What do you think?
Rate this book
Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures
Our world is filled with nations that are impoverished largely because half of their peoplethe female populationare disenfranchised. But this is not just a book about women; it is a book that deals
- GenresNonfictionFaith
277 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2008
5 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Darrow L. Miller
32 books12 followersDarrow Miller is co-founder of the Disciple Nations Alliance and a featured author and teacher. For over 25 years, Darrow has been a popular conference speaker on topics that include Christianity and culture, apologetics, worldview, poverty, and the dignity of women.
From 1981 to 2007 Darrow served with Food for the Hungry International, and from 1994 as Vice President. Before joining FH, Darrow spent three years on staff at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland where he was discipled by Francis Schaeffer. He also served as a student pastor at Northern Arizona University and two years as a pastor of Sherman Street Fellowship in urban Denver, CO.
In addition to earning his Master’s degree in Adult Education from Arizona State University, Darrow pursued graduate studies in philosophy, theology, Christian apologetics, biblical studies and missions in the United States, Israel and Switzerland.
From 1981 to 2007 Darrow served with Food for the Hungry International, and from 1994 as Vice President. Before joining FH, Darrow spent three years on staff at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland where he was discipled by Francis Schaeffer. He also served as a student pastor at Northern Arizona University and two years as a pastor of Sherman Street Fellowship in urban Denver, CO.
In addition to earning his Master’s degree in Adult Education from Arizona State University, Darrow pursued graduate studies in philosophy, theology, Christian apologetics, biblical studies and missions in the United States, Israel and Switzerland.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 30, 2013
I'm not even sure where I found the lead to pursue this book, only that I did and that it was both timely and informative for me on a number of levels. I already intend to reread the book, but my main take away points involve the author's exposition of the history and current (appalling) status of women and girls worldwide, the comparative remarks about various religious traditions' views of women (especially in contrast to that of Jesus Christ), and the intersection of these views with economic and cultural achievements across the globe. This, along with an exceptional exegesis of women in the Bible, combined to make a perspective changing 5 star book for me. His (and yes, this is written by a man) description of how both sexism (which is woman-crushing) and feminism (which causes true woman to disappear in favor of a masculinized alternate) are destructive frameworks for considering our womanhood. The true framework for female identity is worked out chapter by chapter in light of the unity/community of the Holy Trinity and the imago dei of Genesis 2. He upholds the Biblical mandate of complementarian roles and traditional wifely submission within marriage (not all women to all men in general), but his foundational premises give so much more depth and weight to that reality. Miller's writing style may not be exceptional, but his content was actual page-turning delight for me; I was thirsty and this has begun to quench my womanly thirst with Gospel refreshment. It is information I have read elsewhere in piecemeal fashion, but seeing it altogether as a statement was entirely eye-opening. I will be returning to the well.
January 27, 2019
I read this book aloud to my 17 year old daughter as part of our reading "streak" during her senior year. What a gem it was! It outlines the awful oppression of women that is occurring in our world today and then goes back to the root of where this comes from. The book beautifully outlines God's value of women from the very beginning and how this is rooted in God's very nature. The theology is like a banquet feast - what a joy to read and digest. The book lays out the biblical truth that women and men are equal in value but different in role in a very understandable way and paints a beautiful picture of God's design. Neither sexism or radical feminism are God's plan - God's design is so much better! It was fascinating to read about the start of feminism - maternal feminism (very different from today's feminism) and I would like to learn more about this movement. I am left feeling very empowered as a woman to be all that God created me to be. I also feel incredibly motivated to take some action to defend women, now that I am more aware of the horrible abuses of them that are going on in our world today. I highly recommend this book.
July 10, 2015
"I've heard Darrow speaking several times in the past, his message did not change. He is certainly a prophetic voice in favor of woman's dignity. I deeply recommend the reading of this book! However, I don't think that I agree with the following statement: "In English, according to the 1828 Webster's Dictionary, woman is a compound of "womb" and "man." The idea is that a woman is the female of the human race, grown to adult years. A woman is a "man with a womb." Thus, there are two types of human beings: • men with a womb • men without a womb. God has designated both male and female to be imago Dei. Both male and female are "man." Because God has the right to do this, I will use the following terms interchangeably: humankind, imago Dei, man, and mankind. Now, in the spirit of civility and clarity, let's move ahead.”
I think that I understood what Darrow tries to convey with this statement and I am 100% on his side of woman's dignity and equality with man. Nevertheless, the assumption made in the above statement is quite too much beyond the line hermeneutically. I would prefer to stick with Genesis rather than extract a meaning from the English grammar to reinforce something that was written in Hebrew, because in the Hebrew language woman is not a man with a womb. This idea is far away from the original text.
God created male and female, distinct not only in an internal organ, but biologically and emotionally completely different from one another. We are equal to God, but still different compared with the other. This difference doesn't diminish the male or the female, instead, it elevates the greatness of a God in creating two different beings yet equal to him. This idea of likeness and distinction is amazing!
I am afraid that the Darrow's assumption would lead people to infere that in the same way that there is man with or without womb, there is woman with or without womb, and based in this unique biological similarities proposed here, there is a strong case in favor of gay biological equality with any of the chosen gender, since the only distinction among male and female is an internal organ. Biology has been explored scientifically as a strong case for the acceptation of a third gender, proposing a trisomy XYY found in certain people, especially among the gay community, which leads a person to adopt any of the gender that he or she feels biologically compelled too. Therefore, being a biological assumption, tagging gayism as a sinful act is an absurd proposition against the order of nature.
I think that I understood what Darrow tries to convey with this statement and I am 100% on his side of woman's dignity and equality with man. Nevertheless, the assumption made in the above statement is quite too much beyond the line hermeneutically. I would prefer to stick with Genesis rather than extract a meaning from the English grammar to reinforce something that was written in Hebrew, because in the Hebrew language woman is not a man with a womb. This idea is far away from the original text.
God created male and female, distinct not only in an internal organ, but biologically and emotionally completely different from one another. We are equal to God, but still different compared with the other. This difference doesn't diminish the male or the female, instead, it elevates the greatness of a God in creating two different beings yet equal to him. This idea of likeness and distinction is amazing!
I am afraid that the Darrow's assumption would lead people to infere that in the same way that there is man with or without womb, there is woman with or without womb, and based in this unique biological similarities proposed here, there is a strong case in favor of gay biological equality with any of the chosen gender, since the only distinction among male and female is an internal organ. Biology has been explored scientifically as a strong case for the acceptation of a third gender, proposing a trisomy XYY found in certain people, especially among the gay community, which leads a person to adopt any of the gender that he or she feels biologically compelled too. Therefore, being a biological assumption, tagging gayism as a sinful act is an absurd proposition against the order of nature.
June 6, 2019
The role of women has been debated through the ages. In this book Darrow Miller with Stan Guthrie offers insight and suggestions for reclaiming the dignity of women in societies around the world.
Part 1 addresses the abuse of women along with alarming statistics. Did you know domestic violence is the number one health risk for American women between the ages of 15 and 45? Did you know in Bangladesh, acid attacks deliberately disfigure women to make them unattractive? Then there’s the degradation spawned by pornography, sex trafficking, forced sterilization and other travesties.
In Part 2, the authors discuss the problem as rooted in sexism, which views women as inferior to men, and radical feminism, which views men and women as identical. Instead, Miller and Guthrie suggest men and women be viewed as equal in being and different in function.
They discuss the differences among waves of feminism. First wave feminists worked to gain basic rights, such as the right to vote, while today’s radical feminists deny masculine and feminine distinctions and strive to establish interchangeable gender roles of choice.
Part 3 of the book looks at biblical foundations for a worldview with the Trinity as a model of diversity within unity. Part 4 offers a look at what’s ahead with the marriage of Christ and the church.
A wrap-up chapter stresses the role of women as nurturers first in the family, then in society and the nations.
This book opened my eyes as to how changes in definition of gender, etc., have developed and become acceptable in our society. The authors do a thorough job of researching attitudes and actions in the family, the church and society at large to make their case of developing a healthy view of men and women that would allow people of all cultures to exist with dignity.
The book includes a valuable glossary along with subject and biblical references indexes.
No matter your view of the roles of men and women, no matter your age or stage, this book will open your eyes to look at all sides of the gender issue. It’s a sobering, thought-provoking read.
Part 1 addresses the abuse of women along with alarming statistics. Did you know domestic violence is the number one health risk for American women between the ages of 15 and 45? Did you know in Bangladesh, acid attacks deliberately disfigure women to make them unattractive? Then there’s the degradation spawned by pornography, sex trafficking, forced sterilization and other travesties.
In Part 2, the authors discuss the problem as rooted in sexism, which views women as inferior to men, and radical feminism, which views men and women as identical. Instead, Miller and Guthrie suggest men and women be viewed as equal in being and different in function.
They discuss the differences among waves of feminism. First wave feminists worked to gain basic rights, such as the right to vote, while today’s radical feminists deny masculine and feminine distinctions and strive to establish interchangeable gender roles of choice.
Part 3 of the book looks at biblical foundations for a worldview with the Trinity as a model of diversity within unity. Part 4 offers a look at what’s ahead with the marriage of Christ and the church.
A wrap-up chapter stresses the role of women as nurturers first in the family, then in society and the nations.
This book opened my eyes as to how changes in definition of gender, etc., have developed and become acceptable in our society. The authors do a thorough job of researching attitudes and actions in the family, the church and society at large to make their case of developing a healthy view of men and women that would allow people of all cultures to exist with dignity.
The book includes a valuable glossary along with subject and biblical references indexes.
No matter your view of the roles of men and women, no matter your age or stage, this book will open your eyes to look at all sides of the gender issue. It’s a sobering, thought-provoking read.
April 18, 2019
I really appreciated most of the content in this book. My only contention is the heavily complementarian approach to church ministry, as I believe that women can serve as pastors and elders, and the author of this book doesn't. Otherwise a good (if challenging in some areas) read.
April 10, 2016
Una de las mejores lecturas que he realizado. Este libro muestra datos históricos relevantes que nos permiten comprender el trayecto que ha llevado a las mujeres a sufrir opresión durante milenios. Es considerado además una completa tesis que busca plantear el propósito original de Dios al crear al hombre y la mujer para complementarse en la tarea de juntos gobernar la creación, y el momento en que ese propósito quedó olvidado.
Debo decir que aún tengo incognitas sobre el trato que se relata en la Biblia hacia las mujeres, pero en general, fue un libro que permitió despejar muchas de mis dudas y aclarar sobre todo, conceptos que n o estaban claros del todo.
Lo recomiendo sin dudarlo. Creo que la vindicacion de la mujer es necesaria para crear familias saludables y por medio de estas, naciones realmente fuertes y sanas.
Debo decir que aún tengo incognitas sobre el trato que se relata en la Biblia hacia las mujeres, pero en general, fue un libro que permitió despejar muchas de mis dudas y aclarar sobre todo, conceptos que n o estaban claros del todo.
Lo recomiendo sin dudarlo. Creo que la vindicacion de la mujer es necesaria para crear familias saludables y por medio de estas, naciones realmente fuertes y sanas.
March 23, 2013
Disappointed in the traditional approach to the role of women on ministry
March 28, 2014
Fantastic book! I would love to give a copy to all my Christian sisters. I found it very liberating.
August 5, 2015
Must read for understanding the crytical situation of the gender perspective.
October 17, 2018
This is an excellent exposition on the treatment of women around the world as well as a thorough explanation of complementarianism.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews