REFORMATION WOMEN:
Sixteenth-Century Figures Who Shaped
Christianity’s Rebirth
By Rebecca VanDoodewaard
Reformation Heritage Books. 115 pages. £14
ISBN 978 1 601 785 329
Rebecca VanDoodewaard has written a fascinating book focusing on 12 women scattered across the European continent during the Reformation.
Each held influential roles, some within clergy or royal circles, others having particular gifts. They all demonstrated tireless service and tremendous courage in times of great change and, with it, danger. This book was written partly as a response to revisionist feminist interpretations of particular Reformation women as if they were exceptions to the norm at the time, when they were ‘simply sample expressions of a widespread biblical complementarianism’.
Less well known
This author, along with recent others, has made an important contribution to the study of Reformation women, because the modern church ‘is struggling to rightly understand and express biblical womanhood’. An excellent summary of the wider major events, documents and leaders is found in the Introduction. The author has deliberately chosen women less well known to the modern evangelical. Some may be familiar with the surnames of Anna Zwingli, Anna Bullinger and Katherine Zell, but less so the French counterparts Marguerite de Navarre, Jean D’Albret and Louise de Cologne. All these women played significant roles in supporting husbands, family and fellow believers. Particularly gripping were the description of the circumstances of the French reformers during the dreadful massacre of the Protestant Huguenots in 1572.
Powerful conclusion
Not all the women made decisions that we would agree with, either politically or theological – a reminder of our weaknesses particularly under intense pressure. However, they all set an example of determined faithfulness and humility to the end. The conclusion of the book is powerful and challenging. We are reminded that: radical changes in circumstances (often for the worse) did not stop fruitfulness; these women all had multifaceted identities enabling them to serve in extraordinary ways; they demonstrated that biblical headship and submission produce fruit; they proved that good leadership is servanthood; everyone has gifts and needs to use them. I found a renewed inspiration to serve the Lord wholeheartedly as VanDoodewaard urges us: ‘Let’s pray that God continues to raise up women like this and that he equips us to be part of their number.’
