Not too long ago in our past, the United States had coverture laws. Coverture, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, was when the laws of the USA coincided with the Biblical doctrine of submission in marriage.
There are a few women in modern times, such as Fuller House star and celebrity Candace Cameron Bure, who claim that they practice Biblical submission in their marriages. There are also plenty of other so called “Christian” women on the internet proclaiming they practice the same thing (see for example this site), but they not only do NOT practice submission in the Biblical sense, they also have absolutely no idea of what true Biblical submission looks like (based upon my personal research and in my honest opinion).
It’s not necessarily their fault that they think they are practicing submission, but the fault of the fake churches that promote pseudo Christianity and teach half baked doctrines which were watered down and corrupted in those abysmal bible colleges and seminaries. Using a leaven/dough analogy, Jesus warned his disciples in his day to be careful of even a little bad teaching which can corrupt the entire doctrine that is being taught. Imagine what he would say to the churches of modern America.
Look, the Bible gives us exactly what Biblical submission in marriage looks like. This passage in the New Testament says that Biblical submission is like Sarah’s obedience to Abraham. And if you go back and look at what Sarah and Abraham did in the Old Testament, you will quickly realize that there are ZERO women (to my knowledge) practicing Biblical submission in The United States of America. ZERO!!! If you can show me just ONE woman in modern day United States who would sit back and just watch their husband attempt to murder their first born son (Abraham almost killed his son Isaac as an offering to the Lord), I will take that statement back.
If any modern man even mentioned that he had the thought of attempting to kill his child because “God said so”, I guarantee you that most modern women of the USA (including the so called “submissive” ones) would be calling 911. That’s because modern men and women in the USA are void of any concept or understanding of Biblical obedience and submission. How can a country such as the United States (where egalitarianism and no-fault divorce rule the day), which was born in rebellion to the British Crown and the Church of England (which itself was born in rebellion to the Roman Catholic Church) somehow gave way to true Biblical submission in marriage like Sarah obeyed Abraham? Give me a break!
Back to Candace Cameron Bure, I think she’s a really good actress. I actually like her. Do I think she really understands or practices true Biblical submission? Not a chance in h___. With that being said, I would love to interview her for this site someday. I am a fan of her and her brother’s work (Kirk Cameron).
So, what did our world look like back when we had coverture laws (or at least the tail end of coverture)? Well, some YouTubers (no relation to or affiliation with this website) have taken the effort to colorize and speed correct some old film footage of what the world looked like before the invention of the internet, before smartphones and before the complete loss of chivalry and coverture. Pay close attention to what men and women are wearing and also notice how they handle themselves in public. This gives you an idea of how much our society has changed in a little over 100 years.
Film footage from Paris
Film Footage from New York City