2 STARS
REVIEW: Is the Bible Good for Women? by Wendy Alsup
As
a woman, I was drawn to this book and curious to see how author Wendy Alsup
would answer her title question: Is the Bible Good for Women?
She
begins by digging into Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and pointing out
how the creation of “personhood” preceded the creation of “womanhood.” Alsup
states that women are necessary, and are needed to reflect God's glory in the
world, to work side-by-side with man to bring order, beauty, life, and fullness
into the world. Women are to be image bearers of God. Later, she digs into the
Scriptural stories of women from the Old and New Testament such as Esther, Ruth, Priscilla, Phoebe, Rahab,
Tamar, Dinah, and Deborah.
While
I agree with some of Alsup’s research, I definitely do not agree with all of
her Scriptural interpretations concerning women—especially when it comes to
their roles in the life of the church. She does state upfront, though, that she
wants the reader to wrestle with the Holy Spirit and do their own study of the
Word of God, and for them to draw their own conclusions and private
applications. And I have also learned through the years that reading the works
of authors with whom you disagree can help you grow and mature as well as
create open conversations, so the time spent reading this was not lost.
*I received this book for
free from Blogging for Books for this unbiased review.
