Why Not Women : A Biblical Study of Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership

As a seminary graduate I can say that this is an excellent book written by men that plainly explains some of the Bible passages that appear to disqualify women for ministry. On the contrary, Jesus released women for ministry and Paul does not in any way forbid it. It also does an excellent job explaining how God truly sees the relationship between a husband and wife- one of mutual submission as Ephesians 5:21 states, not a dominating one- way submission. Great for those who want to know the truth.

I loved this book because it affirmed that I was correct to believe in my heart that it is unjust to keep women in constrained roles or out certain places of faith. It showed me that God is not a God of contradictions, allowing one woman to be a leader here and then saying women should never speak there. Instead it renewed my belief and trust in a God who views all humans of equal worth and capability, and is not unjust, arbitrary or inconsistent. It showed me that the Word of God is not inconsistent or contradictory, as I had feared.It also showed me that to truly learn from reading the Bible, we cannot just consume verses in a vacuum surrounded by our cultural presuppositions. We must understand the meaning of words in ancient languages used to write the Bible, the historical cultural context of the teachings, and compare what we think it says to what we know of God's character. The revelation of the Word was not marred with man's cultural biases and prejudice, But the translations over millennia could have been. So it is important to go back to the original source to truly learn what the Bible teaches.This book was clear, well-organized, and the reason I believe the authors are speaking God's truth is because after reading, I did not feel more confused about God or afraid of him in the sense that He was not truly good and loving, but I grew closer to the Lord and came to trust in his nature more fully.Thank you for explaining that sexism and patriarchy have no biblical support or legitimacy.

This book sat next to my bed for months, once I opened it, I could not put it down. I started to underline amazing points within the first few pages and ended up under lining about 1/8 th of the entire book! I hesitate to say this for sounding nuts but this is the best book I have EVER read. It teaches me why everything I knew in my heart to be true is true. One point alone, headship. The "head" of the woman is the man verse is explained that the word "head" in Greek is the head of a river, not the head on a body. So head translated more accurately would be "origin" as in the man is the origin of the woman and Christ is the Origin of the church. Wow! That is only one of hundreds of gold nuggets of wisdom in this book. One complaint is the cover, I did not pick it up because it looked cheesy with the women on the front. Also, it would be rare for a man to pick up and read a book with women on the front and men who do not think woman should be in ministry or be pastors, MUST read this book. Change cover to be masculine for more distribution. I have read over ten books about women in ministry, this is by FAR the best one. Order it now! Rev. Tracy Galloway

Quite an eye opening of the teachings of Jesus and how much he valued women! I had thought that I knew what the Bible taught but these authors pointed out things I had never heard and had missed myself. Well worth the investment and time to learn from these pages!

An acquaintance of mine told me how much this book had influenced her. I read it carefully with an open mind. I was greatly disappointed in the character of the brothers who authored this material. I believe they have been deliberately deceptive.The thesis of the book is that every venue of Church leadership, including the pastorate, should be open to women; and that, husbands have no special authority in marriage. These teachings are unhealthy and destructive.I want to know what the Bible teaches on this matter, not the opinions of these men. The authors do not consider any Scripture in depth until halfway into the book. The first half of the book tells us how women have been mistreated by men throughout history and that women have done great things for God. Even if these things are true, they do not constitute God's design for men and women as set forth (by the Holy Spirit) in Scripture.By telling us how badly women have had it over many years, they hope to sell as a remedy the obliteration of traditional roles for men and women. In addition, just because women have founded denominations does not mean that this should be considered normal and desirable. God's accommodation does not mean that we should disregard the teachings of the Lord in order to do things our own way.The authors fallaciously reason that since the persons of the Trinity are equally God, then there should be no distinctions between men and women. This argument fails because while the persons of the Trinity are equally God, they function differently. In the Trinity, certain authority is ceded to the Father. Jesus did not come to do His own will, but the will of the Him who sent Him. The time of the Lord's return is determined by the Father. Additionally, the Father did not die on the cross for our sins. The Son proceeds from the Father. The Father does not proceed from the Son. The Spirit came to reveal the Son; the Father did not come to reveal the Spirit, etc. In the Trinity there are differences in role and function. The authors' appeal to the Trinity for their claim that men and women should be equal in authority will be glibly received by many readers. The Bible teaches that men and women are equally precious in the eyes of God, but they are designed by God to function differently and that difference includes the authority. In the second half of the book they finally deal with some Scripture. What greatly troubles me is that they play upon the average reader's lack of Greek in order to make their views seem reasonable. I have written a twenty five page response to these things for my above referenced acquaintance wherein I point out many of these bludgeonings of the Greek. Please forgive me for not going into it all here again. However, one thing I can quickly mention. The authors hate the word authority. That is actually the point of contention in this book. As I said the authors use the reader's lack of knowledge of New Testament Greek in order to convince us of their opinions. They twist every nuance in order to convince us, telling us what this word means and that word implies. However, when dealing with a very important passage of Scripture, they intentionally withhold key information from the reader. In Timothy Paul writes that he does "not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man". The author (Hamilton) says that the word translated "authority" is very controversial and that scholars do not agree upon its meaning. However he does not tell us that the word translated authority is the very word "authority"!! It transliterates almost exactly into our English word "authority" with the same spelling and pronunciation. And most scholars do not disagree, only these "scholars" and those who oppose two thousand years of rigorous sound Biblical scholarship, call this "controversial". If the author is so knowledgeable in Greek, why does he withhold this information? I am greatly troubled by this deliberate deception. There is so much more I could say.This book plays right into the hands of the one who wreaked the relationship of the man and woman in the Garden. It perpetuates the curse. The remedy for the abuse and injustice perpetrated upon women is not what these men propose, but what the Word of God actually teaches in Ephesians 6. By now, this book has likely done much damage. But for conscience sake, I offer this here for you.Grace, mercy and peace,Peter s.

I have always felt that there was something off with my church's narrative surrounding women in ministry. This book has shown me that the Bible does support what I have always known about the heart of God- 'There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female,for you are all one in Christ Jesus' (Galatians 3:28).

the best study on this subject I've read in a long time. Dealt with all the difficult issues and prejudices head on in a clear and concise, readable way. I highly recommend it.

I think they have done a good job explaining a difficult topic by doing a thorough exploration of scripture on these passages.

Excellent book for women who feel the call of God. This is a well researched book and explains the meaning of the scriptures that can cause confusion for women.

Really engrossing. A lively look at traditions that have shaped opinions.