The rebellion of the kingdom of darkness against the Lord and His Anointed seeks to assault every aspect of the truth, including the order which God has put into society and the Church. One aspect of this Scriptural order is the clear separation of the genders into male and female, with distinctive roles for each in both society and the Church. As the abhorrent ‘Transgender’ movement has sought to obliterate the distinction between the genders themselves, so Feminism has sought to annihilate the distinctiveness of the roles. In some ways, Feminism has thus paved the way for Transgenderism. One subtle example is the adoption by women of trousers and short hair, which amounts to the ‘cross-dressing’ forbidden in the Bible: “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God” (Deut. 22:5). Ironically, some feminist groups now protest against the blurring of the genders by the transgender movement, and are campaigning to maintain a biological distinction between male and female.
Feminism especially strikes at those teachings of the Word of God which elevate the man over the woman in certain aspects of life. For example, Scripture teaches the headship of the husband over the wife in several passages, such as the following: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and He is the saviour of the body” (Eph. 5:22). Clearly, the husband and the wife have distinct roles.
Further, we find that the older women were to teach the younger, “…to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:5). Feminism has so far succeeded in its attempt to cast off the headship of the husband, and the role of the mother in staying at home to bring up her children, that these principles are now widely regarded as old-fashioned or worse. The trend for mothers to neglect to be “keepers at home” to pursue their own careers is increasingly widespread, and sadly in the Church as well as among the irreligious. Motherhood is a most honourable and important calling for any woman, and the loss of the constant, loving and prayerful care of a mother from day to day must have a detrimental effect upon the children, naturally and spiritually.
Feminism also rebels against the God-given order of distinctive male and female roles in the Church. The teaching of Scripture is very clear: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church” (1 Cor. 14:34,35), and “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (1 Tim. 2:11-14).
Feminism blatantly kicks against Divine authority when it demands that women be allowed to hold office in the Church, and even to become preachers of the gospel. The number of female ministers in the Church of Scotland stands at 194 (more than a quarter of the total ministry), and in the Anglican Church at 6667 (just under one third of the total ministry). Any attempt by women to take a lead role in the affairs of the Church, or to seek to teach the Church in matters of theological controversy amounts to disobedience to the divine injunction that they ‘keep silence’.
It is notable that when Aaron and Miriam rose up against Moses, God rebuked both of them for their rebellion: “Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Num. 12:8). In Miriam’s case, God not only rebuked her, but smote her with leprosy: “And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous” (Num. 12:10). One explanation for the additional chastisement is that her sin was aggravated by her being a female, so that this was the first instance of notorious feminism in the Bible. God therefore placed a mark of His great displeasure against it.
None abhor the bold and rebellious spirit of feminism in the Church more than those godly women who traditionally have formed the backbone of so many of our congregations, and who are beautifully adorned with “the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (1 Pet. 3:4).
– An edited extract from the 2024 Religion and Morals Committee Report