Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 14:1 (Spring 2009)
Article: A Solid Primer On The Gender Debate
Author: Jason Hall

JBMW 14:1 (Spring 2009) p. 74

A Solid Primer On The Gender Debate

A Review of Jack Cottrell, Headship, Submission and the Bible: Gender Roles in the Home.
Joplin, MO: College Press, 2008.

Jason Hall

Director of Communications

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Wake Forest, North Carolina

On the back cover of Jack Cottrell’s newest book, Dorothy Patterson’s endorsement has this to say: “The reading of his volumes is necessary for any serious student in women’s studies.” This is high praise indeed, but an acclamation that Cottrell has worked hard to earn with previous books. His newest work is Headship, Submission and the Bible: Gender Roles in the Home, and it too is a must-read for any student of the evangelical gender debate.

The current volume is actually the third in a trilogy of Cottrell’s works on complementarian theology, which includes Feminism and the Bible (College Press, 1992) and Gender Roles and the Bible (College Press, 1994). Cottrell’s purpose in Headship, Submission and the Bible is to examine the two concepts mentioned in the title and to subject the exegesis of egalitarian theologians to rigorous biblical review. Not surprisingly, his conclusion is that the way egalitarians handle headship and submission is not faithful to Scripture or sound scholarship. Readers should note that Cottrell limits his study to the concepts of submission and headship in the home. While many of his conclusions would apply to church life as well, that is not the focus of this study.

Much of the book takes the form of extended word studies on the biblical terms for submission (part one of the book) and headship (part two). He begins each part by explaining the egalitarian position, and then follows with a complementarian critique, answering the egalitarian arguments point by point. Along the way he surveys the critical New Testament passages—Ephesians 5, Titus 2, 1 Peter 3, 1 Corinthians 11, and so forth—and examines both the larger and immediate context for all of them. The two main pillars of Cottrell’s exegesis are word backgrounds and context, and in each part more time is spent on these discussions than any other. Of course, this is exactly as it should be since the debate between egalitarians and complementarians on these key passages often centers on exactly these issues.

In part one Cottrell takes egalitarians to task for their emphasis on the concept of mutual submission. He charges that the egalitarian view of You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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