Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership

This is a work every living believer should read. I don't say that lightly. In fact, I only read it out of obligation since the author attends my church. The subject didn't interest me or impact me that much, coming out of a secular home without many of the prejudices and traditions found in Christian homes. I have never been offended at the thought of a woman leading or teaching in the church. The best person for the job as they say. So I also thought I was already "there" with the author as far as her conclusions and in many ways I found I was. However, not far into the book I found I was greatly impacted by Sumner's arguments and findings from scriptures. It exposed some things that I had accepted as rote (confusing headship with leadership) and how those extended into how I treat larger issues such as women's ministry, divorce, sex and a host of other issues. In short, even though I started the book in agreement on the surface, it has radically changed many paradigms I have carried with me. For that reason, I put this book on a level with anything I have read from St. Augustine, C.S. Lewis, JP Moreland, Greg Koukl, Ravi Zacharias and others I consider to be "heroes" of Christian thought. Sarah starts by blowing away one prevailing "straw man" argument - that the controversy of women in church leadership being one of conservative christians vs. liberal feminists. She quickly disproves this by showing that the key people on both sides of this debate are ALL conservative, orthodox christians. Since most of her readership either follow a strict interpretation of I Timothy 2 or scratch our heads in frustration at the text, she addresses that part of scripture a little over halfway through the book - after laying a foundation of how men and women in the church currently view each other, how men and women are created, the BIBLICAL definition of "head" as opposed to the popular understanding of a man being a head to his wife meaning "leader," and lastly, examples of many women in both the old and new testaments that led, taught and had authority in God's kingdom. Only then does she address I Timothy 2 - in the context of the entire scripture, correctly advising her readers to examine any scripture in light of the bible as a whole - God does not contradict himself. Other treasures I found in the latter part of the book had to do with paradox vs. contradiction and also a brilliant model of "fault lines" in Christian thought. As I mentioned, the book took me by surprise. It is not the easiest read, but is not intended to be. Sarah Sumner intended from the beginning to take a controversial issue (women teaching) and explore it in the most exhaustive way possible. While the every-day Christian like me can understand and follow the arguments, there is enough technical content for any philosopher or theologian to debate or explore further. End.

Normally, when a book has 26 reviews, I am content to let writing a review pass. However, this one is special. I was dragged into the gender debates a few months ago kicking and screaming. I am a seminary graduate, though I don't pastor. The church leaders sought my opinion because of my training and experience. Hence, I got introduced to the fight. The theological vertigo that I experienced was only surpassed by the vertigo I got when I decided to find the definitive answer to the theories of the second coming, while in seminary. This book is different. She interacts with both sides. Unlike the shallow belaborings and "interpretations" of the chief spokespeople for both sides, she has obviously read some theology. Although she doesn't flaunt it, she has apparently read the Church Fathers more than she indicates. She is comfortable to go in new directions and respectfully bow and put her hand over her mouth in the presence of mystery. This is something that both sides fail to do. What really impressed me was her handling of the headship subject. This has been a big and heated debate that has drug the Trinity into the fray and sought to confirm various models of hierarchy and equality. She acknowledges the mystery while giving, in my opinion, a very excellent alternative. Her thinking is called fuzzy in earlier reviews, but I find that difficult to understand. When you are dealing with the immanent Trinity as revealed in the Incarnation, what you can't say is much more extensive than what you know. She says what is appropriate (metaphor, she calls it) and recognizes the limits of knowledge and expression. This is the one book we need. I wish I had found out about it 4 or 5 books ago. I have left it with an appreciation of what God has done in Creation and Redemption and what my responsibilities are towards my wife as head. Thanks muchly.

Bypassing the typical rhetoric and discord associated with this topic, Dr. Sarah Sumner's deep but easy-to-read "Men and Women in the Church" takes the reader to the Scriptures and encourages them to compare our fallible traditions concerning men and women in ministry with the infallible Word of God. Never wavering from God's Word, Sumner addresses the pertinent Scriptures and issues on this much debated topic, and reveals how both sides--complementarians and egalitarians--have something more to learn from the very words of God found in the Bible. Never taking sides, Dr. Sumner helps move toward a Christian consensus and common ground for men and women in the church that enables egalitarians and complementarians to better understand Scripture and one another (especially in chapter 22). "Men and Women in the Church" helped equip me with a systematic and passionate understanding of how God views men and women, properly revealing their distinctions and relationship with one another. My wife and I have greatly benefited from Dr. Sumner's devotion to truth and desire to rightly divide God's Word. Most useful and self-examining for ministry and marriage is Sumner's exposition of Ephesians 5.21-33. While acknowledging the distinctions between men and women, husbands and wives, Sumner reveals that Paul is doing something much more than merely handing out a list of chores and roles to husbands and wives; he is exposing how husbands and wives are to relate to one another biblically so that they may be a living, breathing, God-honoring testimony and example of the relationship between Christ and the church. Sumner then under girds her exposition of Ephesians 5 with a theological model of how God heads Christ and how Christ submits to God. Who better to learn from, right? In the end of Sumner's exposition of Ephesians 5 and what it means to be the head, you're left with a convicting sense that your previous ideas and notions about the relationship between husbands (being the head, sacrificing, and loving) and wives (being the body, submitting, and respecting) fall much too short of the model that God and Christ exemplified within Scripture. "Men and Women in the Church" is as much for ministers as it is for marrieds. It in fact will benefit the pastor, professor, seminary student, spouse, and small group member. Most importantly, this book will transform how you think about marriage, ministry, and the amazing God who sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins, thereby empowering us to rightly serve Him, His people, and our spouses.

As a Senior Pastor of a megachurch, I never expected my theology of the role of men and women to be so challenged, disrupted, and transitioned. Our church leadership team spent one year studying through Sarah's book, discussing it each month and then drawing conclusions. Sarah's theology is readable, her arguments are persuasive (though not aggressive), and her ability to have us all laughing at ourselves was both enlightening and enjoyable. Dr. Sarah Sumner's book is a "must read" for every church leader.

Thorough, thoughtful, balanced, and informative - that is how I'd describe Sarah's book. Dr. Sumner describes the dilemma with grace and exercises impressive theological analysis. The flesh-and-blood examples contextualize the "ivory tower" arguments and provide a perspective of accountability for the ways in which our ideas and arguments shape the course of the church and society.