Customer Reviews

Longing for More: A Woman's Path to Transformation in Christ

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Barton tries to help women deal with feelings of dissatisfaction by finding freedom in who we are in Christ. She presents case for women being gifted and called by God. She thinks some church and social structure leads to women suppressing and not using these gifts. She covers topics such as identity, vocation, relationships, spirituality, singleness/marriage, sexuality, and motherhood. She believes we all have a calling that lives itself out in all these areas.

I think that was a good book, but not GREAT (as suggested by a friend). Some of the chapters felt redundant when read 2 per week for a group. It might have been a better fast read. It might also apply more to older women in a different part of the country (I am 32 and live in California).

I read this study with my women's group, and we were surprised by the feminist slant in every chapter. It seems every problem we come across in life is rooted in the fact that we are women and therefore oppressed beings who have been held back from discovering our true selves. ??? I was unable to really appreciate this viewpoint until I learned that the author, Ruth, grew up in an ultra-conservative church where the role of women was firmly held as subordinate to men. Though completely unable to relate to this, I did still find many of the chapters interesting and conducive to discussion. She also makes a very strong case for women's equality by countering the long-held arguments based on Bible verses (i.e. the wife must submit to the husband, women should be quiet in church, etc.)

Some thought-provoking chapters in this book, however I think it would be best suited for women who come from a similar background as the author or who have had trouble learning to explore and express their own identities.

Ruth Haley Barton writes an excellent book covering women's issues in Christianity. She clearly put much thought and research into her topics, and she is careful to demonstrate how these issues affect women in all walks of life - married women, single women, women with and without children, women of all ages. Her hermeneutics of women in leadership of the church masterfully focuses on what the majority of Bible passages say about women leaders, and relegates the discussion of the passages that seem the exception to that rule to an appendix, rather than making their deconstruction the main basis of her arguments.

The chapters of the book cover women's struggle for identity, finding and following God's purposes for our lives, women and leadership, living authentically, escaping consumerism and materialism, sexuality, marriage, motherhood, painful life circumstances, trans-generational relationships, and being Christ in the world.

I began this text already agreeing with most of her conclusions, but have still found myself stretched and challenged further as a result of what I've read. I think this is an excellent book for Christian women of all sorts, and also an excellent book for those outside Christianity looking to find in despair a place within the faith where women are respected and treasured.