Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 36:1 (Winter 2022)
Article: (Mis)Understanding Submission, Sin, And Self-Esteem: A Theological And Psychological Perspective
Author: E. Janet Warren

PP 36:1 (Winter 2022) p. 21

(Mis)Understanding Submission, Sin, And Self-Esteem: A Theological And Psychological Perspective

E. Janet Warren

E. Janet Warren (MD, PhD) is an interdisciplinary scholar whose vocations include theology, medicine, and psychotherapy. She lives in Hamilton, Ontario, and her book publications include Cleansing the Cosmos: A Biblical Model for Conceptualizing and Counteracting Evil.(Pickwick, 2012), All Things Wise and Wonderful: A Christian Understanding of How and Why Things Happen (Wipf & Stock, 2021), and Singing into Splintered Spaces: The Rhythms of Mission and Spiritual Discipline.(forthcoming from Wipf & Stock).

Gender inequality in various forms has been a problem in society and the church for centuries. In contemporary North American evangelicalism, beliefs on whether women should have leadership roles in church and home have been framed in terms of complementarianism and egalitarianism. The first claims that, although men and women are equal, they are created for different roles according to Scripture. Specifically, women should submit to their husbands and are not permitted to teach men in Christian contexts.

This view has received much critique from those holding the opposing view: that roles in church should be based on gifts, not gender, and that mutual submission in marriage is what the Bible teaches. Egalitarian biblical scholars point to women leaders in Old and New Testaments and Jesus’s and Paul’s teaching on the equality of women. They critique “traditional” interpretations of key passages and offer new interpretations.1 Others claim that the concept of “biblical womanhood” is socially constructed;2 some describe ancient and current “cults” of the housewife or of domesticity.3 There is also sobering evidence that complementarian views are associated with gender-based violence and recent sexual abuse scandals in the church.4

Most criticisms of complementarianism engage in counterarguments and focus on corporate rather than individual behaviors and beliefs. They rightly call Christians to oppose social and structural injustices. Egalitarians suggest that the primary problem is one of patriarchy and male domination.5 These critiques are valid and helpful. However, by implying that the issue lies solely with men, who abuse their power, we may neglect the responsibility of women, especially those influenced by (or who endorse) complementarian views (or teaching), in accepting a submissive role. Women, who appear to suffe...