First Line Friday #41: The Gospel According to Eve by Amanda W. Benckhuysen

Thanks to Carrie at
Reading is My Superpower
for the Link-up

 

 

Title:  The Gospel According to Eve
Author:  Amanda W. Benckhuysen
Genre:  Theology/women

    〰First Line〰

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In the beginning, according to Genesis 1, God created and ordered and sorted and classified the world and all that is in it.

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Synopsis:  (From Amazon) 

What does it mean to be male and female? Do women and men have different intellectual, spiritual, moral, or emotional capacities? Are women especially suited for serving and men for leading? Are women and men equal?

While these may seem like relatively recent questions, they have been a topic of conversation throughout Christian history. At the center of this conversation is the biblical character Eve, the archetypal woman of Genesis 1-3. Not simply one woman among many, Eve comes to represent all women, defining the very essence of what it is to be female. As Eve was a woman, so all women were Eve, the conditions of her creation and her involvement in the Fall often serving as a justification for limitations placed on women and for their subordination to men.

Over the centuries, women themselves have read and interpreted the story of Eve, scrutinizing the details of the text to discern God's word for them. Often their investigations led them to insights and interpretations that differed from dominant views, shaped as they were by men. The Gospel According to Eve traces the history of women's interpretation of Genesis 1-3, readings of Scripture that affirmed women's full humanity and equal worth. Biblical scholar Amanda Benckhuysen allows the voices of women from the past to speak of Eve's story and its implications for marriage, motherhood, preaching, ministry, education, work, voting, and more.

 〰First Thoughts〰

This book caught my eye at an Evangelical Theological Society conference I attended a couple of years ago.  One of the papers I heard at the conference touched on some of the same topics covered in this book. Some of my first thoughts concerning the subject matter are:

• Is this book theological sound, or an exercise in political correctness?
• Will the book give honest facts, or be a volume of vitriolic misandry that emasculates men?
• How many times will the word "patriarchy" be used and will it be used correctly?
• How will I feel about myself as a woman, a theologian, and most importantly, a follower of Christ?

As I enter into the study of this volume with as much of an open mind as I can muster, I'm keeping in mind the words of a very wise woman from my home church.  She said that men and women were created by God to compliment each other and work as a team, not work at cross purposes in competition with or opposition to each other. Hopefully this book will hold up to this godly standard of sex and gender. 

So, what's the first line of the book you're currently reading?