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Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood presents a critique and an alternative to the push for biblical womanhood and biblical manhood today, focusing on the reciprocity of the male and female voices in Scripture, the covenantal aspect to Bible reading and interpretation, and bearing the fruit of that in our church life.
List of contents
INTRODUCTION: The Church’s Yellow Wallpaper
PART ONE: RECOVERING THE WAY WE READ SCRIPTURE
CHAPTER ONE: Why Men and Women Don’t Read Separate Bibles
CHAPTER TWO: Why Not the Book of Boaz?
CHAPTER THREE: Girl Interrupted
PART TWO: RECOVERING OUR MISSION
CHAPTER FOUR: Why Our Aim Is Not Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
CHAPTER FIVE: What the Church Is For
CHAPTER SIX: The Great Divorce That We Didn’t See Coming
PART THREE: RECOVERING THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EVERY BELIEVER
CHAPTER SEVEN: Is This the Way It Was Supposed to Be?
CHAPTER EIGHT: When Paul Passed Phoebe the Baton
About the author
Aimee Byrd?is author, speaker, blogger, podcaster, and former coffee shop owner. Aimee is the author of several books, including The Hope in Our Scars, Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and Sexual Reformation. Her articles have appeared in?First Things,?Table Talk,?Modern Reformation,?By Faith,?New Horizons,?Ordained Servant,?Harvest USA, and?Credo Magazine?and she has been interviewed and quoted in?Christianity Today?and?The Atlantic.
Summary
This book dismantles every mistruth that you've heard about the role of women in the Bible, her place in the church, and the patriarchal lie of so-called “biblical manhood and womanhood.” In its place, Aimee Byrd details a truly biblical vision of women as equal partners in Christ's church and kingdom.
The church is the school of Christ, commissioned to discipleship. The responsibility of every believer—men and women together—is being active and equal participants in and witnesses to the faith. And yet many women are trying to figure out what their place is in the church, fighting to have their voices heard and filled with questions:
- Do men and women benefit equally from God's word?
- Are we equally responsible in sharpening one another in the faith and passing it down to the next generation?
- Do we really need men's Bibles and women's Bibles, or can the one Holy Bible guide us all?
The answers lie neither with radical feminists, who claim that the Bible is hopelessly patriarchal, nor with the defenders of “biblical manhood,” whose understanding of Scripture is captive to the culture they claim to distance themselves from.
Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood presents a more biblical account of gender, marriage, and ministry. It explores the feminine voice in Scripture as synergistic with the dominant male voice. It fortifies churches in a biblical understanding of brotherhood and sisterhood in God's household and the necessity of learning from one another in studying God's word.
Until both men and women grow in their understanding of their relationship to Scripture, there will continue to be tension between the sexes in the church. Church leaders can be engaged in thoughtful critique of the biblical manhood and womanhood movement, the effects it has on their congregation, and the homage it ironically pays to the culture of individualism that works against church, family, and a Christ-like vision of community.
Additional text
'If there is a slippery subject in the church today, it's 'biblical manhood and womanhood.' We're confused by the disagreements, constricted by the 'rules,' and seemingly helpless to discern what's true. This is why Aimee Byrd's book is so important. Wading through the cultural murkiness, Byrd returns us to Scripture with theological rigor. I celebrate her strong voice and urgent plea to recover a better vision--for the good of the family and the church.'
