RESPONSE TO EGALITARIAN VIEW ON WOMEN SUBORDINATION IN MARRIAGE: THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH WINNING ALL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The concept of women's subordination is one of the greatest and leading debates in the Christian circle in the last two centuries on gender issues, particularly among evangelical believers. To add to the heat of the debate is the emergence of the egalitarian evangelicals since the 1970s, who surprisingly take a departure from the traditional complementarian position of the pre-1970s. Both complementarians and egalitarians anchor their views on the nature of the relationship which exists in the Trinity. This has opened the door to a new interpretation of the Holy Scriptures as humanity witnesses changes in the cultures of the world as globalization brings its reality to be bare on the human race. This work has relevance in that much of what earlier writers have contributed on this subject has been in the area of Christian Service and leadership without a critical examination of its workability in a Christian home. Hence, the paper considers the two popular existing views of the complementarians and egalitarians and examines the idea of subordination from the two creation accounts in Genesis and Jesus' and Paul's views on this matter. The author responded to this subject by studying the perspective of one of the major evangelical denominations in Nigeria and beyond, Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA). The historical and phenomenological methods were used in this research. The historical method was necessary to collect historical data, which formed the basis for the research, while the phenomenological method was used to interpret the historical realities of the time. The exegetical method was also used to determine the correct interpretation of the passage containing the relevant texts. The paper concluded with the view that the Egalitarian Perspective on women's subordination cannot strengthen Christian marriage since there is bound to be a struggle for leadership in a Christian home.