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50 Crucial Questions About Manhood and Womanhood
Adapted from chapter two of Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood.
ebook
First published June 30, 1991
88 people are currently reading
503 people want to read
About the author
John Piper
609 books4,628 followersJohn Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
October 3, 2025
A really good read. Found it really insightful into God’s original intention for marriage and the structure of the church. Really demonstrates how despite changes in culture, we must hold fast to scripture. Quick read and was written well, only reason I give it a 4/5 instead of a 5/5 is frankly some of the answers could have used some more depth. Overall though highly recommend and can be found for free at https://www.desiringgod.org/books/50-... for an Ebook.
September 4, 2015
A great introduction to most of the main issues surrounding feminism and the church's capitulation to it. The answers are not comprehensive, but they are good and will point the reader in the right direction. The great benefit of this short book is the amount of ground the authors cover. I am not sure any reader will agree with everything. But most readers will learn something and even where they disagree will find their views challenged. It would be a good book to put on a book table or to hand to someone who is curious about the key teachings in Scripture on male female roles in the church and in the home.
January 12, 2019
A concise, very easily digestible introduction and summary of some of the most basic questions regarding Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Useful for anyone who personally has or knows someone who has questions in this area
December 4, 2024
Wayne Grudem is known for his Systematic Theology. In 2012 he used those same skills to write an 864 page book called Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth: An Analysis of More Than 100 Disputed Questions.
About 4 years later, he teamed up with John Piper to provide this 96 page booklet. What an amazing resource! It is thoroughly biblical, humble, and gracious.
About 4 years later, he teamed up with John Piper to provide this 96 page booklet. What an amazing resource! It is thoroughly biblical, humble, and gracious.
February 2, 2023
⭐ 3.7
Si bien es cierto que toca temas importantes, los roles de los hombres y mujeres conforme a lo que enseña la Biblia, algunas preguntas había que complementarlas con el libro que dio origen a este pequeño cuestionario y quedaba algo inconcluso. Esta bien para tener idea y respuesta ante el mundo que tanto cuestiona las verdades de la Palabra.
Si bien es cierto que toca temas importantes, los roles de los hombres y mujeres conforme a lo que enseña la Biblia, algunas preguntas había que complementarlas con el libro que dio origen a este pequeño cuestionario y quedaba algo inconcluso. Esta bien para tener idea y respuesta ante el mundo que tanto cuestiona las verdades de la Palabra.
October 15, 2017
“Why can’t women be pastors?” “I don’t like the word ‘submissive’ in relation to my husband.” “Aren’t men and women totally equal and capable of doing the same things?” “What does it mean that the husband is the head of the household?”
If you have ever asked these questions, this 80 page book gives a succinct and biblical answer. It has truly helped me understand the difference in roles versus value. How incredible is God’s creation and planning!
Excerpts:
Highlight:Neither are we saying that headship consists in a series of direc- tives to the wife. Leadership is not synonymous with unilateral decision making. In fact, in a good marriage, leadership consists mainly in taking responsibility to establish a pattern of interac- tion that honors both husband and wife (and children) as a store of varied wisdom for family life. Headship bears the primary responsibility for the moral design and planning in the home, but the development of that design and plan will include the wife (who may be wiser and more intelligent).
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.24)
Highlight:If this is the proper understanding, then what Paul meant in 1 Timothy 2:14 was this: “Adam was not deceived (that is, Adam was not approached by the deceiver and did not carry on direct dealings with the deceiver), but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor (that is, she was the one who took up dealings with the deceiver and was led through her direct interaction with him into deception and transgression).” In this case, the main point is not that the man is undeceivable or that the woman is more deceivable but that when God’s order of leadership is repudiated, it brings damage and ruin. Men and women are both more vulnerable to error and sin when they forsake the order that God has intended.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.47)
Notes in Workspace:
Excerpt:We defend what Larry Crabb calls “enjoying the difference,” namely, that “the sexes are distinct in what they were fundamen- tally designed to give and in what brings them the greatest joy in relationship. . . . At the deepest level, a man serves a woman differently than a woman serves a man.”1
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.18)
Excerpt:This is why we call ourselves complementarians. Our vi- sion of manhood and womanhood is shaped by a passion for reality—the beautiful reality of complementary differentiation that God designed for our joy in the beginning when God cre- ated us male and female equally in his image. If one word must be used to describe our position, there- fore, we prefer the term complementarian, since it suggests both equality and beneficial differences between men and women. We are uncomfortable with the term traditionalist because it implies an unwillingness to let Scripture challenge traditional patterns of behavior, and we certainly reject the term hierarchicalist because it overemphasizes structured authority while giving no sugges- tion of either equality or the beauty of mutual interdependence.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.19)
Excerpt:Biblical truth and clarity in this matter are important because error and confusion over sexual identity lead to (1) marriage patterns that do not portray the relationship between Christ and the church3 (Eph. 5:31–32); (2) parenting practices that do not train boys to be masculine or girls to be feminine; (3) homosexual tendencies and increas- ing attempts to justify homosexual alliances (see question 41); and (4) patterns of unbiblical female leadership in the church that reflect and promote the confusion over the true meaning of manhood and womanhood.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.21)
Excerpt:Moreover, the biblical connection between family and church strongly suggests that the headship of the husband at home leads naturally to the primary leadership of spiritual men in the church.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.22)
Excerpt:What about marriage? What do you mean by “marriage patterns that do not portray the relationship between Christ and the church” (in question 1)? We believe the Bible teaches that God intends the relationship between husband and wife to portray the relationship between Christ and his church. The husband is to model the loving, sac- rificial leadership of Christ, and the wife is to model the glad
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.22)
Excerpt:submission offered freely by the church.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.23)
Excerpt:What do you mean by “submission” (in question 4)? Submission refers to a wife’s divine calling to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts. It is not an absolute surrender of her will. Rather, we speak of her disposition to yield to her husband’s guidance and her incli- nation to follow his leadership. Her absolute authority is Christ, not her husband. She submits “out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21). The supreme authority of Christ qualifies the authority of her husband. She should never follow her husband into sin. Nev- ertheless, even when she may have to stand with Christ against the sinful will of her husband (e.g., 1 Pet. 3:1, where she does not yield to her husband’s unbelief), she can still have a spirit of submission—a disposition to yield. She can show by her attitude and behavior that she does not like resisting his will and that she longs for him to forsake sin and lead in righteousness so that her disposition to honor him as head can again produce harmony
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.23)
Excerpt:What do you mean when you call the husband “head” (in question 5)? In the home, biblical headship refers to the husband’s divine calling to take primary responsibility for Christlike leadership, protection, and provision.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.23)
Excerpt:Neither are we saying that headship consists in a series of direc- tives to the wife. Leadership is not synonymous with unilateral decision making. In fact, in a good marriage, leadership consists mainly in taking responsibility to establish a pattern of interac- tion that honors both husband and wife (and children) as a store of varied wisdom for family life. Headship bears the primary responsibility for the moral design and planning in the home, but the development of that design and plan will include the wife (who may be wiser and more intelligent).
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.24)
Excerpt:The key is to remember that in this very passage the relationship between husband and wife follows the pattern of the relationship between Christ and the church. Do Christ and the church mutually submit to each other? They do not if sub- mission means Christ yields to the authority of the church. But they do if submission means that Christ submitted himself to suffering and death for the good of the church. That, however, is not how the church submits to Christ. The church submits to Christ by affirming his authority and following his lead. So mu- tual submission does not mean submitting to each other in the same ways. Therefore, mutual submission does not compromise Christ’s headship over the church, and it should not compromise the headship of a husband over his wife.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.26)
Excerpt:If the husband is to treat his wife as Christ does the church, does that mean he should govern all the details of her life and that she should clear all her actions with him? No. We may not press the analogy between Christ and the hus- band that far. Unlike Christ, all husbands sin. They are finite and fallible in their wisdom. Not only that, but also, unlike Christ, a husband is preparing a bride not merely for himself but also for another, namely, Christ. He does not merely act as Christ;
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.29)
Excerpt:he also acts for Christ. At this point, he must not be Christ to his wife, lest he be a traitor to Christ. He must lead in such a way that his wife is encouraged to depend on Christ and not on himself.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.30)
Excerpt:Practically, that rules out belittling supervision and fastidi- ous oversight. Even when acting as Christ, the husband must remember that Christ leads the church not as his daughter but as his wife. He is preparing her to be a “fellow heir,” not a servant girl (Rom. 8:17). Any kind of leadership that, in the name of Christlike headship, tends to foster in a wife personal immaturity or spiritual weakness or insecurity through excessive control, picky supervision, or oppressive domination has missed the point of the analogy in Ephesians 5. Christ does not create that kind of wife.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.30)
Excerpt:What is clear is that Jesus radically purged leader- ship of pride and fear and self-exaltation and that he also radi- cally honored women as persons worthy of the highest respect under God.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.36)
Excerpt:We are eager to affirm Priscilla as a fellow worker with Paul in Christ (Rom. 16:3)! She and her husband were very influential in the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 16:19), as well as in Ephesus. We can think of many women in our churches today like Priscilla. Nothing in our understanding of Scripture says that when a husband and wife visit an unbeliever (or a confused believer—or anyone else), the wife must be silent. It is easy for us to imagine the dynamics of such a discussion in which Priscilla contributes to the explanation and illustration of baptism in Jesus’s name and the work of the Holy Spirit. This dynamic is significantly different from the public, authoritative teaching of Scripture to a congregation that Paul prohibits for women in 1 Timothy 2:12
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.38)
Excerpt:If Paul did not have every conceivable form of teaching and learning in mind, what did he mean? First, it helps to identify the setting; here the church is assembled for prayer and teach- ing (1 Tim. 2:8–10; 3:15). Second, perhaps the best clue is the coupling of “teaching” with “exercising authority over men.” We would say that the teaching inappropriate for a woman is the teaching of men in settings or ways that dishonor the call- ing of men to bear the primary responsibility for teaching and leadership. This primary responsibility is to be carried by the pastors or elders. Therefore, we think it is God’s will that only men bear the responsibility for these offices
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.40)
Excerpt:But Paul shows in 1 Corinthians 11:5–16 that what is at stake is not that women are praying and prophesying in public but how they are doing it. That is, are they doing it with the dress and demeanor that signify their affirmation of the headship of the men who are called to lead the church?
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.43)
Excerpt:Chapter 6 of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood argues in detail that the inappropriate interaction relates to the testing of prophecies referred to in 1 Corinthians 14:29. Women are taking a role here that Paul thinks is inappro- priate, and so it’s in this activity of public judgment on spoken
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.43)
Excerpt:prophecies that he calls them to be silent.14 In other words, in both 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Corinthians 14 Paul is calling for not the total silence of women but a kind of involvement that signifies, in various ways, their glad affirmation of the leadership of the men God has called to be the guardians and overseers of the flock.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.44)
Excerpt:We think that Satan’s main target was not Eve’s peculiar gullibility (if that was in fact true of her) but rather Adam’s headship as the one ordained by God to be respon- sible for the life of the garden. Satan’s subtlety is that he knew the created order God had ordained for the good of the family
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.46)
Excerpt:and he deliberately defied it by ignoring the man and taking up his dealings with the woman. Satan put her in the position of spokesman, leader, and defender. At that moment, both the man and the woman slipped from their innocence and let themselves be drawn into a pattern of relating to each other that to this day has proved destructive.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.47)
Excerpt:If this is the proper understanding, then what Paul meant in 1 Timothy 2:14 was this: “Adam was not deceived (that is, Adam was not approached by the deceiver and did not carry on direct dealings with the deceiver), but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor (that is, she was the one who took up dealings with the deceiver and was led through her direct interaction with him into deception and transgression).” In this case, the main point is not that the man is undeceivable or that the woman is more deceivable but that when God’s order of leadership is repudiated, it brings damage and ruin. Men and women are both more vulnerable to error and sin when they forsake the order that God has intended.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.47)
Excerpt:We do not believe God genuinely calls women to be pastors. We say this not because we can read the private experience of anyone but because we believe private experience must always be assessed by the public criterion of God’s Word, the Bible.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.55)
If you have ever asked these questions, this 80 page book gives a succinct and biblical answer. It has truly helped me understand the difference in roles versus value. How incredible is God’s creation and planning!
Excerpts:
Highlight:Neither are we saying that headship consists in a series of direc- tives to the wife. Leadership is not synonymous with unilateral decision making. In fact, in a good marriage, leadership consists mainly in taking responsibility to establish a pattern of interac- tion that honors both husband and wife (and children) as a store of varied wisdom for family life. Headship bears the primary responsibility for the moral design and planning in the home, but the development of that design and plan will include the wife (who may be wiser and more intelligent).
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.24)
Highlight:If this is the proper understanding, then what Paul meant in 1 Timothy 2:14 was this: “Adam was not deceived (that is, Adam was not approached by the deceiver and did not carry on direct dealings with the deceiver), but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor (that is, she was the one who took up dealings with the deceiver and was led through her direct interaction with him into deception and transgression).” In this case, the main point is not that the man is undeceivable or that the woman is more deceivable but that when God’s order of leadership is repudiated, it brings damage and ruin. Men and women are both more vulnerable to error and sin when they forsake the order that God has intended.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.47)
Notes in Workspace:
Excerpt:We defend what Larry Crabb calls “enjoying the difference,” namely, that “the sexes are distinct in what they were fundamen- tally designed to give and in what brings them the greatest joy in relationship. . . . At the deepest level, a man serves a woman differently than a woman serves a man.”1
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.18)
Excerpt:This is why we call ourselves complementarians. Our vi- sion of manhood and womanhood is shaped by a passion for reality—the beautiful reality of complementary differentiation that God designed for our joy in the beginning when God cre- ated us male and female equally in his image. If one word must be used to describe our position, there- fore, we prefer the term complementarian, since it suggests both equality and beneficial differences between men and women. We are uncomfortable with the term traditionalist because it implies an unwillingness to let Scripture challenge traditional patterns of behavior, and we certainly reject the term hierarchicalist because it overemphasizes structured authority while giving no sugges- tion of either equality or the beauty of mutual interdependence.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.19)
Excerpt:Biblical truth and clarity in this matter are important because error and confusion over sexual identity lead to (1) marriage patterns that do not portray the relationship between Christ and the church3 (Eph. 5:31–32); (2) parenting practices that do not train boys to be masculine or girls to be feminine; (3) homosexual tendencies and increas- ing attempts to justify homosexual alliances (see question 41); and (4) patterns of unbiblical female leadership in the church that reflect and promote the confusion over the true meaning of manhood and womanhood.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.21)
Excerpt:Moreover, the biblical connection between family and church strongly suggests that the headship of the husband at home leads naturally to the primary leadership of spiritual men in the church.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.22)
Excerpt:What about marriage? What do you mean by “marriage patterns that do not portray the relationship between Christ and the church” (in question 1)? We believe the Bible teaches that God intends the relationship between husband and wife to portray the relationship between Christ and his church. The husband is to model the loving, sac- rificial leadership of Christ, and the wife is to model the glad
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.22)
Excerpt:submission offered freely by the church.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.23)
Excerpt:What do you mean by “submission” (in question 4)? Submission refers to a wife’s divine calling to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts. It is not an absolute surrender of her will. Rather, we speak of her disposition to yield to her husband’s guidance and her incli- nation to follow his leadership. Her absolute authority is Christ, not her husband. She submits “out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21). The supreme authority of Christ qualifies the authority of her husband. She should never follow her husband into sin. Nev- ertheless, even when she may have to stand with Christ against the sinful will of her husband (e.g., 1 Pet. 3:1, where she does not yield to her husband’s unbelief), she can still have a spirit of submission—a disposition to yield. She can show by her attitude and behavior that she does not like resisting his will and that she longs for him to forsake sin and lead in righteousness so that her disposition to honor him as head can again produce harmony
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.23)
Excerpt:What do you mean when you call the husband “head” (in question 5)? In the home, biblical headship refers to the husband’s divine calling to take primary responsibility for Christlike leadership, protection, and provision.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.23)
Excerpt:Neither are we saying that headship consists in a series of direc- tives to the wife. Leadership is not synonymous with unilateral decision making. In fact, in a good marriage, leadership consists mainly in taking responsibility to establish a pattern of interac- tion that honors both husband and wife (and children) as a store of varied wisdom for family life. Headship bears the primary responsibility for the moral design and planning in the home, but the development of that design and plan will include the wife (who may be wiser and more intelligent).
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.24)
Excerpt:The key is to remember that in this very passage the relationship between husband and wife follows the pattern of the relationship between Christ and the church. Do Christ and the church mutually submit to each other? They do not if sub- mission means Christ yields to the authority of the church. But they do if submission means that Christ submitted himself to suffering and death for the good of the church. That, however, is not how the church submits to Christ. The church submits to Christ by affirming his authority and following his lead. So mu- tual submission does not mean submitting to each other in the same ways. Therefore, mutual submission does not compromise Christ’s headship over the church, and it should not compromise the headship of a husband over his wife.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.26)
Excerpt:If the husband is to treat his wife as Christ does the church, does that mean he should govern all the details of her life and that she should clear all her actions with him? No. We may not press the analogy between Christ and the hus- band that far. Unlike Christ, all husbands sin. They are finite and fallible in their wisdom. Not only that, but also, unlike Christ, a husband is preparing a bride not merely for himself but also for another, namely, Christ. He does not merely act as Christ;
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.29)
Excerpt:he also acts for Christ. At this point, he must not be Christ to his wife, lest he be a traitor to Christ. He must lead in such a way that his wife is encouraged to depend on Christ and not on himself.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.30)
Excerpt:Practically, that rules out belittling supervision and fastidi- ous oversight. Even when acting as Christ, the husband must remember that Christ leads the church not as his daughter but as his wife. He is preparing her to be a “fellow heir,” not a servant girl (Rom. 8:17). Any kind of leadership that, in the name of Christlike headship, tends to foster in a wife personal immaturity or spiritual weakness or insecurity through excessive control, picky supervision, or oppressive domination has missed the point of the analogy in Ephesians 5. Christ does not create that kind of wife.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.30)
Excerpt:What is clear is that Jesus radically purged leader- ship of pride and fear and self-exaltation and that he also radi- cally honored women as persons worthy of the highest respect under God.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.36)
Excerpt:We are eager to affirm Priscilla as a fellow worker with Paul in Christ (Rom. 16:3)! She and her husband were very influential in the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 16:19), as well as in Ephesus. We can think of many women in our churches today like Priscilla. Nothing in our understanding of Scripture says that when a husband and wife visit an unbeliever (or a confused believer—or anyone else), the wife must be silent. It is easy for us to imagine the dynamics of such a discussion in which Priscilla contributes to the explanation and illustration of baptism in Jesus’s name and the work of the Holy Spirit. This dynamic is significantly different from the public, authoritative teaching of Scripture to a congregation that Paul prohibits for women in 1 Timothy 2:12
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.38)
Excerpt:If Paul did not have every conceivable form of teaching and learning in mind, what did he mean? First, it helps to identify the setting; here the church is assembled for prayer and teach- ing (1 Tim. 2:8–10; 3:15). Second, perhaps the best clue is the coupling of “teaching” with “exercising authority over men.” We would say that the teaching inappropriate for a woman is the teaching of men in settings or ways that dishonor the call- ing of men to bear the primary responsibility for teaching and leadership. This primary responsibility is to be carried by the pastors or elders. Therefore, we think it is God’s will that only men bear the responsibility for these offices
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.40)
Excerpt:But Paul shows in 1 Corinthians 11:5–16 that what is at stake is not that women are praying and prophesying in public but how they are doing it. That is, are they doing it with the dress and demeanor that signify their affirmation of the headship of the men who are called to lead the church?
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.43)
Excerpt:Chapter 6 of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood argues in detail that the inappropriate interaction relates to the testing of prophecies referred to in 1 Corinthians 14:29. Women are taking a role here that Paul thinks is inappro- priate, and so it’s in this activity of public judgment on spoken
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.43)
Excerpt:prophecies that he calls them to be silent.14 In other words, in both 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Corinthians 14 Paul is calling for not the total silence of women but a kind of involvement that signifies, in various ways, their glad affirmation of the leadership of the men God has called to be the guardians and overseers of the flock.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.44)
Excerpt:We think that Satan’s main target was not Eve’s peculiar gullibility (if that was in fact true of her) but rather Adam’s headship as the one ordained by God to be respon- sible for the life of the garden. Satan’s subtlety is that he knew the created order God had ordained for the good of the family
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.46)
Excerpt:and he deliberately defied it by ignoring the man and taking up his dealings with the woman. Satan put her in the position of spokesman, leader, and defender. At that moment, both the man and the woman slipped from their innocence and let themselves be drawn into a pattern of relating to each other that to this day has proved destructive.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.47)
Excerpt:If this is the proper understanding, then what Paul meant in 1 Timothy 2:14 was this: “Adam was not deceived (that is, Adam was not approached by the deceiver and did not carry on direct dealings with the deceiver), but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor (that is, she was the one who took up dealings with the deceiver and was led through her direct interaction with him into deception and transgression).” In this case, the main point is not that the man is undeceivable or that the woman is more deceivable but that when God’s order of leadership is repudiated, it brings damage and ruin. Men and women are both more vulnerable to error and sin when they forsake the order that God has intended.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.47)
Excerpt:We do not believe God genuinely calls women to be pastors. We say this not because we can read the private experience of anyone but because we believe private experience must always be assessed by the public criterion of God’s Word, the Bible.
(50-crucial-questions-about-manhood-and-womanhood-en, p.55)
August 28, 2025
Picked up this shorter overview of Grudem and Piper’s “Biblical Manhood and Womanhood” as another perspective to read while going through “Icons of Christ” by William Witt. Will leave most of my comments on that book’s review, but overall I think this shorter question/answer format gives the general idea of what Grudem and Piper are proposing.
No comments on whether I agree or disagree with their characterization yet 😛. But I did find it helpful to read myself what Grudem and Piper are arguing for.
No comments on whether I agree or disagree with their characterization yet 😛. But I did find it helpful to read myself what Grudem and Piper are arguing for.
January 16, 2025
I read this at the request of my father. But as usual, John Piper continues to not use his influence to educate, but to chastise women for disagreeing with him. None of this has any of the nuance or true dialogue that these topics require. It comes across as a “do as I say” theological breakdown rather than a true defense of his beliefs.
May 7, 2021
Short book on very specific questions related to the roles of man and women.
June 5, 2023
The antidote to the disease of egalitarianism.
June 17, 2024
Solid and biblical answers to the questions of egalitarians and curious!
October 16, 2019
Practical Primer on Central Concerns
50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem does what it sets out to do. It asks and answers fifty crucial questions (Objections?!) about the Complementarian view of manhood and womanhood in relation to marriage and ministry as answered by a pastor-theologian (Piper) and theologian-pastor (Grudem). Complementarians see men and women as equal in dignity but different in roles as determined by the Creator’s design and the Redeemer’s delegation, so that the sacrificial leadership of men is complemented and completed by the respectful cooperation of women in marriage and ministry.
The opposite viewpoint is provided by egalitarians who understand men and women to be equal in both dignity and roles according to both creation and redemption, so that both men and women are equally leaders in marriage and ministry. (A defining and contrasting of these two perspectives would’ve been helpful at the beginning of this booklet.) Unfortunately, in reading egalitarians one finds that the complementarian position is often misunderstood or even misrepresented in terms of what they truly believe and actually practice. Here you can read for yourself what two leading complementarians believe and why.
Whether you agree or disagree with Piper and Grudem and to what degree is for you to decide in keeping with the biblical evidence. But here you have a handy booklet to familiarize yourself and others with the issues. It can be used to equip leaders, as a small group study, or a handy reference guide. It is certainly not the finish line for understanding a complementary view of manhood and womanhood but it can serve a starting point. For a more extensive and exhaustive treatment of the Complementarian position see the book, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, which is edited by these same two authors. This booklet is adapted from chapter two of that book.
Note: This review is based on the edition which was first published on its own as 50 Crucial Questions about Manhood and Womanhood, © 1992 by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
Published earlier as “An Overview of Central Concerns: Questions and Answers,” chapter 2 in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Crossway), © 1991, 2006 by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
Recently published by Crossway with an additional Preface and Scripture Index as 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood, © 2016 by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem does what it sets out to do. It asks and answers fifty crucial questions (Objections?!) about the Complementarian view of manhood and womanhood in relation to marriage and ministry as answered by a pastor-theologian (Piper) and theologian-pastor (Grudem). Complementarians see men and women as equal in dignity but different in roles as determined by the Creator’s design and the Redeemer’s delegation, so that the sacrificial leadership of men is complemented and completed by the respectful cooperation of women in marriage and ministry.
The opposite viewpoint is provided by egalitarians who understand men and women to be equal in both dignity and roles according to both creation and redemption, so that both men and women are equally leaders in marriage and ministry. (A defining and contrasting of these two perspectives would’ve been helpful at the beginning of this booklet.) Unfortunately, in reading egalitarians one finds that the complementarian position is often misunderstood or even misrepresented in terms of what they truly believe and actually practice. Here you can read for yourself what two leading complementarians believe and why.
Whether you agree or disagree with Piper and Grudem and to what degree is for you to decide in keeping with the biblical evidence. But here you have a handy booklet to familiarize yourself and others with the issues. It can be used to equip leaders, as a small group study, or a handy reference guide. It is certainly not the finish line for understanding a complementary view of manhood and womanhood but it can serve a starting point. For a more extensive and exhaustive treatment of the Complementarian position see the book, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, which is edited by these same two authors. This booklet is adapted from chapter two of that book.
Note: This review is based on the edition which was first published on its own as 50 Crucial Questions about Manhood and Womanhood, © 1992 by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
Published earlier as “An Overview of Central Concerns: Questions and Answers,” chapter 2 in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Crossway), © 1991, 2006 by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
Recently published by Crossway with an additional Preface and Scripture Index as 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood, © 2016 by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
March 2, 2017
For what they set out to do, they did a very good job.
That being said, some of the answers of course need further explanation, but for those, they often refer to the much larger Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood book.
Moreover, some of the answers toward the beginning were way too short. I think it would have been better to put these at the end because some of them just seemed to be answering showing what they believe without any reason why. The second half of the book was much better was giving an answer and a detailed response as to why.
But overall, this was a helpful book in explaining to others what complementarians believe and why it is the most biblical. However, one should not limit themselves to this book if they want to get a fair view of the belief as a whole.
That being said, some of the answers of course need further explanation, but for those, they often refer to the much larger Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood book.
Moreover, some of the answers toward the beginning were way too short. I think it would have been better to put these at the end because some of them just seemed to be answering showing what they believe without any reason why. The second half of the book was much better was giving an answer and a detailed response as to why.
But overall, this was a helpful book in explaining to others what complementarians believe and why it is the most biblical. However, one should not limit themselves to this book if they want to get a fair view of the belief as a whole.
January 13, 2019
Good primer for the topic. There were a few questions that I was seriously wondering which weren't answered, and a couple questions I think were smokescreened that I would have liked answers to. I agree with the overall theology and emphasis. It was a helpful resource. There were a few things I disagreed with, specifically regarding the application of complentarianism in church and parachurch situations. Overall, good and short into to a very deep and multi-faceted issue.
April 9, 2021
Es un libro que habla sobre los roles masculino y femenino desde un punto de vista bíblico. Me parece que son temas importantes de los que actualmente se tienen que hablar puesto que el feminismo ha entrado a las iglesias y se han descuidado los principios bíblicos respecto a este tema de los roles.
Lo recomiendo totalmente, es fácil de leer ya que son solo preguntas y respuestas.
Lo recomiendo totalmente, es fácil de leer ya que son solo preguntas y respuestas.
January 19, 2026
"in a good marriage, leadership consists mainly in taking responsibility to establish a pattern of nteraction that honors both husband and wife (and children) as a store of varied wisdom for family life. Headship bears the primary responsibility for the moral design and planning in the home, but the development of that design and plan will include the wife (who may be wiser and more intelligent" - p. 23.
I believe this quote basically sums up both Piper and Grudem's main argument they dissect both in this book and their much longer book (which I don't have the time nor patience to read the entire thing in one setting, unlike this one where I read the entire this in about an hour and a half at a cafe). And as a complementarity, I do agree with the argument that just as men have the primary responsibility as the head of the household and as spiritual leader, pastor roles and eldership ought to be exclusive to males. I also believe that women are called into submission, which in no way indicates that women are less important in the created order; they just have different roles and functions. Even the authors acknowledge this. What I don't really agree with it the very hard conviction they have about this issue, that complementarianism is a hill to die on (readers can easily sense this). While I see more biblical evidence for complementarianism, I also know that egalitarianism has a lot of biblical evidence. Therefore, while I am a complementarian, I am open to having women as pastors (my mother is a pastor). Nevertheless, Piper and Grudem do a good job of clearly presenting their views of manhood and womanhood. I would like to read any books that support egalitarianism, though, and see how they'd interact with that.
I am interested that they made the connection that even in the creation narrative, we see the roles played out, specifically in the order in which Satan tempts them. Piper and Grudem argue that because He knew Adam to be the spiritual role model and head of the family, he decided to tempt Eve to see if Adam would exercise his authority, but He didn't. Also (and this comes from my observation from the creation narrative) when God came to them after they sinned, the Lord said the Adam first, "Where are you?", indicating that the Lord saw that the Man was the head of the household, not asking the Man and the Woman together, but the Man. That's my interpretation, of course, but this idea is very interesting to me that has big implications of how we see marriage (as men having the responsibility of leading the family spiritually).
I believe this quote basically sums up both Piper and Grudem's main argument they dissect both in this book and their much longer book (which I don't have the time nor patience to read the entire thing in one setting, unlike this one where I read the entire this in about an hour and a half at a cafe). And as a complementarity, I do agree with the argument that just as men have the primary responsibility as the head of the household and as spiritual leader, pastor roles and eldership ought to be exclusive to males. I also believe that women are called into submission, which in no way indicates that women are less important in the created order; they just have different roles and functions. Even the authors acknowledge this. What I don't really agree with it the very hard conviction they have about this issue, that complementarianism is a hill to die on (readers can easily sense this). While I see more biblical evidence for complementarianism, I also know that egalitarianism has a lot of biblical evidence. Therefore, while I am a complementarian, I am open to having women as pastors (my mother is a pastor). Nevertheless, Piper and Grudem do a good job of clearly presenting their views of manhood and womanhood. I would like to read any books that support egalitarianism, though, and see how they'd interact with that.
I am interested that they made the connection that even in the creation narrative, we see the roles played out, specifically in the order in which Satan tempts them. Piper and Grudem argue that because He knew Adam to be the spiritual role model and head of the family, he decided to tempt Eve to see if Adam would exercise his authority, but He didn't. Also (and this comes from my observation from the creation narrative) when God came to them after they sinned, the Lord said the Adam first, "Where are you?", indicating that the Lord saw that the Man was the head of the household, not asking the Man and the Woman together, but the Man. That's my interpretation, of course, but this idea is very interesting to me that has big implications of how we see marriage (as men having the responsibility of leading the family spiritually).
November 1, 2024
This is a very concise book that seeks to answer some of the most prevalent or begged questions asked by the evangelical feminist movement. John Piper and Wayne Grudem joining together to write an extremely charitable yet biblical book overviewing their support for complementarianism would never be anything but humbling and inspiring. This book has been taken to be a consolidated version of their book "Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood", which is almost 700 pages. It only got 4 stars because I would have loved for them to dig a little deeper into most of the questions, but for how short it is, it does a great job of going deep enough to get you to a biblical answer and support it. They also do a good job at distinguishing the fact that the goal is complementarianism NOT traditionalism.
To get a good understanding of what they are defending and their stance, I will give the first paragraph of the introduction.
"The issue we face in this book is how men and women should relate to each other according to the Bible. We are concerned especially with how they relate in the home and in the church. The position we take affirms the complementary differences between men and women and spells out the implications of those differences for the way men and women relate to each other in the most fulfilling way."
There are three main themes that come across in almost every question. The difference between Man and Woman is a complimentary difference created by God. God ordained an order in the creation of Man and Woman. Because of the God-created differences and ordained order in creation Man is, in some mysterious way, commanded to be the spiritual head within the church and marriage.
If you wrestle with the roles of men and women in the church or in marriage, you should read this book. It handles the words of the Bible gently but with conviction and offers great insight into all the objections you may have to male headship and how to navigate the cultural pressures applied to the church. It upholds and defends the sanctity of biblical marriage and emphasizes the necessity for Godly men and women to defend Christ's bride until He returns.
To get a good understanding of what they are defending and their stance, I will give the first paragraph of the introduction.
"The issue we face in this book is how men and women should relate to each other according to the Bible. We are concerned especially with how they relate in the home and in the church. The position we take affirms the complementary differences between men and women and spells out the implications of those differences for the way men and women relate to each other in the most fulfilling way."
There are three main themes that come across in almost every question. The difference between Man and Woman is a complimentary difference created by God. God ordained an order in the creation of Man and Woman. Because of the God-created differences and ordained order in creation Man is, in some mysterious way, commanded to be the spiritual head within the church and marriage.
If you wrestle with the roles of men and women in the church or in marriage, you should read this book. It handles the words of the Bible gently but with conviction and offers great insight into all the objections you may have to male headship and how to navigate the cultural pressures applied to the church. It upholds and defends the sanctity of biblical marriage and emphasizes the necessity for Godly men and women to defend Christ's bride until He returns.
September 8, 2021
While this is a smaller version of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism Paperback by John Piper & Wayne Grudem (and of only chapter 2), this book packs a lot of good material in 100 pages.
You could call this an overview of findings book but this is more than a grifting attempt to resell a book; this is a way to offer valuable insight into normal and legitimate questions still being asked about the topic. Where the book adds the best value is giving you a great starting point into looking deeper into the questions you've seen friends and, sadly, churches bring up on a number of topics. There are some really hard-hitting questions in this book.
For example (questions edited for space):
5) What do you mean by "submission"? & 9) Could this lead to abuse?
16) Aren't the arguments against women pastors the same made for defending slavery?
25) Why prohibit women speaking while allowing them to prophecy
31) Is there selective literalism when "braided hair" and "head coverings" are culturally conditional?
The answers to the questions are enough to not be ambiguise and you'd see this type of content on a webpage to help people get answers to the question while not going into all the detail. They do not shirk away from some of the best questions against their position of compatibalism. Again, the work is filled out more in the other book but I think this is a great tool that someone that wants help in answering the questions for themselves and researching them and maybe even disagreeing with them or strengthening them would get a great benefit from.
Final Grade - A-
You could call this an overview of findings book but this is more than a grifting attempt to resell a book; this is a way to offer valuable insight into normal and legitimate questions still being asked about the topic. Where the book adds the best value is giving you a great starting point into looking deeper into the questions you've seen friends and, sadly, churches bring up on a number of topics. There are some really hard-hitting questions in this book.
For example (questions edited for space):
5) What do you mean by "submission"? & 9) Could this lead to abuse?
16) Aren't the arguments against women pastors the same made for defending slavery?
25) Why prohibit women speaking while allowing them to prophecy
31) Is there selective literalism when "braided hair" and "head coverings" are culturally conditional?
The answers to the questions are enough to not be ambiguise and you'd see this type of content on a webpage to help people get answers to the question while not going into all the detail. They do not shirk away from some of the best questions against their position of compatibalism. Again, the work is filled out more in the other book but I think this is a great tool that someone that wants help in answering the questions for themselves and researching them and maybe even disagreeing with them or strengthening them would get a great benefit from.
Final Grade - A-
October 18, 2024
I have spent much of my life surrounded by ideas/attitudes which, in my experience, have been just a wee bit chauvinistic, but I've also always been raised to be fiercely independent in my thinking; I am not the biggest reader of John Piper, but I'm also personally inclined toward, to quote Mike Winger, soft complementarianism (what a word! :)), so to say I came to this with a mix of very prickly feelings cannot be overstated.
I have many, MANY thoughts yet to expound on this subject, however, I leave this book pleased to finally read something from the Reformed tradition (not that it's the only one!!!), that puts an equal emphasis on the role and wisdom of women as men, and not "only" as presented as a wife, but as a human being in the Church. All the above being said I finish with a good feeling - it took some serious chewing on it, the beginning being a bit thick (for me), but I finished it quite pleasantly surprised.
“It is dangerous to put negative values on the so-called weaknesses that each of us has."
"Our passion is not to become the watchdogs of where women serve. Our passion is to join hands with all of God’s people, in God’s way, is to “declare his glory among the nations” (Ps. 96:3)."
"For Christians, right and power recede and responsibility predominates. As Jesus said to his disciples, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant' (Matt. 20:25–26). Authority becomes a burden to bear, not a right to assert."
I have many, MANY thoughts yet to expound on this subject, however, I leave this book pleased to finally read something from the Reformed tradition (not that it's the only one!!!), that puts an equal emphasis on the role and wisdom of women as men, and not "only" as presented as a wife, but as a human being in the Church. All the above being said I finish with a good feeling - it took some serious chewing on it, the beginning being a bit thick (for me), but I finished it quite pleasantly surprised.
“It is dangerous to put negative values on the so-called weaknesses that each of us has."
"Our passion is not to become the watchdogs of where women serve. Our passion is to join hands with all of God’s people, in God’s way, is to “declare his glory among the nations” (Ps. 96:3)."
"For Christians, right and power recede and responsibility predominates. As Jesus said to his disciples, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant' (Matt. 20:25–26). Authority becomes a burden to bear, not a right to assert."
January 20, 2022
Highly recommend to anyone who wants to understand the biblical arguments of evangelical complementarianism (the affirmation of distinct gender roles), and their answers to common interpretive questions about what the Bible says.
This is a powerful little book on the significance of manhood and womanhood. It addresses many of the questions and concerns I have personally been asked by feminist-leaning secularists and evangelicals alike - and answers those questions in a brief and clear way. Piper and Grudem bring so many nuggets of biblical clarity and theological insight to an issue that has become confused and chaotic through the leaven of false teaching, evangelical feminism, and postmodern deconstructionism.
"50 Questions" also gives some insight toward the end of how evangelical feminism often goes down a slippery slope toward affirming monogamous homosexual relationships - something I have personally witnessed, unfortunately, among so-called evangelical Christians. The Danvers Statement is also a helpful tool for churches seeking to bring this biblical clarity to the local church setting.
May the Lord keep His Church pure from the leaven of false teaching.
This is a powerful little book on the significance of manhood and womanhood. It addresses many of the questions and concerns I have personally been asked by feminist-leaning secularists and evangelicals alike - and answers those questions in a brief and clear way. Piper and Grudem bring so many nuggets of biblical clarity and theological insight to an issue that has become confused and chaotic through the leaven of false teaching, evangelical feminism, and postmodern deconstructionism.
"50 Questions" also gives some insight toward the end of how evangelical feminism often goes down a slippery slope toward affirming monogamous homosexual relationships - something I have personally witnessed, unfortunately, among so-called evangelical Christians. The Danvers Statement is also a helpful tool for churches seeking to bring this biblical clarity to the local church setting.
May the Lord keep His Church pure from the leaven of false teaching.
November 15, 2023
En lineas generales, desarrollan una postura bastante sobria del rol de las mujeres en la iglesia. Aunque discrepo con la postura continuista respecto del uso del rol de profecía en la iglesia y cómo el mismo tiene lugar, me parece que desarrollan respuestas urgentes a problemas reales y cotidianos, así como a demandas actuales.
Exhortan a que las mujeres no socaven y usurpen el liderazgo masculino eclesial. Mientras que, hacen un llamado a que los hombres no sean serviles o abusen del rol que se les ha delegado tanto en la iglesia como en sus familias.
Me gustó el argumento que desarrollaron respecto a lo peligroso del “feminismo evangélico” y su implicancia con el debilitamiento del modelo heterosexual en la familia y sociedad.
Exhortan a que las mujeres no socaven y usurpen el liderazgo masculino eclesial. Mientras que, hacen un llamado a que los hombres no sean serviles o abusen del rol que se les ha delegado tanto en la iglesia como en sus familias.
Me gustó el argumento que desarrollaron respecto a lo peligroso del “feminismo evangélico” y su implicancia con el debilitamiento del modelo heterosexual en la familia y sociedad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2019
Very insightful presentation on the difference of the genders, particularly at the time when they is a push to get rid of gender roles in our society.
To think most of these questions where being delt with in 1987, clearly we have been a a slipperly slope.
some take away;
The biblical connection between family and church strongly suggests that the headship of the husband at home leads naturally to the primary leadership of spiritual men in the church.
Primary responsibilty: After the fall, God called Adam to account first (Gen 3:9) not because the woman bore no responsibilty for sin but because the man bore primary responsibilty for life in the garden- including sin.
To think most of these questions where being delt with in 1987, clearly we have been a a slipperly slope.
some take away;
The biblical connection between family and church strongly suggests that the headship of the husband at home leads naturally to the primary leadership of spiritual men in the church.
Primary responsibilty: After the fall, God called Adam to account first (Gen 3:9) not because the woman bore no responsibilty for sin but because the man bore primary responsibilty for life in the garden- including sin.
May 18, 2020
This was a better book than I expected. It was considerably less paternalistic than I was anticipating. Ultimately, the book seeks to argue that men and women are equal, but equality does not mean sameness, something that I would agree with. The biblical arguments are well put together, self-consistent and sound. And while am not convinced by all their arguments (as I do not always agree with their initial assumptions), I certainly respect them. I fear that more most this discussion will fall into the category of Proverbs 18:17 “The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.”
April 21, 2025
I enjoyed it. Piper and Grudem is probably one of the greatest Christian thinkers of our day.
carefully constructed question- and answers. Being very considerate of the opposition and faithful to the Bible. Intellectual geniuses when it comes to logic and interpretive challenges of the Bible texts mentioned.
I would say read "Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood" because that is what this book basically tells you on each footnote.
Not a full answer book. But they are correct in naming the title "50 crucial questions". Just read "Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood" because that is what it basically wants you to do.
carefully constructed question- and answers. Being very considerate of the opposition and faithful to the Bible. Intellectual geniuses when it comes to logic and interpretive challenges of the Bible texts mentioned.
I would say read "Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood" because that is what this book basically tells you on each footnote.
Not a full answer book. But they are correct in naming the title "50 crucial questions". Just read "Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood" because that is what it basically wants you to do.
June 6, 2020
This is a very Biblical, understandable and well argued book about the "complementary differentiation that God designed for our joy in the beginning when God created us male and female equally in his image", and it also touches on homosexuality as (one of the) results of gender confusion (which was a new perspective to me). A must-read for everyone who tries to make sense of these issues in times of much confusion around these toppics and seeks for a Biblical view on this with a humble and honest heart!
December 15, 2022
It appears that all the criticism raised against affirming the headship of men is because the questioner(s) confused men lording over women intimidatingly with God's original design of gentleness, respect and empowerment, and because the outworking of God's design was sinful in much of history, people deemed God's original design evil...
Just because the plan went awry doesn't mean the plan was evil in the first place! We've ruined it by trying to take matters, including that of correctly understanding and applying God's word, into our hands.
Just because the plan went awry doesn't mean the plan was evil in the first place! We've ruined it by trying to take matters, including that of correctly understanding and applying God's word, into our hands.
March 15, 2023
I found this little book helpful , to a degree, but I was actually taken back by some of the questions . I seems there is a lot of controversy out there I had no idea of and the root seems to be a lack of Spirit filled Bible
Study and a desire to put personal desire above what scripture says. We do not go to the Word of God to prove a point . We go to the Word to hear what God says asking our eyes to be opened and will to be conformed to God's will. Well done Piper and Grudem. I am sad this type of book is necessary .
Study and a desire to put personal desire above what scripture says. We do not go to the Word of God to prove a point . We go to the Word to hear what God says asking our eyes to be opened and will to be conformed to God's will. Well done Piper and Grudem. I am sad this type of book is necessary .
February 2, 2020
Piper does a masterful job walking through Scripture and addressing head-on questions about the roles of men and women and directly defending culturally unpopular answers. He also readily admits when he does not have full clarity but does have conviction and from where his conviction comes from Scripture.
June 14, 2021
Easy to read, straight to the point and also caring in its language.
I particularly appreciated the almost apologetical edge to this short book. The authors recognise that this is an important issue (and I agree that it is) and address it with all the seriousness it requires.
A clear exposition of the complementarian position that can be read even more fully in the big book it's based on.
I particularly appreciated the almost apologetical edge to this short book. The authors recognise that this is an important issue (and I agree that it is) and address it with all the seriousness it requires.
A clear exposition of the complementarian position that can be read even more fully in the big book it's based on.
September 16, 2021
This wasn’t really about womanhood or manhood but rather submission of women to their “biblical roles”. There was minima time spent on how men can distort and negate their roles, it was almost entirely dedicated to women and what they cannot do. I would consider myself more complementary than egalitarian, but still had some trouble with the answers given.
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