Alice Mathews

2.5 stars

I'm very torn on this book. Some parts were excellent, other parts not so much. I think for a discerning reader who already has some information on both sides of the issue, this could be a good read. I don't know that I would recommend it as an introduction to gender roles, however.

Firstly, Mathews advocates not taking Bible verses/passages out of context (great advice!) but then she ignores her own advice a few times and omits key verses in certain passages in order to put a spin on them. For example, when she relates the story of Barak and Deborah (recorded in the book of Judges), she comes to the conclusion, "Here was a man who wasn't afraid to follow a woman leader when he believed that she spoke the very words of God." (p. 62) But she omits the verse where Deborah tells Barak: "...because of the course you are taking [in asking Deborah to go with him], the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman." (Judges 4:8) This is what makes the passage so controversial, and she just overlooks the controversy completely.

She states on p. 156 that "Scripture has controlled the first two-thirds" of this book. Not so. She did an awful lot of quoting other writers and theologians, and then referencing their opinions as biblical fact.

She also makes a lot of assumptions where the Bible remains silent or vague. She would literally say things like, "Because the Bible doesn't go into detail here, we can assume XYZ" even when she presented zero actual evidence to support her assumption - an assumption she then bases the rest of the book on. Personally, I believe where the Bible is silent or vague, we should be very hesitant in coming to stark conclusions.

Unlike other reviewers, I didn't always find her to be "positive" instead of critical. She especially seemed to have it out for Wayne Grudem, constantly quoting him and mentioning him by name. I have no problem with writers being critical, generally, I just find it strange other reviewers (thus far) seemed to miss that.

As I said, there is some good here, too. Her history on the dark ages was very interesting, the information on how "head" should be translated in the Bible was very accurate, and the information on "head coverings" was also good. I think these are the points that will be most helpful to those who are struggling with some of the go-to "tricky" passages regarding a woman's actions and roles within the Church.

A few quotes I did appreciate:

"....the Victorian gender system had constructed a society that was thought to be both moral and commercial. Pious women would keep men moral; productive men would provide for wives and children. Together they would form godly homes, the epitome of Christian progress." (p. 217)

This is thinking I definitely still encounter today that I believe is very wrong, and thought she summed it up very succinctly.

I also thought she very correctly addressed the power/authority issue by stating that Jesus has been given all authority - not men, not women. We are to work together for a common goal. But I feel some of this was overshadowed by the constant raging against patriarchy.

I do feel that this book was lacking in a practical conclusion, also - as in, what would the Church look like if men and women really were working together without any sort of hierarchy?… (mehr)

This is a nonfiction Christian book about lessons you can learn from women of the Bible, and how you can apply these lessons to your own life today. Each chapter is dedicated to a different Old Testament woman and one New Testament woman, covering Eve through Mary. Each chapter ends with a series of thought-provoking questions for either group discussion or personal reflection.

I liked the fact that this book brought to mind several Biblical stories that we have heard before, but may have forgotten about, and helps you to apply lessons from these stories to your own life. The questions at the end of each chapter were another thing that I liked about this book... I was up late at night pondering them.

On the downside, there were several things about the book I disagreed with or did not like. I did not like the fact that the author only used the corrupt NIV and New American Standard Bible in the book. The KJV or YLT would have been much better. I also did not like the fact that the author talks so much about divorce and remarriage and how it's sad that the remarriage statistics for divorced women are so low, but does not mention that according to the Bible, unless under special circumstances remarriage after a divorce is wrong. And another thing that I disagree with is the author's broad definition of "abuse". She says that things such as a grouchy husband saying at every meal that his wife should have made it differently and complaining about everything she does is "verbal abuse". The husband may be a rude grouch and hard to live with, but I would never consider that "abusive"!

Overall, I am in the middle about this book. 2 1/2 stars.… (mehr)