Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 36:2 (Spring 2022)
Article: Book Review "Why Can’t Women Do That? Breaking Down The Reasons Churches Put Men In Charge" Vinati Press, 2021 By Philip B. Payne And Vince Huffaker
Author: Kristin S. Lassen

PP 36:2 (Spring 2022) p. 21

Book Review
Why Can’t Women Do That? Breaking Down The Reasons Churches Put Men In Charge
Vinati Press, 2021 By Philip B. Payne And Vince Huffaker

Kristin S. Lassen

Kristin S. Lassen holds an MA from Western Theological Seminary, near Grand Rapids, Michigan. She teaches courses in philosophy and in marriage and family at Northwest Iowa Community College, and also the course “Body Stewardship” at her alma mater, Northwestern College, in Orange City, Iowa. Kristin navigates life with her husband and their four children, who are their greatest blessings.

We long for connection. We are drawn to love. The book Why Can’t Women Do That? Breaking Down the Reasons Churches Put Men in Charge introduces the reader to two conversation partners—an uncle who has changed his mind about women’s roles and a nephew who is curious yet cautious. The book delivers content from NT scholar Philip B. Payne in the succinct style of computer programmer Vince Huffaker, who condenses Payne’s 500-page exhaustive exegetical book, Man and Woman, One in Christ (Zondervan Academic, 2009), into a 175-page readable conversation. I am amazed at the high-level content packed into so few words, all in the style of personal and respectful conversation.

Communication characterized by love leaves the door open for entry and retreat, with an invitation to stay. Payne and Huffaker hope the reader will reexamine commonly held ideas about what women “can’t do.” A pervasive scriptural undercurrent of the Holy Spirit’s gifts, a call to humble unity, freedom in Christ within the preeminence of Christ, and the imperative to spread the gospel—these combine to form their outlook (16). In addition, the authors are concerned that the church loses credibility when women lead well in “every possible role in society” outside the church yet are “ignored, or even limited” in using their gifts to advance God’s kingdom (16–17).

What Is The Book Like?

This review will comment on the book as a whole before walking briefly through each section. The prologue eavesdrops on letters between “Theo” and “Uncle Johnny.” Theo has sincere concerns about women leading at Johnny’s church, given the Bible’s “plain” teaching of male responsibility, the “slippery slope” of compromise, and the “natural” leadership gifts of men. Uncle Johnny sets the premise by explaining his own path for change and affirming their shared faith in God and the inerrancy of Scripture. “Nothing I write matters if it contradicts the Bible,” assures Uncle Johnny (47). The biblical interpretation presented serves to position the church to live out God’s truth in a way that best advances God’s kingdom by fully employing the gifts of women as ...