the sluggard book club january 2013: a year of biblical womanhood

In my previous post I explained what the "book club" is.  The book I want to start off with is "A Year Of Biblical Womanhood," by Rachel Held Evans.  I've been reading Evans' blog for several months and have really enjoyed it.  Many of the bloggers I read have highly recommended "The Year Of Biblical Womanhood" (from here on it will be referred to as TYOBW).

In her intro, Evans lays out the premise of the book.  The real question isn't about "womanhood" so much as it is about what we mean when we say something is "biblical."  As she observes, in the churches she grew up in, a woman could not preach, because that was not biblical.  However, as she points out on page xx, "

. . . technically speaking it is biblical for a woman to be sold by her father (Exodus 21:7), biblical for her to be forced to marry her rapist (Deuteronomy 22:28-29), biblical for her to remain silent in church (I Corinthians 14:34-35), biblical for her to cover her head (I Corinthians 11:16), and biblical for her to be one of multiple wives (Exodus 21:10).  

In her journey of trying to figure out why her church wouldn't let a woman preach but didn't require them to cover their heads, she got an idea:  what if she followed every single instruction for women in the bible literally.  And for one year, that's what she did.

There were some things that she did all year round, coming up with a "A Biblical Women's 10 Commandments."  And then there were 12 "virtues" of biblical womanhood, of which she focused on each month.  Each of those months makes up a chapter.

Going into a discussion of the book, there are a couple of terms you may or may not be familiar with.

1.  Egalitarian--an egalitarian is someone who believes in equality.  In discussion of Christianity and gender, it is used to describe someone who believes that men and women are equal in Christ, and that everything a man can do a woman can also do.  Evans would be an egalitarian.

2. Complimentarian--a complimentarian holds an opposing viewpoint of egalitarianism, believing that men are to hold leadership roles in the church and in the home, and that women are to hold roles that are complimentary to them.  

3.  Patriarchy--patriarchy describes a male-dominated culture.  Complimentarian churches are often accused of patriarchy, sometimes rightfully so.

In the discussion of "AYOBW," I will be looking at the following questions:

1.  What does it mean that something is "biblical?"  Why do we follow somethings in the bible but dismiss others?
2.  Along those lines, those critical of Evans accuse her of not taking the Bible seriously.  Are these criticisms fair, or is "not taking the Bible seriously" simply mean "disagree with my interpretation?"
3.  What is a "eshet chayil," Hebrew for "woman of valor."  (Or, as some of you might be more familiar with, a "Proverbs 31 woman)."
4.  Is complimentarianism the same thing as patriarchy?  And how can we in the church, whether we are egalitarian or complimentarian, do a better job of honoring women?

Next up:  Chapter 1, Gentleness.