Tag Archives: biblical manhood

Book Reviews, Theology

Book Review: 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood, by John Piper and Wayne Grudem

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50 Crucial QuestionsJohn Piper and Wayne Grudem are fully convinced that reading the creation order as anything other than man being created with authority over woman will result in increasing homosexuality. Seriously. They are so convinced, that they have copied 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood from their previously published book Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism because they think people won’t take the time to read the latter in its entirety but would read one of its chapters republished. I’ll just go ahead and say that if one is remotely interested in reading 50…, he or she should just get Recovering… There is nothing that helpful in brevity that, when encountering questions that cannot be sufficiently answered, simply appeals to the authors’ view of the creation order and/or refer the reader to certain chapters in another book. Bottom line: skip this book.

However, if you’re still interested, you may read all fifty questions by looking inside the book within its Amazon.com entry. Some of the answers include the following (my summary and paraphrase):

  • The authors believe that “helper” (Gen 2:18) must mean either someone stronger aiding someone weaker or someone aiding a loving leader. Really? What about a helper being someone who simply helps without being stronger, weaker, submissive, or authoritative? This is an extremely weak argument for the authors’ view of the creation order (Eve being created as a “helper for a loving leader”).
  • The authors agree that there are ambiguities that are difficult, but they do come down very hard on the ambiguities they believe further their view of the creation order.
  • The authors explicitly state that they believe “the issues of infant versus believer’s baptism, of premillenialism, and of Presbyterian, congregational, or episcopal polity are less threatening to the health and mission of the church than questions of gender roles” (82).
  • The authors believe that female leadership occurred in the Old Testament only in service to male leadership or when that leadership was failing. So, does that mean gender roles aren’t as important as they claim? Can women leaders rise up when men are failing? They imply this has been, is, and will be the case in mission work, but aren’t sure what to do about that because it is furthering the spreading of the gospel.

What I find rather telling about books by traditional, hierarchical complemetarianists is that they never address the change from the creation order in Eve’s curse in the fall that “her desire shall be for [her] husband, and he shall rule over [her]” (Gen 3:16, NRSV), nor how their view of the creation order plays out in their eschatological view of the new heavens and new earth. This doesn’t mean that answers to these questions from a complemetarian perspective do not exist; it’s that I’ve never heard one.

 

*I received a complimentary digital copy of the reviewed book from Crossway through the Blog Review Program in exchange for this honest review.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Man Enough: How Jesus Redefines Manhood, by Nate Pyle

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Man EnoughNate Pyle’s debut book, Man Enough: How Jesus Redefines Manhood, contributes a much-needed perspective in our churches’ debate over gender roles and what it means to be a man (or woman, as the case may be). Steering away from cultural stereotypes of wilderness surviving, football playing, car fixing men devoid of any emotion other than jealousy and anger, Pyle points us to a more accurate and biblical perspective right from the start: there is no single template for masculinity (19) and that “being a man is not dependent on what one does; rather, a man is a man because he is made in the image of God. . . . Masculinity does not need to be proved; it needs to be affirmed” (25). The same thing can be (and is) said of women! When we look to Genesis, both man and woman are addressed in the mandates to be fruitful and rule—there is no gender distinction between the two (173). Leaping to Paul in his letter to the church in Galatia, Pyle also points out that there is no gender distinction in the fruit of the Spirit that is indicative of Christians, even though our culture (and churches!) tends to think of most of these attributes as being feminine (love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness), Pyle notes how faithfulness and self-control are often perceived as masculine (be faithful to your wife/family, and exercise self-control to be competitive and successful) (158). This certainly needs to change.

Much of the book is a journey through Pyle’s husky childhood to an athletic, adventuresome adulthood and still not “feeling like a man.” I’m sure many will be able to relate, especially in an American culture where bread-winning and other struggles are no respecters of gender and churches tend to push a “man works, woman stays home” mentality (yes, this sort of scripture twisting is still quite prevalent). I’ve recently tossed my hat into the pool of applicants for a “Men’s Ministry Coordinator” position at a local university despite its desire to promote “Biblical masculinity” through “initiatives that are specific to men,” like “Fantasy Football League.” I like to think it’s just a poorly written job description and that it isn’t indicative of an actual university-wide perspective, but either way, I pray it is filled with someone who thinks like Pyle in this regard!

(Kudos to Dual Identity for their cover design! This sucker pops!)

 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”