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1 Timothy 2:10-15

In the August 28 issue of The Wanderer, editor of Catholic Replies, James J. Drummey, received a question from a reader regarding the biblical passages which state that a woman is to be in submission to her husband. The reader referred to 1 Peter 3:1 and Ephesians 5:22 and asked: "Please explain how the Catholic Church interprets these statements." Mr. Drummey then wrote three paragraphs of explanation, all of which made reference to the teaching of John Paul II in the 1988 apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem ("The Dignity of Women").

But, as it becomes women professing godliness, with good works. 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to use authority over the man: but to be in silence. 13 Adam was first formed; then Eve. 14 And Adam was not seduced; but the woman, being seduced, was in the transgression. 15 Yet she shall be saved through child bearing; if she continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.

As representative of the Church's consensus, Aquinas understands this passage in the following way:

The Apostle says (1 Corinthians 14:34): 'Let women keep silence in the churches,' and (1 Timothy 2:12): 'I suffer not a woman to teach.' Now this pertains especially to the grace of the word. Therefore the grace of the word is not becoming to women. I answer that, Speech may be employed in two ways: in one way privately, to one or a few, in familiar conversation, and in this respect the grace of the word may be becoming to women; in another way, publicly, addressing oneself to the whole church, and this is not permitted to women. First and chiefly, on account of the condition attaching to the female sex, whereby woman should be subject to man, as appears from Genesis 3:16 (Summa Theologica, Question 177, Article 2).

Colossians 3:17-19

All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as it behoveth in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter towards them.

The tradition of the Church has understood this in the same way as the above passages. St. John Chrysostom writes:

Wives be subject to your husbands" he writes to wives: "That is, be subject for God's sake, because this adorns you, Paul says, not them. For I mean not that subjection which is due to a master nor yet that alone which is of nature but that offered for God's sake. (Homilies on Colossians, NPNF1 12:304).

Chrysostom adds that there is great harmony if the husband loves his wife and the wife is submissive to the husband.

Observe again that Paul has exhorted husbands and wives to reciprocity...To love therefore, is the husband's part, to yield pertains to the other side. If, then, each one contributes his own part, all stand firm. From being loved, the wife too becomes loving; and from her being submissive, the husband learns to yield." (Homilies on Colossians, NPNF1 13:304)

Augustine says the same about Col 3:18:

Nor can it be doubted that it is more consonant with the order of nature that men should bear rule over women than women over men. It is with this principle in view that the apostle says, 'The head of the woman is the man' [1 Cor 11:3]; and 'Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands.' (On Marriage and Concupiscence 1, 9, 10, NPNF1 5:267).

Theodoret says the same on Col 3:18:

Paul is particularly concerned here with believing women who are married to unbelieving men: thus, their subjection is in service to the Lord, that is, as the Lord commands." (Interpretation of the Letter to the Colossians PG 82:621A).

Titus 2:4-5

4 That they may teach the young women to be wise, to love their husbands, to love their children. 5 To be discreet, chaste, sober, having a care of the house, gentle, obedient to their husbands: that the word of God is not blasphemed.

Here the wife is told both to "love" her husband and be "obedient" to him ("obedient" is the Greek hupotasso, which is also translated "be in submission" or "be subject," as in all the previous passages). The wife is to make sure she does these things so that "the word of God is not blasphemed."

1 Peter 3:1, 5-6

This passage gives even more graphic language regarding the wife's requirement to be submissive to her husband, using Sarah as the example par excellence:

In like manner also, let wives be subject to their husbands: that, if any believe not the word, they may be won without the word, by the conversation of the wives...5 For after this manner heretofore, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands: 6 As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters you are, doing well and not fearing any disturbance.

Representing the consensus of the Fathers on 1 Peter 3:1, Tertullian writes:

Do you go forth (to meet them) already arrayed in the cosmetics and ornaments of prophets and apostles; drawing your whiteness from simplicity, your ruddy hue from modesty; painting your eyes with bashfulness, and your mouth with silence; implanting in your ears the words of God; fitting on your necks the yoke of Christ. Submit your head to your husbands, and you will be enough adorned. (On the Apparel of Women, Ch XIII).

Now, when I find to what God belong these precepts, whether in their germ or their development, I have no difficulty in knowing to whom the apostle also belongs. But he declares that 'wives ought to be in subjection to their husbands:' what reason does he give for this? 'Because,' says he, 'the husband is the head of the wife.' Pray tell me, Marcion, does your god build up the authority of his law on the work of the Creator? This, however, is a comparative trifle; for he actually derives from the same source the condition of his Christ and his Church; for he says: 'even as Christ is the head of the Church;' and again, in like manner: 'He who loves his wife, loves his own flesh, even as Christ loved the Church. (Tertullian Against Marcion, Ch XVIII).

Last but not least, there is Ephesians 5:22-33

22 Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord:
23 Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the saviour of his body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject to Christ: so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and delivered himself up for it:
26 That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life:
27 That he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29 For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church:
30 Because we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother: and shall cleave to his wife. And they shall be two in one flesh.
32 This is a great sacrament: but I speak in Christ and in the church.
33 Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular love for his wife as himself: And let the wife fear her husband.

Let's open up the investigation of this passage by asking an obvious question: If by a reading of Ephesians 5:21 it is concluded that spouses are required to submit to one another on an equal basis, then why did St. Paul include the sentence: "Let women be subject to their husbands" in Ephesians 5:22 if that truth was already covered in Eph 5:21's statement "Be subject to one another"? Would it not be superfluous and confusing to specify only one of the submitting parties (in the very next verse), while the other spouse receives no such direct command, here or any other place in Scripture?

Let's look closer at Ephesians 5:22-33 for the answer. The underlined words show that the wife is told three times to be in subjection to her husband, while the italicized words show that the husband is never told to be in subjection to his wife; rather, he is told three times to love her. Moreover, not only is the wife told to be submissive, but verse 24 adds that it is to be "in all things."(4) Could the teaching be any more emphatic? An unbiased reading of the text clearly shows that not only is the husband's submission to the wife absent from the context, but the wife's submission is accentuated in addition to what was originally stated in Ephesians 5:22! Moreover, St. Paul never confuses love with submission. The two are kept entirely separate. Hence, the weight of the context on this issue is absolutely overwhelming.

To Whom Does Ephesians 5:21 Apply?

As noted above, John Paul II claims that Ephesians 5:21 is the topic sentence for the remainder of the chapter, and thus concludes that it applies directly to husbands and wives. He neither makes any acknowledgment that the verse can apply to all Christians, nor does he posit any distinction between the general submission required in Ephesians 5:21 with the specific submission required in Ephesians 5:22-33.

The Fathers of the Church saw Ephesians 5:21 quite differently. They made the necessary distinction between the context that ends with Ephesians 5:21 ("Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ"), and the context that begins with Ephesians 5:22 ("Let women be subject to their husbands").

As representative of their views let's look, for example, at St. John Chrysostom. Chrysostom ends Homily XIX at Ephesians 5:21, and then begins Homily XX at Ephesians 5:22, thus treating the two contexts separately and showing that verse 21 is a general statement for the whole church, in a context that begins as far back as Ephesians 4:1, a section in which St. Paul does not specifically address the husband/wife relationship; rather, he speaks to all the relationships that Christians have in and out of the Church (e.g., bishop/priest; pastor/parishioner; master/slave, husband/wife). Ephesians 6:1-9 does the same, and thus the command to "be subject to one another" is surrounded on all sides by general instructions for all classes of people.

Theodoret regards the distinction between Ephesians 5:21 and Ephesians 5:22 in the same way, that is, there is a general law wherein each Christian is to subject himself to the other as a humble servant (Ephesians 5:21), but the legal specifics that go beyond the general admonition are covered in the remaining context (i.e., Ephesians 5:22-6:9):

We must not be submissive to those who command us to act unlawfully. But to those who call us to live with piety, we must be subject to one another. Having laid down this general law of obedience, Paul next advises the Ephesians in detail on their duties to another. (Commentarius in omnes B. Pauli Epistolas, 2:33).

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