Understanding The Complementarian View Part 1
With this post and the next, I'm hoping to take a closer look at the view of complementarians. From the internet searching I've done, I've found that The Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has given me the best understanding of the complementarian view. I thought that with this post we'd be able to approach the views discussed on their website with open eyes to better understand the reasonings behind the viewpoint.
To get a greater in-depth analysis of the view, feel free to check out the website. Otherwise you can just keep reading─I'll give an overview of the given interpretation to what the complementarian viewpoint entails.
Created equality and distinction of roles:
"Male and female were created by God as equal in dignity, value,
essence and human nature, but also distinct in role whereby the male
was given the responsibility of loving authority over the female, and the
female was to offer willing, glad-hearted and submissive
assistance to the man."
Fallen disruption of God's created design:
"Sin introduced many manifestations of disruption [into God's created
design, including] a disruption in the proper role-relations between
man and woman. As most complementarians understand it...Genesis
3:15-16 informs...that the male/female relationship would now be
affected by mutual enmity. In particular, the woman would have a
desire to usurp the authority given to man in creation, leading to man,
for his part, ruling over woman in what can be either rightfully-
corrective or wrongfully-abusive ways."
Restored role differentiation through redemption in Christ:
"Passages such as Ephesians 5:22-33 and 1 Timothy 2:8-15 exhibit the
fact that God's created intention of appropriate male leadership
and authority should now, in Christ, be fully affirmed, both in the
home and in the church...Women are not to exercise authoritative
roles of teaching in the Church in view of Eve's created relation to
Adam."
To try and sum it up─this would mean that women are not to teach or exercise authority over men.
The website also gives several verses supporting the complementarian position that God's design was for male/female role differentiation, but more on that in the next post.
The Gospel Coalition Blog does a nice job of laying out "Complementarianism for Dummies" based off of the popular "for Dummies" instructional books. The author, a complementarian herself, gives a basic definition of complementarians and addresses a few misunderstandings regarding the term.
Editor of Today's Christian Woman, Kelli B. Trujillo addresses a few misconceptions about both complementarians and egalitarians in her post, Complementarian Versus Egalitarian. She specifically highlights the question of what's the correct view in regards to a Christian marriage? She asks "What's the biblical role a woman should play? Or does there even need to be a gender-defined role?" In regards to her own opinion, Kelli shares that she's coined her own hybrid position: that of the complegatarian.
At For The Church, Pastor Gavin Ortlund gives his reasoning on why he is a complementarian. He lists and describes seven reasons to why he believes what he does, highlighting several Bible passages in his reasoning.
[Interested in reading more? Check out the Blog Archive to the right to find links to my other posts.]
Interested in reading more on women in church leadership?
Click on the links below to be redirected to my other posts in the series.
I Hate Controversy─So Let's Talk About Women in Church Leadership
Why Am I So Passionate About This?
Hear the Call of the Kingdom
The Egalitarian View
Understanding the Complementarian View Part 2
This Is Where I Stand
To get a greater in-depth analysis of the view, feel free to check out the website. Otherwise you can just keep reading─I'll give an overview of the given interpretation to what the complementarian viewpoint entails.
Created equality and distinction of roles:
"Male and female were created by God as equal in dignity, value,
essence and human nature, but also distinct in role whereby the male
was given the responsibility of loving authority over the female, and the
female was to offer willing, glad-hearted and submissive
assistance to the man."
Fallen disruption of God's created design:
"Sin introduced many manifestations of disruption [into God's created
design, including] a disruption in the proper role-relations between
man and woman. As most complementarians understand it...Genesis
3:15-16 informs...that the male/female relationship would now be
affected by mutual enmity. In particular, the woman would have a
desire to usurp the authority given to man in creation, leading to man,
for his part, ruling over woman in what can be either rightfully-
corrective or wrongfully-abusive ways."
Restored role differentiation through redemption in Christ:
"Passages such as Ephesians 5:22-33 and 1 Timothy 2:8-15 exhibit the
fact that God's created intention of appropriate male leadership
and authority should now, in Christ, be fully affirmed, both in the
home and in the church...Women are not to exercise authoritative
roles of teaching in the Church in view of Eve's created relation to
Adam."
To try and sum it up─this would mean that women are not to teach or exercise authority over men.
The website also gives several verses supporting the complementarian position that God's design was for male/female role differentiation, but more on that in the next post.
If you're looking for more information regarding the complementarian view, check out a few of the websites below:
The Gospel Coalition Blog does a nice job of laying out "Complementarianism for Dummies" based off of the popular "for Dummies" instructional books. The author, a complementarian herself, gives a basic definition of complementarians and addresses a few misunderstandings regarding the term.
Editor of Today's Christian Woman, Kelli B. Trujillo addresses a few misconceptions about both complementarians and egalitarians in her post, Complementarian Versus Egalitarian. She specifically highlights the question of what's the correct view in regards to a Christian marriage? She asks "What's the biblical role a woman should play? Or does there even need to be a gender-defined role?" In regards to her own opinion, Kelli shares that she's coined her own hybrid position: that of the complegatarian.
At For The Church, Pastor Gavin Ortlund gives his reasoning on why he is a complementarian. He lists and describes seven reasons to why he believes what he does, highlighting several Bible passages in his reasoning.
[Interested in reading more? Check out the Blog Archive to the right to find links to my other posts.]
Interested in reading more on women in church leadership?
Click on the links below to be redirected to my other posts in the series.
I Hate Controversy─So Let's Talk About Women in Church Leadership
Why Am I So Passionate About This?
Hear the Call of the Kingdom
The Egalitarian View
Understanding the Complementarian View Part 2
This Is Where I Stand
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