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Different by Design: Discovering God's Will for Today's Man and Woman
Created Male and Female
Almost without notice, our homes and churches have become the newest laboratory for sex-role experimentation. Lured by the world's acceptance and a national obsession with fairness, we've replaced the once-clear biblical boundaries between men and women with a confusing, frighteningly secular hybrid. The harmony and effectiveness we were promised never came--only a treacherous rift that is ruining marriages, dividing families, and splitting churches top to bottom.
Different by Design offers hope for bridging that gap and finding fulfillment and success in your family and church. In his thorough, no-nonsense style, John MacArthur sets aside prevailing cultural standards and helps you understand and apply the biblical principles for men's and women's roles. Discover the beauty, balance, and benefits of God's unique role for you in this practical, well-researched tool--one you'll turn to again and again!
Dr. John MacArthur, Jr. is Pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and President of The Master's College and Seminary. Known for his dynamic expository preaching, John is heard daily on the "Grace to You" syndicated radio broadcast and has a cassette ministry that has distributed more than eight million tapes. His many books include The MacArthur New Testament Commentary series, Our Sufficiency in Christ , Ashamed of the Gospel , How to Meet the Enemy , and Anxiety Attacked .
The MacArthur Study Series is designed to help Christians better understand and apply the Bible by better understanding some of its key truths and doctrines.
Almost without notice, our homes and churches have become the newest laboratory for sex-role experimentation. Lured by the world's acceptance and a national obsession with fairness, we've replaced the once-clear biblical boundaries between men and women with a confusing, frighteningly secular hybrid. The harmony and effectiveness we were promised never came--only a treacherous rift that is ruining marriages, dividing families, and splitting churches top to bottom.
Different by Design offers hope for bridging that gap and finding fulfillment and success in your family and church. In his thorough, no-nonsense style, John MacArthur sets aside prevailing cultural standards and helps you understand and apply the biblical principles for men's and women's roles. Discover the beauty, balance, and benefits of God's unique role for you in this practical, well-researched tool--one you'll turn to again and again!
Dr. John MacArthur, Jr. is Pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and President of The Master's College and Seminary. Known for his dynamic expository preaching, John is heard daily on the "Grace to You" syndicated radio broadcast and has a cassette ministry that has distributed more than eight million tapes. His many books include The MacArthur New Testament Commentary series, Our Sufficiency in Christ , Ashamed of the Gospel , How to Meet the Enemy , and Anxiety Attacked .
The MacArthur Study Series is designed to help Christians better understand and apply the Bible by better understanding some of its key truths and doctrines.
214 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1994
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183 people want to read
About the author
John F. MacArthur Jr.
1,344 books1,918 followersJohn F. MacArthur, Jr. was a United States Calvinistic evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You and as the editor of the Gold Medallion Book Award-winning MacArthur Study Bible. MacArthur was a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California beginning in 1969, as well as President of The Master’s College (and the related Master’s Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 17, 2019
It’s no shocker that I disagree with 90% of what this book lays out. If I was a complementarian, I’m sure I would have loved the book. But I am not. I found the mischaracterization of feminists, particularly “evangelical”/Christian feminists, highly offensive and inaccurate.
It is interesting to me that by the end of the book, one of the chief reasons for living in a complementarian model is to be a witness to the world. This does not seem to be the case, as the world recoils in horror at the abuse of women within complementarian churches and marriages. Granted the book was written in 1994, but there was no mention of the abuse women have experienced. The closest we get to the mention of abuse is when MacArthur warns of the sexual harassment that occurs in workplaces, attempting to show couples that the best place for women is in the home since the workplace is such a threat to their safety and purity.
I also was quite frustrated with MacArthur’s interpretation of Genesis 1-3 and of course how he understands “ezer kenegdo,” usually translates as “helper.” I will not get into my own interpretation of those chapters, but I will leave it at MacArthur does a lot of calling his opinion Truth. I was surprised by the little amount of references he used in the sections of biblical interpretation, and he seemed to rely on >5 commentaries for certain passages.
Are there any positives? I braced myself for the section on singleness, expecting MacArthur to say that single women are under the headship of their fathers and thus need to submit to them. There was none of that, and I was pleasantly surprised by the graciousness towards singles. I did disagree with the terminology of “the gift of singleness” and how it was applied to singles content with their singleness. But MacArthur highlighted singleness in a positive light, and I appreciated that. Secondly, I felt that MacArthur’s explanation of Christlike character was pretty good, though I disagree with him on the sexes being called to grow into different character traits. In my opinion, the Christlikeness that he would say men are called to I would say women also are called to model. And the traits that Paul presents for women, I would say men too should exhibit.
There are other details that I could write about that disturbed me, but this review gives the gist of it. 2 stars, would not recommend, unless one is attempting to understand complementarians.
It is interesting to me that by the end of the book, one of the chief reasons for living in a complementarian model is to be a witness to the world. This does not seem to be the case, as the world recoils in horror at the abuse of women within complementarian churches and marriages. Granted the book was written in 1994, but there was no mention of the abuse women have experienced. The closest we get to the mention of abuse is when MacArthur warns of the sexual harassment that occurs in workplaces, attempting to show couples that the best place for women is in the home since the workplace is such a threat to their safety and purity.
I also was quite frustrated with MacArthur’s interpretation of Genesis 1-3 and of course how he understands “ezer kenegdo,” usually translates as “helper.” I will not get into my own interpretation of those chapters, but I will leave it at MacArthur does a lot of calling his opinion Truth. I was surprised by the little amount of references he used in the sections of biblical interpretation, and he seemed to rely on >5 commentaries for certain passages.
Are there any positives? I braced myself for the section on singleness, expecting MacArthur to say that single women are under the headship of their fathers and thus need to submit to them. There was none of that, and I was pleasantly surprised by the graciousness towards singles. I did disagree with the terminology of “the gift of singleness” and how it was applied to singles content with their singleness. But MacArthur highlighted singleness in a positive light, and I appreciated that. Secondly, I felt that MacArthur’s explanation of Christlike character was pretty good, though I disagree with him on the sexes being called to grow into different character traits. In my opinion, the Christlikeness that he would say men are called to I would say women also are called to model. And the traits that Paul presents for women, I would say men too should exhibit.
There are other details that I could write about that disturbed me, but this review gives the gist of it. 2 stars, would not recommend, unless one is attempting to understand complementarians.
March 18, 2022
Never thought a John MacArthur book would ever get less that four stars from me but this 1994 offering was just not up to his typical level if scholarship. Certainly not a bad book but mostly a repetition of Scripture which us also not a bad thing. But the application of the Scriptures was lacking for me. I would have loved to see a deeper coverage of abusive husbands and the wife's options as well as marriages that have been restored through true repentance. I liked his take on submission but I believe I have shared some even more salient points from Scripture in the past. But, a good book just basic.
June 5, 2020
Un libro muy interesante donde el autor expresa de manera exegetica los Roles tanto del hombre como de la mujer, apuntando a la importancia del cumplimiento de tales roles, de modo que tanto el hombre como la mujer puedan Glorificar a Dios de la manera que El nos llamó a Glorificarle, dentro los Roles que nos pertenecen.
September 6, 2021
I normally like his books but I don’t agree 100% with everything in this book. The Proverbs 31 woman may of been in charge of the house but she had servants and she had involvement in business and real estate. This doesn’t match the point he is making in this book.
July 4, 2022
It's a very good book on christian life, not necessarily on marriage or dating.
July 5, 2022
It isn’t that this was a bad book, it had some excellent points, it just seems far too repetitive for me to give it more than a 3.5.
June 8, 2016
Este libro me parece fundamental en estos tiempos. Sobre todo para quienes queremos saber cuál es nuestro papel como hombres y mujeres en el esquema original.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews