Book Review – 50 Crucial Questions – An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper & Wayne Grudem

Central Concerns About Manhood And Womanhood

50 Crucial Questions – An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper & Wayne Grudem

Synopsis:

The roles of men and women are immensely contested in both society and the church today. Christians are looking for answers from the Bible regarding how God intends for men and women to relate to one another. In this concise and accessible resource, well-known authors and Bible teachers John Piper and Wayne Grudem respond to fifty crucial questions often asked in relation to biblical manhood and womanhood. Answering objections raised against the view that God created men and women equal in value but distinct in role, Piper and Grudem winsomely present a biblical vision of gender roles that is life-giving and fulfilling for both men and women. (Taken from GoodReads page)

Review

While this is a short version of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism by John Piper & Wayne Grudem (and of only chapter 2), this book packs a lot of good material in 100 pages.

You could call this an overview of findings book but this is more than a grifting attempt to resell a book; this is a way to offer valuable insight into normal and legitimate questions still being asked about the topic. Where the book adds the best value is giving you a great starting point into looking deeper into the questions you’ve seen friends and, sadly, churches bring up on a number of topics. There are some really hard-hitting questions in this book.

For example (questions edited for space):
5) What do you mean by “submission”? & 9) Could this lead to abuse?
16) Aren’t the arguments against women pastors the same made for defending slavery?
25) Why prohibit women from speaking while allowing them to prophecy
31) Is there selective literalism when “braided hair” and “head coverings” are culturally conditional?

The answers to the questions are enough to not be ambiguous and you’d see this type of content on a webpage to help people get answers to the question while not going into all the detail. They do not shirk away from some of the best questions against their position of compatibilism. Again, the work is filled out more in the other book but I think this is a great tool that someone that wants help in answering the questions for themselves and researching them and maybe even disagreeing with them or strengthening them would get a great benefit from.

Final Grade

A-