Quoting the Fathers of Complementarianism

I created an album on The Beautiful Kingdom Warriors Facebook page with sexist quote memes from influential theologians, past and present.

The album caption reads:

I made these memes to illustrate the origins of today’s complementarian (i.e. patriarchal) beliefs. Some complementarians simply appear unable to recognize the deeply ingrained sexism of their worldview. Just because they can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there:

Sexism [sek-siz-uh m] noun
1. attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles.

2. discrimination or devaluation based on a person’s sex, as in restricted job opportunities; especially, such discrimination directed against women.

Ideas. Have. Consequences. Reading the Bible through a patriarchal lens devalues the imago dei (image of God) in women – who were created to share dominion with men (Genesis 1:28) and are gifted by the Holy Spirit to build the Kingdom alongside their brothers (Galatians 3:28).

These quotes are not the sum contribution of these theologians and pastors. Even great minds are only human and are marred by sin and an imperfect cultural bias. Every single human being is wrong about a lot of things, and I am not writing off everything they ever wrote about God and the Bible because I believe they were wrong about women.

However, it is also important to acknowledge that patriarchy stems from the curse and has been harmful to women and to the work of the Church. It is still present in this fallen world and in the Bride of Christ. Thankfully, Jesus is redeeming the fallen nature of the world and cleansing his Church of all impurities. Patriarchy will one day be a stain on the history of the Church rather than a present reality.

Send me more quotes and I will add to this album!

“Complementarian” refers to a theological view that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family life, and religious leadership. Essentially, the view begets spiritual authority to men and subjugates women. The language (e.g. “complementary,” “equal but different”) can imply a harmless view, but it is inherently abusive to create hierarchy where God intends equality and to bar women from fulfilling their callings and using their gifts (Genesis 1:28, Galatians 3:28, etc.). All image bearers are created to have dominion and all believers have the Holy Spirit. Christ is the head of his Church and we are to submit to one another out of deference for Christ (Ephesians 5:21).

Here is a sample of the memes: