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Masculine Christianity
9 Hours & 33 Minutes
The Western church has gone feminist. God has given men authority in the home, church, and society. Yet the church has rebelled against God's design and embraced the unbelieving world's teaching that women should take on the same roles and duties as men rather than focus on the home and children. Christian scholarship and Bible commentaries are dominated by feminist arguments that both husband and wife should submit to each another ("mutual submission"), that women may be pastors and preach sermons to men, and that the Apostle Paul's teaching on men and women was limited to Greco-Roman culture and has been transcended by our unity in Christ.
Sadly, the conservative response to feminism-complementarianism-compromised several historic Christian teachings and has thus given feminism an even stronger foothold in the church. Many complementarians fail to root gender roles in the differing natures of men and women. As a result, they have refused to apply the Bible's teaching about men and women beyond the home and church, leading to the embrace of women in civil office and military combat. In addition, the vast majority of complementarians have adopted the novel interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 ("the women should keep silent in the churches") that Paul only prohibited women from evaluating prophecy, which has opened the door to women preaching and teaching men in the church.
The result is that the Western church has become effeminate and weak. Pastors are afraid to teach important Bible passages on the roles and duties of men and women, and it is no surprise that young Christian women are trading babies for careers outside the home and that churches are regularly capitulating to subversions of biblical sexual ethics. What the church needs is to recover its masculine calling, where men embrace their God-given authority-and responsibility-in the home, church, and society. This book affirms the historic Christian teaching on men and women, critiques feminist scholarship, and urges complementarians to hold a more robust and consistent position. This is a call to return to the Bible's teaching on men and women. This is a call to Masculine Christianity.
The Western church has gone feminist. God has given men authority in the home, church, and society. Yet the church has rebelled against God's design and embraced the unbelieving world's teaching that women should take on the same roles and duties as men rather than focus on the home and children. Christian scholarship and Bible commentaries are dominated by feminist arguments that both husband and wife should submit to each another ("mutual submission"), that women may be pastors and preach sermons to men, and that the Apostle Paul's teaching on men and women was limited to Greco-Roman culture and has been transcended by our unity in Christ.
Sadly, the conservative response to feminism-complementarianism-compromised several historic Christian teachings and has thus given feminism an even stronger foothold in the church. Many complementarians fail to root gender roles in the differing natures of men and women. As a result, they have refused to apply the Bible's teaching about men and women beyond the home and church, leading to the embrace of women in civil office and military combat. In addition, the vast majority of complementarians have adopted the novel interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 ("the women should keep silent in the churches") that Paul only prohibited women from evaluating prophecy, which has opened the door to women preaching and teaching men in the church.
The result is that the Western church has become effeminate and weak. Pastors are afraid to teach important Bible passages on the roles and duties of men and women, and it is no surprise that young Christian women are trading babies for careers outside the home and that churches are regularly capitulating to subversions of biblical sexual ethics. What the church needs is to recover its masculine calling, where men embrace their God-given authority-and responsibility-in the home, church, and society. This book affirms the historic Christian teaching on men and women, critiques feminist scholarship, and urges complementarians to hold a more robust and consistent position. This is a call to return to the Bible's teaching on men and women. This is a call to Masculine Christianity.
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Published January 1, 2022
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About the author
Zachary M. Garris
6 books100 followersZachary M. Garris serves as pastor of Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church (PCA) in White Rock, New Mexico. He holds a Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson) and a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School. His writings have appeared in The Confessional Presbyterian, Presbyterion, and Chronicles Magazine. He is the author of Honor Thy Fathers: Recovering the Anti-Feminist Theology of the Reformers (New Christendom Press), and he writes at KnowingScripture.com.
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September 24, 2021
Fantastic. Ladies, be warned. If there is a seed of soft feminism in your heart, this book will bring it light. Make sure to kill it! 🙌🏼
My suggestion: after you read this one go ahead and read Eve in Exile by Bekah Merkle.
My suggestion: after you read this one go ahead and read Eve in Exile by Bekah Merkle.
January 23, 2023
Encouraging and discouraging.
It's always encouraging to hear another voice speaking up about the glories of God's design for human sexuality. Garris is bold and clear and thorough on the subject of masculinity. Although I've left feminism far in my past, there are always some spots that need a little sandpapering to refine things, and this book had just the right amount of grit.
But it's always discouraging on a personal level to feel that scurvy-like lack of the essential nutrient of masculinity in my personal life. I am deeply grateful that I am at least in a church where the leadership is exemplary in this regard, but the church is not and cannot be the family. It cannot make up for a lifelong lack of masculine affection, protection, and direction from a father or husband, which has broken me in ways I'll likely never recover from this side of the grave. Garris notes that all women are under the headship of father or husband except for widows, but he misses the other big headless category—orphans. Biblically, an orphan is not parentless in general, but fatherless in particular. Our culture's dysfunctional relationship with the idea of patriarchy is deeply connected to our epidemic of Father hunger. It's a fear and hatred of the unknown. Fathers who have abdicated their roles in their daughters' homes are no more their daughters' heads than Edward VIII was head of Great Britain after he abdicated the throne. This sort of fatherlessness is the position I and so many others find ourselves in. And the Catch-22 is that while it leaves a woman in even greater need of a husband, it leaves her less qualified to get one, so it's both quite painful and quite reasonable that I've been passed over in the marriage department. Love bestows loveliness. Fatherly love bestows a loveliness that will be attractive to a man in want of a wife. And lack of it does not.
The narrator has the perfect masculine voice for this book. I only wish that he'd stuck with his own voice throughout. Nonfiction is not the place for characterization. His attempts at accents (Dutch for Bavinck, Scottish for Knox, Southern for Dabney, higher-pitched for women, and whatever the heck that was supposed to be for Calvin) were aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggonizing to listen to. Nonononono! Stopitstopitstopit! And do not ever do it again! Pretty please. 😉
It's always encouraging to hear another voice speaking up about the glories of God's design for human sexuality. Garris is bold and clear and thorough on the subject of masculinity. Although I've left feminism far in my past, there are always some spots that need a little sandpapering to refine things, and this book had just the right amount of grit.
But it's always discouraging on a personal level to feel that scurvy-like lack of the essential nutrient of masculinity in my personal life. I am deeply grateful that I am at least in a church where the leadership is exemplary in this regard, but the church is not and cannot be the family. It cannot make up for a lifelong lack of masculine affection, protection, and direction from a father or husband, which has broken me in ways I'll likely never recover from this side of the grave. Garris notes that all women are under the headship of father or husband except for widows, but he misses the other big headless category—orphans. Biblically, an orphan is not parentless in general, but fatherless in particular. Our culture's dysfunctional relationship with the idea of patriarchy is deeply connected to our epidemic of Father hunger. It's a fear and hatred of the unknown. Fathers who have abdicated their roles in their daughters' homes are no more their daughters' heads than Edward VIII was head of Great Britain after he abdicated the throne. This sort of fatherlessness is the position I and so many others find ourselves in. And the Catch-22 is that while it leaves a woman in even greater need of a husband, it leaves her less qualified to get one, so it's both quite painful and quite reasonable that I've been passed over in the marriage department. Love bestows loveliness. Fatherly love bestows a loveliness that will be attractive to a man in want of a wife. And lack of it does not.
The narrator has the perfect masculine voice for this book. I only wish that he'd stuck with his own voice throughout. Nonfiction is not the place for characterization. His attempts at accents (Dutch for Bavinck, Scottish for Knox, Southern for Dabney, higher-pitched for women, and whatever the heck that was supposed to be for Calvin) were aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggonizing to listen to. Nonononono! Stopitstopitstopit! And do not ever do it again! Pretty please. 😉
July 23, 2024
An elite book.
March 13, 2023
This is an important book for the church today. Closely reasoned and persuasive.
July 21, 2023
Fantastic, best book on the Bible and gender I have read. Though I liked DeYoung's book on the same subject, this one takes the football further down the field.
May 25, 2023
Zachary Garris in his book Masculine Christianity presents a very capable defense of what he calls “Biblical Patriarchy”, the Scriptural view according to Garris. The author presents a positive case from Scripture for this particular view starting in Genesis, focusing on the creation account, which bleeds into the rest of Scripture. In addition, the book poignantly refutes egalitarianism as a whole, and complementarianism. The book is full of Scripture, exegesis, original languages, and highly footnoted. Not to forget the first chapters, which gives an excellent summary of the feminist movement, how it began, and how It developed. Whatever perspective one holds, this work must be contended with, it is excellent. I commend the work very much so!
April 23, 2022
If you want to know why complementarianism failed as a middle way between egalitarianism and patriarchy, then read this book. It was not as polemical as I expected, which is good. It is a careful, scholarly, and exegetical defense of patriarchy and refutation both egalitarian and complementarian positions. He works through most of the key passages using the original languages. There is significant interaction with authors he disagreed with, which strengthened the book and is often a weakness of egalitarian authors. All in all a great book and I would highly recommend it to all who think complementarianism was/is a good way to go.
November 26, 2020
3.5. Garris has really done his homework and provides a thorough critique of feminism , egalitarianism, and what he sees as soft or inconsistent forms of complementarianism. What’s more, Garris provides a through defense of biblical patriarchy that is rooted in Scripture. I admittedly read through this book too quickly, so I’ll need to revisit several sections. But Garris’ book is one I would like to return to often for ongoing reflection and consideration. At several points, I found my own views sharpened and challenged.
I especially appreciated how Garris interacted with the heavy-hitters from each camp, not shying away from key influences like DA Carson, Wayne Grudem, John Piper, I. Howard Marshall, Gordon Fee, and Rebecca Groothuis. His willingness to go point-for-point exegetically with these scholars was impressive and at many points, persuasive.
My major criticism comes from the overall tone, posture, and lack of balance in the book. Garris rightly noted that we should be bold and uncompromising when calling out false teaching, but He seems to make a few errors in the process of doing so:
(1) Garris gives only a passing nod to the virtue of gentleness in Scripture (Pg. 43). He rightly critiques the prevalence of “niceness” in place of courage. But in doing so, I think he under-states and wrongly overlooks some central commands in scripture relative to our posture and speech toward others. In the process, I think he encourages a deficient view of our masculine speech.
For example:
•There were moments in which Garris seemed to forget about the “gentleness that comes from wisdom” and that true “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.” (James 3:17). His lack of emphasis on gentleness, patience, humility, etc. gave me the impression that he wants men to primarily lead with strength without an equal emphasis on the softer virtues of patience, kindness, gentleness, etc.
•While he acknowledges that kindness and gentleness are fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), he downplays them by making these qualities too close in character to niceness—which he condemns by saying “Niceness is a form of effeminacy and is at odds with biblical Christianity” (Pg. 43). I think I know what Garris is saying here, but I really wish he would have developed the former thought much more fully. Especially when such qualities are THICK in Scripture and should, therefore, characterize Godly men (Proverbs 12:18; 15:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:1-3; Ephesians 4:1-3; Philippians 4:5; Colossians 3:12; 1 Timothy 6:11-12; 2 Timothy 2:24-26). This lack of balance was really unfortunate, because the historical & exegetical work Garris provides is so strong. I think a stronger both/and emphasis would have been so much more helpful and would make this book acceptable to a much broader audience.
(2) Garris seems too simplistic and causal in his proposed solutions. At many points, Garris argues like a fresh seminary graduate who knows we need to preach the Word, invest into family discipleship, and submit to our leaders. However he doesn’t seem to account for the real life complexities, struggles, and nuance that give shape and pose challenges to such faithfulness.
For example, he says in Pg. 53: “Women who reject marriage and children do so because they do not have fathers and pastors telling them to do otherwise [maybe so....or maybe there’s more to the story]. A godly father raises his daughters to act like women.” Ideally, this last statement is true—but what about the daughters rebellion to the authority of Scripture? What if the father does a great job leading and instructing his family, but has a daughter go rogue? A very common reality I've seen: father's raise their daughters / sons in the church, make sure there is clear biblical instruction in their lives, and the kids grow up knowing biblical teaching—but such teaching doesn't seek into their heart and grips them at a deeper level. (I realize God is sovereign in regeneration [John 5:21], but I also realize that God uses means in the work of salvation [2 Timothy 2:24–26]). In such cases, the child was with a good biblical education and moral instruction, but the quality of the relationship—especially in terms of the emotional climate—was sadly little more than moralistic, legalistic, and emotionally unhealthy. I'm not disagreeing with Garris' assertion here, but I think he fails to consider the practical complexities and challenges that are in the way of a man "rais[ing] his daughters to act like women." It's just not as simple as "telling them to do otherwise."
Additionally, Garris makes it sound like the father shouldn’t just have authority and influence, but rather control and causal-determination over his family. In my experience, this mentality leads the father to believe he should have more control over his children than is biblically or reasonably possible in a broken world. As a result, this controlling style of parenting breads harshness, anxiety, and ironically, rebellion—as the child feels little-to-no established love, trust, or safety within the relationship and/or when the child leaves a home that was too strict and overbearing only to find the new found world of freedom and immorality incredibly appealing. These are the very things we are commanded to avoid as Fathers (Eph. 6:4), but I fear without a clearer understanding of the complexities of the human heart and experience, men will walk away with a deficient view of how to exercise their authority in a gracious, loving fashion.
In other words, Garris makes some true observations at many points, but he doesn’t nuance them or apply them in ways that give credit to real life circumstances that make obedience in these areas difficult. Moreover, he lays a burden of control at times on Fathers and Preachers that conflates their biblical authority with an over-extended earthly sovereignty. Such a view, in my opinion, mitigates against the very thing Garris wants his work to inspire: humble, Godly Men who will step into their God-given authority to lead and love the people under their care in order to see them flourish and thrive.
(3) Garris doesn’t address specific, practical strategies for living out his vision of Masculine Christianity in the Home. Garris rightly advocates for the centrality of the Word and male-leadership in the home. However, he doesn’t address (1) practical strategies for how to lead your family well (except for a few sentences on page 270) or (2) how to overcome discouragement and obstacles in family leadership.
At many points, I found myself thinking, “Yes I know what I should be doing, but please give me some ideas for how I could do this.” Scripture tells us to “encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception” (Hebrews 3:13). Garris’ book was heavy on vision, polemics, exegesis, and biblical standards, but it was very light on encouragement and practical instruction. When he refers to men being the authority over their wives, he doesn’t do much to qualify what this means. He says we are to lead, love, and provide, but what practical shape do these masculine forms take? Given our sinful tendency to warp and distort good things, I I fear many men will abuse such admonitions and define their leadership and authority in ways that are more harsh or abrasive than Garris’ intends. Especially when the Scripture says SO much about love and leadership (Mark 10:35-45; Matthew 23; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Philippians 2:1-11; Colossians 3:12-17), Garris’ work could have used a careful and more practical orientation to balance his corrective of feminism and practical egalitarianism.
In sum: there was a lot of basic spiritual disciplines and exhortations, but not a lot of practical strategy and direction. His acknowledgments to love are important, but without a clearer sense of *how* to love well, I think Garris’ book lacks a major area of counsel and wisdom in this area.
(4) I was hoping to see more exegetical work on the life of Jesus. Garris misses the one time Jesus self identifies his heart, perhaps because when Jesus does so it is to declare that he is “gentle and lowly” (Matt. 11:28-30). This of course isn’t the sum total of Jesus’ heart, for as Garris rightly notes this is the same Jesus who turned over tables in the temple (Matt. 23). Even still, Garris spent so much of his time unpacking feminism, patriarchy, education in the church and home, etc., that he missed a major opportunity to unpack the character of Jesus—especially those aspects of his character that were compassionate, gentle, and gracious.
Even with his acknowledgments for men to love and care in their leadership, Garris didn’t put much exegetical weight on the life and example of Jesus. Because Jesus is the perfect picture of the Father (John 14:9-10; Heb. 1:3) and because Jesus is the radiance of the Fathers glory (2 Cor. 4:4-6), I can’t see how this wouldn’t be vital to the message of the book. Even more, without such an emphasis, I fear that men will walk away from Garris’ book with an imbalanced vision of masculine Christianity that doesn’t understand their authority in balanced, biblical terms.
Will all of this in mind, I will be keeping Garris’ book and referring back to it for the excellent historical and exegetical work and the engagement he provides with important scholars. His historical survey of feminism, exegesis of relevant passages in the epistles, and observations about the failure of complementarianism were both insightful and challenging. Even though I am not entirely convinced by Garris’ case—especially his conclusions on 1 Cor. 14:34-35—Garris makes arguments that are too strong to ignore and for that, I am grateful.
I especially appreciated how Garris interacted with the heavy-hitters from each camp, not shying away from key influences like DA Carson, Wayne Grudem, John Piper, I. Howard Marshall, Gordon Fee, and Rebecca Groothuis. His willingness to go point-for-point exegetically with these scholars was impressive and at many points, persuasive.
My major criticism comes from the overall tone, posture, and lack of balance in the book. Garris rightly noted that we should be bold and uncompromising when calling out false teaching, but He seems to make a few errors in the process of doing so:
(1) Garris gives only a passing nod to the virtue of gentleness in Scripture (Pg. 43). He rightly critiques the prevalence of “niceness” in place of courage. But in doing so, I think he under-states and wrongly overlooks some central commands in scripture relative to our posture and speech toward others. In the process, I think he encourages a deficient view of our masculine speech.
For example:
•There were moments in which Garris seemed to forget about the “gentleness that comes from wisdom” and that true “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.” (James 3:17). His lack of emphasis on gentleness, patience, humility, etc. gave me the impression that he wants men to primarily lead with strength without an equal emphasis on the softer virtues of patience, kindness, gentleness, etc.
•While he acknowledges that kindness and gentleness are fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), he downplays them by making these qualities too close in character to niceness—which he condemns by saying “Niceness is a form of effeminacy and is at odds with biblical Christianity” (Pg. 43). I think I know what Garris is saying here, but I really wish he would have developed the former thought much more fully. Especially when such qualities are THICK in Scripture and should, therefore, characterize Godly men (Proverbs 12:18; 15:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:1-3; Ephesians 4:1-3; Philippians 4:5; Colossians 3:12; 1 Timothy 6:11-12; 2 Timothy 2:24-26). This lack of balance was really unfortunate, because the historical & exegetical work Garris provides is so strong. I think a stronger both/and emphasis would have been so much more helpful and would make this book acceptable to a much broader audience.
(2) Garris seems too simplistic and causal in his proposed solutions. At many points, Garris argues like a fresh seminary graduate who knows we need to preach the Word, invest into family discipleship, and submit to our leaders. However he doesn’t seem to account for the real life complexities, struggles, and nuance that give shape and pose challenges to such faithfulness.
For example, he says in Pg. 53: “Women who reject marriage and children do so because they do not have fathers and pastors telling them to do otherwise [maybe so....or maybe there’s more to the story]. A godly father raises his daughters to act like women.” Ideally, this last statement is true—but what about the daughters rebellion to the authority of Scripture? What if the father does a great job leading and instructing his family, but has a daughter go rogue? A very common reality I've seen: father's raise their daughters / sons in the church, make sure there is clear biblical instruction in their lives, and the kids grow up knowing biblical teaching—but such teaching doesn't seek into their heart and grips them at a deeper level. (I realize God is sovereign in regeneration [John 5:21], but I also realize that God uses means in the work of salvation [2 Timothy 2:24–26]). In such cases, the child was with a good biblical education and moral instruction, but the quality of the relationship—especially in terms of the emotional climate—was sadly little more than moralistic, legalistic, and emotionally unhealthy. I'm not disagreeing with Garris' assertion here, but I think he fails to consider the practical complexities and challenges that are in the way of a man "rais[ing] his daughters to act like women." It's just not as simple as "telling them to do otherwise."
Additionally, Garris makes it sound like the father shouldn’t just have authority and influence, but rather control and causal-determination over his family. In my experience, this mentality leads the father to believe he should have more control over his children than is biblically or reasonably possible in a broken world. As a result, this controlling style of parenting breads harshness, anxiety, and ironically, rebellion—as the child feels little-to-no established love, trust, or safety within the relationship and/or when the child leaves a home that was too strict and overbearing only to find the new found world of freedom and immorality incredibly appealing. These are the very things we are commanded to avoid as Fathers (Eph. 6:4), but I fear without a clearer understanding of the complexities of the human heart and experience, men will walk away with a deficient view of how to exercise their authority in a gracious, loving fashion.
In other words, Garris makes some true observations at many points, but he doesn’t nuance them or apply them in ways that give credit to real life circumstances that make obedience in these areas difficult. Moreover, he lays a burden of control at times on Fathers and Preachers that conflates their biblical authority with an over-extended earthly sovereignty. Such a view, in my opinion, mitigates against the very thing Garris wants his work to inspire: humble, Godly Men who will step into their God-given authority to lead and love the people under their care in order to see them flourish and thrive.
(3) Garris doesn’t address specific, practical strategies for living out his vision of Masculine Christianity in the Home. Garris rightly advocates for the centrality of the Word and male-leadership in the home. However, he doesn’t address (1) practical strategies for how to lead your family well (except for a few sentences on page 270) or (2) how to overcome discouragement and obstacles in family leadership.
At many points, I found myself thinking, “Yes I know what I should be doing, but please give me some ideas for how I could do this.” Scripture tells us to “encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception” (Hebrews 3:13). Garris’ book was heavy on vision, polemics, exegesis, and biblical standards, but it was very light on encouragement and practical instruction. When he refers to men being the authority over their wives, he doesn’t do much to qualify what this means. He says we are to lead, love, and provide, but what practical shape do these masculine forms take? Given our sinful tendency to warp and distort good things, I I fear many men will abuse such admonitions and define their leadership and authority in ways that are more harsh or abrasive than Garris’ intends. Especially when the Scripture says SO much about love and leadership (Mark 10:35-45; Matthew 23; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Philippians 2:1-11; Colossians 3:12-17), Garris’ work could have used a careful and more practical orientation to balance his corrective of feminism and practical egalitarianism.
In sum: there was a lot of basic spiritual disciplines and exhortations, but not a lot of practical strategy and direction. His acknowledgments to love are important, but without a clearer sense of *how* to love well, I think Garris’ book lacks a major area of counsel and wisdom in this area.
(4) I was hoping to see more exegetical work on the life of Jesus. Garris misses the one time Jesus self identifies his heart, perhaps because when Jesus does so it is to declare that he is “gentle and lowly” (Matt. 11:28-30). This of course isn’t the sum total of Jesus’ heart, for as Garris rightly notes this is the same Jesus who turned over tables in the temple (Matt. 23). Even still, Garris spent so much of his time unpacking feminism, patriarchy, education in the church and home, etc., that he missed a major opportunity to unpack the character of Jesus—especially those aspects of his character that were compassionate, gentle, and gracious.
Even with his acknowledgments for men to love and care in their leadership, Garris didn’t put much exegetical weight on the life and example of Jesus. Because Jesus is the perfect picture of the Father (John 14:9-10; Heb. 1:3) and because Jesus is the radiance of the Fathers glory (2 Cor. 4:4-6), I can’t see how this wouldn’t be vital to the message of the book. Even more, without such an emphasis, I fear that men will walk away from Garris’ book with an imbalanced vision of masculine Christianity that doesn’t understand their authority in balanced, biblical terms.
Will all of this in mind, I will be keeping Garris’ book and referring back to it for the excellent historical and exegetical work and the engagement he provides with important scholars. His historical survey of feminism, exegesis of relevant passages in the epistles, and observations about the failure of complementarianism were both insightful and challenging. Even though I am not entirely convinced by Garris’ case—especially his conclusions on 1 Cor. 14:34-35—Garris makes arguments that are too strong to ignore and for that, I am grateful.
September 27, 2023
Very very good. Highly recommended to anyone who's interested in what biblical masculinity should look like.
Finished second time listening on Canon+ app.
Finished second time listening on Canon+ app.
February 5, 2023
Really good resource for learning more about egalitarian arguments without having to wade through a heap of egalitarian trash.
I thought the engagements with egalitarianism were the best parts, but I wished I could have summoned the author and asked him a few questions.
1) why does Christianity have to be masculine? Why is it gendered at all? Is it even possible for a religion to have a gender? Also, odd to have a masculine religion if the church is feminine. Seemed silly to me, and he never really defended it.
2) if women are ontologically inferior in the teaching/theological knowledge department, surely that extends beyond just church matters and into, say, a normal classroom setting? I know he says a woman can teach, say, a literature course to men, but I think the implications of his ontological argument are that she shouldn’t, or at least that a man would be better suited to the task. I do agree God’s prohibition of women teaching in church is rooted in something ontological, rather than an arbitrary rule imposed on equal beings, but I am skeptical that it pertains to their intellectual, or indeed merely theological acuity. I have been in co-Ed theology classes, and let’s just say it hasn’t been obvious to me that the men have an ontological advantage in that department.
I thought the engagements with egalitarianism were the best parts, but I wished I could have summoned the author and asked him a few questions.
1) why does Christianity have to be masculine? Why is it gendered at all? Is it even possible for a religion to have a gender? Also, odd to have a masculine religion if the church is feminine. Seemed silly to me, and he never really defended it.
2) if women are ontologically inferior in the teaching/theological knowledge department, surely that extends beyond just church matters and into, say, a normal classroom setting? I know he says a woman can teach, say, a literature course to men, but I think the implications of his ontological argument are that she shouldn’t, or at least that a man would be better suited to the task. I do agree God’s prohibition of women teaching in church is rooted in something ontological, rather than an arbitrary rule imposed on equal beings, but I am skeptical that it pertains to their intellectual, or indeed merely theological acuity. I have been in co-Ed theology classes, and let’s just say it hasn’t been obvious to me that the men have an ontological advantage in that department.
April 28, 2025
Great book. Covers the topic well. Not afraid to speak what his premises are, and how he gets his conclusion. However much society today would not/is not accepting them.
June 13, 2023
Excellent book on this subject.
I was especially impressed with how well Zachary backed up all his points with multiple scriptures.
The material is thoroughly researched & I appreciated Zachary addressing many of the opposing arguments & voices against the position he set forth in the book.
I highly recommend this book for both men & women as it provides a solid foundation for the biblical & glorious framework of patriarchy set forth in scripture.
I was especially impressed with how well Zachary backed up all his points with multiple scriptures.
The material is thoroughly researched & I appreciated Zachary addressing many of the opposing arguments & voices against the position he set forth in the book.
I highly recommend this book for both men & women as it provides a solid foundation for the biblical & glorious framework of patriarchy set forth in scripture.
March 27, 2024
A very good book. It is integral to understand that God’s design of man and women doesn’t stop at the home or the church. It is either true for all spheres of life… or none. I appreciated the lengths to which the author went to provide thorough exegetical arguments. I’m keen to look at the exegesis physically (I listened to this which In hindsight probably wasn’t the most efficacious medium to digest this book).
March 29, 2023
Excellent.
January 27, 2023
Fantastic
February 20, 2023
This will be essential reading for all of my children.
March 15, 2025
Written by a PCA pastor, this book is a systematic approach to biblical masculinity and femininity. Garris does well at balancing the technical exegetical work alongside the apologetics needed against Christian egalitarians, providing a robust, yet practical, treatise on the subject. He also helpfully pushes back on some narrow complementarian scholars.
March 27, 2021
This kind of book is a lightening rod in our modern church culture (even more in modern culture!)however it shouldn't be. Zach Garris has written a defense of the roles of man and woman in traditional Christian teaching.
Garris lays out the clear case that although men and women are equal in the eyes of God when it comes to dignity, worth, value, salvation and so forth, they are very different in their roles and what God has called them to do. This is born out in some of the clear, natural distinctions between the two.
Some of the best chapters are his interactions with 1 Tim. 2, 1 Cor. 11, and 14. He does an excellent job presenting the traditional exegetical arguments for these texts. He also does a great job interacting with the some of the counter- arguments and potential defeaters to the positions he takes. Even if one finds themselves not agreeing with every single argument or conclusion of this book, one will highly benefit from the overall thesis. Recommended!
Garris lays out the clear case that although men and women are equal in the eyes of God when it comes to dignity, worth, value, salvation and so forth, they are very different in their roles and what God has called them to do. This is born out in some of the clear, natural distinctions between the two.
Some of the best chapters are his interactions with 1 Tim. 2, 1 Cor. 11, and 14. He does an excellent job presenting the traditional exegetical arguments for these texts. He also does a great job interacting with the some of the counter- arguments and potential defeaters to the positions he takes. Even if one finds themselves not agreeing with every single argument or conclusion of this book, one will highly benefit from the overall thesis. Recommended!
March 10, 2023
Nonsense. How he manages to be simultaneously boring and infuriating is beyond me, but more concerning is how shallowly researched this is, and how confidently he presents his paper thin arguments. But maybe I’m just saying that because I have ovaries. (For that matter, you might be wondering how I, a mere woman, learned how to read and write, let alone found the time to do it, while I was busy keeping my home, submitting to my husband, and raising my kids. I’ll never tell you!) You know you’re in trouble when someone says complementarianism is too liberal.
August 27, 2021
This book is probably the best one stop shop for biblical answers on gender controversies. Written at a layman's level and hitting all the major aspects of the battles between egalitarianism, complementarianism, and patriarchy, it manages to pack an incredible amount of punch into less than 300 pages. Garris is uncompromising in not allowing modern culture to overthrow the truths about sex and gender given in Scripture and nature. He is kind and fair, yet does not give complementarianism's compromises with egalitarianism a pass. I took issue with a few minor points of exegesis in the book, but nothing that would alter his conclusions or applications. I highly recommend this for teenage boys and young men and it would be an ideal book for a men's discussion group. Sure to offend the women of both sexes that dominate mainstream evangelical churches.
April 30, 2025
The strength of this book is the honest handling of biblical texts and not being afraid to say the obvious. Garris does a good job in that way.
The weaknesses are the title, which is a bit misleading. It would be better to call it “God’s Design for Man and Woman”, or something like that. The other weakness is that his practical counsel is not very nuanced and doesn’t work through some of the common issues or objections people have on a practical level.
The weaknesses are the title, which is a bit misleading. It would be better to call it “God’s Design for Man and Woman”, or something like that. The other weakness is that his practical counsel is not very nuanced and doesn’t work through some of the common issues or objections people have on a practical level.
February 25, 2023
Brilliant.
One of the best books on complimentarianism I have read.
Unafraid sharp and full of scripture, this book ruffled my feathers and helped me shake off some of the cultural feminism I didn't realise I had.
One of the best books on complimentarianism I have read.
Unafraid sharp and full of scripture, this book ruffled my feathers and helped me shake off some of the cultural feminism I didn't realise I had.
July 24, 2022
Proof you don't need a PhD to write a solid, exegetically rich work. Well written and well argued. Just glad Garris had the sand to say it!
July 11, 2025
A challenging and thought-provoking book. No matter where you may fall on the range of views regarding male-female relationships in marriage/church/society, there are some especially strong arguments with which one must reckon. I especially appreciate his handling of the very tricky/confusing passage of 1 Timothy 2:15. This is a valuable resource on the topic as it goes wide and deep.
October 4, 2022
A must read for every pastor and church leader. Garris's arguments are sound and based on solid exegesis and historical insights, he lays out a compelling case for a truly biblical and consistent understanding and application of God's design for the genders in the home, church and society. As a trained lawyer and theologian, Garris seeks to build a comprehensive and air-tight case to recover the biblical vision for the sexes and push back against the egalitarian and feminist influences that many soft and narrow complementarians promote. He interacts extensively with both egalitarian and complementarian scholars as he argues for a biblical vision of masculine Christianity (sometimes otherwise called biblical patriarchy).
Even if one does not land exactly where he does, this book is worth considering to challenge you to thoroughly think through the Bible's teaching. In my opinion though, Garris has done an excellent job laying out his case and you'll be hard pressed to find one better.
Even if one does not land exactly where he does, this book is worth considering to challenge you to thoroughly think through the Bible's teaching. In my opinion though, Garris has done an excellent job laying out his case and you'll be hard pressed to find one better.
September 15, 2023
Hard read - areas I do agree with Him on...
1.) Men need to step up and lead their households.
2.) Nurturing Children in the Faith need to be a priority.
I think there's a lot of backlash here against modern secularism... poor scholarship - I believe he used his own publishing company to publish the book. And it shows.
Also, either ignorant of or completely disregards concepts like the 3 Estates.
The logical conclusion brought me back to my Gothard days.
1.) Men need to step up and lead their households.
2.) Nurturing Children in the Faith need to be a priority.
I think there's a lot of backlash here against modern secularism... poor scholarship - I believe he used his own publishing company to publish the book. And it shows.
Also, either ignorant of or completely disregards concepts like the 3 Estates.
The logical conclusion brought me back to my Gothard days.
March 10, 2025
This is a good book arguing that feminism is destructive and contrabiblical, that the Bible is overtly patriarchal, that the complementarian view has inherent weaknesses, and then methodically counters egalitarian and weak complementarian arguments, especially those about women as elders, deacons, teachers, etc.
I would recommend the book as a reference to arguments for any of the above, especially using certain chapters and sections to counter individual arguments.
I would recommend the book as a reference to arguments for any of the above, especially using certain chapters and sections to counter individual arguments.
June 29, 2024
This book is primarily an exegetically-based polemic against feminism, egalitarianism, narrow complementarianism, and other forms of effeminancy that have seeped their way into the church over the past 50-100 years until they have come to just seem natural to modern Western Christians like the air we breathe. Most Christians aren't even aware that these views on gender and/or their accompanying Scriptural interpretations are novel in church history and would be completely foreign and strange to our fathers in the faith (or they have been trained to assume that all of church history up until the 20th century is full of sexist bigots and believe accordingly). Compounding the problem, most pastors today won't teach these positions (or even touch the accompanying verses) even if they believe them due to cultural cowardice and/or the fear of putting a "stumbling block" before the gospel, which amounts to denying that God's Word is sufficient for all aspects of life.
In this regard, Garris systematically (re)builds a biblical foundation for Patriarchy (or "broad complementarianism," a term he acknowledges but doesn't prefer) in the first part of the book before spending the majority of the chapters highlighting specific sections of Scripture pertinent to the debate (1 Timothy 2; 1 Corinthians 14; the narrative of Deborah in Judges 4; etc.) where he weighs what advocates of each contrary position say in their own words before proving that their interpretation cannot be.
As aforementioned, this is largely an exegetical work, meaning that there is a good deal of time spent diving into the Greek and Hebrew of each passage and the "Opposing Claim -> Traditional Refutation" pattern can be dry and tedious at times in its ceaseless repetition. I appreciated Garris' lack of impassioned speech in these chapters (and throughout, with the appropriate exception of the opening statement of the problem and the concluding exhortation) as emotionalism is not the friend of the traditional side of the argument at the moment.
Due to its often technical nature, this is probably not a book that is going to appeal to the average Joe looking for some Bible teaching in the area of gender roles followed by some pointed exhortation (in that regard I recommend Tennant and Foster's excellent "It's Good to be a Man"), but for pastors and theological teachers its exegetical structure renders it a great resource. Even if you disagree with Garris at the end of the day, you will at least know the arguments supporting the side as well as what the advocates of Biblical Patriarchy do and do not claim. (I find that the position, swimming against the stream of our age as it does, is rather easy to straw-man.)
In this regard, Garris systematically (re)builds a biblical foundation for Patriarchy (or "broad complementarianism," a term he acknowledges but doesn't prefer) in the first part of the book before spending the majority of the chapters highlighting specific sections of Scripture pertinent to the debate (1 Timothy 2; 1 Corinthians 14; the narrative of Deborah in Judges 4; etc.) where he weighs what advocates of each contrary position say in their own words before proving that their interpretation cannot be.
As aforementioned, this is largely an exegetical work, meaning that there is a good deal of time spent diving into the Greek and Hebrew of each passage and the "Opposing Claim -> Traditional Refutation" pattern can be dry and tedious at times in its ceaseless repetition. I appreciated Garris' lack of impassioned speech in these chapters (and throughout, with the appropriate exception of the opening statement of the problem and the concluding exhortation) as emotionalism is not the friend of the traditional side of the argument at the moment.
Due to its often technical nature, this is probably not a book that is going to appeal to the average Joe looking for some Bible teaching in the area of gender roles followed by some pointed exhortation (in that regard I recommend Tennant and Foster's excellent "It's Good to be a Man"), but for pastors and theological teachers its exegetical structure renders it a great resource. Even if you disagree with Garris at the end of the day, you will at least know the arguments supporting the side as well as what the advocates of Biblical Patriarchy do and do not claim. (I find that the position, swimming against the stream of our age as it does, is rather easy to straw-man.)
October 22, 2024
Well thought through. Zachary Garris has done his homework and lays out a convincing case for biblical patriarchy and tackles the many arguments against it. It's spicy (a really good spicy) and consistent, and when men and women live out their roles according to their nature, it's actually quite beautiful and fitting. Patriarchy (which means father rule) is just one of those words like "Christian" or "Christian Nationalist". It's going to be abused and misused, but that doesn't mean we throw away the word. We just need more truth proclaimed which will be offensive to many, but refreshing and life to those who follow Jesus.
If you find yourself fighting against biblical patriarchy, remember what the dragon said to Eve in the garden, "Did God really say?"
Lots to think and work through in this one. I believe our churches would do well to tackle this topic as feminism has infected our culture, churches, and the home.
Also, if you are complementarian, you should read this book to find some more weeds in your garden.
If you find yourself fighting against biblical patriarchy, remember what the dragon said to Eve in the garden, "Did God really say?"
Lots to think and work through in this one. I believe our churches would do well to tackle this topic as feminism has infected our culture, churches, and the home.
Also, if you are complementarian, you should read this book to find some more weeds in your garden.
April 25, 2023
I am now utterly convinced that feminism stands arrogantly besides evolution as one of the two greatest lies of the past two centuries. They each stand as two mighty bookends to a satanic library of deception that most of the western world has embraced and has been conditioned to believe without question.
I read the first chapter out loud to my wife as we both experienced the chilling effect of being red-pilled and suddenly seeing all around us the satanic corrosive and utterly evil influences of feminism in all of it's forms. From top to bottom, from beginning to end, feminism is evil. It is the total rejection of God's created hierarchical order and perfect design. It is an outright attack on the structure of the family and everything beautiful about men and women and how they were designed for each other.
If you're interested in a thorough look at why Christianity is unapologetically Masculine and must be in order to be Orthodox then this book is for you.
I read the first chapter out loud to my wife as we both experienced the chilling effect of being red-pilled and suddenly seeing all around us the satanic corrosive and utterly evil influences of feminism in all of it's forms. From top to bottom, from beginning to end, feminism is evil. It is the total rejection of God's created hierarchical order and perfect design. It is an outright attack on the structure of the family and everything beautiful about men and women and how they were designed for each other.
If you're interested in a thorough look at why Christianity is unapologetically Masculine and must be in order to be Orthodox then this book is for you.
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