Understanding Submission in Marriage (Ephesians 5)

Author: David Wilber

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). If you just read that verse out loud, then you might hear a faint, high-pitched noise. That sound is every feminist worldwide shrieking about how Christianity oppresses women. Feminist author Valerie Tarico cites this verse as evidence that the Bible regards women as human “chattel.”[1] But is this instruction in Ephesians really oppressive toward women?

To give some historical context, Ephesians 5:21-6:9 a...