Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 02:1 (Spring 2020)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

Eikon 2.1 (Spring 2020) p. 109

Book Reviews

Does Anyone Need To Recover From Biblical Manhood And Womanhood?

REVIEWED BY Andrew David Naselli

Andy Naselli is associate professor of systematic theology and New Testament for Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis and one of the pastors of Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Aimee Byrd. Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: How the Church Needs to Rediscover Her Purpose. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020.

John Piper and Wayne Grudem edited Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in 1991, and now Aimee Byrd has written Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood some thirty years later.1 Byrd, an influential author, speaker, blogger, and podcaster,2 claims to be recovering from so-called “biblical manhood and womanhood.” For the past several years on her podcast and blog, Byrd has been criticizing the version of complementarianism that leaders such as John Piper teach. (The term complementarianism summarizes the theological view of the Danvers Statement and conveys that men and women are both equal in value and dignity and beneficially different.)3 Byrd has developed and expanded those critiques in her latest book.

Eikon 2.1 (Spring 2020) p. 110

Is Byrd’s case compelling? I don’t think it is. To demonstrate that, I proceed in three steps: (1) Summarize the argument. What is the gist of Byrd’s book? (2) Provide some context. Where does Byrd’s book fit on the spectrum of views on men and women? (3) Evaluate the book. Is Byrd’s book fair and sound?

1. Summary: What Is The Gist Of Byrd’s Book?

Byrd doesn’t explicitly state her book’s thesis. Here’s my attempt to paraphrase her basic argument: So-called “biblical manhood and womanhood”—especially as John Piper and Wayne Grudem teach it—uses traditional patriarchal structures to oppress women. Byrd argues that “biblical manhood and womanhood” is not all biblical. A lot of it is unbiblical. A lot of it is based on cultural stereotypes that wrongly restrict women and thus prevent them from flourishing.

Byrd uses yellow wallpaper as her main metaphor throughout the book. She draws this metaphor from The Yellow Wallpaper, an 1892 novel and semi-autobiography by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a utopian feminist. In Byrd’s book, the yellow wallpaper symbolizes how “biblical manhood and womanhood” oppresses women:4

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