Grace is Not Faceless focuses on Mary, mother of Jesus: her presentation in Scripture and reception throughout church history, with careful attention to the poetry of Isaiah and that of subsequent writers. Ann Loades writes from an Anglican perspective with discussion of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox particularities of Marian theology.
We long for connection. We are drawn to love. The book Why Can’t Women Do That? Breaking Down the Reasons Churches Put Men in Charge introduces the reader to two conversation partners—an uncle who has changed his mind about women’s roles and a nephew who is curious yet cautious. The book delivers content from NT scholar Philip B. Payne in the succinct style of computer programmer Vince Huffaker, who condenses Payne’s 500-page exhaustive exegetical book, Man and Woman, One in Christ (Zondervan Academic, 2009), into a 175-page readable conversation.
Terran Williams asked if I would review his book, How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy. I feel honoured to be asked because I consider it a first-rate book, a superb piece of work that should be widely read among evangelicals. However, for me to simply outline the contents of his book and comment on what he says is not adequate. I must first set his book in its historical context.
This review was first published at the blog, J. W. Wartick—Reconstructing Faith and is used with permission.
This review was first published at the blog, J. W. Wartick—Reconstructing Faith and is used with permission.
My children, with whom I am in labor again until Christ is formed in you . . . (Gal. 4:19, NRSV)
This third edition of Discovering Biblical Equality (DBE), which gathers over thirty essays, is positioned to contribute significantly to the fortifying and flourishing of evangelical gender egalitarianism. Several of its endorsements affirm the earlier editions of DBE and go on to express optimism about this edition as well.1
Dorothy Lee’s work on ministering women displays exemplary research and is especially well written. It has affirmed and expanded many of my views; it has also challenged me and sparked my thinking. I will return to her work repeatedly. I have, in fact, already added this book to the required reading for an upcoming seminary course.
Katie Lauve-Moon takes an in-depth look at congregations in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) as a case study highlighting the continued gender bias leading to underrepresentation of women in church leadership. Preacher Woman explores why congregations with inclusive theology and committed to gender equality continue to see poor outcomes for women in leadership. Many churches, including the CBF, are fully egalitarian yet only a small percentage of senior pastors are women (5 percent in CBF).
Karen Strand Winslow opens her latest book with a rhetorically powerful introduction, challenging readers to “visualize no sexism” and to “imagine the history of the church with women of all races standing with their brothers on platforms of authority.”1 Winslow does not claim such a history would solve all problems, but she does insist it would have given us “a very different and better world” (1).