My Latest Reads

Since I continue to reference Radical Womanhood, I thought maybe I should do a book review.  While I would not go around recommending Twilight (previous post), I can whole-heartedly endorse this book.  It is probably one of the best books I have ever read.

Carolyn McCulley manages to write on topics ranging from the historical roots of the feminist movement, biblical roles within male and female relationships, and specifics such as home life.  I love this book for several reasons.  First, it is honest information.  There are a lot of women’s books at Christian bookstores that have ideas about womanhood, but they still have not gone  back to Scripture to delve into what God thinks.  God, after all, created women!  I think the historical basis behind everything in this book backs up biblical truth by showing that the feminist movement, while it had good intentions at times (right to own property and vote, for example), went looking in the wrong places for truth.  Many feminists are lauded for their contribution in work for women, but often women are unaware that many feminist leaders only believe women should have certain choices (homemaking not being one of them), and that some were advocates of eugenics.  Hello!  It is good to investigate truths/history behind any movement.

I also loved this book because it is gracious.  Differing roles for men and women has become a taboo subject in our culture.  However, it is Biblical.  McCulley approaches the book as a woman who used to be a feminist, but searched out God’s Word for truth.  She shows throughout the book that God’s ways are not shackling, but instead, freeing.  She does not shy away from hard issues, however.  In the midst of graciousness, she tackles tough questions.  She also takes on the “raunch” culture in which we live, exploring how we got here.

It has just been in the past couple of years that I realized the value of biographies.  My sister let me borrow her copy of “A Chance to Die,” by Elisabeth Elliot and I loved it.  Soon after, I read, “The Hiding Place,” by Corrie Ten Boom (autobiography).  I realized that biographies are like sitting down and chatting with old saints of the past.  It is like having a mentor to go back to again and again.

In Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God, Noelle Piper uncovers the lives of five women of God from the past: Sarah Edwards, Lilias Trotter, Gladys Aylward, Esther Ahn Kim, and Helen Roseveare.  I have a feeling that any woman who reads the book might be especially drawn to a specific biography for whatever reason.  I loved reading about Lilias Trotter.  I had never heard her story before.  She was not even supposed to be healthy enough for travel, but she labored in Algeria for 40 years.  While other missionaries shied away from the desert life, she ventured into it.  It was her goal to share the Gospel with the people in Algeria, who were mostly Muslim.  She especially wanted to talk to the women, and found out ways to reach them with some truth.  But Piper points out that she was not a missionary who saw tons of spiritual fruit in her lifetime.   And that is how life is- we work for the Lord, and trust that He is the one who brings the “increase.”  We are just told to be faithful, not matter what the results.  At the end of each biography, Piper makes the information applicable to our lives.

What I love about both McCulley and Piper’s books is that in all things, their goal is to draw your heart closer to your Savior, and bring glory to the Gospel.