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For centuries, the equality of the persons of the Holy Trinity has been standard Christian teaching. And for decades, evangelical Christians have argued over proper roles for men and women. Lately, however, some evangelicals who favor greater authority for males are tinkering with trinitarian doctrine.

Drawing on their interpretations of the Bible, these evangelicals link their belief that women should be submissive to men with the analogous belief that Jesus is forever subordinate to God the Father.

The coequal three persons of the Trinity—God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit—has been a central teaching of Christianity since the fourth century.

Whether in Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox doctrine, or in the confessions of the Protestant churches, theologians have developed a variety of ways to express the belief that the persons of the Trinity “are utterly equal, one to another,” said William Placher, who teaches theology at Wabash College.