Perhaps a problem is that this passage tends to be the most taught marriage-related passage in the evangelical churches and para-church organizations I&#x27;ve attended?<p>One can make many cases for models of Biblical marriage (David, a &quot;man after God&#x27;s own heart&quot; was polygamous.  This is not spoken against in the Bible, but his adultery with another man&#x27;s wife was condemned.  To me, this is implicit support.)<p>One can also talk about whether Jesus himself would have supported Paul&#x27;s interpretation and writings about marriage.  I tend to find their respective teachings disharmonious.<p>Paul very much believed in the order of things, and in authority. And in this case (as in the case of master&#x2F;slave relationships!), the man has authority.  Both masters and husbands have obligations to use their authority kindly, but Paul did not decry the authority of one individual over another.<p>So yes, in the most common interpretation of evangelical Pauline Christianity (i.e. that practiced in Heartland America), the men are not bullies, but they do possess power and authority over women, and I think this power is the thing liberals and humanists take issue with.