Half the Church Might Need Another Quarter… (Plus, Book Giveaway…)

April 6, 2011 By Amy Julia Becker 12 Comments

Update (posted April 6): Caryn and Casey have won copies of Half the Church. Thanks to all who participated!

Let’s begin with a question: what has been your experience of women in the church? Comment below and enter to receive a free copy of Half the Church.

Carolyn Custis James’ Half the Church combines personal anecdotes and stories with Biblical exegesis and exhortation to promote an ancient but renewed vision of Biblical womanhood. I was surprised at how much I needed her reminder that women do not matter due to marriage or childbirth, but rather, women matter because we have been created in the image of God.

James is at her best in engaging the reader with Biblical teaching. Through a lengthy exposition of Genesis 1 and 2, she demonstrates that the command– “Be fruitful and multiply”–cannot mean “have lots of biological children.” Jesus, for instance, the ultimate image-bearer, was single and childless. In contrast to traditional readings of the word “ezer,” which is used to describe Eve and is generally translated “helper,” James demonstrates that the word “ezer” bears greater resemblance to strong leader. Elsewhere the same word is used to describe God himself as a warrior. James uses the Biblical text to challenge the idea that ”God gave primary roles and responsibilities to men, and secondary, supporting roles to women.” Instead of thinking about the opening chapters of Genesis as a call to procreation, James sees them as a call to leadership as women preach the gospel throughout the world while also speaking out on behalf of women around the globe.

Due to the evangelical nature of her audience, James must begin with a lengthy argument for the equality of women as leaders. In addition to her examination of Genesis, she identifies a host of other Biblical women leaders (though not as many contemporary women leaders as I would have liked) in order to make the claim that all women are designed by God to lead.

But James wants this thread of leadership to be woven into a wider garment. The inspiration for this book came from her own experience reading Half the Sky, a book which details the desperate plight of women around the globe. In Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wu Dun (a husband and wife team) detail horrific stories of degradation and abuse of women around the globe. They also offer hope for eradicating poverty and abuse if women were given power and influence within their respective global cultures. James wants her message of Biblical leadership to extend to these women, and she wants these women to understand that the gospel is good news for them. In James’ words, “The Bible’s message for women doesn’t depend on ideal circumstances, but applies fully to those who live in the brutal outskirts of society where poverty engulfs, education is nonexistent, women’s bodies are ravaged, and lives are in constant peril simply because they are female.”

Unfortunately, this wider vision for women worldwide gets sidelined amidst the arguments for women’s equality and leadership capabilities. It gets further marginalized when James brings up the question of women’s ordination. She writes, ”I made a conscious decision not to take a public position on the ordination of women. My focus has been on calling women to go deeper in their relationship with God.” And yet she also writes, “”God isn’t calling men and asking women to hang back. He gives both male and female the exact same identity–to be his image bearers. He gives both the exact same responsibilities when he entrusts all of creation to his image bearers…” Her lack of position on women’s ordination seems disingenuous.

In many ways, Half the Church builds a strong foundation. But construction of the building stalls. I’m grateful for the vision of women James offers. She writes with intelligence, force, and in a tone that invites thought and conversation. I only wish she’d given us more.

Again, I invite you to join the conversation by reflecting upon your experience of women within the church. I’ll select at random from among those who comment and you’ll receive a free copy of Half the Church.

P.S. I will announce the winner on Monday of next week and here’s the promotional video for the book for anyone interested:

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Filed Under: Books, Faith, Uncategorized 12 Comments
  • Anna

    I was so interested to read your book review of Half the Church once I heard what this book was about. I’ve been thinking a lot about how the church’s approach to women has affected my personal faith–sadly, mostly in negative ways. I’m looking forward to reading this book at some point.

    • http://www.carynrivadeneira.com Caryn

      I’m a huge fan of Carolyn Custis James. While I understand that her refusal to take an official position regarding women’s ordination frustrates many, she’s taken such a vigorous beating over her views (which you outline here) that I believe her refusal to answer the “big” question is simply one of trying to keep that from derailing an important conversation about what God does call women (and men) to do. I don’t see it as disingenuous as much as it is trying to elevate the conversation. It may not be working, however.

      I’ve spent a long time writing about and talking about women in the church and it gets so ridiculously heated. It breaks my heart that many Christians seem to care more about keeping women from preaching the word of God than they do about keeping women from being trafficked as sex slaves…. Lord have mercy.

  • http://www.michellevanloon.com Michelle Van Loon

    I’ve wanted to read this book – James is a good thinker, and is a veteran at framing her ‘ezer’ platform in order to communicate with her evangelical audience. Your helpful review made me curious about what she choose to omit from her discussion, so I hope I’m one of your winners. :)

  • Abby

    Sounds like an interesting read!

    I attend a fairly traditional church, and my experience as a woman there has been pretty disappointing. Women are only allowed in leadership for women’s ministry or children’s ministry. There has never been a woman deacon, a woman as a guest speaker, and even in the couple who currently lead the children’s ministry, the pastor always defers to the husband. I’ve found that the women’s ministry there is very light on theology- we often do weekly video series with accompanying workbooks, and heavy discussion is discouraged in these settings.

    I’m also a woman of childbearing age who has as yet been unable to bear any children, which seems to make me useless in the eyes of other women in the church. I often get questions about when I plan to have kids, and whether I plan to quit my job after. Nobody has ever asked my husband if HE plans to quit his job when/if we have kids.

    • http://blog.beliefnet.com/thinplaces/ Amy Julia Becker

      Abby–thanks for this. I did really appreciate James’ desire to reframe the purpose of women both inside and outside the church so that we aren’t all defined by marriage and childbirth. Even for me as a married person with children, I don’t want my purpose to be solely defined by my family or to see the command to “be fruitful” as only related to what happens in my womb.

  • Mary Frances

    Amy Julia -
    I’m so glad for this book recommendation! I’m in the process of gathering some current materials on marriage/singleness and the church’s perspective on women, esp in regards to marital status and sexuality for my work here at L’Abri. I’m going to add this book to my reading list!

    I agree with Caryn – I get so angry when I see evangelical churches focused so much on exactly defining the role of women in the church, yet ignore the heinous crimes against women that are happening all over the world, including the US. I read something yesterday that said that there are 4 times the number of animal shelters in the US as there are shelters for battered women and children.

    One of my colleagues has done some excellent work on the social history of marriage and the roles of men and women, and she makes a strong argument that the conservative “traditional view of marriage” is far from Biblical. This has been important for me as a single woman without children… people often make me feel that my life is going along “Plan B”, because “Plan A” (marriage and kids) hasn’t happened yet. Who are we to know God’s plans for anyone’s life?!

  • http://www.sexlessinthecity.net Anna Broadway

    I don’t know if it’s my age/stage in life or the churches I’ve attended in the last decade, but my biggest frustration has had much more to do with men not stepping up and taking on responsibility than it has women lacking opportunity. Then again, I also find the analysis in Larry Crabb et al’s book “The Silence of Adam” very compelling.

  • Casey

    My experience of women in the church? Here are a few.

    Annamarie – matriarch and shepherd. She showed me how to be faithful.

    Anna – led my first experiences of fellowship with a smile and a joyful heart.

    Percy – showed me how to pray from the heart, to speak with God and listen.

    Hope – brought me into the midst of scripture, showed me how to experience the story and thus learn much more from it.

    Nancy – shared with me the essence of Matthew 18:20 for a season.

    Trudi and Syd – challenged me to take charge of my own formation.

    Ellen – proclaimed great visions and told difficult truths with grace, humor, and humility.

    There are others, but this should give you a glimpse.

  • http://thefivedollars.blogspot.com Ellen

    AJ, don’t include me in the giveaway since I already have a copy and am contributing my extra copy to your giveaway! But I just wanted to thank Casey for that list. I know many of the women he lists, and have to agree with him that we don’t experience “women” in the church in a general sense so much as we connect with individual women who have unique gifts. I appreciate the book author’s insistence that women are called to exercise their gifts boldly and vigorously to the same extent that men do. I do wish she had been more specific about practical questions, including women’s ordination.

  • http://www.catholic.com Brennan

    As a former evangelical Protestant turned Catholic I find my views on women in the Church have changed. I realize that perhaps the Catholic Church is the Bete Noir of supporters of this type of book due to her forbidding of ordination of women. However, reflecting back on my Protestant years, I do believe a certain lack of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and also other female Saints, is a deprivation which does not lead to a full appreciation of women and their role in the Church.

    After all, the Blessed Virgin Mary is esteemed above any Saint or Pope in the Church. Now, I realize if one wants only to appreciate women in leadership roles or corporate boardrooms, this devotion may seem as a sop. After all, Mary is honored for saying yes to God and giving birth to Jesus, perhaps for some a passive, traditionally female role. Yet when one reflects on her life, there is much to learn. For men particularly, she can teach that nurturing the life of Christ within you is of paramount importance.

    Further, I must say that I have been just as impressed, if not more impressed, with the female Saints of the Church as the male. Saint Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, Joan of Arc, etc. were not exactly wilting lilies. They achieved, by the grace of God, what is more important than any worldly endeavor–true holiness and union with God. And in that they are not bested by any men.

    • http://blog.beliefnet.com/thinplaces/ Amy Julia Becker

      Brennan, Thanks so much for offering this perspective. From what I understand, not only are women saints and Mary revered, but women are also able to serve within the church in a variety of roles, but they cannot administer the sacraments. Moreover, there is a place in the Catholic church for unmarried and/or childless women, and it is harder to find that place within many Protestant churches. Thanks for your comment.

  • http://www.catholic.com Brennan

    Hi Amy,

    Yes, you are correct. Women can serve in the Church but the understanding of what it means to be a minister (or rather, priest) in the Protestant and Catholic communions is different. In Protestantism, theoretically at least, if you can give a sermon, pray, and perform a ceremony there really is hardly any reason for a woman not to be a minister. After all, if it all comes down to biblical interpretation, who is to say an interpretation which bars women from the ministry is any better than one which includes them? And if there’s a disagreement over this, who or what is the final arbiter?

    In the Catholic communion, being a priest is not merely a performance of duties which almost anyone competent could do regardless of gender, but rather a laying on of hands, an ordination which makes a mark on the soul (like baptism) and enables the priest to celebrate Mass and speak the words which turn the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. In other words, ordination to the priesthood in the Catholic Church involves a real, substantial, and ontological change to the person being ordained and hence one cannot assume almost anyone, regardless of gender, can be ordained.

    I think your comment about unmarried, single, or childless women is spot on. I am reminded of Mary Frances’ comment above. Since there are actual orders of single women who devote themselves solely to serving God it helps place the single life on at least as strong a level as the married life. So it is very easy to regard not just nuns, but single people as blessed in that they can devote their lives to the one thing needful.