Complimentarianism is the historical Christian/Messianic doctrine that men and women have an equality of status before Messiah and each other in terms of worth as human beings and in the reception of salvation but have been assigned different rôles by Yahweh both in the home as well as in the Priesthood leadership of the local assembly, congregation or qahal.

This doctrine stands at odds with the spirit of the age which is modernist and postmodernist. Postmodernism in particular, which is a contemporary mutation of atheistic Marxism that steers the modern political correctness agenda, seeks to 'deconstruct' all the truths established by Christianity, including hierarchies, gender rôles and even gender itself.

The Scriptures that clearly lay out the doctrine of Complimentarianism may be found in 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 14 and Titus 2 and should be studied carefully in a literal translation like the KJV, NKJV, NASB, etc., and not a 'gender-inclusive' politicised version or a modern paraphrase (which is a commentary rather than a true rendition of the original text). These passages speak clearly for themseleves and are, have been, and always will be, the rule of the Kingdom of Elohim (God) in all generations. They need no further interpretation. They were not, as secularistically-minded liberals claim, only of local application for the day and age in which they were given.

Yahweh has, repeatedly and systematically, assigned to men specific responsibilities, defined by both office and function (which are synonymous) which He specifically does not assign to women. Attempts to separate office and function are not scriptural and are merely attempts to twist Scripture to fit into, and syncretise with, a preconceived non-Christian secular philosophical worldview. This authority is founded on Scripture and Apostolic Tradition.

Notions of Coheadship in either marriage or in the local assembly (church), which are reflections of one another, are a modern invention stemming from the egalitarianism of secular Marxism and modernism, and are not biblical.

Accordingly, when messianic families consisting of both men and women assemble or gather for worship, preaching and instruction, the leadership of such is mandated to a male Pastor or a male Elder, as qualified by Scripture (and not just any old man), who is fulfilling that teaching rôle and office.

The apostle Paul, the author of the four principle Scriptures cited above that address complimentarianism, not only lays out the gender rôles but also explains the divine logic behind such rôles. And his justification for this position is always Yahweh's Torah (Law, Doctrine, Teaching, Instruction), as affirmed by Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself (Mt.5:17-20), as opposed to, and compared with, the misogynous (anti-woman) teachings of the Talmudic Judaism of his own day.

Though leadership is squarely patriarchal both at home and in the local assembly, specific leadership rôles are assigned also to wives and mothers at home over their children (collectively under the leadership of husbands/fathers) as they are to elder women (Eldresses) in the local assembly (Titus 2:3-5) who are admonished to instruct the younger women. This is the matriarchal aspect of authority that operates within clearly defined boundaries. Matriarchy is therefore, in the biblical worldview, a subset of Patriarchy, what Messianic Evangelicals sometimes call Patrimatriarchy or Patriarchinity.

It all boils down to the divinely established biblical tavnith (pattern) of authority:

"I do not permit a woman (wife) to teach or to have authority over a man (husband)" (1 Tim.2:12, NKJV).

This does not mean a woman is subject to all men but only to her husband who is himself subject, as the head of his family, to the authority of his local Pastor or Overseer, again within boundaries, so she is subject too only indirectly as a pastor/elder has no direct authority over the internal affairs of a man's family and home. A woman acting in a ministerial capacity in the local assembly does so first and foremost under the authority of her husband, who then becomes accountable as though he were the minister himself.

The issues then become (for those who challenge Complimentarianism and instead espouse the secular socialistic/marxist philosophy of Egalitarianism) as follows:

• 1. Do you agree that the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) inspired Paul to say what he did about men and women? and
• 2. Do you accept the authority of the Holy Scriptures or not?

If the Ruach (Spirit) did inspire Paul to say what he did in the context of the New Covenant then it is the Davar Elohim - the Word of God - and the debate is over. For it is written:

"For Elohim (God) is not the author of confusion but of shalom (peace), as in all the assemblies (churches) of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones)" (1 Cor.14:33, NKJV).

If you do not accept that then you are not a Bible-believing Christian/Messianic but a liberal, feminist 'Christian' with an evolutionary, neo-atheistic view of sacred history and religion who questions the authority of the Bible and therefore of the Creator Himself, Yahweh-Elohim. And that is a very dangerous position to be in because it is ultimately a slippery slope into outright rebellion and atheism. There is Yahweh, the infinite, omnipotent, omniscient Creator's, point-of-view and then there are all those views, teachings and theologies of men and women which are meaningless.

You can no more tamper with Yahweh's created spiritual order than you can with the material order. Both are incredibly complex and fine-tuned. To mess with either of them is to create serious dysfunction in the envionment and in social relations. Even if the rôles of male and female are different, they are, ultimately, mutually dependent on one another for harmonious functionality:

"Neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Master. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from Elohim (God)" (1 Cor.11:11-12, NKJV).

There has to be consent, based on biblical truth, for the biblical principle of Patriarchinity to function. To properly work, complimentarianism depends on agreement by husbands and wives in the home, and brothers and sisters in the local congregation, of the principles leading to free-will cooperation. This should be done for the stability and peace of the family before marriage, ideally, and be included in the wedding vows, as has always been traditionally done until modern times. Likewise, new members of a congregations must agree to these and other basic truths before being admitted to full membership, in the interests of avoiding disharmony and disputes. All of this should be written into a local assembly's Constitution. If, in the case of marriage, this was not done and coheadship-type vows were made, by mutual agreement these vows should be dissolved and new ones entered into, preferably in the presence of two or three witnesses. The local assembly would be the perfect place for such vow-making to be done.

Almost uniquely among Christians and Messianics, Messianic Evangelicals have the understanding that the Elohimhead (Godhead) itself has such an arrangement in place which is why the principle is reflected throughout the cosmos and down to human beings too. For contrary to the orthodox teaching of an all-male Trinity doctrine, Messianic Evangelicals have long understood that the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) is female and our Heavenly Mother. Please see the very important article, Yah'shua the Messiah and His Place in the Godhead with links to the female aspect of Elohim (God).

Note also how this ties into the biblical teaching of the sevenfold nature of the Ruach (Spirit) (Rev.1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6) which undermines the very premise of egalistarianism and coheadship. Accordingly, by way of a footnote, complex-marriage, which is an established Torah-principle protected by the authority of Scripture, and which is prophesied to return in the end times for a few honourable families with a good name (Is.4:1), settles the matter of complimentarianism vs. coheadship, egalitarianism and feminism once and for all.

(4 April 2021)

As the literature on this subject is very extensive on this website, only a small selection of the more important materials has been made in the register below.