Phew! With quite a bit of effort and time (several months), I finally managed to get all the way through "Women in the Church," a collection of academic essays meant to defend the complementarian position, especially in regards to that controversial passage in 1 Timothy 2. I consider myself an average intellectual capable of reading more academic material, but the essays here are mostly written for those who will have a strong understanding of grammar and the Greek language. Certain chapters were extra difficult to get through because of a regular use of Greek words that I had no ability to even guess how to pronounce. There were some good points here - and bits and pieces were more readable, especially an interesting roundtable discussion at the conclusion of the book. I am sorry to have to give the book such a low rating (2/5 stars) when I do feel that overall these essays helped my own understanding of a biblical position on womanhood, but I nearly gave up reading the book multiple times, and I feel most readers will not have the patience to finish. Chapters examined specific words in 1 Timothy and how they were used throughout history, the culture of the time 1 Timothy was written, and various egalitarian positions. There is a lot to take in here. If you're willing to wade through deep and complicated waters, give the book a try.
*I received this book from Crossway. All opinions are my own.
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