1. Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Crossway, 1991). 482 pages.
If you’ll pardon the metaphor, this book is the “Bible” of complementarian teachings. It was published three years after complementarianism was defined in the Danvers Statement.
It had two clear aims: to present the overall vision and biblical basis of complementarianism in line with the Danvers Statement and to rebut the views of scholars described as “evangelical feminists”. There are contributions by twenty-two writers.
It was reprinted in 2006 with a new preface. It was reprinted again in 2021. The 2006 preface was removed and the 1991 preface was restored. Chapters by various authors were removed, presumably because of public controversies about misconduct (ch. 14 by Paige Patterson, ch. 17 by George Rekers, ch. 22 by Dorothy Patterson).
This work is available free at the CBMW website. The 2021 version has four useful indexes in the back. It is now 690 pages long.
However, the substance of the remaining chapters has not changed from the original 1991 version. The book is therefore quite dated. Even the most obvious errors have not been corrected.
Nonetheless, it covers a lot of ground. With its wide range of contributors, there is nothing else quite like it. Because of its importance, I have cited it more than 200 times in my book True Complementarity: Men and Women in Christ (2026).
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood remains the principal source-book for complementarian expositions of the relevant biblical texts, with one exception. (In regard to 1 Timothy 2, the principal book is now Women in the Church: see below.)
2. Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth: An Analysis of 118 Disputed Questions, by Wayne Grudem (Multnomah, 2004; Apollos, 2005; Crossway 2012). 856 pages.
The various versions of this book are substantially the same, except for a variation in the subtitle and an extra preface in the Crossway reprint. In the new preface, Grudem describes his purpose:
“I wrote this book as an all-purpose reference work to reply to every argument I have ever heard favoring evangelical feminism (the view that all leadership roles in the home and the church should be open to men and women equally).”
It certainly contains a lot of useful material. Because it remains an important work of reference, I have cited it more than 140 times in True Complementarity: Men and Women in Christ.
However, the quality is distinctly patchy.
Some of the egalitarian arguments which Grudem spends time rebutting are quite poor, and some of Grudem’s own arguments are also quite poor.
Despite his intent, and the length of the book, there are many important points which he fails to address at all or fails to address adequately.
To take just one illustration out of many, I will mention Grudem’s treatment of the two puzzling verses which we know as 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. He briskly dismisses Gordon Fee’s view that the textual evidence shows them to be an addition to what Paul originally wrote (235-237). But he radically misreads Fee’s view, imagining it to be based primarily on the internal inconsistency with the context rather than primarily on the textual evidence. And he fails to offer any explanation at all of how the textual evidence came to be what it is, or of how it is consistent with the verses being authentic.
Philip Payne rightly observes that Grudem “egregiously misrepresents Fee’s view and fails to identify or rebut Fee’s central arguments” (Man and Woman, One in Christ, 228).
Grudem’s book also suffers from an endemic problem of unsatisfactory interpretive methods.
Grudem starts with his beliefs about male–female authority structures, which he sees as implied in Genesis 2, then he expounds 1 Timothy 2:11–15 in the light of those beliefs and without looking at what Paul says in 1:1 – 2:7 in order to understand the context (29–45, 65–74).
Similarly, he shows a general tendency to focus on individual words and proof texts without considering the context and train of thought in the Bible passage under consideration.
For example, at 1 Corinthians 11:3, Grudem takes from his (flawed) word studies the conclusion “kephalē = authority over”, and plugs that meaning into the verse. But he pays almost no attention to the context of Paul’s words and he does not trace Paul’s train of thought or offer a connected interpretation of Paul’s reasoning in verses 2–16 as a whole. Had he done so, he might have become aware of the numerous difficulties which stand in the way of treating Paul’s metaphor as connoting authority in this context. (See Bartlett, True Complementarity, chap. 18.)
In sum, this remains an important reference for complementarian interpretations of Scripture, but it contains many flaws.
3. God’s Design for Man and Woman: A Biblical-Theological Survey, by Andreas and Margaret Köstenberger (Crossway, 2014). 380 pages.
The basic idea of this book is a good one. The idea is to carry out a broader biblical survey rather than focusing on proof texts. In support of this purpose, the authors include some good, solid teaching about proper standards and methods for faithful interpretation of the Bible.
Unfortunately, the book does not adhere to those standards and methods. So, it does not deliver on what it promises. Disappointingly, it provides a salutary example of the effects of a partisan mindset.
The biblical survey is skewed. For example, 1 Corinthians 7 is the longest passage in the New Testament on the relations of men and women. But the survey omits any mention of Paul’s teaching on mutuality of marital authority. It does not fit into their viewpoint.
In True Complementarity, I cite this work around 80 times. I identify many examples where the authors do not adhere to the standards and methods which they set out. I have written a review of the book here.
4. Women in the Church: An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9–15, edited by Andreas Köstenberger and Thomas Schreiner (Crossway, 3rd edn, 2016). 411 pages.
First Timothy 2:9-15 is the primary text relied on by complementarians as excluding women from leadership in the Church.
This work is the primary complementarian book on that primary text. As at 2026, it is in its third edition, and a fourth is in preparation.
I stand in awe of the prodigious labor and erudition that has gone into the third edition. It is a scholarly work. It is of considerable help for clarifying the interpretive issues, so I cite it around 130 times in True Complementarity.
However, on close examination, the reasoning is frequently unsatisfactory.
This is true not only in the details but at the macro level. In chapter 2, Paul’s word authenteō (in 1 Timothy 2:12) is determined to mean ‘exercise authority’, but that is done without due attention to the context of Paul’s use of the word or to his train of thought in the letter. The expositions which follow in the rest of the book are then largely fashioned on the basis of this controversial meaning. This is backwards logic, for meaning can only be determined by attention to context.
5. God’s Good Design: What the Bible Really Says About Men and Women, by Claire Smith (Matthias Media, 2nd edn, 2019). 255 pages.
This work is an easy read. The print is large, and Smith writes in a clear and engaging style. She covers most of the usual passages.
Smith is a more careful exegete than many. Unlike many complementarian writers, she notices the word ‘savior’ in Ephesians 5:23. I cite her work in True Complementarity around 50 times.
She is an Australian scholar. She does not go the whole way with Grudem’s flavor of complementarianism. We can compare what she says about the ideal wife in Proverbs 31 with what Grudem says. Grudem seems keen to minimize the significance of the work done by this woman as a breadwinner. He says verse 15 “just means she puts out the food for the day” (Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth, 156). This disregards the context (see especially verses 14 and 16). But Smith properly emphasizes that this woman “will not let us say there is anything intrinsically wrong with a wife and mother owning property or running a business and having and supervising employees.” (220)
Nonetheless, her book has major flaws. For example:
- She aims to deal with “the key Bible texts” that “should determine” the best model for marriage (9). She presents five chapters on marriage. But none is on 1 Corinthians 7, even though that is the only passage on marriage in the New Testament which speaks expressly of the authority of husband and wife (which is mutual) and of how to make marital decisions (namely, by mutual consent).
- While she correctly notices the word ‘savior’ in Ephesians 5:23, she argues against the plain meaning that Paul is applying the saviorhood idea to the husband. Then, in self-contradiction, she has to acknowledge in her next paragraph that Paul is referring to Christ’s self-sacrificial love as a model for the husband (123).
- At 1 Corinthians 11, she follows the same faulty procedure as Grudem, taking a particular metaphorical meaning of kephalē from word studies and inserting it into verse 3, instead of determining the meaning from the context and train of thought (60-61).
- In 1 Corinthians 14, she dismisses the possibility of the inauthenticity of verses 34–35 on the erroneous ground that it “lacks any evidence” (88). She does not consider the textual evidence discussed by Fee and by Payne. She offers no explanation for the differing positions of these verses in different manuscripts.
- Of 1 Timothy 2:12, she says with emphasis that she is convinced “the historical understanding is right”. Yet, in self-contradiction, she rightly rejects the majority historical understanding. She says Paul’s reasons for his instruction in verse 12 are not that women are “less intelligent, less gifted, less useful, more gullible or somehow inferior” (17, 37).
- She notes the relevance of false teaching to 1 Timothy 2:1–2, but her exposition then makes no mention of this context until she reaches verse 15.
6. Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction, by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway, 2021). 170 pages.
This is the shortest of the six books.
One of DeYoung’s aims was to write a short, accessible book which “the interested layperson could understand and in a size that he or she could read in a few hours” (16). DeYoung succeeds admirably in this aim.
Even though the book is short, he packs in a lot of content. As a result, in True Complementarity, I cite this work nearly 60 times.
There are some important things that he gets right. For example, we should not use the Trinity as our model for the marriage relationship [Chapter 4].
However, DeYoung barely engages with egalitarian interpretations. He makes scarcely any reference to egalitarian or mutualist writings. He gives us the Bible as interpreted through patriarchal or complementarian spectacles.
DeYoung is an able writer. Having read some other work of his, I expected this book to be better. He repeatedly offers interpretations and conclusions which are in conflict with the actual words of the inspired text. He even misreads complementarian scholarly work. For some examples, see my review here
7. BibleThinker Women in Ministry video series, by Mike Winger, 2022 – 2024
Mike Winger’s video series has probably now become the most influential complementarian work.
The videos are long and detailed. They run for 43 hours in all. Even so, the series has been watched by an enormous number of people.
Mike is a very gifted presenter.
There are many thousands of appreciative comments posted on YouTube below the videos.
People listen to the videos. They get the impression that Mike has done his homework thoroughly. And they express their warm gratitude.
But the problem must be stated plainly. Mike’s presentation skills are in a different league from his skills of research, of reading, and of understanding, which are not good.
The result is that Mike’s listeners hear from him a beautifully-presented account of the interpretive issues, but it is one-sided and severely inaccurate.
It sounds as if Mike effectively demolishes what egalitarians have written. Occasionally, his critique is correct, but most of the time it is not.
He repeatedly misunderstands what he reads, both in the Bible and in scholarly literature. He repeatedly misrepresents to his listeners what egalitarians have said. He repeatedly misses the real point that is being made. He repeatedly fails to address the real issues.
On several occasions, Mike publicly offered to engage with scholars who might offer pushback to what he said in his videos. Terran Williams and I proceeded on the basis that those were serious offers. We engaged with most of his videos in written articles, which we sent to him one by one, as they were produced.
But Mike has consistently declined to engage with us. When on social media a fellow Californian urged him to do so, he replied, “The real reason I’m being pressured to help platform them has nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with attention.”
That was a disappointing response.
The result is that very large numbers of people are misled by his videos – misled both about what the Scripture teaches and about what egalitarian authors have said. In view of James 3:1, we tremble for him.
Below, you will find a link to our all-in-one article examining Mike’s errors, Where Mike Winger Went Wrong on Women. That article also contains links to our separate articles addressing nearly all of his series, video by video.
Explore Further
Review of God’s Design for Man and Woman: A Biblical-Theological Survey, by Andreas and Margaret Köstenberger, is here.
Review of Women in the Church: An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9–15, edited by Andreas Köstenberger and Thomas Schreiner (3rd edn) is here.
Review of Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction, by Kevin DeYoung is here.
Where Mike Winger Went Wrong on Women is here.
Another influential work is Andrew Wilson’s article Beautiful Difference: The (Whole Bible) Complementarity of Male and Female, republished by TGC on May 20, 2021, here.
For a review of Wilson’s article, see Bartlett and Paul, Spoiling the Beautiful Difference, here.
Another reasonably recent complementarian work is Embracing Complementarianism: Turning Biblical Convictions into Positive Church Culture (The Good Book Company, 2022). 159 pages. For a review, click here.