Articles
The "Evil Patriarchy"
Amongst the radical leftist protests these days is a recurring refrain: Western civilization is based on an evil system of patriarchy. This male-dominated, socio-political structure is responsible for everything from corporate corruption to warfare, from failed leadership to denigration and suppression of women, from police brutality to the torture of puppies and kittens. Literally everything that is wrong in the West is attributable to the male of the species.
“The term patriarchy has been used to refer to autocratic rule by the male head of a family; however, since the late 20th century it has also been used to refer to social systems in which power is primarily held by adult men, particularly by writers associated with second-wave feminism such as Kate Millett; these writers sought to use an understanding of patriarchal social relations to liberate women from male domination. This concept of patriarchy was developed to explain male dominance as a social, rather than biological, phenomenon” (Wikipedia).
This is more than just feminist claptrap demanding equal pay; this is a dangerous, ungodly idea that seeks to overturn Western culture replace it with some pie-in-the-sky egalitarianism which strips away all gender distinction and roles. Like much of this destructive ideology, there are serious repercussions for those who believe in God, scripture and the lordship of Christ. Since patriarchy is said to be a “social construct,” the leftists say it can and should be deconstructed. We are in the midst of a culture war that has serious ramifications for Christian faith.
First, let us note that males do not have an exclusive hold on power and violence. Bible students know well the evil potential of women such as Jezebel, Athaliah and Herodias. Women don’t usually command armies, but they have other wiles and weapons that spawn evil in societies.
Second, men have innate qualities that result in gender dominance, including high testosterone levels, raw physical power, mission/goal-oriented competitiveness; etc. At the micro level, just consider placing any female of one’s choosing on the same field with professional football players. She will be obliterated, which is not a social construct; it is pure fact.
Third, there is a clear divine mandate for men to lead, particularly in the realms of the local church and the family. At the dawn of time God created the male, Adam, first; Eve was created to fulfill a subordinate yet crucial role as together they form a unity of purpose and accomplishment: “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Gn 2:18); “for man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man … Neither is the man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as the woman was from the man, even so the man also is through the woman; but all things are from God” (1 Cor 11:8-9, 11-12).
Historically, in pre-Mosaic times God interacted with mankind through family heads, patriarchs such as Adam, Noah, Job, Abraham, etc. When God made the crucial covenant with man to bring a Savior into the world, He made it with a male – Abraham, and the lineage of his people were traced through the males. As the Israelite nation took shape the twelve tribes were delineated through Jacob’s sons; priests and kings were males; all the writing prophets of the OT were males; the Messiah to come was to be a son, not a daughter. The fact that Deborah was a judge and Huldah was a prophetess are anomalies; they are outstanding precisely because they are exceptions.
But one would be a fool to assert that women did not contribute anything to Israel’s history. In fact, women like Abigail, Bathsheba, Jehosheba and Esther preserved the nation at crucial moments. Faithful wives and mothers (think Prov 31), wise counselors, spiritual guides all made their mark on the culture by honoring the role God had given to them as women.
As the transition between the covenants unfolded, Jesus could have changed the format and made the new covenant more egalitarian, more reflective of the proportion of women in society. But Jesus appointed all males to apostleship. The two latter appointments, Matthias and Paul, were males. Qualifications for elders and deacons in a local church specify males (1 Tim 3; Tit 1). Further, teaching roles in mixed assemblies are limited to males: “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim 2:12; cf. 1 Cor 14:34).
In the realm of the family, Scripture plainly affirms the headship of the man: “For the husband is head of the wife as also Christ is head of the church” (Eph 5:23); “just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Eph 5:24). But such leadership comes with caveats that make the husband a selfless servant-leader. He is not granted authority for self-serving purposes but to foster his wife’s salvation: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it …” (Eph 5:25-26).
Such statements are politically incorrect and dismissed out of hand by the “enlightened” in Western society. Biblical values are considered obsolete, discriminatory, draconian and, worse, injurious and misogynistic. A rational discussion on this subject cannot even be had in a public forum.
Have men always discharged their leadership duties in a responsible way? Of course not. Does society bear the scars of abusive, violent, domineering men who have failed their charge? Absolutely. Are there women who have as much wisdom, knowledge, charisma, insight, oratorical skill as men? Certainly, and even more in some individual cases.
So what’s the problem with women taking the lead as elders in churches, preachers in the pulpit and being the dominant leader in the home? Why not give it a try? After all, how much more dysfunction could there be than what already exists?
The first problem is that it is a direct repudiation of God’s creative order and overt declarations of the man’s headship. And that leads to a second problem: if God’s will is ignored, things always turn out worse than we anticipated because God knows us better than we know ourselves. Society will not listen to God, but His people need to pay attention lest we simply follow the other lemmings into the sea.
