Albert Mohler’s Holy War on Women Feeds the Evangelical Feminism Beast
When Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the quiet part out loud about how men within that movement really view a woman’s role within the Christian faith (not the local church, which has been established), even Biblically conservative women (like myself) were somewhat dismayed at yet another tiresome “mansplain” that attempts to restrict a woman’s role beyond the boundaries of Scripture. (And, no, I am not a feminist by any stretch.) Hear me out.
In asserting a position beyond the boundaries of Scripture, Mohler has done the opposite of what he set out to do.
Instead of providing godly, intelligent, faithful, seasoned, experienced women of faith space to exist in obedience to God’s calling on their lives (no, NOT as governing pastors in a church), Mohler feeds the monster of evangelical feminism that grows in Christianity by gnawing on the meaty bones of patriarchy he tosses them. (And, no, I am not a feminist by any stretch.)
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
While speaking on the May 15 episode of his daily podcast “The Briefing,” Mohler answered listener questions and was presented with this situation from a listener:
My church started a podcast where the church and the staff answer follow-up questions about the Sunday sermon. The purpose of the podcast is to expound on the sermon, exposit the Word of God to the whole church, and offer practical application advice. The problem is one of the staff members on the podcast is a woman. She’s not a pastor by role or title, but I believe she’s acting as a pastor in this context because she’s giving advice to the whole church body.
It is a “problem” when women function alongside pastors in teaching roles within the church, according to Mohler, and he’s not alone. This has long been a position from the Baptist denomination, and it is also widely held within broader conservative Christian circles across denominations who hold to the traditional male/female hierarchy of the complimentarian view for a woman’s role in the church versus the more progressive, “neither male nor female” egalitarian role based on Galatians 3:28.
But this isn’t really an issue of men versus women, nor is it really an issue of women speaking on a podcast where a male pastor’s teachings provide the structure and guidance for the conversation. It’s just silly to assert that a woman is “teaching” men in a manner that would violate the Scriptures when she shares her thoughts in a local church podcast context.
The More the… Merrier?
Podcaster Alisa Childers jumped into the fray with support for Dr. Mohler when she spoke out on X:
“I have zero issue with what he said. He didn’t say women shouldn’t have podcasts. He said a woman shouldn’t be on an official church podcast where her role is to “expound on the sermon, exposit the Word of God to the whole church, and offer practical application advice.”
If I were asked to do such a thing I would decline and have to seriously reconsider the church I attend. That may be considered “extremist” by some, but as best as I can understand the Scriptures, it’s just biblical.”
X users had plenty to say around her remarks:
“Why is the church treating a podcast as an authoritative teaching role? It diminishes the pastor’s office and encourages people to skip service for a download. Maybe the issue here is a disordered church, not a disordered woman.”
“A church cannot listen to a woman from their own midst comment on scripture, but they are free to listen to women podcasters from another church commenting on scripture? Or is it whether the church’s name is on the podcast? Or is it whether the woman is on staff?”
“Deborah giving instructions to kings and people on matters of God’s will, and Huldah speaking the very words of God was more authoritative than sharing an opinion on an official church podcast.”
“Mohler only muddied the waters with his statement and honestly should’ve put more thought into his wording. Most people in the SBC agree the office of pastor is to be held by a male while also recognizing women play a vital role in ministry that isn’t the pastor role.”
Childers received what she said was significant pushback on her remarks then noted that she would not support women who “expound, exposit, or apply” Scripture without any sense of irony that she, herself, does this frequently on her own podcast.
Alisa Childers is familiar with evangelical feminism from the years she spent exploring its many branches. For Childers, a former Christian girl band singer who famously deconstructed her faith before returning to historic Christianity, a woman’s role in church ministry is a “gray area” because the Bible clearly shows that Paul permitted women to speak.
Is it, then, only a LOCAL church issue? Because Childers applies Gods Word to this issue, yet then skirts around it because of the “local” aspect when she is a NATIONAL speaker who applies God’s Word where plenty of men are listening and learning. It is entirely possible if not realistically plausible that men are, indeed, feeling pastored by her, regardless of whether or not she would want that.
Separating Righteousness from THE RULES
As my dad likes to say: “It’s not about WHO is right, it’s about WHAT is right.”
Only the Scriptures can tell us what is right, of course, but the truth is that this ‘should-she-or-shouldn’t-she” issue regarding a woman on a church podcast (which is totally separate from pastoring in a local church in the way that role is presented in Scripture) seems more about what Dr. Mohler feels is RIGHT than it is about what is Biblically RIGHTEOUS in a woman’s life, or for that matter, a man’s.
Why can I make that claim? Because the Scriptures are clear on the governing role of a pastor – on that he and I would agree. But the Southern Baptist Convention has a litany of man-made rules that are Scripture-adjacent, but are nonetheless not actually Scripture. This issue of defining authority, function, and governance being just one of them.
For Childers and Dr. Mohler alike, the real issue is one of spiritual AUTHORITY in the local church, but it would be somewhat obtuse to say that such authority doesn’t extend to a podcast when podcasts are deeply influential and wildly popular.
This is why “hypocrisy” is the accusation Childers got she split hairs over authority without any irony that her position puts her in authority – yes, over men. While she might push back at that assertion, it is no different than how parents don’t like NBA and NFL players to womanize but then claim to be hapless victims of their own celebrity when they said things like “I’m not a role model.”
The position of influence and visibility are inherently authoritative, especially on a wide-reaching podcast, which is something Childers will have to confront within herself because she, indeed, is teaching, expositing, explaining, applying Scripture and its principles in a manner than could be construed as pastoral by some.
By whom? Not me. But then that doesn’t matter. The point is that you cannot possibly know that some men, whether they are right or not, feel pastored by Alisa Childers. I’ll bet some do.
Furthermore, a pastor can’t know with certainty that only the local church is listening to his podcast if he asks Alisa Childers to be on a podcast at his church, so maybe it is NOT a local church podcast anymore, but then becomes a national one. Can she then apply Scripture to some aspect of life?
Might she inadvertently violate what she feels is right? Maybe, but she would not be violating what is righteous, which is for all men and women to fulfill the Great Commission and she does that very well.
So, can women NEVER speak in a local, holy setting for fear that a man might learn something and thereby be inadvertently pastored?
What would Paul do??
Are We All Using Paul’s Words Against Him?
In 1 Corinthians 14:26 Paul wrote:
“…When you come together, every one of you has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, and an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.”
But wait.
Paul addressed this to “brothers”. Does that mean that women cannot come together where men are present and bring a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, or an interpretation? Might a man be accidentally taught something through a song? Would he then begin to see a woman singer as his pastor? Is that the natural progression of such behavior?
Of course not, Dr. Mohler! It is as silly as it sounds.
Says Dr. Mohler:
“I think there’s one error in the question where she says she’s not a pastor by role or by title… If she is functioning as a pastor, then she is assuming the role of a pastor, and I think that’s what’s implied here. And yes, I do see that as a problem.”
Ok, let’s think about it:
Is a woman who administers a Band-Aid functioning as a doctor? No.
Is a woman who shoots hoops at the park functioning as an NBA basketball player? No.
Is a woman who drives a car functioning as a NASCAR driver? No.
Is a woman who shares her thoughts on a church podcast a pastor? Also, no.
It seems silly to think that these things are true, yet they align in rationale with the statements Dr. Mohler made on his podcast.
Additionally, Dr. Mohler is confusing spiritual authority (a role given by God to men within a church) with a spiritual function (which women are also given by God, Scripturally speaking).
What about when Paul writes in Ephesians 5:19:
“Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Where, exactly, are women supposed to do that? Certainly not on a church-centered podcast that a man might listen to. and then be potentially pastored by So, then where?
Women can have a voice, but only to a point?
Women can share from the Bible, but only to a point?
Women can speak freely, but only to a point?
Who draws those lines or defines those perimeters? I am not asking these questions for myself. I am asking them because the women that look to Dr. Mohler are significantly more vulnerable than he realizes.
Honestly, where does Dr. Mohler think a woman should put her God-inspired thoughts, revelations, songs, testimonies, Scriptures of encouragement, exhortation, and comfort? Into the church bulletin? Might men read that and learn something? What if she goes into the youth ministry and shares something she learned in the sermon and 18-year old men, as well as the youth pastor, are present? Is she “pastoring” them?
What is a “man”? (And, no, I am not a feminist by any stretch.)
Feeding the Beast of Feminism
No. I am not a feminist by any stretch. But, I do possess the ability to see things a man probably can’t and the primary reason for that ability is that I am a woman and I exist in a world that men simply cannot enter into in their heads, in their hearts, nor within their reason – by sake of their biological composition and lived experiences.
This is why I must step in and speak up, and I hope more women like me would do the same. Based on some of his past musings and responses to woke, female progressives, it also seems Dr. Mohler’s overreach is responsive in nature to some of those types and not the types who actually listen to his podcast.
In April 2026, Dr. Mohler noted that the Southern Baptist Convention has reached a “breaking point” over the issue of female pastors. If the Bible is clear on the subject, wouldn’t more godly men (and women) in the SBC come to a consensus more easily?
in June 2026, a measure, sponsored by Dr. Mohler, called the “Truth and Unity Amendment,” passed with 74.66% of the vote, far surpassing the two-thirds majority required needed. In short, a church that wants to remain in good standing with the SBC, cannot “affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of a pastor/elder/overseer, such as preaching to the assembled congregation.”
According to the Christian Post: Someone asked “whether the amendment could affect women currently serving in various ministry leadership roles, like teachers, directors and missionaries,” to which outgoing SBC President Clint Pressley vaguely replied with “The amendment says what it says.”
Ok, but that didn’t actually clarify the issue at hand whatsoever. Perhaps some better questions would have been:
What is an “assembled congregation” defined as?
Is a podcast audience an “assembly”?
What is a “pastor” (as defined by the 5-fold ministry)? Scripture gives no gender limits to these giftings.
Will they be withdrawing women from the mission field?
Will single women be allowed to give an answer to a Scriptural question to a leper who asks in India? Or can she only put on a Band-aid and feed him rice?
This is where evangelical feminism really sinks in its teeth- where men feel intentionally vague, where they keep moving the goal posts, where they make Scripture feel exclusionary, and God feel like a mysogonist. I’m no feminist, but if I were, I’d take all this ammo and start shooting.
Resenting “THE RULES”
I trolled on X for a bit to catch up with the conversation on the ground and saw remarks on both sides of the aisle following the remarks Alisa Childers made and one of the comments I saw on Childers’ X statement summed up one of my major issues with Dr. Mohler’s remarks:
“Are there any podcasts that violate the rule stated by Al Mohler?”
“THE RULE”?!
Ouch.
That’s really what his remarks were, in essence. Not Scriptural statutes. Not commands from the Lord. A laying down ofTHE RULES. Oh, and these rules only apply to women in the increasingly fractured, beleaguered SBC. That’s not Biblically separate, but equal. That really is, in essence, patriarchy. (And, no, I am not a feminist by any stretch.)
But the most concerning aspect of what Dr. Mohler misses with his response to his listener’s question is this: The infectious rot of feminism goes much, much deeper than he can perceive and he is playing right into their hands.
Paul famously warned about those who sidle up to Christians and have “a form of godliness, but deny its power [and]…creep into houses and captivate silly women who are burdened with sins and led away with various desires, always learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:5-7)
The seeds of destruction within the SBC and, really, among Christian women at large, are being watered by the words of those like Dr. Mohler because many, many women already exist in a state of quiet, almost imperceptible resentment that has been infused into their very beings through, well, everything – books, movies, literature, social media, cultural conversations, coffee with friends, TV shows, magazines, articles, Taylor Swift songs and, ironically, podcasts.
The truth is there are way more 1 Timothy 3:5-7 women in the church that Dr. Mohler can appreciate because he doesn’t live in that world, but I do. I have seen it and I wish he would stop feeding legalistic nuggets of mansplaining and THE RULES to the beast that is trying to consume the Church through feminist ideology. (And, no, I am not a feminist by any stretch.)
What a Girl Wants
“Evangelical Feminism” – a term that should concern us all – is on the rise – creating a sort of hybrid of a few “There is neither male nor female-type Scriptures” and the thousands of years of provable spiritual, physical, sexual, and emotional abuses men have wreaked upon women.
The truth is that even good, Scriptural women (a category I fall into) wrestle at times with the feelings of being on the wrong side of the door at the “He-Man Woman Haters Club” when the Lord has inspired us with words to say, thoughts to think, a path to follow, a calling to commit to, and a vision to pursue.
Yet, in many circles, including Dr. Mohler’s, women are muzzled by THE RULES of men who use shame and curated Scriptures to silence us and endure the mansplaining of THE RULES ala his most recent remarks.
To be clear, plenty of women like me will proceed unfazed, able to graciously eat the meat and spit out the bones of Dr. Mohler’s error, but many, many women can’t and worse, many won’t. More concerning? The women who have been waiting for this moment that he just handed them.
The Jezebel Spirit that Haunts Christian Women Everywhere
Women crave power. It is part of our fallen nature. A consequence of sin. An inherant nature from the curse of Eve. And it is more specific than just broad power. It is a specific power. A power to rule over men.
This is what I believe rests at the heart of Dr. Mohler’s remarks because THE RULES he asserted extend so far beyond Scripture: The control of and attempt to quell what he perceives to be the potential devastation that would stem from a woman’s inherent desire to grasp for power.
Ironically, however, he falls into the same gender trope: Asserting a position of rulership over women with THE RULES, also part of Eve’s curse.
Although I am not at all a feminist, I do understand why feminism is on the rise within the evangelical church. It’s not because of the “Jezebel spirit” women everywhere get accused of. It’s because of the THE RULES that the John MacArthurs and the Dr. Albert Mohlers of the Christo-sphere assert on their expansive platforms that depart from or misinterpret or misuse Scripture to make sure no woman’s voice is heard saying anything to the local church that might “teach” a man and thereby inadvertently pastor him, as silly as that sounds.
But you know what isn’t silly?
The women who are sick of it and are going to effeminize generations of young men in retaliation to THE RULES. In case you haven’t been paying attention, this is already well underway in our society.
The women who see the dissonance between THE RULES and the righteous order within God’s Word and are sick of the mansplaining.
The women who have decided that they will, indeed, pastor men, and boys, and other women, and will impact untold numbers of people with a false Gospel, simply because they were sick and tired of men telling women to “remain silent”.
The women (and their husbands) who are already pulling away from the Southern Baptist Convention in increasing numbers.
The lives of the women who love the Lord deeply and feel a calling to serve Him with their voices, their thoughts, their influence, their giftings, and their words. It seems that, rather than following the Lord’s voice, Dr. Mohler might tell them they heard wrong, and then tell them to be quiet while a less spiritually qualified man (in plenty of cases) gets to speak.
Those women are as serious as a heart attack.
My mother used to say:
“The man is the head of the house, but the woman is the neck that turns the head.”
She was no feminist either. She just knew the power women really have who want to rule over men, like a Jezebel. A true Jezebel doesn’t go after strong men… she goes after weak men, and the boys who grow up into men.
It is worth mentioning, as an aside, that Dr. Mohler’s errancy also facilitates the potential of a very ungoldy arrogance among men in the Kingdom of God who are qualified simply because of their gender. Such thinking is the road upon which spiritual DEI at its most insidious creeps into the church. The irony is almost poetic.
“Watch Out, Boy, She’ll Chew You Up… She’s a Man Eater”
Dr. Mohler doesn’t want to think that women who speak on a podcast referencing the remarks of the pastor on Sunday to an audience of congregants at a specific church are not “the problem”. He needs them to be the problem to keep a lid on women who can read and understand the Bible for themselves so men can be in charge.
Why? Well, I hate to say “patriarchy”, but, he’s not making it easy for me to avoid it.
“The man is the head of the house, but the woman is the neck that turns the head.”
~ My Mom ~
But I assert that he really just doesn’t understand women. At least not women that are nothing like any of the women he regularly interacts with. Leftist, woke, vindictive women in the church play dirty and fight to win, but unlike a man who swings with an axe, a woman cuts with a scalpel. Nuanced. Strategic. Patient.
This observation is perhaps why Sherlock Holmes famously noted that: “Poison is a woman’s weapon.”
Back in 2016, Relevant Magazine wrote:
“Christian millennial women and men are joining efforts and strongly advocating for gender equality inside the evangelical Church, and we are not alone. Pre-millennial evangelical feminists, men and women alike, are speaking up, too. Christian feminists are not a new group, but a revived group that is constantly reinventing itself for the next generation.”
That entire conversation 10 years ago was a warning sign that the Dr. Albert Mohlers of the world just don’t pay enough attention to, and they are so busy chasing Jezebel’s and condeming church podcasts where women share thoughts on a pastor’s sermon to a hyper-localized audience that they missed the point entirely.
It might be easy to dismiss lefties like Rachel Held Evans, but it will be significantly less easy to dismiss the millions of women under her feminist influence as time moves forward, women who are eager to be validated, heard, and seen.
Dr. Mohler may not like their visibility, but he should be more circumspect about applying THE RULES to a generation of women he doesn’t seem to really comprehend. Water down the Scriptures? No, of course not. But THE RULES have little to do with Scripture anyway.
Rachel Held Evans said this to Relevant Magazine:
“I am more effective at advocacy when I direct my words primarily toward those who are already open to change rather than starting with the most strident or popular complementarians.”
Writer Anne Eggbroten said this after attending an SBC church in 2010 where she was gobsmacked to find :
“Traditionalists claim that male rule is God’s will; such neo-patriarchalism promotes injustice in home, church, and society. It gives men too much power, exposing them to temptation, and has often contributed to domestic violence…So what is the will of God for women today: silence or preaching, subjection or mutual submission? Many Christians in all denominations, including evangelicals aren’t even asking this question any more—yet the neo-patriarchal movement remains widespread.”
In response Dr. Mohler noted:
“The answer to that question, as Eggebroten’s essay helps to clarify, depends on your view of Scripture. In order to reach her conclusions, you must accept her evasions of the biblical text. If you are willing to do that on this question, you will be willing to do so on other issues as well. The central issue is, and will ever remain, the authority of Scripture.”
On that we certainly agree- the central issue is, of course, the authority of Scripture, but not the authority of Dr. Mohler.
NO. I AM NOT A FEMINIST.
Poison is a Woman’s Weapon
Yet, in spite of his well articulated rebuttals, the movement to rebrand Dr. Albert Mohler and others like him as “neo-patriarchal” is alive and well and growing – a poison that will continue to spread within the church if Dr. Mohler cannot separate himself from THE RULES and instead create a boundary line that is not only Scriptural, but also seasoned with grace.
The governmental office of a pastor (where a man is called to lead the church body by the Lord) is not the same thing as a woman functioning with pastoral spiritual gift whereby she teaches from the Scriptures, shepherds other women, and ministers the Gospel in obedience to the Great Commission.
Dr. Mohler recenrtly announced that he plans to propose a motion to amend the constitution of the SBC to clarify women’s preaching and leadership roles in SBC churches, and I predict it will have several outcomes:
It will probably pass
It will cost the SBC a great deal of upheaval and turmoil
It will further divide the body of Christ
Honestly, as increasing numbers depart from the SBC, a time of circumspection might be in order regarding how to align less with THE RULES more accurately with Scripture, to evaluate how historical patriarchy has, indeed, influenced your perspective, Dr. Mohler.
Not to appease the crowds or violate the authority of Scripture, but to do what we all must do at times- examine, evaluate, and explore.
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves,” Paul wrote. (2 Cor. 13:5. I used the KJV for patriarchy’s sake!) There is something to be learned here, to be gained, but does Dr. Mohler have the capacity to be stretched this way?
To really examine his own biases?
To evaluate his understanding of, well. many things?
To explore that he may not be fully right in this pursuit of righteousness?
Only time will tell. I hope so, truly. In my humble opinion, his response and perspective could turn the tide BACK to the Bible and help women more rightly understand their God-ordained role in the church- or not.
As my dad has long said:“You’ll never see an out-of-control woman without an out-of-control man.”
Concluding his response on his podcast, Dr. Mohler said, “…avoiding the title [of pastor] doesn’t mean you’ve avoided the problem.”
Actually, Dr. Mohler, by attempting to address the problem with THE RULES, you’ve created a much bigger one. And NO, I am NOT a feminist by any stretch.
