Thursday, March 2, 2017

Is this book good for women? Up to you to decide

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.

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