Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley

Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World by Carolyn McCulley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

MY REVIEW:

Radical Womanhood could radically change your thinking on what it means to be a woman!

Carolyn McCulley has written an eloquent and comprehensive, yet straight-forward and simply-stated book on how the feminist movement has altered womanhood and the role that women have in our culture today. This book is both informative as well as challenging. I greatly enjoyed how Carolyn would share the background of the feminist movement and how it has impacted a specific aspect of womanhood before addressing the Biblical side of that issue. This book is not another "Bible thumping message", but rather a probing look into how the feminist movement disconnected from the radical design of God for women.

Carolyn's approach is gentle, knowledgeable, sensitive, respectful, and simple. I appreciated that she is not another "old woman" passing on tradition, but rather a highly studied student of this topic from both sides of the issue. She does not merely write from a stereotypical conservative view point, but one based solidly on Scripture.

Radical Womanhood is 8 chapters long and addresses a thorough overview of the feminist movement, what our problem really is, what the rolls of both men and woman are, how the movement has impacted life across the spectrum, and much more. This book is incredibly empowering and helps you understand the background to various beliefs about the process and history of feminism. Each chapter is followed by a short personal story of a woman that illustrates the message talked about in the previous pages. They bring a sense of community to this book as you read about the struggles and victories of other woman grappling with the same things you may be wrestling through. You gain an emotional and real-life view of Biblical principles being lived out in the real world.

The were many challenges and encouragements that I walked away with, but one thing that seemed to stand out above all was when Carolyn shared that there is a difference between fighting for woman's rights - restoring their God-given rights - and setting women above both men and God. This is not your "be-a-doormat-and-serve-your-husband-without-question" book, this is a call to be Radical Women!

BOOK OVERVIEW:

Biblical womanhood is not for the weak. In an age that seeks to obliterate God and His authority, modeling biblical womanhood involves spiritual warfare. Radical Womanhood seeks to equip new believers and long-time Christians alike, exposing the anti-God agenda of the three waves of feminism to date and presenting the pro-woman truth of the Scriptures. Illustrated with numerous personal testimonies, this book will dig deep into the Word and show how it can be lived out today. The foundation and core message of Radical Womanhood is consistent with the traditional complementarian teaching on biblical womanhood. However, the target audience, tone, and style are radically different. Most books on this subject take a heavily didactic tone that assumes an awareness of Christian lingo and a high degree of spiritual maturity. Radical Womanhood has the narrative approach appreciated by postmodern readers, but still incorporates solid, biblically-based teaching for personal application and growth.

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You can view my chapter-by-chapter vlog reviews by clicking on the following links:

Chapter One   - Chapter Two 
Chapter Three  -  Chapter Four
Chapter Five  -  Chapter Six 
Chapter Seven  -  Chapter Eight

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This review copy was provided by Moody Publishers.  All opinions expressed are that of my own.

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This book gets awarded with the To Read, Or Not To Read badge of distinction  - Best Of The Best Badge! - for the fact that because it is so good, it has been added to Mandy’s bookshelf!