Elyse Fitzpatrick & Eric Schumacher have co-written a book together to address the value of women in the Kingdom of God simply titled, Worthy. I have to admit when I selected to review this book, I was nervous, in fact I am nervous right now writing this review. If I share my thoughts about this book in one way, I might be seen as bigot, who thinks women should remain in the kitchen. If I review this book another way. I might be viewed as one who compromised the Word of God and joined the feminist movement in the church. First of all, Fitzpatrick and Schumacher are not advocating any form of feminism in this book but simply wanting to celebrate the value and worth of women in the storyline of the Bible, which is something I appreciated that comment. As with every book review, I seek to be fair while holding to Biblical convictions and this book is no exception.
Before I go any further, I want to express my appreciation for the authors. I am sure many of you have read books from Elyse Fitzpatrick and have benefitted from them greatly. I know I have from the few I have read from her. To Eric, who has been a follower of mine of Twitter and vice versa. He is a songwriter who has written a couple of good songs that I have loved over the years. One of them is There Is No Sin That I Have Done, which is in a couple of playlists I have on Spotify and have sung it in corporate worship.
I do have points of agreement in this book, such that women are made in the image of God. Yes, Amen. There is not dispute about that as Genesis 1 tells us. Anyone who thinks women are not made in the image of God really do not know God nor the Bible. Women have been and can be used of God. Absolutely. We see that in Scripture and we see that in church history. When a sister in Christ talks with you, whether you are a pastor or not, she is not wanting to have sex with you. That is again absolutely true. Men need to stop looking on women as an object of desire. I think many believers, both men and women, will agree with that.
As I mentioned, this book wants to show the value of women, in the pages of the Bible from the fall to the church in the book of Acts. Fitzpatrick and Schumacher even addresses the value of women in the church today. I do truly believe that women can be used of God in the church today with the gifts He has given them. There are area of a church that women can be used by God according to the Bible, not the culture or our feelings. Yes, I agree that there are sinful perceptions that some may have towards women in the church, but we have misconceptions about men in the church as well. One of them is that women are more prone to deception then men. We are all prone to deception, which is why both men and women need to the Word of God as their sufficient standard for life and godliness.
Perhaps one of the earliest comments in the book that made me want to write this book off altogether was when the issue of the fall took a more approach to victimology than theology. Addressing the sin that Adam committed was not just eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, it was also abusing women. In Genesis 3 when God confronted Adam about his sin, he blamed Eve. Sinful people blame one another or their circumstances in why they sinned. Yet, the writers seem to point out this was abuse which turned from Exegesis into Eisegesis. Lets take this a step further, when Jesus was on the cross dying in our place, which Jesus took the blame for our sin, does that mean God abused Jesus? This is what liberal think when it comes to the cross and the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement. They believe this was divine child abuse. This approach to the Fall is very concerning.
Further on in the book, the authors mentioned the worth of women in the church where the issue of women being silent in the church was addressed based on Paul's exhortation in 1 Corinthians 14:34. We see that Philip the Evangelist had four daughters who were unmarried and prophesying in the name of the Lord. The authors said that Paul, who visited his home in Acts 21, did not correct him about his four daughters. The authors were thinking that Luke, who wrote Acts, was boasting about what these four women were doing. I am not sure why the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write that in the book of Acts nor do I care to speculate, but it seems there was, once again some Eisegesis in this. Granted, we are told that our sons and daughters were to be granted the gift of prophecy as told in the book of Joel, but I am not sure if Luke was boasting about this or just helping his reader, in this case Theophilus (Acts 1:1), identify who Philip was.
As I close with this review, I want to say this issue of women in the church is one that every Christian needs to take to heart. Yes, God has used and will continue to use women to accomplish his purposes. Women are using their gifts and talents to reach people for Christ. Women are leading other women in Bible study. I do not believe that Fitzpatrick nor Schumacher were calling for women to take their pastor's job. I do appreciate their commitment in writing about the value of women in the church and how God has used women in the past.
Again, I want to be fair so I will say this: while this book has some very good points I felt that some of them were a little stretched. While I appreciated that this book was not advocating feminism, there were times it was going into that direction. There were just too many inconstancies in the book.
Like any book a Christian reads, we need to have a Biblical worldview as we approach it. We must have an open Bible not an open mind. That is the approach that any believer must take when reading a book and Worthy is no exception.
Thanks Bethany House for allowing me to review this book.
Related Resource:
My review of Is The Bible Good For Women?
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