The Pastor's Library: A Year of Biblical Womanhood

It's been a while since I've featured The Pastor's Library on this blog. In fairness it's been in part because I've been reading so much academic literature for my seminary courses that I don't fully understand that it's been hard to recommend many of those books to you. I'm kind of working through this a little bit with the book club, but I thought that it would be good to give you a taste of a good old fashioned Pastor's Library post to share some of the interesting things that I have been reading with you. Today I'll feature a little gem I picked up over Christmas and read within the last month:


Rachel Held Evans:  A Year of Biblical Womanhood

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book. In truth, I wasn't going to bother; having been somewhat disappointed with the often radical left-wing theological positions that the author takes on her blog. I've generally agreed with RHE in the principles she advocates for a theology of gender in the church but I find her applications of that theology sometimes unhelpful in themselves as they swing the pendulum (which DOES need a good swing) too far in the opposite direction. However, a Boxing Day sale on the ebook that allowed me to purchase it for only 2 dollars convinced me that I should give it a look. And I'm glad I did.

Perhaps it was the guidance of a good editor or perhaps it was merely the time to think things through and ruminate on issues that is not afforded to a prolific (nearly daily) blogger but I found this book to be much more measured and less sensational that much of her online writing. Some criticisms of this book may allege that she is unfairly caricaturing the 'Biblical Womanhood' movement championed by people like Piper and Grudem, and I admit too that I found myself paging through my copy of 'Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood' a few times to make sure she wasn't taking the more inflammatory and unbelievable statements that she quotes out of context (she doesn't). Another criticism that could be lobbied against the text is that at times she veers into making this a year of experiencing Jewish culture rather than biblical womanhood as she seems particularly fascinated with the rituals and celebrations of Orthodox Jews. I won't deny that the observations on that culture and their practices are fascinating, but it seems at time to derail her from her central thesis.
In the end her conclusions will frustrate complimentarians (as has already been evident in internet chatter) but her exegesis is well researched and her treatment of their position is almost always charitable and fair - perhaps that is some of the most surprising growth that happens over the course of this year-long journey. But her conclusion about how we interpret these texts is a fair one that I have long advocated in my own teaching.

"For those who count the Bible as sacred, interpretation is not a matter of whether to pick and choose, but how to pick and choose. We are all selective. We all wrestle with how to interpret and apply the Bible to our lives. We all go to the text looking for something, and we all have a tendency to find it. So the question we have to ask ourselves is this: Are we reading with the prejudice of love or are we reading with the prejudices of judgment and power, self-interest and greed?" (296 Kindle Edition)

I would in the end recommend this book, if for no other reason than to foster dialogue and critical reflection on this pertinent and important topic for the church. 

Four Stars.

Until next time,
Chris