Read the Review
To be honest, the title of this book is what caught my attention in a list of books available for review. Before selecting it, I googled the author, Wendy Alsup, and the first two results included her bio on The Gospel Coalition as well as her personal blog (Practical Theology for Women is the title...so cool). I then looked on Amazon at the book's endorsements (Hannah Anderson and Matt Chandler were present!) and description (it placed a heavy emphasis on the authority of God's Word), so I felt confident and eager to request it for review- having no idea that God was about to use it to rock my world.
Of the 10 short chapters in this book, 5 of them are dedicated to building a foundation on the authority of Scripture itself. Before we can know if the Bible is good for women, shouldn't we be sure that the Bible itself is good? Yup! Shouldn't we know that God is good? Yes indeed! Shouldn't we know why God's creation in Genesis 1 and 2 is good? You bet! I love this! Wendy takes so much time to explain: -who God is and why we can trust His Word -the character of Christ and how He approached God's Word -the content of Genesis 1-3 She does this in order to clearly explain how men and women were created, the tragedy of the fall, and why all of that is so important when analyzing if the Bible is good for women. If you've spent time learning about the authority of Scripture and have a good understanding of Genesis 1-3, the first half of the book may seem like a lot of review. I continued reading through it anyway because learning this content again can help me know how to better explain it to my students! The last 5 chapters of the book dig deep into the more controversial passages in the Bible that are often taken out of context as an argument for why the Bible is outdated and oppressive towards women. But, as the author states throughout the book, "Let the Bible explain the Bible." Instead of going to outside resources, she looks at the Bible as a whole to explain and dig into these passages that are so often misused. Scripture that she analyzes includes 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Corinthians 11 and 14:33-35, 1 Peter 3:1-2, Deuteronomy 22, and others. Reading her thoughts on these verses and seeing how they relate to Scripture as a whole inspired me to continue learning and researching even after finishing the book. And if you just looked those passages up and are curious as to if they are indeed good for women, I would recommend this book! My rating? 5/5
I really enjoyed hearing Wendy's perspective on this topic, and loved the way that she connected the scripture to other parts of scripture (because "the Bible IS the best commentary on itself!"). I found her points to be logical and objective; she often referenced several possible interpretations of the passage while humbly mentioning which she personally believes to be most accurate and why. This is a great tool for anybody intrigued by this topic regardless of gender or knowledge level! *I received a free review copy of this book from the Blogging For Books in exchange for my honest, unbiased review! Links provided through Amazon Associates.* |
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