Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 05:1 (Spring 2023)
Article: Misunderstood Mutuality: A Response To Ronald W. Pierce And Elizabeth A. Kay, “Mutuality In Marriage And Singleness”
Author: Denny R. Burk

Eikon 5.1 (Spring 2023) p. 25

Misunderstood Mutuality: A Response To Ronald W. Pierce And Elizabeth A. Kay, “Mutuality In Marriage And Singleness”

Denny Burk

Professor of Biblical Studies, Boyce College

Ronald Pierce and Elizabeth Kay have penned a chapter on 1 Corinthians 7:1–40 that they believe fills an important gap in the “evangelical gender debate” (108). They argue that this text is “Paul’s sweeping call” for Christians to practice “mutuality in marriage and singleness” (108). They argue that both egalitarians and complementarians have “neglected” this text, even though Paul’s instructions in this chapter are “three times longer than any gender-related passage in his other letters” (109).

Pierce and Kay contend that this passage, perhaps more than any other in Paul’s writings, demonstrates his commitment to “mutuality” between the sexes. They never define mutuality in this chapter, but earlier chapters essentially treat “mutuality” as another way of describing the egalitarian view.1 Throughout chapter 6, Pierce and Kay appear to be using the term in the same way — as a synonym for egalitarianism. At the very least, they believe that the mutuality between male and female in 1 Corinthians 7

Eikon 5.1 (Spring 2023) p. 26

provides the “seed ideas” for Paul’s fully developed egalitarian views (110).2

Summary

Pierce and Kay contend that 1 Corinthians 7 reveals Paul’s commitment to mutuality both in marriage and in singleness, and this commitment is summed up in twelve principles:

Principles Of Mutuality In Marriage (1 Cor 7:1–16)

1. Fidelity in marriage: Each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband (1 Cor 7:2).

2. Spousal obligations: The husband should give to his wife sexual intimacy, and likewise the wife also to her husband (1 Cor 7:3).

3. Yielding authority: Neither the wife nor the husband has authority over their own body — that goes to the other (1 Cor 7:4).

4. Consent for abstinence: Do not deprive one another, except consensually and for a limited time of focused prayer, then come together again to avoid temptation (1 Cor 7:5).

5...