"The commonality and equality of nature shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is even greater than the commonality of nature shared by two human beings. For in the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each possesses the identically same divine nature. There are not three natures, but one; there are three persons, each of whom possesses the identically same divine nature fully and eternally. And yet there are eternal role distinctions among the members of the Trinity. Therefore, just as the role distinctions characterized by relationships of authority and submission do not compromise the complete equality of the triune Persons of the Godhead, so is this the case with us, who are made in God's image. Men and women are fully equal in essence, worth, value, and dignity, even thought God has ordained that there be male headship in our relations in the home and in the church. Equality of essence does not conflict with distinction of roles. In God, and among us, both must be embraced and honored."
Bruce Ware, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, & Relevance (pg. 139)
May 4th 2006 
One Comment 
May 15th 2006
Great to profile Bruce Ware's material. His work is superb at providing a strong doctrinal basis for complementarian gender roles. For me, the strength of complementarianism is that it does find deep doctrinal importance - I can only stand on this issue with such confidence because it also relates directly to a wider biblical view about the nature of God and also the relationship between Christ and the church.
If you liked Bruce Ware he has some other materials available - you can take a look at chapter 2 of the great resource 'Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood' available free of charge as a PDF on the http://www.cmbw.org website. Alternatively, there is a more detailed article here http://www.cbmw.org/resources/articles/trinity.pdf which talks about the impact on trinitarian doctrine.