unquestioned authority, the mutual submission of Christian partners must have seemed radical. Indeed, it still is, ruling out, as it does, the extremes of either male chauvinism or radical feminism. As many scholars have noted, the new pattern of relationship given in Christ was hard to reconcile either with Jewish or Gentile backgrounds. Women who did not follow the social conventions of the day were (and are!) subject to sharp criticism. The larger issue was that the gospel would not be heard if