Canadian mail really stinks sometimes.  I got a great book to review but I got it well AFTER the date that the publisher really wanted to have it promoted.  Then I had to have time to read it so I could review it.  Then I read it and really enjoyed it, so much so that I wanted to write a spectacular review for it.  I kept putting off doing the review until I had the time to devote to making it a great review.  The publisher is probably very frustrated with me, but at long last, I’m excited to review “Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women” by Carolyn Custis James.

About “Half the Church”

From the cover of the book: Women compromise at least half or the world, and usually more than half the church, but so often Christian teaching to women either fails to move beyond a discussion of roles or assumes a particular economic situation or stage of life. This all but shuts women out from contributing to God’s kingdom as they were designed to do. Furthermore, the plight of women in the Majority World demands a Christian response, a holistic embrace of all that God calls women and men to be in his world.

Carolyn Custis James unpacks three transformative biblical themes, showing how God gives women a new identity that frees them to embrace the life he gives.

Half the Church embodies a positive, kingdom approach to the changes, challenges, and opportunities facing women throughout the world today.

My Review

Half the Church was inspired, at least in part, by the book Half the Sky, a book that describes many of the atrocities happening to women across the world. Because of that I was admittedly a bit wary of diving into Half the Church. I needn’t have been.

Carolyn Custis James has written 3 other books along the same vein of Half the Church.  This 4th book is meant to be a place where she wraps up all her thinking and all that she’s internalized from writing the other 3 books.  As such, it is a very well written, clearly articulated, easy-to-read compilation of some of the weightiest issues Carolyn has come across as a Christian woman in the 21st century, and her convictions regarding those issues.

It’s not at all necessary to read the other 3 books Carolyn has written (though I anticipate that I will likely pick them up now after having read Half the Church) in order to get the full scope of her message.  This book captures her heart well, with a passion that is convicting but not fanatical.

I feel like I could write a whole book in response to Half the Church, but I’ll not do it all here in this review.  A few things really stood out to me, and I’ll focus on those things.

One of the foundational questions that Carolyn asks is about the truth of the Gospel – not doubting the truth, but rather wondering if the way we interpret the Gospel is applicable to everyone everywhere.  Our westernized version of the Gospel that delegates roles and responsibilities based on gender and stage of life may be a terrible slap in the face to those in third world countries who do not share the same luxuries of wealth and freedom that we do.

Is the way I read the Bible and apply it to my life representative for every woman on the planet?  If not, why not?  What is God’s mission for women? Is His love and plan big enough for the fortunate and the unfortunate?  Is His vision for every woman, from birth to death, or just for some of the women while they fit in a certain set of circumstances?

I think most of us as Christians want the answers to be, “Yes, His love and plan is big enough; Of course His vision is for every woman regardless of life stage or prosperity.”  But is the way we live out the Gospel day-to-day also answering in the affirmative?  Carolyn asserts that our Gospel is too small, our God is too small, our vision for women AND men AND the church is too small, and I would have to agree.

So, if the Gospel (the message of the good news of Christ’s coming) that we live out isn’t accurate for every person, every woman on the planet, what kind of Gospel IS?  In Half the Church, Carolyn keys on a few EXTREMELY important points here that resonated with my heart.

• The good news is that women AND men are created as God’s image-bearers.  That means women AND men are created to reflect God’s glory and character on earth, regardless of age, marital status, ability to mother or father children, wealth, intelligence, etc… 
• The good news is that part of the mission of the woman is to be an kenegdo ezer – a perfectly matched warrior partner, not just a ‘suitable helpmeet’ as the Hebrew has been translated in the past (Carolyn goes into detail about this). That means that as a woman she has a HUGE part to play in the battle that is constantly going on around us, and that she is NEEDED, REQUIRED to participate to her full capacity in order for God’s plan to be fully mobilized.
• The good news is that from the very beginning God created a Blessed Alliance of men and women, working together to fulfill his plan and vision for the world, and, although it was broken in the fall, through Christ that Blessed Alliance is still the way that God’s plan is worked out most effectively even today.  That means that men and women were designed to work together, as equals, to accomplish the fantastic things that the Lord has in store for them and for the earth.

That is a Gospel that IS big enough for everyone, if we’re willing to let go of assignment of roles based on gender, and rather focus on division of labor based on God’s gifting for the each individual person.  And it’s more than that… but that ‘more’ is hard to put into the book review here – you’ll have to read the book!

I will say this:  Carolyn is definitely advocating for women to be more a part of life in general and in the ministry and mission of the church, but she is definitely not arguing for (or against) ordination of women.  She’s very much advocating for equality for women in the church, but more than that, she’s advocating for equality for every woman in the world – because EVERY woman is an image-bearer, EVERY woman is made to be a kenegdo ezer (a perfectly matched warrior partner), and EVERY woman is designed to take her place in the Blessed Alliance, working along side her brothers to her full ability and enable both men and women around her to do what it is God has called them to do.  “When half the church holds back – whether by choice or because we have no choice – everybody loses and our mission suffers setbacks.”

I was concerned that Half the Church was going to be a scary and sad retelling of the cruelties that are inflicted upon women around the world, and how women in the church need to reach out to our hurting sisters.  Half the Church turned out to be a call for women to reach out and embrace their divinely orchestrated design, in order to more fully love the Lord (heart, mind, body, soul and strength), and to help our sisters to do the same.  Not only that, Carolyn is clear that this empowering of women is NOT to the detriment of men (e.g., in order for women to be more valued, men must be of less value, or vice versa).  Instead, this kind of fulfillment of God’s original design enables both males and females to become their best selves.

One of the final paragraphs of the book begins to wrap things up, not with a nice neat bow, but with a reality check:

God is shaking his daughters awake and summoning us to engage.  His vision for us is affirming and raises the bar for all of us. We cannot settle for less. We have work to do. There’s a kingdom to build, and what we do truly matters.  Our compass is fixed on Jesus.  We can no longer listen to those who call us to love Him with less than all our heart and soul and strength and mind.  We may not have titles, position, or power in the eyes of others, but leadership is in our DNA.  The call to rule and subdue places kindgom responsibility on our shoulders. Conflict draws us out. And as we answer God’s call, our brothers will be the first to benefit.

There is work to be done.  Are we willing to do it?

I found myself nodding my head in agreement often while reading Half the Church.  The heart of what Carolyn is saying makes sense with how I understand things to be.  My own heart says, “Yes, yes – this is what you were made for,” not in a go-out-and-conquer-the-world kind of way, but in a it-feels-good-to-know-I-have-a-place kind of way.  There’s excitement in realizing that there’s something MORE, and that more for me doesn’t mean less for the men in my life, but more for everyone!

Half the Church seems to me to be written for a college-level kind of audience, though anyone would be able to read it and walk away with the same basic understanding of things.  The use of Scripture and stories from the Bible almost surprised me – they were unique and excellent examples of the points being made (or rather, the points being made did, indeed, line up with Scripture).  Carolyn also quoted many sources and renowned scholars who I was familiar with from my hubby’s graduate studies at Regent College (John Stackhouse, Bruce Waltke, etc.), and in our studying together since then.  I especially appreciated that this was NOT a book with watered-down reasoning to back up an emotional plea. Carolyn has studied the Scriptures on these issues, she’s wrestled with these things, and she isn’t afraid to talk about hermeneutics and Biblical theology.  She knows her stuff!  Half the Church addresses what has been a controversial topic (gender in the church) with a very intelligent, well-reasoned, Biblically-sound approach.

And, perhaps most importantly, Carolyn is coming to the table fully realizing that fulfilling the mandate of our divine design is next to impossible since the Fall.  There’s no attempt in Half the Church to sugar coat the facts that this debate rages hotly in the church today, that women are taken advantage of more than they are not, and that male-female relationships (especially) are wrought with misunderstandings and complications on so many levels.  But that does not deter Carolyn from tackling the issues – it does quite the opposite.  It’s in light of these issues that women must step up and step out.  Carolyn addresses the fact that this is not and will not be easy. As close as it is to impossible, though, it is still NOT impossible – for Christ has made it possible for God’s original design to be restored.  It’s not a simple task, but we must start somewhere.  Waking up half the church is quite possibly the very best place to begin.

Thanks to Zondervan for sending me this book to review, what probably seems like AGES ago, and one to share with a friend.  I received no other compensation for this post, and the opinions expressed here are my own. I hope Zondervan will forgive me and the Canadian mail system. 🙂