Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures [Paperback]

Darrow L. Miller (Author), Stan Guthrie (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2008

Our world is filled with nations that are impoverished largely because half of their people—the female population—are disenfranchised. But this is not just a book about women; it is a book that deals with the intersection of three seemingly very different subjects: women, poverty and world view.

Nurturing the Nations explains how the ideas that societies embrace create healthy or impoverished cultures and supports that theory with information regarding domestic violence, murder and pornography. The book addresses one of the greatest causes of worldwide poverty, the lie that men are superior to women. In noting that the world view of a culture frames how it understands women and men, various paradigms are studied, such as Hinduism and Animism, showing how they lead to the abuse and hatred of women.

This topic cannot be addressed without studying the Trinity as a model for male-female relationships. Servanthood, submission and the transcendence of sexuality are all discussed based on the idea that male and female were created equal in being but different in function. The book concludes with a look at the history of women in the Old and New Testament—how they were established as the co-laborers of men in the development of creation and the liberating challenge Jesus issued to the sexist culture of his day.

Nurturing the Nations is for Christians who are interested in the issue of poverty; missionaries; relief and development workers; and Christians who are working with poor and abused women.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Darrow Miller serves as vice president of Food for the Hungry International and co-founder of the Disciple Nations Alliance. For over twenty-five years, Darrow has spoken at conferences and seminars on topics that include world view and poverty, world view and development, the Christian movement worldwide, Christianity and culture, Christian apologetics and social issues. Before joining Food for the Hungry in 1981, Darrow spent three years working at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, where he was discipled by Francis Schaeffer. In addition to earning a master’s degree in higher adult education from Arizona State University, Darrow has pursued graduate studies in philosophy, theology, Christian apologetics, biblical studies and missions in the United States, Israel and Switzerland. Darrow and his wife, Marilyn, reside in Blue Ridge, Arizona. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

Stan Guthrie is senior associate editor for Christianity Today magazine and author of the book Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century (Paternoster, 2005). He has been editor of World Pulse and managing editor of Evangelical Missions Quarterly. A guest on WMBI's "Mornings" and other radio programs, Guthrie blogs at stanguthrie.com. He and his wife, Christine and their children live near Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 287 pages
• Publisher: Paternoster (March 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934068098
• ISBN-13: 978-1934068090
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For over 25 years, Darrow L. Miller has been a popular speaker at conferences and seminars on topics that focus on the relationship between worldview and development, and culture and poverty. He has written numerous articles, Bible studies and books around these themes, including his latest, "LifeWork: A Biblical Theology for What You Do Every Day" (YWAM, Aug 2009), dealing with the theme of biblical worldview and vocation. Darrow has a master's degree in higher and adult education, has pursued graduate studies in philosophy, theology, Christian apologetics, biblical studies, and missions in the United States, Israel, and Switzerland. Darrow and his wife Marilyn studied and worked with Francis and Edith Schaeffer at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland from 1969-71. Darrow has been a pastor of a student ministry, a senior pastor in an urban church, and for over 25 years served as a leader of Food for the Hungry International in the area of field staff training and development. While with FHI, Darrow helped co-found the Disciple Nations Alliance, now a movement of like-minded organizations and people in over 40 countries using these ideas in "equipping the church to transform the world." Darrow and his wife live in northern Arizona, have 4 children, and 9 grandchildren with 2 more expected in early January 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Role of Women in Society, June 8, 2008

By 

E. Youmans "ELY" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures (Paperback)

Darrow Miller has courageously illumined a subject that the Christian Church has neglected for centuries, which has held women in bondage and kept nations impoverished --- the lie that men are superior to women!

The author writes from a Biblical, Christian worldview of God, man, woman, and nation building. Miller historically traces the abuse and hatred of women from philosophical, cultural, and religious views and directs the reader to the Bible and God's transformational view of women and His purpose for them to nurture healthy cultures. The premise of this book is if women are respected and ennobled as co-laborers with men in their divine role as nurturers, they are liberated to help build strong, healthy families and communities. As the family goes, so goes the nation. Sexuality, feminism, the mystery of the Trinity, and education are just a few of the topics addressed.

This book has the potential for providing insight and healing for both men and women. It is a "must have" for the Church, for those involved with poverty and community development, and for those who teach worldview. "Nurturing the Nations" would be an excellent handbook for family life studies and both men's and women's Bible studies.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Equal in being, diffent in function, May 2, 2008

By 

Roger D. Schmidgall "Rog" (IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures (Paperback)

Darrow Miller has written a clear, concise, insightful, Biblical case for restoring and upholding the dignity of women--for the betterment of society at large. He ties the wrong views and treatment of women with the causes of much of the world's poverty.

His presentation of God's view of men and women, as revealed in the Bible, is simple and compelling--they are equal in being, diverse in function. He shows the biblical basis for understanding God as Trinity and as a model for the complementarian view of men and women.

I found personal correction for my own understanding--despite years of Christian teaching on this topic. It will certainly encourage women who have suffered from male-centric worldviews and also challenge men and women who have accepted or compromised with ultra-feminist or sexist perspectives.

I ordered 3 more copies before even finishing the book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Women: Created for His Glory, April 6, 2011

By 

jacqi gough - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures (Paperback)

Darrow Miller has brilliantly organized this book in such a manner that it takes the reader on a journey. A journey that begins with an agonizing and painful realization of war: war against women. He takes us through history to see the abuse, the crushing and the disappearance of women due to various cultural beliefs and religious practices. This is both shocking and heart wrenching, preparing a longing in the heart for God's burden and vision for His female creation.

With clarity and precision, using charts and graphs, Miller establishes the value of a Biblical worldview. The Trinitarian model and Biblical foundation guide the reader into the truths of God's ultimate intention for the woman.

Woman, as well as man, created in God's image for God's individual purposes. This truth is astoundingly transformational! "Imago Dei" for woman!

Through the final part of this journey, the reader is ushered through the pages of God's story; from creation to the Bride of Christ, from the fall to the heights of purpose and glory throughout eternity, from a slave to a liberated woman who has the divine right and call to nurture the nations.

In our own marriage, my husband and I have found within this book a tremendous substance to deepen our lives together. In working with some severely abused women, I have seen the principle of dignity, honor, purpose along with the understanding of God's intention heal, encourage and bring liberty to the hearts and minds of both women and men.

Nurturing the Nations is a "must" for teenagers and adults, for leaders and laymen, for singles and for marriages. Buy it. Read it. Use it for His Glory with whomsoever God places in your life. It WILL bring healing and transformation.