Customer Reviews

Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Carolyn McCulley's new book, Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World, speaks to women about biblical faith in clear, grace-filled language informed by her passion for God, commitment to Scripture, and former feminist background. It's the book Carolyn wishes had been available when she was a new Christian, struggling to understand Scriptural teaching that contradicted the "patriarchy and its oppression of womyn" worldview she'd embraced throughout her twenties.
The book contains thoroughly-researched chapters on the history of feminism and its effects on women and the culture today. Carolyn describes women's struggles against injustice without losing sight of the struggle that we all face--against sin in our own hearts. "As a movement, feminism arose because women were being sinned against," Carolyn writes. "I think that is a fair argument. But feminism also arose because women were sinning in response...The glorious hope we have is that Christ came to rescue us from this spiral of sin and sinful response."
Each chapter is followed by personal accounts from women who have trusted God in the most heartbreaking situations: abuse, adultery, abortion, a husband's career-destroying secret. All the stories highlight the grace of God to individual women who found strength and hope in Christ's redemptive work on the Cross, expressed through Scripture and the loving care of other Christians. Their journeys are sometimes long, and painful. Carolyn does not apply Scripture like a Band-Aid. But she does magnify the sufficiency of God's Word, ministered with compassion and grace, to address pain and suffering in this fallen world. (The Appendix, "Resources on Abuse," addresses this grievous sin, and includes "A Better Way to Handle Abuse" from Ken Sande, President of Peacemaker Ministries.)
Carolyn has come to her conclusions about biblical womanhood through adherence to Scripture combined with years of research, study, heart-searching, a passionate pursuit of sanctification in the context of the local church, and by humble engagement with the less-attractive elements in evangelical culture that have distorted the Scriptural doctrines of biblical manhood and womanhood. Her book is balanced, biblical, well-written, and appealing. Most of all, her readers will come away with renewed inspiration "to live as biblically savvy women in the modern world."

As a faithful reader of Carolyn McCulley's (excellent!) blog, RadicalWomanhood (http://solofemininity.blogs.com/), I had high expectations for this book. Carolyn met them all with ease.

- Her research (and citations) demonstrate her commitment to journalistic integrity and her years of experience as a writer and editor. It was refreshing and informative to read actual historical information and logical, persuasive arguments. I learned much--especially about the lives of feminist leaders, how feminist ideals have impacted the evangelical church, and how our current "raunch culture" developed over the last twenty years.

- Carolyn writes from a position of humility--and this is particularly important because this topic is so prone to bring out the worst in harsh rhetoric and personal, graceless attacks. But not with Carolyn McCulley. Even though she obviously feels strongly about this topic, she is unfailingly winsome in her presentation of all sides of the arguments.

- The Gospel of Jesus Christ is clearly proclaimed and lived out in the pages of this book. Carolyn clearly explains and illustrates how the root of all of our destructive behavior lies in our hearts--we are sinners. And then she repeatedly points to the One Who can rescue us from ourselves. No surface-level explanations and works-based "solutions"--just a consistent call to remember The Cross; to remember the Gospel--the indicative (Who God is and all that He has already done for us in Christ).

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone seeking to learn more about the topics of feminism (especially its impact on the Christian church), biblical manhood and womanhood, complementarianism, and "the mommy wars."

Well done, Carolyn McCulley!

In reading this book I have discovered great biblical truths that directly portray the role of true femininity as God has fashioned it.
Ms. McCulley clearly explains the historical roots of how feminist thought and theories permeated into America's social culture. As a college student, this book woke me up to the reality that feminist thought and theory has negatively impacted God's original plan of femininity, marriage, and family as described in the bible.
I highly recommend this book to ALL WOMEN (young and old) who not only want to unmask the feminist theory's destructive motives on the institution of marriage and family. But also desire to change the trend set by feminist theory by being a radical woman and live by God's standards.

Like the fiery red stiletto on its front cover, Carolyn McCulley's latest book, "Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist Culture," is provocative, bold, and powerfully feminine.

McCulley's use of the word "radical" as applied to Biblical womanhood is summed up fittingly by this line in her book:

To live according to Biblical principles today requires women to be bold enough to stand against philosophies and strongholds that seek to undermine God's Word and His authority. (p. 29)

As McCulley suggests, the concept of what constitutes a "Biblical woman" in our day has been increasingly shaped by feminist thought rather than by the words of Scripture. Accordingly, McCulley asserts that truly living as a Biblical woman (by Scriptural standards) is radical because it stands in stark contrast to cultural and historical assumptions that are deeply embedded in many of us. McCulley tackles this topic, armed with an arsenal of Scripture and an impressive amount of research. Interspersed through out the book are the compelling personal stories of real women who have sinned against God and others, been sinned against, and have experienced a redeemed view of what it means to be a Biblical woman.

While "Radical Womanhood" was written for women by the author's own account, it would still be a fascinating and helpful read for anyone with an interest in feminist history in general, or for anyone who is interested in how feminism has affected the church. However, Christian women will be particularly served in reading this book. The book demonstrates how feminist thinking has pervaded the way we view ourselves, the world, and even Scripture itself--and none of us are immune to this. McCulley's book reasons with Christians, lovingly calling Christians back to the glorious truths articulated in God's perfect Word.

I thoroughly appreciated this interesting and thought-provoking book. Radical Womanhood gives a great overview of the history of both Christian and feminist thinking regarding the identity and function of women, and how the various shifts in thought have affected modern thinking.

This is an extremely valuable resource for Christian women seeking a biblical understanding of the value and role of women within the home, the church, and society as a whole. Many books on biblical womanhood approach this subject with a practical-application or devotional approach. This book is different in that the bulk of the text concentrates on an historical overview of how our modern culture came to embrace the views of women that dominate much of our thinking.

Distinguishing between the three historical "waves" of feminism, the author draws from the writings of influential leaders of those movements, as well as the church's response. There is humble acknowledgment of the church's failure to respond biblically to some of the complaints brought by feminists seeking to end abuses against women, but careful delineation noting when the feminist cause veered into serious error and charted a course at odds with scripture.

Biblical principles like male headship in the home and the admonition for women to submit to their husbands make many women bristle - even women who do not consider themselves feminists. This book sheds light on both the reasons for this reaction, as well as explaining what those admonitions actually look like within a framework of biblical context. Clearly, christian women are the target audience of this book, and I heartily recommend it for any christian woman. But men also could find this book a valuable resource on understanding the influence of feminism on our culture. Even secular feminists interested in truly understanding the perspective of Christian women who embrace these ideas would greatly benefit from this book.

Radical womanhood is a must read for anyone who works with women under 30. Carolyn has done her research well and gives a clear picture of what has happened in our culture for the last 150 years that brought us to where we are now, in a culture of scantily clad girls and women, no fault divorce and even more people who are not considering marriage, to the topic of abortion, which is a hot potato in every election. She tells the stories of women who, although they may have meant well, came to wrong conclusions and solutions, that we as a culture and as a church are reaping the consequences of today. She helps us see that the feminist movement did some good things for women, but many of the things they "won" for us have had devastating results. She then draws us back to the fact that the radical life of Jesus Christ and the gospel are the only answers to the chaotic world we live in.

This book wasn't what I expected. It was more like a text book than I thought it would be. It started off really interesting but around chapters 4 or 5 it started to lose me a bit. At first it concentrated on particular women and waves of feminism, and at some point it just felt like it was going all over the place. I do have to say though that at the end of every chapter there's personal stories from other women and I loved that section.

I gave this book four stars because, well, mostly because they don't allow you to vote 3 1/2 and also because I have a 3 year old at home and a baby on the way, which could effect my concentration a bit. Obviously that's not Carolyn McCulley's fault. Overall this book is worth reading.

This is an excellent book. It provides a comprehensive yet concise history of the feminist movement, as well as an overview of Biblical womanhood. I enjoy McCulley's writing - she is honest, transparent, and winsome. When I finished Radical Womanhood, I only wished it could have gone into even more depth! McCulley's blog, [...] is also a pleasure to read.

I greatly enjoyed "Radical Womanhood" I have always enjoyed studying a woman's role within the church. This text opened my eyes to the differences between what I think is biblical and what is just cultural.

A Christian book on womanhood that does not stoop to emotionalism, but presents womanhood and following God's pattern for womanhood as a rational thing, rather than an illogical, emotional bundle of nerves!