He & She
The subject of gender is crucial to Christianity and for too long much of British evangelicalism has pussy-footed around the issue. It impinges not only on the vital areas of family life and church leadership, but has implications for the nature of the Godhead itself.
JEB
THE GRAND DESIGN
Male and Female He Made Them
By Owen Strachan and Gavin Peacock
Christian Focus. 172 pages. £6.99
ISBN 978 1 781 917 640
Buy online from Amazon
And interestingly, from my recollection, it seems that women’s conventions have been far more clear and bold in addressing the issues biblically than those of men.
The two authors of this book, one an ex- Chelsea footballer now in the ministry in Canada, the other a rising star on the US theological scene, pull no punches. Their book is a careful yet pungent exposition of the Bible’s vision of sexuality and gender, coming down unequivocally on the comple-mentation side of the debate concerning the roles of men and women and championing the view of the Trinity which includes the eternal submission of the Son to the Father while remaining equally God.
Well rooted in Scripture
The chapter titles kick off with ‘What is biblical complementarity?’, ‘What is biblical manhood?’ and ‘What is biblical womanhood?’ The answers are very well rooted in Scripture with a number of thoughts which were new and inspiring to this reader.
Complementarity is then applied in the areas of family, church and culture. There are statements here which some will find provocative and controversial, but it sets out a clear and positive vision of a loving, God-honouring and ordered way of life which has somehow been lost from much of modern evangelicalism – even the Reformed strand. The sensitive subjects of homosexuality and transgenderism are not avoided. On trans-genderism the authors offer the following insight: ‘It is important to note that much of the impetus for this change comes from boys wanting to be girls… for every one woman who “transitions” to manhood, three men “transition” to womanhood… Men it seems, are negotiating a feminist world with little traditional knowledge. Faced with the prospect of female dominance, many seem to be choosing to become women rather than compete with them (as a secular order encourages).’
We are moving into a world where, despite the nature of our biology, gender is said to be fluid. The church needs clarity from Scripture. This book will be a great help.
