Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women
Carolyn Custis James
Zondervan, 2011, 208 pp., $18.99
The Chinese say, “Women hold up half the sky.” Carolyn Custis James figures if the majority of women worldwide suffer oppressive poverty and violence and a privileged minority still struggle to prove or believe in their own value, no wonder it feels as if the sky is falling. In Half the Church, she begins in the beginning when man and woman were made to work together. Dismantling the myth of the subordinate helpmeet, she recovers the Old Testament figure of the woman of valor, the strong and capable ezer who helps as God helps. Horror stories of trafficked and abused women mingle with hero stories of wronged women establishing justice.
James acknowledges arguments for and against the ordination of women without taking sides, arguing instead that Jesus calls His followers to give up their notions of authority and equality to become servants. She sees the bitter debate itself affecting us all, regardless of our particular positions, corrupting the gospel message for women with various callings, responsibilities and circumstances, and hampering the church’s corporate and compassionate response to women enduring misery and incessant danger.
