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Complementarianism
Theological view on gender roles / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Complementarianism is a theological view in some denominations of Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and Islam,[1] that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family, and religious life. Complementary and its cognates are currently used to denote this view.[2] Some Christians interpret the Bible as prescribing a complementary view of gender, and therefore adhere to gender-specific roles that preclude women from specific functions of ministry within the community.[3][4][lower-alpha 1] Though women may be precluded from certain roles and ministries, they still hold foundational equality in value and dignity. The phrase used to describe this is "ontologically equal, functionally different."[5]
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Within a Judeo-Christian marital relationship, complementarianism prescribes headship and servant leading roles to men,[6][7] and support roles to women, being based upon the interpretation of certain biblical passages. One precept of complementarianism is that while women may assist in decision-making processes, the ultimate authority for the decision lies in the headship responsibility of the male. Its contrasting perspective is Christian egalitarianism, which holds that positions of authority and responsibility in marriage and religion should be equally available to both females and males.
The Foundation Documents of The Gospel Coalition describes complementarianism as follows:
In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in mutually enriching ways. God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church,[lower-alpha 2] the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord.[8]