By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist
Many biblical passages, especially within the Old Testament, have people questioning God’s opinion of women. In our modern day, the term “patriarchy” is associated with unfair advantages and exclusive power. But what if, rather than a revolution of one gender over another, the Bible reveals a patriarchy which was first created to love and protect women, not harm them? An order of headship and submission which was beautiful and equally valuable before sin corrupted all authority?
These questions were posed by Alicia Wong, Women’s Ministry Specialist at Lifeway Christian Resources and Associate Professor of Women’s Ministry at Gateway Seminary, as a guest speaker at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board’s 2025 Equipping Leaders conference August. 22-23 at Brandon Church, Brandon.
Wong, who formerly served as women’s ministry professor at Southwestern Seminary and at Southeastern Seminary, and as a missionary with the IMB and NAMB, led two sessions at the conference: “Women in Biblical Perspectives” and “Ministry to Women Essentials.”
Why is the topic of women in biblical perspectives so controversial, even within the church? Wong credits controversy to differing methods of interpretation. Two classes of interpreters include egalitarians and complementarians.
Wong explained, “Egalitarians believe that men and women are not only created equal in worth and value, but also in their roles and functions. Complementarians believe men and women are equal in worth and value but are complimentarily different in terms of their roles and functions.”
Wong acknowledged that both kinds of interpreters were likely attending the session, and she clarified that she has godly friends from both sides of interpretation.
“I grew up thinking like an egalitarian. I heard the phrase, ‘Whatever a man can do, a woman can do better’ a lot. But as I studied God’s Word, processing Scripture on women, that started to change for me. After two years of study, I became a complementarian, but I am not here to offend egalitarians. I can argue both perspectives, but from my own study, I have landed as a complementarian.”
Wong walked through several misconceptions regarding women from a biblical perspective, and this article will highlight three.
Misconception 1: “Submission means inferior and less valuable.”
“When we talk about women in biblical perspectives, people love to jump to ‘Wives submit to your husbands’ (Eph. 5:22) and ‘Women are not to teach or exercise authority over a man’ (1 Tim. 2:12),” said Wong. “But when I’m teaching my class, I spend about 60% of my time in the Old Testament before I even arrive here. We have to understand how God created us first. There’s something to be said in being male and female that reflects Who God is.”
Turning to Genesis 1 and 2, Wong explained Biblical submission through the example of the Trinity.
“The Father sent the Son, and the Son submits to the will of the Father. When Jesus resurrected, the Son sent the Holy Spirit out and the Spirit submits to the Son and the Father. There is an order. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all equal in worth and value, and they have different roles. As male and female, if we are to reflect His image, think about how that applies.”
In reference to Eve being created as Adam’s “helper,” Wong explained that we often think of it as a negative thing, when in reality, it is not.
“Throughout Scripture, using that same Hebrew word, God refers to Himself as a Helper for His people,” said Wong. “The fact of the matter is, God created her for a reason and a purpose. That purpose is never less than. Society has made it less than, but that is not what God intended her to be.
“As a single woman, there is something to be said about submission and headship that is even important within the church. In Ephesians 5:21, Paul tells us to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Your submission is not due to fear of people, but for reverence of Christ. So when you submit to your husband even when you don’t feel like it, you are doing it to honor God.”
Misconception 2: “The Bible proves that God hates women.”
“Right after the Fall, we start seeing the abuse of authority,” said Wong. “It was beautiful at the beginning, but then sin entered in and things go wrong. Most of the time, people react negatively to headship because they have seen the sinfulness and abuse of that role, instead of the beautiful, original purpose of that role.”
One example of misconstrued passages are the legal codes within Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. When reading the legal codes, what people often think is God’s oppression of women is actually God’s protection of them. Because we read the Old Testament through our modern mindsets, we often forget that all the societies around the Israelites at the time were mistreating women — they had no protection or rights. We must remember that people were so far removed from God that He had to meet them in their ignorance and draw them out of these solidified and sinful beliefs.
Illuminating a few of the legal codes, Wong explained the purpose of a dowry was to prevent husbands from divorcing their wives for no reason. If he had to repay her dowry to the family, he would think twice before divorcing her over burnt food. Rules of purification freed a woman from overexerting herself during her menstrual cycle or after childbirth. In an age where comfort and choice were limited, God cared for each woman long before the world recognized her worth.
Misconception 3: “Paul hated women and his letters prove that.”
Wong pointed to all the mentions of specific women throughout Paul’s letters, indicating that he considered them coworkers and he cared about them.
In reference to the controversial verse 1 Corinthians 14:34, Wong shared, “Before you jump to the conclusion that women should be silent in all settings, let’s look at the context above. Right before this, Paul is talking about order in the church, about the gifts of speaking in tongues and prophesying in a way that brings encouragement and not confusion. ‘For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.’ So we see that Paul is talking about a place of order and peace. Then if you go back to 1 Corinthians 11, we read that women did pray and prophesy too. So three chapters later, Paul is addressing something else.
“He’s talking about order as opposed to confusion here. They needed to have created order. So if your husband is the head of your house as he is supposed to be, then you need to go back and talk with your head. The most important thing to remember when you study any topic through the biblical perspective is to look at the whole of Scripture and consider the context.
“In 1 Timothy 2, Paul exhorts us to adorn ourselves in good works,” said Wong. “So right after that, what does it say? ‘Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.’ Learn what? Learn what good works are and how to adorn ourselves in them. Because we looked at Scripture as a whole, we now understand submission differently, right? We see Jesus submitting to the Father. It’s not a ‘Shut up and don’t say anything’ submission. Even Jesus said, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.’
“In 1 Timothy 2, Paul then says, ‘I do not permit women to teach or exercise authority over a man’. Even if you take that at its word, let me ask you: Are there more men than women in your church? Probably not. You have an opportunity to minister to the women in your church. Why do we focus on what we cannot do? Even if your church holds to this verse very closely, there are still so many things that you can do in ministry. If you think through the power, posture, and position you handle as did many woman leaders throughout Scripture, like Deborah the judge and Anna the prophetess, you are going to speak volumes through your good works.”
