Something Beautiful: Freedom (Christian feminism: Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, 1 Peter)
- Elaine R Kelly
- Oct 30, 2021
- 11 min read
Updated: Apr 15
Jesus brings forgiveness and freedom. He spoke about love and service, not dominance and submission. Jesus brought us all the freedom to do whatever God calls us to do, free of gender limitations, free of straining for selfish desires, free of guilt and shame, and it is something beautiful.
Christianity is the belief in Jesus Christ; feminism advocates that women have the same rights and freedoms as men. Christian feminists see these beliefs in complete harmony: God grants all humans equal rights, freedoms, and responsibilities. Our activities in life are not determined by our gender, but by the gifts the Spirit gives us as individuals.
As Christians, we follow Jesus and imitate him. We all have freedom, and we voluntarily yield to others in love. Love means not insisting on your own way or ruling over others. Love means mutual respect, mutual submission, and mutual kindness. No group is subordinate to another; no person is privileged due to their gender or ethnicity.
Let's look at how the freedom of Christians is tempered by love. And yes, this means a man's freedom is as restricted as a woman's. We have equal freedoms and responsibilities.
Freedom vs. Bad Fruit: Galatians
Jesus paid for our freedom so that we no longer need to be slaves; we are free. Not free to follow selfish desires, but free to love one another. Paul explains that before we knew Christ, we were enslaved by gods, traditions, and laws that had nothing to do with the divine. He asks how we can go back to being subject to these pagan rules after knowing God (Galatians 4:7-11).
Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches; he gives us love so that we may bear the fruit of sharing God's love with others. Jesus serves the church; believers serve Jesus. An individual connected to the vine bears the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).
God grants all people freedom, regardless of gender. God also grants us equal responsibility to use freedom to admonish an offender and protect a victim. It is not about salvation. It is about the way we live. Our actions show our faith, our connection to the Vine.
A man or woman, who is impatient, impulsive, unkind, stingy, selfish, unfaithful, rough, abusive, or violent is not bearing the fruit of the spirit. Using freedom to bear bad fruit reveals a person is not grafted into the vine, not filled with the Holy Spirit. They have turned away or cut themselves off.
Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then? (Galatians 5:13-14 MSG)
Freedom vs Safety: 1 Peter
The letter of 1 Peter was written at the beginning of Emperor Nero's persecution of Christians. Peter hides his own location, apparently using the word Babylon as a code word for Rome, the contemporary foreign conqueror (1 Peter 5:13). Peter is addressing wives of unbelieving husbands who may condemn them and expect them to worship their husbands' gods. These wives are in a weaker position, vulnerable because they are married to husbands who do not follow Christ. Peter advises Christians who are facing hostility to act honourably among the unbelievers and to submit to one another:
Christians, submit to human authorities (1 Peter 2:13-17)
Christians, honour everyone, love the family of believers (1 Peter 2:17)
slaves, submit to earthly masters (1 Peter 2:18-19)
Wives, submit to husbands (1 Peter 3:1)
Husbands, in the same way, honour your wives as co-heirs (1 Peter 3:7)
Peter does not endorse the pagan hierarchical structures of slavery or household codes, but advises Christians on how to survive in these social systems. These wives of unbelievers may look to Sarah, whose husband told her to lie and marry a foreign king (Genesis 12 and 20). Abraham did not protect his wife, but asked her to protect him. Sarah is Abraham's ezer-helper, rescuer, protector, lifesaver. You are like Sarah's descendants when you do what is good, without fear.
Peter holds up Sarah as a model for wives, saying she respectfully called her husband her lord/master (1 Peter 3:6, Genesis 18). Traditional interpretations suggest that Peter is telling wives to be submissive and obedient. However, Sarah does not address her husband as lord, but laughs to herself at the idea that she might have a child after she has become old, and her lord is also old (Genesis 18:12). Far from showing Sarah as obedient, the Bible shows that God instructs Abraham to obey Sarah because Abraham's descendants will come through Sarah's ezer-help (Genesis 21:12).
Man is not intended to dominate and enslave one another, but to love and serve. Both men and women are called to live as free people (1 Peter 2:16).
Freedom vs. Gender Roles: Colossians
N. T. Wright defends the rule of husbands in marriage by comparing it to the rule of the road. He assumes that an organized society requires men in charge and women who are obedient. In his commentary on Colossians, N. T. Wright suggests that the Bible endorses the pagan patriarchal practices:
All too often, ‘freedom’ has meant the same thing as the freedom of the drivers to drive all over the road without looking. Short-term freedom, maybe, leading to long-term captivity – slavery to chaos, injury and death.... At the same time, Paul is quite clear that, in the mutuality of respect and love that makes a marriage what it should be, the roles are reciprocal, not identical." [1].
His thinking is that society requires a man in charge to avoid chaos. It enforces a hierarchy of men ruling and women obeying. However, there is no chaos when women and men have the same freedoms and responsibilities. In fact, that is the way for a community to be effective. A society that is organized by rulers and obedient subjects is authoritarian and often leads to corruption, injustice, and violent revolutions.
In contrast, the New Testament proposes a community where all people are respected, where people of privilege voluntarily lower themselves in order to uplift the marginalized. That is how we imitate Jesus. Male hierarchies are from the pagan world, not from Christ.
Marg Mowczko explains that in first-century Greco-Roman society, wives were expected to submit. However, Paul Christianizes the marriage structure by endorsing mutual submission, with a husband humble, considerate, and loving.
Demeaning, servile submission to an unkind, selfish man is not what Paul had in mind. That is not “fitting in the Lord.” That is not an expression of Christian marriage... Note that Colossians 3:18 says that wives are to submit themselves to their husbands, not to men in general. There is no Bible verse that says women owe men submission above the mutual submission (humility, deference, cooperation) that all Christians are to demonstrate towards each other regardless of sex [2]
Paul specifically warns against ruling over one another, telling his followers to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but to value other women and men above themselves. Follow Jesus's example, who did not consider his equality with God something to use for his own advantage, but something to relinquish, becoming like a servant (Philippians 2:3-7).
The Bible endorses living as Jesus did, voluntarily giving up privileged positions in favour of serving one another. Paul says a husband is to relinquish his power and serve his wife, honouring her as he would honour his own body (Ephesians 5:28). Paul endorses women and men mutually teaching and correcting one another. It's not one-way.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God (Colossians 3:16 NRSVUE).
Women and men are ezer-helpers, protecting and taking care of each other.
Freedom vs False Doctrine: Timothy
The main theme of 1 Timothy is how to be a good pastor and prevent the spread of false doctrines. Men are told to pray without anger or arguments. Women are to dress without elaborate hairstyles or expensive clothing. And a certain woman is to learn and submit to teachers (1 Timothy 2:8-12). She is not to usurp a teacher's role or domineer over a man. In fact, neither men nor women should assert inappropriate authority or domineer over another person.
An uneducated woman in Ephesus may have been spreading false teaching and domineering her husband with it. One prevalent false teaching was that celibacy was required for Christians, even married couples. Another false teaching was that women who turned away from Artemis of Ephesus would lose safety in childbirth. The writer instructs Timothy to let women learn doctrine fully.
The writer seems to place limits on a woman teaching or having authority because of Adam and Eve. The writer is correcting a false doctrine that Eve was born first and that Adam was deceived. The order of creation has nothing to do with who should rule or be subject. The blame for who was deceived has nothing to do with salvation. Paul states that sin came into the world through one man, Adam (Romans 5:12).
Placing limitations on a woman in Ephesus was not a ban on all women teaching or leading for all time. It's about ensuring that women are given equal opportunities to learn correct doctrine, so that women are less vulnerable to the false teachings directed at women. The point is the danger of women having inadequate access to learning, which can lead her to be deceived. In other words, let a woman learn before she teaches or leads.
In conclusion, this passage is not a general ban prohibiting women from teaching and having authority in the church. Paul is writing a letter to a particular congregation, in a particular place (Ephesus), at a particular time (the ancient world), and for a particular set of reasons (to address false teachings and harmful, worldly power dynamics taking place in the church) [3]
Both men and women are called to submit themselves to Christ and to one another. Neither women nor men should domineer. We all should have equal access to learn correct doctrine so that we can teach and spread the word.
The Spirit that lands on all believers gives us power, love, and wisdom (Acts 4:31). God doesn’t want women or men to be shy about using his gifts (2 Timothy 1:3-7). Lois, Timothy's grandmother, and Eunice, Timothy's mother, are ezer-helpers leading Timothy.
Freedom vs. Consideration for Others: Corinthians
In discussing 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, Lucy Peppiatt notes that "traditional reading of Paul [is] universally based on the assumption that there is a problem with the women, rather than a problem with the men." The proposed scenarios are "predicated on the assumption that it is the women who are rebellious and noncompliant."
"I question, however, whether it really is easier to imagine a group of wild and rebellious women who are so uncontrollable that they need the intervention of the apostle than it is to imagine the existence of a group of spiritually gifted and highly articulate male teachers who were both overbearing and divisive men. I propose that in a relentlessly patriarchal society, it is more plausible to believe the latter might be the case, that under the men’s influential leadership, certain oppressive practices had been implemented, and other destructive and selfish practices had remained unchallenged." [4]
Peppiatt explains that Paul is using a rhetorical device, quoting the incorrect Corinthian thinking and then refuting it. Paul corrects the Corinthian thinking that God created a woman to serve a man. In contrast, he says we are interdependent, relying on each other:
woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as a woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. (1 Corinthians 11:11-12).
Neither women nor men have more glory, honour, or authority. We all come from God. Paul is not telling women to submit to men, but correcting the men for telling women to be silent. Paul corrects men who are telling women how to behave when women are prophesying. Paul does not tell the women to stop prophesying to the assembly. Paul instructs prophets, both male and female, to prophesy in turn, to sit down when a revelation comes to someone else. Paul says that the prophets (both male and female) are in control and the spirits are subject to the prophets (1 Corinthians 14:30-32). Paul's letter to the Corinthians corrects the emerging church from adopting society's hierarchies and encourages believers to love one another.
Paul does not endorse women being subject to men, but praises and commends women as co-workers, deacons, teachers, and apostles. Paul credits women as his ezer-helpers:
Priscilla risked her neck for Paul (Romans 16:3-4),
Phoebe was a patron of Paul, and he is indebted to her (Romans 16:2), and
Lydia was an ally to Paul in providing her home as a base for the first church in Europe (Acts 16:11-40).
The greatest commandment is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39). ove means not putting yourself above others, making yourself entitled to advantages while placing restrictions on others. Love means letting others have their freedom.
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5 MSG)
No More "Me First"
Feminism is not about putting yourself first. It's about speaking against the injustice of putting men first, or showing any preference based on gender.
We can identify a corrupt person by their actions (Matthew 7:17). If an organization holds traditions that counter the Bible, they are dishonouring God. Jesus criticized the religious leaders of his day, saying, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions. You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions" (Mark 7:8-9). Are your traditions showing love, respect and consideration for others? Do you follow traditions that give power to one group and limit the power of others? Do your traditions limit the freedom of people of different genders, races, or orientations? Have you put your traditions ahead of the most important commandment, to love one another?
Jesus spoke against a hierarchy where preference and privilege were given to some and not others. "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and servant of all." (Mark 9:35). In fact, Jesus says he did not come to make us slaves to obey commands (John 15:15). Jesus came to show us the love of God; he demonstrates love through serving. Do you act like a servant to both women and men?
Good News for the Marginalized
Jesus himself said he was anointed "to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and give freedom to those who are oppressed". (Luke 4:17-21). This freedom is for all people, regardless of race or gender, and it is beautiful. Maybe, in some small way, I can proclaim freedom for those who are living in captivity, oppressed by patriarchal systems
May you live as free people!
This article was written in 2021, while Elaine Ricker Kelly was working on her first book, set in the Gospels, to show how Jesus freed women, equipped, empowered, and enlisted women to go boldly into the world.
Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church, and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her books include:
Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1, A Novel (2022)
The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)
Because She Was Called from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church (2024)
Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)
Finding Her Voice from Broken to Bold, Book 3, Acts of Early Female Apostles: A Novel (2025)
Sources:
N. T. Wright, New Testament for Everyone, 20th Anniversary Edition, Complete Set, Colossians 3:13-4:1, page 3615, Westminster John Knox Press, 2023.
Marg Mowczko, "A Close Look at Colossians 3:18 (Wives)", Marg Mowczko, July 1, 2022, https://margmowczko.com/colossians-3-18/
Patrick Franklin, "Why 1 Timothy 2:8-15 Does Not Ban Women from Teaching & Having Authority in the Church", The Junia Project, September 30, 2016, https://juniaproject.com/1-timothy-2-does-not-ban-women-teaching-having-authority/
Lucy Peppiatt, Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul's Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians, Introduction, pages 9-10, Cascade Books, 2015.
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