Is the Bible Good for Women?

April 1, 2017

Blogger and writer Alsup (Practical Theology for Women) offers what she calls "a Jesus-centered" approach to the Bible in order to redeem the trenchant misogyny often associated with its stories. Her reading of both testaments is thoroughly intertextual: "no outside commentary offers as much insight on Scripture as the Bible offers about itself." Her methodology employs a generalized spiritual allegory through the lens of the Christian message. For example, marriage as given in Genesis 2 is not merely for procreative purposes, but rather presents an imperfect human image that finds its ultimate perfection in Christ, where we read that "Jesus is the only true Groom." A woman's value, seen in the light of Pauline patriarchy ("she shall be saved in childbearing" 1 Timothy 2:15), is not in reducing her to a womb, but instead as the hope of salvation which comes through women, thereby redeeming the fallen Eve. VERDICT Thoroughly orthodox in her approach, Alsup's latest work will appeal to Christocentric communities seeking to accommodate a less gender-bifurcated faith.--SC

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