Leftists repeatedly tell the lie that Christianity “oppressed women” and that biblical morality is nothing more than a relic of some primitive, patriarchal past. We are expected to believe that the sexual revolution liberated women, while Christian teaching held them back. But history tells a very different story — and it’s one the Left does not want us to remember.
Before Christ transformed the ancient world, women were not “free.” They were disposable. They were married off as children, traded for political advantage, and left powerless against the sexual appetites of men who were encouraged by pagan culture to use prostitutes, concubines, and even slaves — male and female — for their pleasure. Wives existed to produce heirs and manage the household. Love was optional. Fidelity was one-sided. And justice was a fantasy.
Biblical marriage was revolutionary precisely because it restrained male power and protected women. It placed men under moral law. It bound husbands to lifelong fidelity. It gave wives something they had almost never had in the ancient world: legal, moral, and spiritual standing before God. Marriage was not a cage — it was a shield. It limited exploitation, elevated women’s worth, and made men accountable for their behavior.
Into that moral darkness stepped Christianity with something utterly radical: the idea that men and women are equally made in the image of God, equally bound by God’s moral law, and equally worthy of dignity, faithfulness, and sacrificial love. That worldview didn’t merely tweak the culture — it overturned it.
Yet today we are rapidly moving away from the protective, stabilizing model that God ordained for us. Cohabitation has become a defining feature of modern life. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) supplement shows the share of U.S. adults living with an unmarried partner increased from 3.7 % in 1996 to about 9.1 % in 2023. This rise in cohabitation is occurring alongside a broader decline in marriage.
In 2025, fewer than half (47 %) of U.S. households were married-couple households — the second lowest share on record — reflecting long-term declines in marriage overall. Another 2025 Census report shows that by 2024 many young adults had not yet reached key life milestones — including marriage — that previous generations typically achieved in their mid-20s and early 30s. In other words, marriage is being delayed and, in far too many cases, foregone altogether.
This is not progress. It is regression.
Nancy Pearcey captures this historical earthquake powerfully in Love Thy Body. What follows is not theory or romanticized nostalgia. It is a documented record of how biblical Christianity confronted one of the most sexually brutal civilizations in history and replaced it with something truly revolutionary: marriage grounded in mutual fidelity, moral accountability, and genuine love.
As my wife and I celebrate our thirty-first wedding anniversary this month, I feel compelled to share this with IFI readers. Proverbs 18:22 reminds us, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.” After three decades of marriage, I can testify without hesitation that God’s design is a blessing. It is lamentable that so many young people today are being steered away from what the Lord has lovingly given for their good.
Please read this excerpt carefully — because it demolishes the lie that Christianity is the enemy of women:
To appreciate how unique the biblical view of marriage is, we need to set it against the ancient Greco-Roman culture into which the early church was born. In the ancient world, sexual promiscuity and homosexuality were both socially accepted for men. The purpose of a wife was to have legal heirs, but it was expected that men would have sex with prostitutes, mistresses, concubines, and, most of all, slaves — male and female, adults and children.
Demosthenes famously said, “We keep prostitutes for pleasure. We keep mistresses for the day-to-day needs of the body. We keep wives for the begetting of children and for the faithful guardianship of our homes.”
Pagan society did not expect emotional intimacy between husband and wife. Most marriages were arranged — not for love but to advance the family’s financial and political interests. Wives were often very young at the age of marriage; child brides were common. The Greek historian Plutarch reported that Romans “gave their girls in marriage when they were twelve years old, or even younger.” Their husbands were usually twice as old. As a result, wives were less mature, less experienced, and less educated than their husbands.
Under these conditions, not surprisingly, husbands and wives often had little in common. Men held their wives in low esteem. Divorce (by husbands) was widespread. Since it was thought acceptable for men to have sex outside of marriage, a wife had no recourse if her husband committed adultery. The Roman statesman Cato declared, “If you catch your wife in adultery, you can kill her with impunity; she, however, cannot dare to lay a finger on you if you commit adultery. It is the law.” In this historical context, the Christian view of marriage was nothing short of revolutionary. At its core was a new form of sexual equality. To the shock of the ancient world, both sexes were held to the same moral standard. Christianity condemned promiscuity among men as well as women. It stood out as radically different because it taught that a husband actually wrongs his wife by committing adultery. Jesus said, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her” (Mark 10:11).
Such evenhanded treatment was genuinely novel….
Finally, in contrast to the surrounding Roman culture, husbands were commanded to actually love their wives — to “nourish and cherish” them (Ephesians 5:29 ESV). Carrie Miles of Baylor University writes,
‘Note that the kinds of behavior Paul advocated here were far from being typical male roles. The Roman man was expected to be virile, dominant, and “macho.” “Nourishing and cherishing” were not typical “guy” behaviors in the first century.’
The New Testament writers were calling for a transformation of the marriage relationship that would eventually change the world.
Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled;
but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
~Hebrews 13:4~
