Review of Half the Church by Carolyn Custis James

I was asked to review Carolyn Custis James' new book, Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women. I have a free copy to send someone, so if you're interested, leave a comment to enter the drawing.

James' books always provoke me to think, and this book does it as well as any. If you're a complementarian conspiracy theorist, this book is not for you. I know some folks think James is out to undermine complementarian teaching, but I actually have benefitted from some of the push back she subtly gives. She married later in life and had problems having children. I can identify with sincerely valuing and longing for marriage and children, yet being thwarted from each by the sovereign hand of God. That experience opened my eyes to the flawed ways we present women's issues in Scripture, which I've talked about many times on this blog. I think James' experience is similar.

Carolyn Custis James is not anti-complementarian, yet she is challenging for complementarians. And that's OK. If you aren't threatened by a challenge, this is a good read. The main thrust of the book is how the creation mandate gives dignity to all women. James forms a vision for women in the church informed as much by Genesis 1 as Genesis 2. She also draws attention to the inadequacies of women's teaching dominated by western cultural views of needs and roles. Surely Scripture's message to women is as relevant to the Afghani mother seeking to shield her daughter from physical abuse as it is to a homeschooling mom in the midwest. Yet, much content of typical women's books or retreats are so bound by our conservative western culture as to be completely meaningless to the much larger, global body of Christ, which also needs solid teaching to women. I experienced this when attempting to edit one of my books to be relevant to Filipino pastor's wives. I was moved to think in new ways of how the principles so precious to me in my comfortable home in Seattle would transcend to women in starkly different cultural situations.

I have two criticisms of Half the Church. I hate offering criticisms, because as an author myself, I hate receiving them. But I also know that charitable, constructive criticism can be helpful to an author and an audience. So here goes. First, there isn't much Scripture in the book. I understand the author is painting a global vision rather than exegeting a specific passage. Yet, I prefer a lot of Scripture written out, especially when I'm being challenged on applying Scripture. I think there are a lot of Bible principles floating around in her head as she writes, and I hear echoes of them in her words, but I do a lot better internalizing principles when the actual Scripture is written out for me to reference.

My other criticism is that while she paints a clear picture of the need, James doesn't present solutions. Now, I haven't finished reading everything, and I'll certainly correct this criticism if I've missed something at the end. But I long to hear of her example in addressing this in practical ways. I found Tim Keller's Generous Justice helpful for forming a vision of what this will look like specifically in my life. I also recommend Carolyn McCulley's website. She has some concrete, practical ideas on drawing attention to global needs of women and addressing those needs in ways that make a sustainable difference for the long haul. I was very inspired hearing her talk about it at dinner after we both spoke at a conference together a few weeks ago.

Again, if you'd like me to send you a free copy of Half the Church, leave a comment and I'll have a drawing on Tuesday.