A common teaching — and/or a common objection to the perspective of patriarchy as God-ordained — is that patriarchy is a result of the Fall.  But there’s ample biblical evidence that patriarchy is, in fact, rooted in Creation, not a consequence of the Fall.  While this may not be immediately obvious in the Creation narrative itself, it becomes clear when we read how the New Testament authors spoke about Creation & marriage.

But What About the Fall?

Before we fully dive in, let me quickly address the Fall & the Curse.  After the Fall, when God cursed Adam, Eve, the serpent, and the earth,  there is, obviously, a shift.  But what we see is, for the most part, not a change of the created order itself, but a tainting of it.  For instance, bearing children was not a new idea with the Fall — Adam and Eve had already been instructed to be fruitful & multiply.  What was new was that this would be painful.  Working the ground was not a new idea — Adam and Eve had already been instructed to tend the Garden.  What was new was the difficulty of it.

And, likewise, order in marriage was not new; what was new was that now this would be difficult.

The Head of Every Woman

1 Corinthians 11 is one of the most often-overlooked passages in modern Christian women’s books — and for good reason.  It undermines everything postmodernism is trying to teach us about womanhood.

This passage tells us that the head of every woman (or wife — in Greek it’s the same word) is man (or husband).  And lest we should be inclined to say, “but 1 Corinthians was written after the Fall!” (which is, of course, true), Paul appeals directly to Creation itself as the basis for his claim.

“But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God…For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason the woman ought to have authority on her head, because of the angels.” (1 Cor. 11:3, 7-10)

Paul does go on to remind us that man is not independent of woman, either, as men are all born of women!  There’s definitely an interdependence here.  But in this respect, there is a distinction between them, and this distinction is rooted in the fact that at Creation, God first made man…and then made woman to help him in his calling.  Not the other way around.

The Bride

In case we weren’t sure why this might be, God’s given us yet another passage: Ephesians 5.  Once again, Paul appeals directly to Creation.

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Eph. 5:31, quoting Genesis 2:24)

He invests a good deal of effort in laying out for us the idea that human marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church.  This has been the case from the beginning and is the reason for the one-flesh relationship.  Wives are to submit to their husbands, and husbands are to sacrificially love their wives, not “just because,” but because this is an image of the Church’s submission to Christ and of His sacrificial love for Her.

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”  (Eph. 5:22-33)

(Note that this passage also makes clear that headship is related to authority and the foundation of submission.  Those who try to explain this away in 1 Corinthians 11 are not allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.)

The Fall

This brings us back to the Fall.  Twice now, the New Testament has appealed to Creation as the basis for its teaching on headship and submission in marriage.  And turning to a third passage — 1 Timothy 2 — we find that its discussion of the Fall presumes something about the state of things leading up to it.

“Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”  (1 Tim. 2:11-13)

When Paul says that he doesn’t allow a woman (or wife) to teach or have authority over a man (or husband), he yet again appeals to — you guessed it — the Creation order.  Because Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And he seems to be using this literal order of Creation as a sort of shorthand to imply something more — the same headship we’ve already seen him describe elsewhere as rooted in this “Adam first” sequence of the creation of humanity.

The significance of Paul’s example here, reminding us that Adam, the head, failed to appropriately protect his wife from deception, is not fully laid out for us here…but it’s thoroughly established when we compare this text with other New Testament passages.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one…Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation…For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…” (Rom. 5:12, 17, 18, 19)

One man.  Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin.  Not through one woman.

Look closely again at Genesis 3.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened…”  (Gen. 3:6-7b)

Despite the fact that Eve was the first one to transgress the law (1 Tim. 2:13), it was not through Eve that sin and death entered the world.  It was through Adam.  Why?

Headship.

The Foundation of the Gospel

This is not a small thing.  If we don’t accept the federal headship of Adam, we’ve undermined the very Gospel itself.  Federal headship is the basis of both our sin and our salvation.

Let’s look again at Romans 5, and include all the bits I skipped over earlier.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)  Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”  (Rom. 5:12-19)

It was through Adam that sin and death entered the world, because Adam already had the authority to speak and act on behalf of his household when the Fall occurred.  And it is through Christ that salvation and eternal life came into the world, because Christ had the authority to speak and act on behalf of His.

To reject the reality of the headship of Adam is to reject the reality of the headship of Christ.

And so, in more than one way, egalitarianism and feminism don’t merely affect the home; they strike at the very heart of the Gospel.