Review: Fearless Women of the Bible by J Lee Grady

Fearless Daughters of the Bible: What You Can Learn from 22 Women Who Challenged Tradition, Fought Injustice and Dared to Lead takes us through twenty-two Biblical women, from well-known figures such as Mary and Ruth, to lesser-known figures such as the five daughters of Zelophehad. He relates each of these Biblical women (or groups of women) to a specific issue, then compares them with Christian women today—and the results are not always in our favour:

But the message in both Victorian England and suburban America was that women should not attempt anything brave. They should stay indoors, out of the heat of the sun, and out of trouble. They should let their men solve the world’s problems while they attend to details like folding linens and polishing silverware. Secular Americans do not think that way today, for the most part, but sadly many Christians do.

There is a large branch of the evangelical church who believe that or something similar, and they are either going to be challenged or offended by a book like this. I suggest these people read The Bait of Satan: Living Free From the Deadly Trap of Offense first.

Fearless Daughters of the Bible is going to upset some people. The author, a male, is a strong believer in the obligations of women to serve obediently God in whatever their calling, including leading churches and preaching. He doesn’t believe women’s callings are limited to being stay-at-home moms. Amen. Notice I say ‘obligations’ not ‘rights’. We have no rights in God. But we do have an obligation to serve, to honour Jesus’s sacrifice with our obedience, a point Grady makes clearly.

Oddly enough, some will respect Fearless Daughters of the Bible less because it is written by a man, and a man who clearly believes that women are called to serve, have an obligation to serve. Others, like me, respect it more because it’s written by a man. Recommended.

Thanks to Chosen Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about J Lee Grady and The Mordecai Project at his website.