Book: Wayne Grudem's "Evangelical Feminism"

Wayne Grudem has written a timely book to address a timeless issue. Evangelical Feminism was written to address the specific issue of the contemporary rise of the Egalitarian practices within the evangelical church. However, in broad terms, Grudem is dealing with the same old issue, challenges to the authority of God.

Grudem describes this book as “an expression of deep concern about a widespread undermining of the authority of Scripture in the arguments that are frequently used to support feminism. It is also a way of posing a question: can a movement that espouses this many ways of undermining the authority of Scripture possible be right?” The book’s contention is that evangelical feminism sets those who affirm it on a dangerous path leading ultimately to liberalism.

Grudem helpfully defines terms for us in understanding exactly who he is aiming at in the book. With reference to evangelical feminism Grudem says that he is referring to “a movement that claims there are no unique leadership roles for men in marriage or in the church.” (also called egalitarianism). With reference to theological liberalism Grudem says he is referring to “a system of thinking that denies the complete truthfulness of the Bible as the Word of God and denies the unique and absolute authority of the Bible in our lives.”

The book is extremely helpful in helping you become familiar with the common arguments which are employed promoting the acceptance of women functioning as teachers, elders, and pastors in the local church. Most are familiar with the Apostle Paul’s inspired words in Second Timothy when he wrote: I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. (2 Tim. 2.12). Many of the arguments attempt to change the natural meaning of this passage and others like it.

Here are some examples:

“Paul was Wrong”

“Later Developments trump Scripture”

“We should ignore the disputed passages”

“A pastor’s authority trumps Scripture”

“Tradition trumps Scripture”

“Experience trumps Scripture”

“Calling trumps Scripture”

In each case Grudem presents the argument as advanced by evangelical feminists and then answers it from Scripture, history, reason, and or logic. Each chapter closes with a phrase similar to, “Therefore, the argument that Paul was wrong is another step on the path towards liberalism.”

A helpful section of this book is the frightening consideration of where evangelical feminism is taking us (part four). The chapters include: “The Next Step: Denial of Anything Uniquely Masculine”, “Another Troubling Step: God our Mother”, “The Final Step: Approval of Homosexuality”.

This is truly frightening. If one can make the natural sense of a passage mean something completely opposite (cf. 1 Tim. 2.12) then they can make any passage mean anything they want it to. Therefore, Wayne Grudem serves us well in exposing us to the popular and painfully troubling trend of evangelical feminism and also equipping us to refute its errors and promote that which is true and biblical.

Wayne Grudem has written extensively on this topic. Some of his other books include, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism which he co-authored with John Piper. He has written Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth: An Analysis of More Than 100 Disputed Questions and then two collections of essays he edited, Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood and Pastoral Leadership for Manhood and Womanhood.