Editor’s Note: The Southern Baptist Convention is meeting this week in Indianapolis and the subject of women in ministry is, once again, on the table. A version of the following reflection appeared at EthicsDaily.com on June 11, 2018. The author, Mitch Carnell, passed away on January 30, 2023. We are thankful for his witness.

An article I read recently extolling the virtues of complementarianism nagged at me. It would not let me rest.

Complementarianism is a religious construct that deals with the roles of gender. The message is evil at its center.

“The SBC has affirmed complementarianism – the belief that the Bible reveals that men and women are equally made in God’s image, but that men and women were also created to be complements to each other, men and women bearing distinct and different roles,” Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,