I was a little skeptical when I began reading Fearless Daughters of the Bible: What You Can Learn from 22 Women Who Challenged Tradition, Fought Injustice and Dared to Lead by J. Lee Grady. There seems to be a tiny genre of books by hardcore feminists who say they follow Jesus, but who bash the Church more than they talk about Jesus. I was afraid that this book might fall into this genre. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.
First of all, this book was written by a man. There is always more credibility when someone not of the discussed group writes about it. Next, this book is very biblically sound. The stories of the 22 women mentioned in this book are accurately described just as they were written in the Bible. The author highlights their stories, but at no time stretches scripture or takes their stories out of context. Lastly, the book doesn't encourage women to be better than men or really even engage in that discussion at all. It simply encourages women to be all that God, not Christian culture, has called them to be.
I point those things out because I know for some Christians, this book would be very difficult to read. Many of the stories of these women of the Bible are skipped over by churches who feel like they don't match up with how a Godly woman should live. Even worse, some Christians inaccurately portray these women in a negative light, where instead the Bible elevates them and calls them blessed. This book goes against the grain of traditional belief among many Christians, but, again, is completely biblical. It's up to the reader to decide what is more important to them, Christian culture or Christ himself. Unfortunately, there are still too many in the world that choose the former over the latter every time.
With the gender issues out of the way, there are many great things this book offers. The biblical stories are paired with many examples of women from today who share the struggles of their ancient sisters. Also, each story has take away points of some sort that the reader can apply in their everyday life. My favorite aspect of this book, though, is getting to see the light shown on some lesser known characters of the Bible and to read real description and commentary on their life.
Overall, I highly recommend this book to all Christians, especially those women who feel discouraged by the unbiblical gender mandates of Christian culture. I wish this book would make it into the hands of many conservative Christian males, but unfortunately I don't think that will be the case. This book is definitely among the top 10% of my favorites in the Christian genre.
This book was given to me free of charge by Chosen Publishing in return for my honest review.
First of all, this book was written by a man. There is always more credibility when someone not of the discussed group writes about it. Next, this book is very biblically sound. The stories of the 22 women mentioned in this book are accurately described just as they were written in the Bible. The author highlights their stories, but at no time stretches scripture or takes their stories out of context. Lastly, the book doesn't encourage women to be better than men or really even engage in that discussion at all. It simply encourages women to be all that God, not Christian culture, has called them to be.
I point those things out because I know for some Christians, this book would be very difficult to read. Many of the stories of these women of the Bible are skipped over by churches who feel like they don't match up with how a Godly woman should live. Even worse, some Christians inaccurately portray these women in a negative light, where instead the Bible elevates them and calls them blessed. This book goes against the grain of traditional belief among many Christians, but, again, is completely biblical. It's up to the reader to decide what is more important to them, Christian culture or Christ himself. Unfortunately, there are still too many in the world that choose the former over the latter every time.
With the gender issues out of the way, there are many great things this book offers. The biblical stories are paired with many examples of women from today who share the struggles of their ancient sisters. Also, each story has take away points of some sort that the reader can apply in their everyday life. My favorite aspect of this book, though, is getting to see the light shown on some lesser known characters of the Bible and to read real description and commentary on their life.
Overall, I highly recommend this book to all Christians, especially those women who feel discouraged by the unbiblical gender mandates of Christian culture. I wish this book would make it into the hands of many conservative Christian males, but unfortunately I don't think that will be the case. This book is definitely among the top 10% of my favorites in the Christian genre.
This book was given to me free of charge by Chosen Publishing in return for my honest review.
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