Calvinists have obviously always been patriarchal, but it should also be noted Geneva in Calvin’s day was one of the first places in the world to make domestic violence a crime. Wife-beating or any other form of domestic violence was dealt with swiftly in Calvin’s Geneva. Numerous other pastors, ethicists, and theologians in the Calvinist tradition made it very clear that a man’s headship did not give him carte blanche to do as he wished in his home – and headship could certainly not be used to underwrite physical violence of any sort, even with an unsubmissive or rebellious wife. Calvinists leaders such as William Gouge and Cotton Mather were very clear that abuse was not to be tolerated by church or state. So far from being a source of abuse, Christian patriarchalists countered abuse and criminalized it, especially in the Calvinist tradition. Christian patriarchy holds men to a high standard and has ways of dealing with men who are irresponsible or abusive. Those who caricature headship (or patriarchy) to suggest the Christian tradition has countenanced the abuse of women in the name biblical teaching are slanderers and false accusers – and bad historians.
“Calvin recognized that violence could be counterproductive in family relations, and in Calvin’s Geneva spouse beating became a crime (Gottlieb, 1993, p. 91). The English Puritan William Gouge in his popular manual Domesticall Duties(1622) argued that it was immoral for a husband to beat his wife (Gouge, 1622, pp. 389–392). In one of his sermons, the famous Boston minister Cotton Mather preached that for ‘a man to Beat his Wife was as bad as any Sacriledge. And such a Rascal were better buried alive, than show his Head among his Neighbours any more’ (Koehler, 1980, p. 49).”
The data actually shows that women are far safer with Christian patriarchs – provided the men are not nominally Christian, but are serious about their faith and church membership. Women are far less safe in anti-Christian patriarchal contexts (eg. Islamic societies) or anti-patriarchal contexts (such as Hollywood and university campuses).
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