Each book CBE carries is carefully vetted to make sure it aligns with our statement of faith and core values, whether or not the author agrees with CBE in other work. By carrying a book, CBE does not endorse the author’s entire body of work, the author, or the organization or denomination they might represent.

Books carried by CBE Bookstore have been evaluated and recommended by a volunteer who is passionate about supporting CBE’s ministry.

CBE regularly reviews new books that are relevant to our mission (whether supportive of our work or not). We post reviews on our website, and if we recommend a book, we also carry it. This is a big project, so we are always looking for people to help.

Do you support CBE’s Mission and Values?

Are you familiar with egalitarian Bible interpretation and theology, and how it differs from complementarian/headship theology?

Then please consider volunteering to read, evaluate, and review books for CBE! If you’re interested, please read this page carefully, then complete our Book Reviewer Application and we’ll be in touch!

Because the bookstore is integral to advancing CBE’s ministry, its purpose can be found in CBE’s mission statement:

CBE exists to promote the biblical message that God calls women and men of all cultures, races, and classes to share authority equally in service and leadership in the home, church, and world. CBE’s mission is to eliminate the power imbalance between men and women resulting from theological patriarchy.

The criteria for evaluation are found in CBE’s mission statement, and all books must adhere to CBE’s statement of faith and align with our mission, core values, and vision. This means they must:

• Affirm that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, is reliable, and is the final authority for faith and practice. For instance, some materials claim that the Bible is patriarchal or that certain biblical texts are not authoritative. We believe that while many ancient societies were patriarchal, the moral teaching of Scripture opposes patriarchy or male domination. Our resources explain the biblical passages in their historical and cultural context, rather than discounting certain passages altogether.
• Affirm the essential dignity and shared authority of men and women of all ethnicities, ages, and classes. We believe the Bible teaches that all men and women are equally created in God’s image for shared dominion, and our resources reflect this belief. We also avoid using stereotypes to categorize groups of people, as each person is an individual made in the image of God.
• Affirm that men and women are to diligently develop and use their God-given gifts for the good of the home, church, and society. We believe God gifts believers regardless of their gender, and that these giftings should be used for God’s glory. We encourage husbands and wives to mutually submit to one another. In the same way, we encourage the Christian community to recognize the gifts of men and women, and allow them to be used to build up the body of Christ.

Secondly, each book is chosen on its own merit. Therefore, we carry each based on its agreement with CBE’s statement of faith, whether or not the author has expressed agreement elsewhere or in other venues. By including a resource, CBE is not endorsing the entire body of work by an author, or the organization or denomination they represent.

To offer more clarity, the following summarizes the ranked priorities of our bookstore. Also included are examples of books that meet these priorities.

1. Offer books that teach the shared leadership, service, and authority of women and men from a biblical perspective.

• Offers a critical assessment of the biblical texts used to support traditionalist teachings, as well as the texts that support biblical equality, whether scholarly or popular in nature. Examples:
  • Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy edited by Ron Pierce, Rebecca Groothuis, and Gordon Fee
  • Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters by Philip Payne
  • 10 Lies the Church Tells Women: How the Bible Has Been Misused to Keep Women in Spiritual Bondage by J. Lee Grady
• Informs readers about women of the Bible as examples of the shared leadership and authority of males and females, by assessing their strengths, and the ways in which God has used them. The resource may also address the difficult ways in which women were treated in the Bible. There are many books written on females of the bible, but CBE is interested in books that show how gender is not an obstacle to leadership; to holding spiritual authority; to preaching and teaching, etc. Examples:
  • Biblical Women Submissive? by Joe E. Lunceford
  • Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter by Lindsay Hardin Freeman
  • Junia: A Woman, An Apostle by David Williams.

2. Promote books that show how biblical equality affects individual lives. (These may not address gender equality to the extent that the first priority resources do, but it is still part of the discussion.)

• Demonstrates how an understanding of the Bible (and biblical equality) affects relationships with others. This may include titles relating to marriage, family, relationships, abuse, or psychology:
  • Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife by Ruth Tucker
  • Destiny Denied by Barbara Boone Wooten
  • Responding to Abuse in Christian Homes: A Challenge to Churches and their Leaders edited by Catherine Clark Kroeger, Nancy Nason-Clark, and Barbara Fisher-Townsend

• Shows how men and women can work together to further the gospel. This may be accomplished by informing the reader about spiritual gifts:
  • Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space, and Influence by MaryKate Morse
  • Equal to Rule: Leading the Jesus Way by Trevor W. J. Morrow
  • Gifted to Lead: The Art of Leading as a Woman in the Church by Nancy Beach

• Shares the personal stories of people coming to an understanding of biblical equality in their own lives:
  • A Sword Between the Sexes?: C. S. Lewis and the Gender Debates by Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen
  • How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals, edited by Alan E. Johnson
• Highlights the contributions of past or present women who have followed their callings, providing tangible examples of biblical equality being lived out:
  • Handbook of Women Biblical Interpreters: A Historical and Biographical Guide Marion Ann Taylor and Agnes Choi, eds.
  • Extraordinary Women of Christian History: What We Can Learn from Their Struggles and Triumphs by Ruth Tucker
  • Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels by Kenneth E. Bailey

• Provides historical information relevant to the discussion about women and men in the church, home, and society:
  • No Time for Silence: Evangelical Women in Public Ministry Around the Turn of the Century by Janette Hassey
  • Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul’s Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians by Lucy Peppiatt
  • Women in the World of the Earliest Christians by Lynn Cohick

3. Carry books that expose the impact of patriarchy through other disciplines other than biblical scholarship. These may not address biblical gender equality as directly as the first two priorities, but may further CBE’s mission because their work shows the impact of patriarchy. In other words, the book is related to biblical gender equality in that it—in some way—dismantles patriarchy. So if the resource deals with parenting, economics, education or some other aspect of life, it addresses the negative impact of patriarchy in a way that exposes, challenges, and/or dismantles it.

• Addresses equality as it relates to ethnicity and/or class. It may address the issue from varied perspectives, but we are especially interested in those that address reconciliation:
  • Coming Together in the 21st Century: The Bible’s Message in an Age of Diversity by Curtiss Paul DeYoung
  • Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World by Mae Elise Cannon
• Addresses the way in which language or culture affects our understanding of the Bible and God:
  • Abusing Scripture: The Consequences of Misreading the Bible by Manfred T. Brauch
  • Sweet Surrender: How Cultural Mandates Shape Christian Marriage by Dennis Hiebert
  • Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels by Kenneth E. Bailey
• Helps readers come to a clearer biblical understanding of gender and sexuality:
  • The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex Is Too Important to Define by Jenell Williams Paris
  • Authentic Human Sexuality: An Integrated Christian Approach by Judith K. Balswick and Jack O. Balswick
• Provides information about theological ideologies to help the reader understand the similarities and differences between these ideologies and biblical equality:
  • Who’s Tampering With the Trinity? An Assessment of the Subordination Debate by Millard J. Erickson
  • The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology by Kevin Giles
• Over time, we may discover other areas that are related to the discussion of biblical equality, but not outlined in these examples. You are free to evaluate these resources to determine if they would aid the discussion. Examples:
  • A Little Handbook for Preachers by Mary S. Hulst
  • Finding Their Voices: Sermons by Women in the Church of Christ by D’esta Love
  • Accepted in the Beloved: A Devotional Bible Study for Women on Finding Healing and Wholeness in God’s Love by Leslie Ann McKinney

CBE also evaluates books based on cost, availability, appeal, and other factors to determine if it should be carried. And, while we highly value reviewer input, including a book in our bookstore is entirely up to CBE’s discretion.