This is not just another book on the perennial issue of male headship. In contrast to those who regard Christianity as the great source of male domination, this book argues that authentic Christianity does not teach that husbands have spiritual superiority over their wives, and its authors listen to and engage those that still claim that it does.

Written by distinguished Protestant and Roman Catholic scholars, the book first demonstrates how deep strands of the Christian tradition have always taught an ethic of gender mutuality. Though patriarchy was pervasive in the ancient world surrounding early Christianity and sometimes influenced the church, new research shows that the earliest layers of Christianity both resisted and worked to transform it. They also sowed the seeds of the "equal-regard marriage."

Not every author in the book agrees with this point of view; dissenters have their say too. But the two positions are not simply allowed to pass each other by. As a whole, the book constitutes a robust, respectful debate that, finally, invites readers to decide.

Contributors:
Don S. Browning
Lisa Cahill
Allan C. Carlson
Daniel Mark Cere
Maggie Gallagher
W. Robert Godfrey
Bonnie Miller- McLemore
John W. Miller
Carolyn Osiek
Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen
John Witte Jr.