Evangelicals stand divided in their view of women in the church. On one side stand complementarians, arguing the full worth of women but assigning them to differing roles. On the other side stand egalitarians, arguing that the full worth of women demands their equal treatment and access to leadership roles. Is there a way to mend the breach and build consensus? Sarah Sumner thinks there is. Avoiding the pitfalls of both radical feminism and reactionary conserv… More >>
Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership
Tags: breach, Building, building consensus, Christian, christian leadership, Church, Consensus, equal treatment, Leadership, leadership roles, pitfalls, radical feminism, reactionary, sarah sumner, Women, women in the church
#1 by Jay on April 24, 2010 - 10:06 pm
Interesting to note that how easily it is to see through the subtle attacts upon God’s order through seemingly reasoned thoughts. Even the serpent of old reasoned with Eve and swayed her. Then she swayed Adam. Must let God’s word be the final authority and not man’s reason alone.
Rating: 2 / 5
#2 by Stephen D. Fournier on April 24, 2010 - 10:56 pm
In reading the reviews of this book I began to wonder if they read the same book I did. However, I must concur with Dr. Groothuis assessment in referring to this as a “frustrating” and fuzzy book, and that “clear compelling arguments are absent.” At times I believe Sumner over analyzes arguments by others, and at other times does not analyze them enough. Further if men in the Christian church are half as arrogant and chauvinistic as she at times portrays them to be, the Church of Christ today is indeed a mess. Time and time again she tell us how men feel or what men believe. Time and time again I kept thinking that she is wrong. I would not recommend this book to anyone, as there are many other books out there that deal much more realistically and Biblically with the subject than Sumner’s.
Rating: 1 / 5
#3 by Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. on April 25, 2010 - 12:32 am
Professor Sarah Sumner is to be commended for her concern to bring harmony and wisdom to the debate over gender in the church. Moreover, she has done something that very few evangelical women have done: become a professor of theology. In light of this, I wish I could recommend this book, but I cannot.
At the end of the day, and despite her fear of feminism, Sumner seems to be some of an egalitarian, since she claims women can teach and lead along with men. However, one is not entirely sure, given the fuzziness of this frustrating book. Clear compelling arguments are absent.
The style of the book can be grating on reader. Throughout the book, Sumner makes numerous unnecessary personal comments that are often embarrassing. One can forgive a few such comments, but this book is filled with them. Knowing Sumner’s story (as a women in the church who is called to lead) relates to the subject of this book; knowing too much about Sumner detracts from the book.
But on to content. Sumner is simply not clear on the basic themes necessary to navigate this issue: the creation order, the notion of the male being the head, the effects of the fall, and the nature of the various kinds of feminism (for her, they are all equally bad). She meanders more than she argues.
Moreover, Sumner misrepresents the position of a key thinker in this debate, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, by claiming that she puts a cultural view of gender above biblical authority. This is flatly false. This criticism is often leveled by traditionalists (such as the Thomas Schreiner) and reveals an avoidance of Groothuis’s actual arguments. (It is a sad truth that no traditionalist has yet responded to Groothuis’s careful arguments, especially her case that a woman cannot be equal to a man but unequal in terms of leadership roles–as the traditionalists claim.) Sumner does not appear to be a traditionalist, but she still misrepresents Groothuis.
The one strength of the book is Sumner’s plea that Christian women dress and act modestly. Immodestry is a terrible blind spot in the church and the cause of unnecessary problems between men and women. Worldliness is rampant in this area and repentance is required.
If one wants to get clear on the essential philosophical, theological, and exegetical issues and arguments of the gender debate, one is better off reading egalitarian authors such as Groothuis, Craig Keener, and Gordon Fee. Look for the forthcoming volume, Discovering Biblical Equality (InteVarsity Press).
Douglas Groothuis
Rating: 2 / 5
#4 by Anonymous on April 25, 2010 - 12:38 am
(An old proverb says, “Truth is the daughter of time.” And God knows it has taken long enough for anyone in the Christian church to consider allowing women equal ministry and authority. Not to mention the vote, or ownership of property . . . !)
While Sarah Sumner holds a Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School – incredibly, she was (only a few years ago) the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from that prestigious evangelical school! – she doesn’t come across as too “academic” or elitist. This is a very accessible book; her arguments are presented simply – maybe a little too simply – and her style is reader-friendly. (Many, if not all of her arguments are based on the exact wording in the original Greek of the applicable Bible passages — clearly directed to evangelical, fundamentalist Christians. But her style is definitely a relief from the typical feeble-minded posturing of traditionalists on this issue . . . C. S. Lewis’s argument in his classic Mere Christianity was that women are less rational than men, and therefore to be subject to men or their husbands, only because women — in Lewis’s view — are more protective of their children.) All of this is exactly what I would expect from InterVarsity Press.
Which brings about my one criticism (and why I only gave this book four stars): Her proposals seem naïve. She wants us in the Church to be humble and reasonable. I wish I could believe that possible, but I think that old prejudice and new radicalism will never deign to sit down together in unity. I also was embarrassed by her list of things to do so as not to arouse those delicately balanced hormonal urges of the opposite sex — her tips included not hugging people too enthusiastically (beware those full-body presses) and not wearing too much perfume. It was like she had suddenly switched to penning a popular self-help book.
Sumner repeatedly and emphatically states that she is not a feminist (and some of her comments really are anti-feminist, making me uncomfortable – another reason I only gave her four stars). Nor is she a hidebound traditionalist (she readily exposes Tertullian’s and Augustine’s – and Luther’s! – comments and speeches that degraded women).
Overall, this is a much-needed and refreshing work. After I finished it, I thought to myself, “It’s as though Rosa Parks, sitting resolutely in her seat, began to speak to her tormentors with the eloquence and conviction of Martin Luther King. I just hope they listen.”
In my family’s church (a fairly conservative AFLC outpost), women are not even allowed to read to the congregation from the Bible during a church service. (They do lead praise choruses, play the organ – of course – and are VBS and Sunday School superintendents.) As Sumner says, if we readily aceept Elisabeth Elliot and Anne Graham Lotz preaching straight from the Bible at huge conferences of men and women, how can we say no woman is allowed to preach to men?
Maybe I’ll start looking for an Episcopal church. They ordain women, even if they do like the liturgy and other “traditional,” “conservative” elements of worship so much more than most Lutheran and Baptist churches.
Rating: 4 / 5
#5 by Laurel S. Lehman on April 25, 2010 - 2:12 am
As a Christian woman, the impact the author’s writting and fresh peeling of layers has brought my own abilities and confidence to an new and life changing level. One should read this with an open mind. It is very evident that Dr. Sumner did her homework. I am blessed to benifit from her years of research.
Rating: 5 / 5