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Is God good for women?Women on top?IS GOD GOOD FOR WOMEN? The question posed by the title is one that is echoed by much of the world and parts of the church today. Michele Guinness sets out to answer it by interviewing 12, mostly high-profile, women. We meet, for example, a consultant gynaecologist, a rabbi and an army lieutenant colonel. Each is asked to reflect on the title and on a host of other issues such as career and ambition, singleness and motherhood, power and gender differences. We learn a little of how each sees God but the book majors on what makes them 'women of achievement' (p. 269). The exception to this is the story of Mandy Moore, 'the survivor'. She is the only woman who is not successful in worldly terms - but her story is probably the most edifying as it describes how her broken life is radically transformed by Christ. The author's approach is accessible but, in my opinion, it is seriously flawed. By no means all the women would claim to be speaking about the Christian God. In addition, a small selection of 'successful' women will necessarily result in conclusions that are arbitrary and potentially misleading. The real problem, however, lies in the author's unspoken assumption that human experience is an authoritative means to know God. While wanting to interact with human experience, evangelicals will look to the Bible to answer the question. Only a God-centred approach like this will protect us from sitting in judgment on him - an attitude to which the title and book seem to get dangerously close. I started the book with interest. It is a stumbling block for a number of women and I would welcome a book I could give to female friends. However, to be useful, it must be a genuine portrayal of the God of the Bible which this book, I fear, is not. Mary Davis© Evangelicals Now - November 1997 |