From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search for What the Bible Really Says About Women in Leadership

by Preston Sprinkle

Starting from a place of genuine searching, bestselling author Preston Sprinkle challenges assumptions and models gracious theological inquiry in this thoughtful exploration of what the Bible says about women in church leadership.

What does the Bible really say about women serving in positions of leadership in the church? It’s one of the church’s most debated and divisive topics. Many Christians read Scripture in light of preconceived conclusions, rather than engaging in a patient and thorough study of what the Bible actually says.

From Genesis to Junia offers something an honest journey through Scripture that begins with questions rather than answers. With theological rigor and a pastor’s heart, Preston Sprinkle opens the Bible with fresh eyes and invites us along as he examines key passages from Genesis to Revelation—weighing historical context, interacting with a variety of scholarly perspectives, and holding familiar views up to Scripture. This informative and spiritually profound book

A respectful challenge to both complementarian and egalitarian assumptions Insightful analysis of texts such as 1 Corinthians 11, Romans 16, and 1 Timothy 2 A model for navigating controversial topics in the church This open-hearted approach to a complex issue offers a healthy example for dialoguing about tough theological questions. Listeners will walk away not with superficial answers but with biblical confidence, deeper understanding, and a gracious posture for engaging with others.

Contains extensive audiobook-exclusive bonus commentary by the author.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Faith, Biblical Studies, Audiobook, Leadership

304 pages, Paperback

Published March 3, 2026

About the author

Preston Sprinkle (PhD, Aberdeen) is a teacher, speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. He has written several books including People to Be Loved, Living in a Gray World, Charis, and Erasing Hell, which he co-authored with Francis Chan. Preston has held faculty positions at Nottingham University, Cedarville University, and Eternity Bible College. He and his family live in Boise, Idaho, and he currently helps pastors and leaders engage the LGBTQ conversation with thoughtfulness and grace.

Reviews

[John Pawlik · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Genesis to Junia is a book by Preston Sprinkle that was released a few days ago, where he invites the reader to follow him on a fresh theological journey as he explores the issues of the complementarian / Egalitarian debate. I want to give a few reflections as I’m sure it will make a brief splash on the internet and the life of the church.

I know this review is a little long, but one important thing first:

1. Tom Schreiner’s review of this book at TGC is pretty accurate.
2. Anyone who wants to understand the nitty gritty of the texts that consume this argument needs to read Women in the Church by Kostenberger and Schreiner.

First, I have never read a book with the style of this book. It had a podcast, even YouTube reaction style to it which was pretty new to me, but I expect will become more popular for lay level books in the future. This did make it fun and engaging, but also gave an air of novelty that also characterized the thin level of engagement with opposing views throughout the book.

Second, unfortunately, if you came to this book to hear new arguments that move the conversation forward, you have come to the wrong place. Sprinkle does admit that his conclusions come from being relatively new to the issue (3 years), but I think part of me still expected that he was going to advance something that split the difference between existing camps.

The arguments were predictable, and once you knew what he said on one passage, and the tone he approached it with, you knew where he was going with other later passages.

The book admits some really good and crucial things for this issue. Namely, that whatever reading we make of Genesis, OT prophets, or other narrative texts in the gospels, and even Romans 16 (none of which settle the issue) the weight of decision has to depend on how you read several key texts in Paul: 1 Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 11, and Ephesians 5.

He takes a traditional egalitarian approach to Paul, and unfortunately resorts to the three typical readings that someone needs to take in order to justify women as elders in the New Testament:

1. Reinterpreting Paul’s apparent meaning in the text (Ephesians 5)
2. Relegating the text to a distant and irrelevant situation of the past (1 Tim 2)
3. Or ignoring the ramifications of the text because of the complexity of surrounding verses (1 Corinthians 11)

He shows something which I think is almost undeniably true in the New Testament: women are the best examples of faith, humility, and Christian virtue in the Old Testament, Gospels, and letters. But what he misses is that holding authority by nature of resembling Jesus’s loving character (as Stephanus does in 1 Corinthians 16) is not the same thing as formal authority that comes from the office of elder in the New Testament.

The thing that leads to so much confusion in this book is that he equates the idea of “leader” with formal positions of leadership in the church.

Basically, “would you say Phoebe is a leader according to a Christian definition of leadership?” If yes, then she can hold any position of authority in the church. But that’s just not what the Bible says on these issues. Phoebe is a deacon, deacons are leaders. It doesn’t mean they possess all of the teaching authority of elders. “Able to teach” is not even one of their biblical qualifications.

What’s interesting is that he admits that the words for formal authority aren’t used of women in the New Testament:

“Pastor, elder, teacher, overseer”

But because Paul does use “servant, co-worker, working hard, managing” then women are “Leaders” which means they can hold offices regardless of whether the text seems to prohibit them.

I would rate this book lower, but it’s so important that books more and more do what Sprinkle did here, which is focus on the actual texts that make or break these arguments. One challenge is that we don’t have a lot of good resources on this subject that do this, so I pray that more honest looks at texts become more common.

If anyone wants to chat with me at this book, shoot me a call or text!

[Brad Sarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2021, I went on a similar journey, wrestling with the question of women in church leadership—particularly the role of elders. I ended up reading more than twenty books on the topic, studying both sides in depth, and eventually wrote a short book for the church I lead, offering a biblical explanation for why I was no longer complementarian and had come to identify as a mutualist/egalitarian.

Preston Sprinkle’s From Genesis to Junia is an excellent contribution to this conversation. He carefully engages the major arguments on both sides and brings serious biblical scholarship while maintaining a posture of humility and grace, all while keeping the book highly readable. It’s clear he didn’t enter the debate needing one side to win, and that kind of intellectual honesty is refreshing.

Because of the honesty of his assessment and the depth of his biblical analysis, this will now be my go-to book for anyone who asks about this topic. Whether or not readers ultimately agree with his conclusions, the book models how Christians can wrestle carefully and respectfully with complex biblical questions. After reading a work like this, it becomes even harder to justify the kind of division that sometimes surrounds this issue in the church.

[Shane Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

2026 reads: 13

Rating: 4 stars

This book is super accessible for what it is. As others have pointed out, Sprinkle doesn't progress the field/debate in any shape or form, but takes on an adjudicating role of some sorts. Some minor critiques up front: 1) I found the introduction to be naïve and disingenuous—despite his claims to the contrary. 2) Additionally his tone came across as flippant and casual at times, which, while it might help readers to not feel alienated from the complexity of the issues, came across as too self-centered; there was just too much focus on things being "fun" and "exciting," as if we were at an amusement park. Odd critique, I know. But whatever. 3) Sprinkle again and again asserts that his approach is exegetical but then always frames his conclusions through the complimentarian/egalitarian lens—it was a little confusing. Content wise, I thought Sprinkle was pretty consistent and fair with his hermeneutic. There are times where the debate is fraught by painstaking word-studies that I think can miss the woods for the tree. But that is the nature of these things. A key part of his argument, which is probably the most novel aspect of his contribution, is the framing of leadership. Sprinkle challenges the notion of coming to the texts with a modern, authoritarian, and highly-structured conception of leadership (think mega-churches). Instead, the consistent message of leadership in the NT is that of service and sacrifice. I appreciated this insight and thought it does move the conversation somewhat, or at least opens up other doors or windows of inquiry. In this light, the overwhelming picture of both the OT and NT is one where women are celebrated and held up as virtuous and in possession of their own agency—and yes—in matters of leading, instructing, teaching, and providing theological reflection. Sprinkle handles opposing views well, though I think there were a couple dots that weren't connected that could have been, as well as a deeper investigation into the logic of certain views. I believe it was Bobby Gilles who pointed out that women's "theological" words are actually inscripurated (Exod 15; 1 Sam 2; Judges 5; Luke 1)—possessing and exerting authority over men and women for all time. But I digress. Overall, this is a good resource to get into that blends exegesis, historical backgrounds, and biblical theology. It is measured and careful and hopefully folks engage it at the same level of text and context.

See also: Ingrid Faro, Redeeming Eden; Nijay Gupta, Tell Her Story; Beth Allison Barr, Becoming the Pastor's Wife ; and Sandra Glahn, Nobody's Mother.

[Graham Gaines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idk what happened to my old review. Here's a short version.

TGC doesn't like something, my ears perk up.

Schreiner says Preston doesn't give us anything new, but also criticizes him for succumbing to contemporary culture and implores readers to adopt an old/historical/traditional view. What? Huh? That's weird, Tom.

Good job of bridging academia and the church. Technical yet accessible.

He definitely could've cited more complementarian scholarship. But it makes sense that he didn't. He also cited Kostenberger and Schreiners work three times during the appropriate section.

Preston worked hard on this book, whether or not you agree with him.

I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about this topic. I learned a lot reading this.

[Joshua Biggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros:
-bridges the gap between the academy and the lay person better than most books
-clear and thoughtful
-traces the idea of women in leadership like a biblical theology, starting with Genesis and moving forward through the storyline of the Bible letting new parts be interpreted in light of old parts. Most books on women in leadership that I’m familiar with don’t take this approach.
-exegesis of 1 Timothy 3 was particularly helpful
-great audiobook!

Cons
-it seemed like there was a conflation of the questions “Can women lead in the church?” and “Can women be pastors/elders and function as such?”. These are two very different questions with, I think, different answers. This is my main gripe.
-unimpressed with his treatment of Ephesians 5 and 1 Timothy 2 (his treatment of 1 Timothy 2 was thorough, just missed the mark imo).
-a point that doesn’t get developed much, but I think is part of my disagreement with Preston, is largely ecclesiological. He doesn’t see the NT as giving as clear structures for church leadership as I do. This seems to be an underlying difference that flies under the surface of many of these debates.

The difference between 3 and 4 ⭐️ feels like a lot, but while I really enjoyed the book, the first critique in my list of cons was too big to give 4 ⭐️. I would gladly recommend this book if someone wants a thoroughly biblical case for egalitarianism. Although I remain unconvinced by Preston, he has contributed thoughtfully and thoroughly to the conversation and I’m thankful for his work.

[Meghan Brubaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
There were a lot of things that impacted me while reading this book, but I think the thing that impressed me the most was the posture with which Sprinkle came to Scripture. This came through in the chapters themselves, but especially in the author's reflections on each chapter. He was so transparent about his process. I found the following things particularly admirable:

1. He was truly seeking what the Bible says on this topic (he often talked about "letting Paul be Paul" and not letting our twenty-first century presuppositions cloud our understanding)

2. He didn't settle for easy answers (the time and energy he poured into this book is significant, and he honored the intricacies of the texts and dove deep into the linguistic and cultural aspects needed to try to unpack them)

3. He kept an open mind through the process (it was noteworthy how many times he would say the evidence so far seems to be pointing in one direction, but he wanted to hold himself back from making up his mind about it until he had explored all the pertinent passages)
For those who want to dismiss or disagree with his final position before truly listening to what he has to say, I guess I have to wonder if they themselves are willing to come to this topic with the three postures I mentioned above.

I think his work and conclusions are fascinating and compelling. I'm not sure what to do with that, given the church context I exist within, but it certainly has shifted my perspective on a lot of things and excited me about the place women have in the story of Scripture.

If anyone who knows me IRL has read this and wants to share their thoughts, please reach out. I would so love to hear how others are thinking about this!

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preston Sprinkle began his research into this topic as someone who did not believe in women in church leadership. I appreciate that level of intellectual humility. I've been (skeptically) interested to see where his research would lead him, listening to many of his interviews with scholars (including female scholars I deeply respect). So I've been waiting for this book!

Concerning whether we need men to write about women in leadership: As a woman in theological/ministry spaces, it’s exhausting having to use up so much of my energy defending my place. So while I believe we need to give more attention to the women who have done deep work in this area, I don’t think women should be doing it alone. Additionally, I think that saying only women can talk about the topic of women in church leadership can be another way we pigeonhole the genders. For some people, a book like this is what they need before they will be open to reading the work of more knowledgeable women.

I read a physical copy while listening to the audiobook. I enjoyed that the audiobook included Sprinkle’s additional reflections after each chapter.

Though he cites many scholars in his footnotes, I wish he included a “recommended reading” list, especially in light of the people (especially women) who’ve dedicated many more years researching this topic.

Who I would recommend this book to:
- Complementarians who grew up in spaces where women were forbidden to have leadership in the church and who would probably not read a book on this topic written by a woman (or, at least, not at first)
- People who have already read multiple books on this topic and would like to read one more from a different angle, especially if you want exposure to more arguments from both sides of the debate
- People interested in seeing the thought process of someone who has changed their mind

Who I would NOT recommend this book to:
- People who are currently feeling pain from patriarchal spaces/systems (This book would only frustrate you!)
- People who want to read a book where you’ll agree 100% with everything in it

[Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Preston Sprinkle’s honesty and his ability to push back on bad arguments from either side of an issue.

He doesn’t come across as agenda-driven like some other egalitarian authors do, and his emphasis on biblicism is refreshing. I appreciated his treatment of women in scripture, and his discussion of prophecy and female prophets was excellent, thought-provoking, and challenging to my position. His word study of ‘head’ (kephale) was thorough and honest, even though it didn’t support his theological conclusions. That’s why books like this are worth a read, and why I like him.

His reasons for changing his view, however, were unimpressive, and I doubt that the way he dealt with “problem passages” to his view will convince many complementarians. Three examples:

- He advances (yet another) novel interpretation of 1 Cor 11, namely that Paul’s “nevertheless in the Lord…” brings a “new creation” change to the creation principle he’s just laboriously argued for. If this is true, then (since the whole argument was in service of head coverings, not just male headship), the Corinthians’ correct response would have been to *not* wear head coverings (though Sprinkle himself thinks Paul wanted them to wear it for cultural reasons). It seems to me that he tacitly admits this when he responds to pushback with a throwaway ‘whoever doesn’t believe head coverings are universal has the same problem.’
- His treatment of 1 Corinthians 14 “it is a shame for a woman to speak in church” was incoherent. Women are supposed to avoid “disruptive” and “interrupting” speech (laleo) (a plausible interpretation), and this is shown by the fact that “speech” (laleo) earlier in the chapter means legitimate words of knowledge or tongues? Non sequitur, my friend.
- The old stack of hypotheticals and equivocations, “Phoebe probably carried the letter to the Romans so she likely read it, and maybe interpreted it, which is basically preaching” reared its tired, overwrought head.

Thanks to this book, however, I have a deeper appreciation for women like Junia and their influence on the early church than I did before, as well as for the complexity of roles and offices in the early church.

“Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.”

[Carita]

I have come to respect Preston Sprinkle and his research over the past few years, so I was eager to hear his research on this topic. Some of it went a bit over my head. But, as he references in the book, he did make it manageable and understandable for those of us without PhDs...or theology degrees.

This is a very tender topic for me right now and so the conclusion had me crying. Sprinkle confirmed and expounded on many things that I had been coming to believe through my own growing understanding of God and the Bible's portrayal of women. He did it with research to back himself. Thank you, Preston.

Side note: I enjoyed the humor that also came through occasionally. 😁

[Ashley Chesnut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and well written. This is probably the best book I’ve read on the texts of Scripture that concern women in church leadership. Wherever you land on the subject, whether you agree or disagree with Preston’s conclusions, this is a worthwhile read. I appreciate Preston’s charitable tone as he agrees and disagrees with scholars on both sides.

[Helen Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated this book largely due to the authors approach. He comes to these very controversial and complex passages with openness and willingness to learn. While initially I felt some frustration at his continual lack of conclusion chapter after chapter, I grew to appreciate what he was doing, leaving things open to further thought until more context and passages had been studied through.

This book feels thorough and is easy to read and follow. The author is very intentional with looking at all sides of the controversy, looking at scripture, context, cultural context, and even other literature and texts from around the same time era to help understand words and their meaning better. This is all done at a very simplistic level as to not loose the average reader to heaps of information and language that is hard to understand. While written very simplistically it’s also very deep and intentional with wonderful thought provoking points along the way that he urges you to think and study through, and come to your own conclusion.

This book is not strong, pushy, or with underground currents of a hidden agenda. It feels as if it is written from a genuine heart that wants to understand and learn, as well as a humbleness to embrace whatever scripture might be saying and meaning. I deeply appreciated this book, and feel it’s a beneficial read for anyone settled, unsettled or simply curious on this matter.

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't agree with most of Sprinkle's conclusions, but I appreciated the respectful tone of the book and the thoughtful explorations of the various debated passages about women leadership in the church.

[Calden Scranton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sprinkle is intentional and well researched in this book and his ultimate argument comes not with a cultural argument, but one based in deep reading a wrestling with scripture. I was not swayed as this is the perspective I already have, but his work gives more concrete structure to why we all should lean in this direction. This book was easy to read, and definitely is designed for the lay person in mind (this isn’t a high up theological topic, it’s one that affects all of us). I appreciated this book and am thankful for his voice and the wresting he did to help encourage the church to not only listen to the voices of women, but to know that being lead by the women among us (at all levels) is an honor and a gift from God!

8/10

[Wes Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC: Preston writes clearly and in an accessible tone. He wades through nuance thoughtfully and argues with a ton of compassion for those who disagree. His conclusions are compelling and consistent. This book is a gift to the church I would highly recommend for anyone wrestling with the interpretation of Scripture on this issue.

My biggest issue is that it feels like he trimmed out a lot of his research, which I know was necessary to make the book accessible, but I’m the kind of person who wants you to hold my hand through some things a little more. He definitely does this better in the second half of the book on the passages that are most important though, so it really is just more of a preference thing. Make sure you read his free online essays referenced a couple times in the footnotes though, since those give a ton of good meat to his argument!

[Jeff Colston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, so good. Humble and helpful and thorough and readable. The chapter on 1 Timothy 2-3 and his conclusion alone are worth the price of admission. I respect him a lot for writing this.

I walk away more convinced of the egalitarian view but I think I also come away with even a deeper understanding of just how complicated it is to interpret some of the important passages.

I liked what he said in his last chapter:
“Since the church is a family, it makes sense that we should have both mothers and fathers. Churches with only male or only female leaders may face challenges similar to the challenges faced by single parents. And I don’t think it’s enough for women to teach and provide spiritual leadership only to other women, while male leaders do the same for both men and women. I think men miss out when we don’t sit under the teaching of godly and gifted women whose maturity and wisdom is shaped by their unique experiences as women.”

I resonated with this clarification, too:
“I actually don’t love the label ‘egalitarian.’ This modern term can get entangled with secular perspectives about equality, some of which try to erase male-female differences. I still believe passionately that men and women are different by design: I just don’t think our differences determine who can teach or lead our churches.”

Also this:
“I wouldn’t say complementarians are in sin simply for being complementarian, nor should complementarians accuse egalitarians of the same. Accusations like these reflect exegetical naivete and theological hubris more than a humble appreciation of the complexity of the biblical text.”

[Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter one's predispositions (or conclusions), this is a great read that should help us interpret scripture with humility. As Sandra Glahn said of it: "[readers will] find themselves drawn afresh to the humble Christ and grateful for the conversation."

What else can we ask for?

[Sarah Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The church is a family and we need both fathers and mothers.”
Loved this thoughtful, humble look at this issue. This book is a great starting point for anyone who hasn’t read up on all the scholarship regarding women in ministry. Preston engages with the best of both complementarian and egalitarian work and comes to a position he holds with an open hand. A great model for how to approach a complex biblical question even if you don’t come to the same conclusions. I’m still chewing on his ultimate end point but he offers some of the best biblical evidence for his position I have yet to read.

[Katie Senthil · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of Preston’s podcast, I was excited to read this book because I like the range he has and his openness to new ideas!

Personally, I found this book uninteresting and not super helpful. I think the most helpful chapters were the ones on female leaders in the New Testament, and the final chapter on 1 Timothy. I especially was interested in the background of Junia because I haven’t heard much about her before.

I would say his book didn’t sway me one way or another I still am uncertain! But I would like to go back through and read some of these arguments more thoroughly side by side with the scripture.

[Cade Adkison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I walked away from this book very disappointed. What I expected to be, as Preston Sprinkle says on the cover, “an honest search for what the Bible really has to say about women in leadership” felt much more like “an honest attempt to straw-man complementarian views while heavily favoring the egalitarian view” for 280 pages.

From the first chapter, it was incredibly clear exactly where Preston was going to land on this topic. What are the odds that with every instance in scripture regarding women that he addresses, he finds the egalitarian view more compelling each time? Not once did he finish a chapter with the conclusion of “even though, in the broader scope of the text the egalitarian view seems to hold more weight, the complementarian view seems to make more sense here.” Content aside, I personally find it highly unlikely that one can confidently say the egalitarian view makes more sense in each and every instance of women in leadership in scripture, even if someone still holds to the egalitarian view holistically. There is epistemic virtue in textual explanations being simple - something Preston ignores for complementarians, while going to great lengths to make egalitarian views seem in any way feasible with each passage.

From an argumentative standpoint, the book is confused. What are we actually trying to discuss with this book? What the Bible says about whether women can lead anything at all ever? Women leading over men? Whether the Bible thinks women are awesome or not? Sprinkle doesn’t seem to know, and it seems to vary chapter by chapter. I would be hard pressed to find a complementarian who says a woman cannot faithfully lead in any context whatsoever, yet that seems to be the people Sprinkle is trying to argue against for most of this book.

Finally, one of the most concerning things I saw was an author using seemingly very similar exegetical strategies that he very much argues against in books about other topics he has previously worked on.

Personal preferences and convictions aside - what I was hoping to be a genuine evaluation of both sides turned out to be a strong case for one while leaving the other out to dry.

[Tori Boone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happy to receive an advanced copy of this book as I have been curious about his ultimate conclusion for several years. As with all the Preston Sprinkle books I’ve read, I appreciate the tone and humility of his writing. He does not attempt to tear people down but rather seeks to understand and be thorough in his study. Preston does a good job of being both scholarly and accessible to lay people.
The topic is complex and involves only a handful of passages with rarely used words. Therefore even well-studied conclusions rely on a good amount of speculation. I was hoping that Preston would offer a middle ground or some qualifications on his conclusion but instead he joins one existing camp. I do appreciate that even in his conclusion, he offers grace to those that disagree and acknowledges the limitations of his study.
Preston also references two word studies that he already released on his blog. Rather than including the entire studies, he provides a link to read the blog posts and explains in the acknowledgements that this was done in the interest of making the book shorter and more accessible to lay people. I would have liked to see these included in appendices, however, so that I could have easily referenced them or glanced through quickly.
All in all, this is a good read that I will recommend to those trying to get their feet wet in the conversation about women in church leadership.

[Connor Petrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on women in ministry I've come across yet. To be clear, this is not the deepest, most thorough, or even most convincing book on women in ministry out there—its strengths are more subtle than such claims.

Even-handed, theologically humble, and far from triumphalist, this book acts as a sort of chronicle of Dr. Sprinkle's journey through the relevant texts of Scripture. If I had to identify the primary strengths of this work, I would focus on these two qualities:

1) The author is very familiar with complementarian instincts. Overall, egalitarians seem woefully ignorant of the "red-flags" that go up in many a complementarian's mind when someone insists "that verse doesn't say what you think it does" or "that may be a scribal addition" (the complementarian hears, did God really say?). Thus, egalitarians often trip alarm bells in their audience without even knowing the minefield they're walking through. This book largely avoids such blunders, allowing the reader (wherever they fall on this issue) to simply engage with Scripture and the arguments honestly.

2) The author rightly identifies the core arguments for each position, pointing out when oft-discussed topics/passages/arguments are indeterminate and thus, less significant than others. In my experience, proponents of both sides tend to be noodle-slingers, throwing out any piece of information or theory that might stick to the wall. Thus, the hyper specifics of the debate (e.g., noodles) are treated as vastly more important than they truly are. Consider, for example, a complementarian's argument from a male-only priesthood in the OT or the egalitarian's argument from the word authentein in 1 Tim. 2:12. What Dr. Sprinkle identifies is that neither position falls or stands on these points! Throughout the book, he agrees with interpretations from both sides of the debate, but then (most importantly) contextualizes whether that interpretation is core to the argument. Too often, critics from both sides act as if they've kicked the legs out from under the other position, not realizing what they've done is only dismissed a secondary or tertiary support rather than addressing the crux of the matter.

Personal Note/Testimony: I listened to Mike Winger's behemoth of a series two years ago. As a lifelong complementarian, I finished the series utterly convinced of my original position. I had journeyed with Mike through all the data and concluded, just as he had, that egalitarianism had NO ground to stand upon; their arguments were weak and easily dismissed once closely evaluated. Yet two years later, I'm firmly convinced of the opposite; yes, I'm egalitarian now. How? Because Mike's approach was fundamentally flawed, I believe. It is my opinion that Mike unintentionally mishandled the topic. By addressing each and every noodle (shred of information), Mike lost the plot, missing the forest for the trees. By spending 6 hours on authentein, Mike never stopped to ask, does egalitarianism stand or fall on this? My journey away from complementarianism began with a simple questioning of both Mike's and my assumption that any differences located in Genesis 2 between Adam and Eve must reflect a difference in their natures or roles. But after reading Genesis 2 over and over and over and over again, I've been convinced otherwise. I believe the author of Genesis shows differences between Adam and Eve, not to draw attention to their inequality, but precisely the opposite—to highlight their sameness (e.g., something was wrong: "It is not good that the man should be alone" [vs. 18], hence why God brings the animals to Adam [to show him none were like him], hence why God created Eve from him [to show she is of the exact same substance as Adam], hence why Adam cried out in joy, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" [vs. 23], hence why Adam and Eve are considered "one flesh" [vs. 24]). I'm convinced an ANE audience would be struck by the sameness of Adam and Eve here, not entrenched further in their lower view of women. In my journey, this was the first stone to fall, the first interpretation I realized was only assumed and not concluded. As I began to see such a reading was possible, I decided to embark on my own journey to steel-man a Mere Egalitarian argument, one that does not rely upon the Cult of Artemis or the word authentein. And two years later, I'm convinced.

All in all, this was a good book. I may reread it again to ensure it was as good as I thought. For now, however, it is this humble reviewer's opinion that Dr. Sprinkle accomplished what brother Mike only attempted. I beseech you to give it a try.

5/5 Stars

[Carson Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook version, which was convenient for driving and cool to have the added reflections from Preston at the end of each chapter. That said, this really deserves a thorough reading in print to piece together all the nuances of the more scholarly chapters, so I might have to give it a re-read.

This book is a journey-in-thought as Preston traverses the scholarship to figure out his own position. He starts as neutral as one could hope, and, while ending firmly to one side, is still completely open to new research shifting his position. That level of academic honesty is commendable and helps me to actually trust his research.

Preston starts in Genesis and then surveys the OT and NT for all instances where women exercise some form of leadership/authority and other texts that defend/defeat women using these positions. Both OT and NT display examples of women holding high authority positions (like prophet, apostle, deacon, judge), being the foil to the failure of men in the same positions, and acting as the paradigm for how leadership should look. Further, all the defeater proof-texts against women in leadership turn out to be extremely contextual and would give you a confused, contradicting Paul if read strongly complementarian. Ultimately, the evidence suggests that women held authority in the early church, are not barred from leadership/authority outside of contextual instances, and even end up being the paradigms of what leadership should look like under the New Covenant.

He also addresses all the “what-abouts” that are typical: the 12 being male, male priesthood, masculine attributions in Paul’s leadership quality list, hyper-liberal slippery slope argument, difficulty in translating certain authority Greek terms, male “headship,” etc. No stone is left unturned.

I started the book as a soft complimentarian (or soft egalitarian, depending on which way you look at it), but ended up squarely in the egalitarian camp. There simply is not a strong biblical case for barring women from authoritative positions in the church. Paul and the earliest church would simply have not understood the Kingdom in this way. Paul is in fact painfully trying to get across that men should be men and women should be women, but those categories aren’t barring under the New Covenant. There is no longer male or female…

[Joel Douhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be upfront: The rating for this book comes almost exclusively from the fact that I disagree with Sprinkle’s analysis on almost every passage. Secondarily, I read this book preemptively knowing the growing crowd of NPP supporters will champion this as THE DEFINITIVE WORK on Paul and women’s leadership.

Sprinkle is the example of the problems that plague many non-denominational today. He opens the book by proclaiming what makes him unbiased and among that list is, he is not ordained, and belongs to no denomination. This is a worrying place to be because Sprinkle takes contrary views on what the roles of leadership are in the church, claiming Paul never foresaw Elders as a distinct leadership role, and that the church functioned and maybe should function as house churches completely overlooking the preaching of the Apostles in and around the synagogues.

It became clear quickly that Sprinkle in “going back to the original Pauline reading” was going to side with every modern post enlightenment scholarly interpretation on the cited verses. I find it laughable that the original reading of every text could just as easily be found in every progressive seminary and university across the country.

Sprinkle spends much of his time expounded on how the Bible is not anti-woman which is great but he uses this to shift around definitions.

Can women be Elders? Deacons? Leaders?

Sprinkle assumes any sort of leading that happened must mean equal rights to the pastorate which I think is off base. Does a family opening up their home really mean the wife who makes the meal could just as easily be the pastor? Unfortunately this seems to become Sprinkles argument as he continually goes back to Jesus defining leadership as service.

My biggest issue stems from Sprinkles terribly low ecclesiology and view of the historical witness. From memory he only positively sites any historic evidence (church fathers) once in his defense of Junia as an apostle all other references to the historic beliefs of the church were negative or even slanderous.

This gets a two because he is honest with where he stands and it was a good format for listening, but I would not recommend this book to anyone.

[Allison Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I don't have time for a super long or detailed review (Thomas Schreiner wrote a helpful review on TGC) but overall I thought this book was helpful and engaging. I came away with it with a deeper understanding of how radically the Bible views leadership in contrast to the world and how highly God values men and women equally (also in contrast to the world). Sprinkle claims not to be weighing in to application but he can't help himself a little bit in the conclusion, and I think if we just stopped right there at the end of his scriptural exegesis (which I pretty much agreed with but was very heavy on niche interpretations of the Greek and cultural context clues, for better or worse), I'd decide to be egalitarian too. However, I'm left with a couple questions:

1) What do we do with the fact that God is male?
2) How do we apply what the Bible says about marriage to this discussion?
3) How does the different biology of men and women play into our decisions about leadership?
4) Are women in church leadership (especially pastors) still a cultural stumbling block today?

[Lydia Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s lay this debate to rest

[Abram Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very well written and a lot of time was spent researching and collecting the various arguments used in both defense and opposition to the proposal of female leadership roles in the church .
Wether you end up agreeing with his conclusion or not, you can't say that Preston is "just ignoring clear scripture" .

[Andrew Goode · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're on the fence with this debate, and genuinely curious about the text, Preston's latest book will likely be enough to push you over to the other side. It's exegetically sound, readable, and academically rigorous. I appreciated his thoroughness especially with notoriously tough passages.

[Brayden Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Advanced Copy! An intellectually honest, accessible, and deeply thorough examination of the biblical theology surrounding women in church leadership. Sprinkle is one of my favorite scholars because of the way he navigates controversial topics with nuance, confidence, clarity, and intellectual integrity. We need this type of book for so many issues the church has been debating and talking past one another about. If you want to take a big step towards understanding what the Bible says about the egalitarian complimentarian divide, read this book!

[Hannah McNeilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thankful for the advance copy of this book!

Dr. Preston Sprinkle has finally finished his long awaited study on the question of women in church leadership. I kept myself from peeking at the final section where he “lands the plane” and clearly articulates his own position, but as I neared the end of the book, I had a sense of where he was headed. I deeply appreciated the confidence with which he presented his conclusion. I was inspired by his clarity.

Sprinkle carries the reader through thorough scholarship and exegesis, and footnotes every question, doubt, and additional opposing viewpoint. He’s fair and charitable, but also firm. He challenges problematic interpretations on both sides of the debate and doesn’t settle with easy answers. ‘From Genesis to Junia’ is not only exceptionally researched, but accessible and readable. You’ll definitely want to pick up a copy for yourself and your church!

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly readable for such a dense and complex topic. It takes a lot of skills to condense years of research and skilled argument into such a compact book. I’m looking forward to a re-read when I get the paper copy.