The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth

by Beth Allison Barr

Overview

USA Today Bestseller

Christianity Today 2022 Book Award Finalist (History & Biography)

Foreword INDIES 2021 Finalist for Religion

"A powerful work of skillful research and personal insight."—Publishers Weekly

Biblical womanhood—the belief that God designed women to be submissive wives, virtuous mothers, and joyful homemakers—pervades North American Christianity. From choices about careers to roles in local churches to relationship dynamics, this belief shapes the everyday lives of evangelical women. Yet biblical womanhood isn't biblical, says Baylor University historian Beth Allison Barr. It arose from a series of clearly definable historical moments.

This book moves the conversation about biblical womanhood beyond Greek grammar and into the realm of church history—ancient, medieval, and modern—to show that this belief is not divinely ordained but a product of human civilization that continues to creep into the church. Barr's historical insights provide context for contemporary teachings about women's roles in the church and help move the conversation forward.

Interweaving her story as a Baptist pastor's wife, Barr sheds light on the #ChurchToo movement and abuse scandals in Southern Baptist circles and the broader evangelical world, helping readers understand why biblical womanhood is more about human power structures than the message of Christ.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781587434709
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/20/2021
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	36,785
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Beth Allison Barr (PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is James Vardaman Professor of History at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she specializes in medieval history, women's history, and church history. She recently served as president of the Conference on Faith and History (2018-2021). Barr is a regular contributor to The Anxious Bench, the popular Patheos website on religious history, and has written for Christianity Today, the Washington Post, Religion News Service, the Dallas Morning News, Sojourners, and Baptist News Global. Her work has been featured by NPR and The New Yorker. She is also a Baptist pastor's wife and the mom of two great kids.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii

Introduction 1

1 The Beginning of Patriarchy 11

2 What If Biblical Womanhood Doesn't Come from Paul? 39

3 Our Selective Medieval Memory 71

4 The Cost of the Reformation for Evangelical Women 101

5 Writing Women Out of the English Bible 129

6 Sanctifying Subordination 151

7 Making Biblical Womanhood Gospel Truth 173

8 Isn't It Time to Set Women Free? 201

Notes 219

Author Bio 245

Editorial Reviews

01/18/2021

In this trenchant blend of memoir and analysis, historian Barr (Faith and History) challenges the Christian evangelical belief that male dominance and female submission are required of the faithful. In 2016, Barr and her husband were fired from their work in youth ministry because of their rejection of the theological argument that “gender hierarchy divinely ordained.” Barr channeled her anger into examining church history in order to better understand the origins of that belief and the related concept of “biblical womanhood,” or female submission to male authority. What she found was that “textual and historical evidence counters the complementarian model of biblical womanhood and the theology behind it.” Barr centers much of her criticism on late-20th-century evangelical movements, such as pastor Russell Moore’s insistence on the benefits of “Christian partriarchy” and a 1998 statement from Southern Baptist Convention that “a wife is to submit herself graciously to the serrvant leadership of her husband.” Barr argues that, far from being a part of God’s plan, patriarchy is a sin, and the notion of “biblical womanhood” is a 20th-century artifact. “Historically,” Barr observes, “women have flourished as leaders, teachers, and preachers—even in the evangelical world.” This is a powerful work of skillful research and personal insight. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly