Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership

Rating:
Summary: Prayerful, Sciptural and Logical
Review: A book which prayerfully and logically examines both Complementarian and Egalitarian views on scripture, and proposes similarities and alternatives to both interpretations of specific passages. In the process of reading this book, my eyes were opened to some of my own sin, and I believe this will be true for every Christian reader.

Rating:
Summary: Clear and logical, humble and caring
Review: Dr. Sumner does a magnificent job of demonstrating what the Bible actually says--going back into the original languages and letting it be interpreted not by outside sources but by itself ("let scripture interpret scripture!!!"). She makes crystal clear arguements and shares her personal testimony and that of others in a way that allows you to see how some churches are utterly ignoring what God truly says about women in ministry. She also shares how change comes through God and not through human force on this issue.

Wonderful to have a reasoned, educated perspective from someone who is not a bitter, angry feminist, but truly someone who respects the Truth and respects people who disagree with her perspective. She shows a genuine love of the Lord and His people. Sumner uses methods that apply to study of all Biblical issues, not just this one.

Rating:
Summary: Academic Thoughts marry Humble Testimony
Review: I appreciated this book for many reasons:
1- challenge is given to both egalitarians and complementarians, 2- the author's personal story weaves throughout the book- helping us connect to the author and seeing this as deeper than just a head-knowledge issue, 3- thoughtful exposition including rich word study/ social context/ seeking the Holy Spirit/etc. is given to the Scriptural passages seen as confusing on "both" sides. This exposition rivals others i have read, 4- the clearest and most passionate call to loving your spouse and the church exists here, 5- a call to live humbly in the Church even with people exhibiting different sides of this issue. Thank you Sarah!!!

Rating:
Summary: a challenging book, no matter what your position
Review: I loved this frustrating book, mainly because it challenged me. I lead an "emerging" church which has been working thourgh the issue of women in leadership and found this book an extreme help- I've bought it for my elders/pastors and recommended it to many people.

Sumner, with a high view of scripture, takes both the egalitarians (women can fill any role in the church) and the complementarians (women can fill any role in the church but pastor or elder) to task. Both sides have much to learn from this book.

Contrary to some reviews, it's not fuzzy. It's simply non-linear. I seriously doubt Sumner would consider herself a "postmodern," but in many ways she writes like one, introducing a subject, moving on to another relevent issue, circling back to the first subject... the book reads like a series of circles... but ultimately gets us where we need to be- a discussion of the biblical texts dealing with women in ministry. It was amazing to realize that something I was reading had been "set up" by something else 2 chapters earlier... I can see how if you want a straight-forward, scholarly approach this would be maddening, but it was one of the things that helped make this book so appealing to me.

This book was instrumental in helping me reassess my position on this issue. If you want a biblical framework for thinking through the issues of headship, women in leadership and interpretation of tough passages like 1 Timothy 2, this is an excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: Sensitive to biblical metaphors
Review: I require all my students taking "The Role of Women in Ministry" at Dallas Theological Seminary to read eight books on the subject from a variety of viewpoints. Whether or not they agree with all Sumner says, most have ranked this book as their favorite on the list. Its greatest strength, in their collective opinion, is Sumner's treatment of the husband as head of the wife (not of the family or the home) in Ephesians 5. This flows from her respect for the apostle Paul's head/body metaphor, which emphasizes oneness rather than an org-chart metaphor, which emphasizes hierarchy. Head/body; sacrificial love/submission. Sumner soundly argues that the wife is not told to submit to her husband's headship any more than the husband is told to sacrificially love his wife's bodyship.

S.L. Glahn, co-author, The Infertility Companion

Rating:
Summary: Dr. Groothuis couldn't have said it better
Review: 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:
Summary: Eve's spirit still with us
Review: 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:
Summary: Too much autiobiography; not enough clear thinking
Review: 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