Christian woman living the balanced
live manifests wisdom in the knowledge of the Word of God, applies
the Word in faith apart from prescribed cultural formulas, brings
glory to God through her ever more Christ-like and transformed
conduct, and boldly speaks the life-transforming message of the
Gospel to a desperate and dying world. Such a Christian woman’s
unique gifts and callings largely determine how her actions will
manifest all that God has poured into her. For the woman who finds
her identity in Christ alone and not in identification with a
prescribed group standard that is maintained through role
performance, her life in the Kingdom of God is not eating, drinking,
or even concerns of gender, but instead follows an agenda of
righteousness, peace and joy under the guidance of the Holy Spirit
(Rom. 14).
The Apostle Paul addressed both
legalism and God’s purposes in darkening the understanding of the
Jews in order that salvation might come to the Gentiles. Although
grace and salvation first came through the Jewish people to the
Gentiles, these Gentiles were called to minister grace and the Gospel
to the Jews so that both believing Jew and Gentile would find mercy
and salvation. These gifts and callings of God unto salvation are
irrevocable (Rom. 11). Just as Paul describes the tension between
Jewish legalism and New Covenant liberty which resulted in ministry
to both Jew and Gentile, I fervently pray that the disparities
between those who reject the aberrant patriarchy described here and
those who embrace it will miraculously work salvation and ministry
within the whole Body of Christ in the fullness of time.
By commitment to the rightful dividing
and applying of the word of truth with all diligence to matters
concerning gender, the tension created by the differences in the
interpretation of Scripture can teach us balance within the Body of
Christ which will mature and benefit the whole Body (Prov. 27:17).
May the diverse gifts that the Spirit
bestows uniquely upon all of God’s beloved women serve to edify the
whole Body of Christ, exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or
think. When the curtains of this temporal life close, may both
patriarchalist and non-patriarchalist alike be found within the
embrace of God's mercy and saving grace, bringing us together into
unity of the Faith (Eph. 4:13).
