What do you think?
Rate this book
Eve's Revenge: Women and a Spirituality of the Body
Botox. Plastic surgery. Makeup. Women sometimes go to desperate lengths to distort, mold, and fashion their bodies into that of the "ideal" woman. They live with the reality of the body, from its reproductive implications to the pressures from the media to look a certain way. They are intimately connected to their bodies, but often find it difficult to link their experience of the female body with their desire for Christian spirituality. Lillian Barger presents Eve's Revenge to help women see how their understanding of their bodies impacts spirituality. Not a self help book, it describes the tension women experience between their bodies and their desire for a spiritual life. Barger suggests the possibility of viewing women as unified, not split, between body and soul. This model, offered through the life and work of Jesus Christ, provides insight into how Christian women ought to live in the world and in their own skin. Christian women struggling with a body/soul tension and those interested in the social and spiritual meaning of the female body will find this engaging book enlightening and helpful.
224 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Lilian Calles Barger
4 books20 followersLilian Calles Barger was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and immigrated as a child to the United States and received her Ph.D. in Humanities/History of Idea from the University of Texas at Dallas. She pursued an early career in business and went on to become the founder of The Damaris Project a non-profit cultural initiative engaging in inter-religious dialogue and creating multiple venues for conversation on faith, feminism, and life. She developed multiple programs to address the life concerns of women by drawing on literature, the arts, religion, and history. Her various social and cultural projects resulted in two trade books on women and religion and a historical study of liberation theology. She is a frequent podcast co-host for New Books Network and works as an independent historian and cultural critic. She is available to address conferences and university groups.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 10, 2016
There are some fundamental things that i disagree with the author on: I don't agree with her view on modern female sexuality since the dawn of the contraceptive pill and I don't agree with her view on abortion (that it is a symptom of women feeling disengaged from their bodies). I did like her explanation of why society is so focused on the looks and shape of the female body and why women so often collude. Interesting and definitely thought-provoking. Rating: 3.5 stars.
February 23, 2024
I thought this book was a strange combination of wisdom and foolishness. On one hand it helped me develop a great theology of the body and on the other, many terms and biblical interpretations left me frustrated or perplexed. I feel as though opportunities to say certain things effectively were missed and I was left with many questions but also a renewed passion for my place in the world as a Christian woman, wife, and mother.
PROS: Barger brings up many vital issues present in our modern Western society. Throughout the entire book (in every chapter) Barger presented points and connections to modern situations in relation to the Christian faith that I never would have thought about or realized otherwise. Her writing made me step back and examine the biases I hold regarding the human body and beauty that I didn’t even recognize I had or that I have come to accept as normal. “Eve’s Revenge” has helped me to develop a much more solid theology of the body. Additionally, Barger’s ability to see the connections between beauty, modern society, idolatry, original sin, the death of Jesus, and eventually His eternal redemption was INCREDIBLE. At the moment, I don’t believe there’s any book out there like this— I believe it’s important content to learn about and share with other believers.
CONS: There were quite a few key biblical passages and theological themes that were interpreted incorrectly and raised great cause for concern (ex: Genesis creation account, “the Word needs to be made flesh” even though it already has been/is in Jesus, that we need to do certain things for Christ to be made flesh in us/that we are just “pliable, dumb matter” unless we apply Christ’s work ourselves/works). It seemed that at times Barger was bending the scriptural narrative to meet her agenda: I found a few of her points to be quite a stretch. Along the same lines, I felt as though she used a few of her ‘key terms’ incorrectly which made some of the main themes of her book confusing (i.e, “body-self”, “the community”, “sexuality”, ). I agree with other reviews saying chapters or sections should’ve been more broken up: Some of Barger’s train-of-thoughts get jumbled and at time make topics hard to follow (such as the final chapter). In the end this book ended up being more about a book on building community than on the theology of the human body. It was lacking in providing ways that would actually change how women view their bodies and get over things such as body dysmorphia, insecurity, and eating disorders (the solution to all of these is not just “be in community” or “serve your community”). Finally, reading this in 2024 was a little frustrating because much of the beauty standards and statistics she talks about are outdated. I found myself writing in the margins the current beauty standards as well as updated statistics. Nothing wrong on the authors part just simply something to keep in mind when choosing to read this 21 years after it’s been published.
Overall, I found specific parts (literally certain sentences or paragraphs) of this content to be very beneficial in developing a theology of the body, beauty, childbirth, and women’s ministry. It has purposes and benefits for the Christian walk and/or ministerial life. However, it at times lacks in accurate theological interpretation and looses its focus. I would likely recommend this book to a friend with a few warnings. For now, this book is staying on my shelf and I have a desire to return to it again for the parts that hold a unique wisdom on the body.
PROS: Barger brings up many vital issues present in our modern Western society. Throughout the entire book (in every chapter) Barger presented points and connections to modern situations in relation to the Christian faith that I never would have thought about or realized otherwise. Her writing made me step back and examine the biases I hold regarding the human body and beauty that I didn’t even recognize I had or that I have come to accept as normal. “Eve’s Revenge” has helped me to develop a much more solid theology of the body. Additionally, Barger’s ability to see the connections between beauty, modern society, idolatry, original sin, the death of Jesus, and eventually His eternal redemption was INCREDIBLE. At the moment, I don’t believe there’s any book out there like this— I believe it’s important content to learn about and share with other believers.
CONS: There were quite a few key biblical passages and theological themes that were interpreted incorrectly and raised great cause for concern (ex: Genesis creation account, “the Word needs to be made flesh” even though it already has been/is in Jesus, that we need to do certain things for Christ to be made flesh in us/that we are just “pliable, dumb matter” unless we apply Christ’s work ourselves/works). It seemed that at times Barger was bending the scriptural narrative to meet her agenda: I found a few of her points to be quite a stretch. Along the same lines, I felt as though she used a few of her ‘key terms’ incorrectly which made some of the main themes of her book confusing (i.e, “body-self”, “the community”, “sexuality”, ). I agree with other reviews saying chapters or sections should’ve been more broken up: Some of Barger’s train-of-thoughts get jumbled and at time make topics hard to follow (such as the final chapter). In the end this book ended up being more about a book on building community than on the theology of the human body. It was lacking in providing ways that would actually change how women view their bodies and get over things such as body dysmorphia, insecurity, and eating disorders (the solution to all of these is not just “be in community” or “serve your community”). Finally, reading this in 2024 was a little frustrating because much of the beauty standards and statistics she talks about are outdated. I found myself writing in the margins the current beauty standards as well as updated statistics. Nothing wrong on the authors part just simply something to keep in mind when choosing to read this 21 years after it’s been published.
Overall, I found specific parts (literally certain sentences or paragraphs) of this content to be very beneficial in developing a theology of the body, beauty, childbirth, and women’s ministry. It has purposes and benefits for the Christian walk and/or ministerial life. However, it at times lacks in accurate theological interpretation and looses its focus. I would likely recommend this book to a friend with a few warnings. For now, this book is staying on my shelf and I have a desire to return to it again for the parts that hold a unique wisdom on the body.
March 26, 2022
A common belief that comes from Greek philosophers is the belief that the physical world, especially the body, is a bad thing. Even today, many people are influenced by these beliefs. Women have been hit especially hard by this due to social pressures and expectations, even in the past to the point where just being a woman was considered lesser. But is that really a part of the Christian faith?
In this book, author Lilian Barger explores the ideas professed by Greek philosophy that undergird many beliefs about the body being a bad thing. Her especial focus on women and how they are trapped by worldly expectations brings to light many differences between how Greek thought differs from Christianity and what the Bible teaches about the physical world. Culminating in the fact that in the incarnation, God Himself took on a physical form, Barger points out that redemption is not just for our souls but also for our bodies, and that redemption starts in this life right now.
Though I really enjoyed the content of the book, the first few chapters were hard to get through. Still, the content is very helpful. Not many people talk about the Greek ideas that are embedded deeply in Western thought that we don’t even question them. I would recommend this book to men and women who struggle to believe that the body is good, who believe they must escape it to find fulfillment. The body was created by God and was called very good, and we need to remember that.
In this book, author Lilian Barger explores the ideas professed by Greek philosophy that undergird many beliefs about the body being a bad thing. Her especial focus on women and how they are trapped by worldly expectations brings to light many differences between how Greek thought differs from Christianity and what the Bible teaches about the physical world. Culminating in the fact that in the incarnation, God Himself took on a physical form, Barger points out that redemption is not just for our souls but also for our bodies, and that redemption starts in this life right now.
Though I really enjoyed the content of the book, the first few chapters were hard to get through. Still, the content is very helpful. Not many people talk about the Greek ideas that are embedded deeply in Western thought that we don’t even question them. I would recommend this book to men and women who struggle to believe that the body is good, who believe they must escape it to find fulfillment. The body was created by God and was called very good, and we need to remember that.
September 10, 2025
3.5 stars. Should I rate that a 3 or a 4? I’ve rounded up, obviously.
I think I enjoyed this book bc it spoke to something I’ve been really considering - what it means to be female and how my body is female. This gave some really good thoughts for me to mull over. I did think the first half was better than the second half, but maybe I lost focus. I really enjoyed the chapter on Mary and also the inclusion of some helpful feminist ideas. The author contends that many of our body issues are grounded in a lack of meaningful relationship and community and that was not an idea I’d come across before. I’ll be thinking more about that.
I think I enjoyed this book bc it spoke to something I’ve been really considering - what it means to be female and how my body is female. This gave some really good thoughts for me to mull over. I did think the first half was better than the second half, but maybe I lost focus. I really enjoyed the chapter on Mary and also the inclusion of some helpful feminist ideas. The author contends that many of our body issues are grounded in a lack of meaningful relationship and community and that was not an idea I’d come across before. I’ll be thinking more about that.
November 15, 2008
I liked how Barger talks about how our spirituality should take the physical world and the place of our bodies in it more seriously, affirming the embodied life in relationship with other people and the creation, and how our bodies inform and influence our spirituality.
I do think the book itself could have benefited from more structure, maybe more section breaks and headings. She wants to take the reader through her thought process using her own personal stories and by referencing a rich bibliography. However, at times it gets confusing, and though what she says often felt compelling, it just as often left me feeling like she was attempting too much in her sweeping paragraphs. This is especially true in the last part of the book, when she begins to draw connections to and conclusions from her Christian faith.
I read through this rather hastily, so I probably need to revisit it more thoughtfully at some point in the future before I will be able to critique specifics. Specifically, I need to go back and carefully re-read the parts where she talks about how the redemptive work of Jesus is a spirituality that allows us to "embrace the life of the body" in how it "defeats death" and supplants worldly systems of oppression. But in general, I did like the way Berger examined the cultural and religious history behind how we think about the relationship between women and our bodies today; her critique of mainstream feminist spirituality's disregard for the the body as a locus of spirituality; and her discussion of how frailty and physical death provide us knowledge about ourselves.
I do think the book itself could have benefited from more structure, maybe more section breaks and headings. She wants to take the reader through her thought process using her own personal stories and by referencing a rich bibliography. However, at times it gets confusing, and though what she says often felt compelling, it just as often left me feeling like she was attempting too much in her sweeping paragraphs. This is especially true in the last part of the book, when she begins to draw connections to and conclusions from her Christian faith.
I read through this rather hastily, so I probably need to revisit it more thoughtfully at some point in the future before I will be able to critique specifics. Specifically, I need to go back and carefully re-read the parts where she talks about how the redemptive work of Jesus is a spirituality that allows us to "embrace the life of the body" in how it "defeats death" and supplants worldly systems of oppression. But in general, I did like the way Berger examined the cultural and religious history behind how we think about the relationship between women and our bodies today; her critique of mainstream feminist spirituality's disregard for the the body as a locus of spirituality; and her discussion of how frailty and physical death provide us knowledge about ourselves.
March 27, 2014
I was a little let down by this book. It took me a long time to get through it, mainly because the first three quarters of the book was her painting a picture of the depressing reality we live in. I almost didn't finish it, but pressed on, hoping the end would somehow redeem itself.
The author wrote in the epilogue:
"Now at the end of this book, what I've gained in writing it is a profound appreciation for my own body and the presence of those who make up my every day community. I now see my spiritual life in the context of my ordinary everyday life, which I experience in this imperfect yet wondrous body of flesh."
...that's what I was hoping to get out of the book, yet that's not how I felt when I was done.
I wouldn't say "don't waste your time" because It could of just been her style of writing that made me not enjoy it...but I could only give it 2 stars.
The author wrote in the epilogue:
"Now at the end of this book, what I've gained in writing it is a profound appreciation for my own body and the presence of those who make up my every day community. I now see my spiritual life in the context of my ordinary everyday life, which I experience in this imperfect yet wondrous body of flesh."
...that's what I was hoping to get out of the book, yet that's not how I felt when I was done.
I wouldn't say "don't waste your time" because It could of just been her style of writing that made me not enjoy it...but I could only give it 2 stars.
June 9, 2012
I loved this book, some gave it to me to read for my dissertation about self esteem in women, I read it from cover to cover! Barger spends time uncovering the issues women face in contemporary culture which impacts the way we feel about our bodies before looking at historical reasons, including biblical texts, for our low self esteem. She then seeks to redeem all that has gone before by encouraging us to be all that we can be, bodily, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to develop a spirituality of the body, or anyone who is interested in women and feminism and the church.
March 13, 2008
This book is not what it sounds like! In fact, it is one of the most healing, wholesome, holistic books I have read. On the topic of our physical human bodies, I think it is the best book you could read!
In particular, I love how the author challenges the notion of our bodies as a "vessel" for our souls. Instead, she shows how our bodies are a very essential part of who we are as human & spiritual creatures.
This review cannot even begin to do this important book justice. If you are a woman, you should read this book.
In particular, I love how the author challenges the notion of our bodies as a "vessel" for our souls. Instead, she shows how our bodies are a very essential part of who we are as human & spiritual creatures.
This review cannot even begin to do this important book justice. If you are a woman, you should read this book.
February 18, 2008
While much of the book was a reiteration of basic feminist theory there were moments of insight as she began to explore what being a woman meant in light of Jesus and the redemptive work of the crucifixtion and ressurection. If anything it includes a wonderful bibliography that will further my reading on the topic.
More than anything, I wish I had read the book with other women so that I could now TALK to someone about the concepts and my questions.
More than anything, I wish I had read the book with other women so that I could now TALK to someone about the concepts and my questions.
July 20, 2007
This book brings up a lot of ideas and issues around womanhood(although it can feel a bit scattered at times). It made for a lot of good thought and reflection (not to mention an increase in pestering my girlfriends with philosophical conversations on our walks around Greenlake!)
April 11, 2013
wow. when you finish a book and sigh a happy contented sigh. and it helped resolve so much inner tension. and did so in such a beautiful, unexpected way. perhaps i'll have more to say, but not yet. it was just what i needed right now.
January 28, 2016
this book really walked me through the history of how women have been treated through centuries. made me think and revaluate my life as embodied or disembodied and how i view myself. also to look at Jesus as ultimate source of God in the flesh.
October 1, 2007
i loved this. collin greene gave this to me for my birthday and i loved it. definitely a theological/anthropological read and well worth it.
Want to read
August 4, 2008This book is too deep to read in the summer. I'm moving it back to the to-read shelf.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews