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Engaño cultural / SPA Cultural counterfeits
En Engaño cultural , Jen Oshman invita a las lectoras a rechazar promesas vacías y destructivas de los ídolos del mundo para acoger algo mucho más valioso y nos proyecta una visión para que las mujeres experimenten una verdadera esperanza y paz en Jesús, invitándolas a reconocer una identidad inquebrantable en Él. Este recurso, ayudará a muchas mujeres a encontrar la libertad y el gozo explorando el diseño que Dios tiene para sus vidas.
In Cultural Counterfeits , Jen Oshman encourages women to reject the empty, destructive promises these idols offer and embrace something much more satisfying. She casts a vision for women to experience real hope and peace in Jesus, calling them to recognize their unshakable and eternal identities in him. This timely and compelling resource will help women find freedom and joy as they explore God’s good design and purpose for their lives.
In Cultural Counterfeits , Jen Oshman encourages women to reject the empty, destructive promises these idols offer and embrace something much more satisfying. She casts a vision for women to experience real hope and peace in Jesus, calling them to recognize their unshakable and eternal identities in him. This timely and compelling resource will help women find freedom and joy as they explore God’s good design and purpose for their lives.
224 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2022
41 people are currently reading
2853 people want to read
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March 3, 2022
"In our fallen state we think we know best, that we can do better. And so we continuously set out to make our best lives happen right now."
This is the situation we often find ourselves in, the pursuit of happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment during our time here on earth. We look around at the variety of ways this seems to be achieved. In Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made For So Much More by Jen Oshman, she helps us discover the ways culture seeks to provide this for us, and how Christ offers so much more.
In the first three chapters of Part 1 she reminds us of two stories we hear. The first-and loudest shared with us from culture and society - is that the world offers you and me an amazing life; we just have to go out and make it happen. The second is a quieter story, a whisper from our heart, speaking a longing and deep desire within us, that we were made for more.
How we interact with and the extent to which we believe each of them, determines our actions and exhaustion as we seek to fulfill them both from ingredients the world provides - "if only I have that, then I'll feel significant, valued, and have purpose."
Sound familiar?
Maybe we don't speak it out as brazenly...but it's there; expecting satisfaction and fulfillment from created things rather than the Creator - these are our idols.
Jen takes us through some history of the feminist movement to help us understand the biblical principles where it began and the tragic shift of the second wave where equality became defined as sameness, resulting in idolatry of our bodies and it's expression in our sexuality.
Part 2 she confronts the cultural expressions of freedom as defined by these movements for women and how tragically they differ from God's design, in our perception of beauty, hook-up culture, abortion and gender dysphoria. She also includes the idol of marriage and motherhood, as expressed when you hear people say things like, "motherhood is a woman's highest calling," when our highest calling in the Christian life isn't limited to a temporary role here on earth.
In Part 3, she moves from how the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, to how Christ came to give us abundant life. With love and passion, Jen shares the reasons why it's good to be a girl and how we can embrace the God who satisfies our longing souls and fills us with good things and who invites us to make our home in him.
The impact of culture through social media and governing policies on our worldview is similar to putting a frog in lukewarm water and then boiling it, the idea is the poor frog won't notice the temperature going up. We become used to the shifts in culture around us, and can easily find ourselves caught up in it without searching for biblical truth first.
I think this was most evident to me after Canada legalized marijuana. We had so many people present to the ER with adverse symptoms related to marijuana use, because they held the idea that since it was legal now, it must be okay and there wouldn't be any side effects.
Jen's book is a call for us to think critically and biblically about rising culture issues to provide us with a biblical worldview in how we perceive our womanhood and God's good design for us.
I hope you'll enjoy this one as well!
Quick Stats:
# of pages: 200
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 5 stars
*A big thanks to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
This is the situation we often find ourselves in, the pursuit of happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment during our time here on earth. We look around at the variety of ways this seems to be achieved. In Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made For So Much More by Jen Oshman, she helps us discover the ways culture seeks to provide this for us, and how Christ offers so much more.
In the first three chapters of Part 1 she reminds us of two stories we hear. The first-and loudest shared with us from culture and society - is that the world offers you and me an amazing life; we just have to go out and make it happen. The second is a quieter story, a whisper from our heart, speaking a longing and deep desire within us, that we were made for more.
How we interact with and the extent to which we believe each of them, determines our actions and exhaustion as we seek to fulfill them both from ingredients the world provides - "if only I have that, then I'll feel significant, valued, and have purpose."
Sound familiar?
Maybe we don't speak it out as brazenly...but it's there; expecting satisfaction and fulfillment from created things rather than the Creator - these are our idols.
Jen takes us through some history of the feminist movement to help us understand the biblical principles where it began and the tragic shift of the second wave where equality became defined as sameness, resulting in idolatry of our bodies and it's expression in our sexuality.
Part 2 she confronts the cultural expressions of freedom as defined by these movements for women and how tragically they differ from God's design, in our perception of beauty, hook-up culture, abortion and gender dysphoria. She also includes the idol of marriage and motherhood, as expressed when you hear people say things like, "motherhood is a woman's highest calling," when our highest calling in the Christian life isn't limited to a temporary role here on earth.
In Part 3, she moves from how the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, to how Christ came to give us abundant life. With love and passion, Jen shares the reasons why it's good to be a girl and how we can embrace the God who satisfies our longing souls and fills us with good things and who invites us to make our home in him.
The impact of culture through social media and governing policies on our worldview is similar to putting a frog in lukewarm water and then boiling it, the idea is the poor frog won't notice the temperature going up. We become used to the shifts in culture around us, and can easily find ourselves caught up in it without searching for biblical truth first.
I think this was most evident to me after Canada legalized marijuana. We had so many people present to the ER with adverse symptoms related to marijuana use, because they held the idea that since it was legal now, it must be okay and there wouldn't be any side effects.
Jen's book is a call for us to think critically and biblically about rising culture issues to provide us with a biblical worldview in how we perceive our womanhood and God's good design for us.
I hope you'll enjoy this one as well!
Quick Stats:
# of pages: 200
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 5 stars
*A big thanks to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
July 9, 2024
I highly recommend! Jen Oshman does a great job writing about these “counterfeits” with much compassion and grace. She includes statistics and facts but also backs up her points with scripture and the clear Gospel message. I found the chapter on singleness and motherhood very interesting….a good reminder.
January 4, 2024
Such a great book exploring the cultural counterfeits we have been fed in the last few generations. Our society as a whole is showing the decline and breakdown in relationships, in mental health, in moral codes. But there is hope and there is a way to combat the counterfeits with reality and truth.
Jen writes really well and I would highly suggest this book.
Jen writes really well and I would highly suggest this book.
February 16, 2025
The contents page of the book had me excited as the topics to be covered looked brilliant. Sadly this book failed to deliver on any of these topics.
The arguments in this book are laced with feminism and fail to address the topics with balance or basic biblical truth. There are some rogue statements throughout that don't make sense and rob the chapters of any authority.
I cannot recommend this to anyone.
The arguments in this book are laced with feminism and fail to address the topics with balance or basic biblical truth. There are some rogue statements throughout that don't make sense and rob the chapters of any authority.
I cannot recommend this to anyone.
April 23, 2023
Great book that discusses how the promises and messages
of todays culture are empty and actually harmful to women. Helps you look at abortion, LGTBQIA+, and hookup culture from a biblical lens and how God promises so much more for women. A really good read! Jen Oshman is a beautiful writer and I walked away loving Jesus more!
of todays culture are empty and actually harmful to women. Helps you look at abortion, LGTBQIA+, and hookup culture from a biblical lens and how God promises so much more for women. A really good read! Jen Oshman is a beautiful writer and I walked away loving Jesus more!
June 7, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 | WOW—what a powerful and timely book!! With all of the messages that parade themselves as freeing and true in today’s culture, Jen Oshman reveals the need for a discerning lens in navigating them all.
She specifically addresses five of these messages, exposing them for the counterfeits they are.
I loved the first few chapters that were dedicated to laying the groundwork with history. Here, she helped the reader understand how we got to where we are in our current cultural moment. It was one of my favorite things about the book!
I also found Oshman’s skillful avoidance of using a judgmental or condemnatory tone throughout the book so refreshing! There is no calling out or finger pointing—just plain facts and biblical truth. 👏🏾
My favorite chapter was the one on marriage and motherhood idolatry. 🔥 As a single woman, I’m so grateful that she included it!
Y’all, this book is a must-read for anyone seeking to navigate the complexities of our culture with discernment. Highly recommend!!!
She specifically addresses five of these messages, exposing them for the counterfeits they are.
I loved the first few chapters that were dedicated to laying the groundwork with history. Here, she helped the reader understand how we got to where we are in our current cultural moment. It was one of my favorite things about the book!
I also found Oshman’s skillful avoidance of using a judgmental or condemnatory tone throughout the book so refreshing! There is no calling out or finger pointing—just plain facts and biblical truth. 👏🏾
My favorite chapter was the one on marriage and motherhood idolatry. 🔥 As a single woman, I’m so grateful that she included it!
Y’all, this book is a must-read for anyone seeking to navigate the complexities of our culture with discernment. Highly recommend!!!
May 21, 2025
This was such a precious book! I’m a big fan of Jen Oshman and I really enjoyed this book. Full of precious truths and sweet reminders of who we are in Christ. She does a great job of fighting the lies of the world with the truth of Scripture. Will definitely read again!
March 1, 2023
4.5 stars. Not necessarily a must-read for everyone, but a good, solid, and lovely book that points us as women back to Jesus amid the myriad idols of our age - both those in the world and those in the church.
I feel like I read this with a specific audience in mind and found it, not perfect, but useful. In many ways, it’s what I wish You’re Not Enough (And That’s Okay) by Allie Beth Stuckey had been. I think it’s more approachable for young women who haven’t necessarily strayed far from the path already, but who need to be equipped for the future to engage with the world’s ideas about what makes life good and worth living and be able to discern the emptiness of those ideas. I really appreciated the author’s setting so many of these worldly ideas in the context of recent history and various waves of feminism.
As a result of looking at it for a specific audience, I’m not sure I have a good sense of what audience it is ideal for. I worry that some who might really benefit from it might not want to read it. But perhaps that would be more the case for women and young women who are already deeply committed to the idols the author exposes - beauty and ability, sex, abortion, LGBTQ+, and marriage and motherhood - and not interested in entertaining any related critique. For those teetering on the edges, I think this could be a timely, truthful, gracious, and life-giving read.
Bottom line: A loving, winsome, encouraging, forthright book by an author with strong poetic tendencies. My hope is that it communicates the beauty and hope of Christ to those who have been seeking - or have been tempted to seek - the meaning of life in one of many cultural counterfeits.
Recommended.
I feel like I read this with a specific audience in mind and found it, not perfect, but useful. In many ways, it’s what I wish You’re Not Enough (And That’s Okay) by Allie Beth Stuckey had been. I think it’s more approachable for young women who haven’t necessarily strayed far from the path already, but who need to be equipped for the future to engage with the world’s ideas about what makes life good and worth living and be able to discern the emptiness of those ideas. I really appreciated the author’s setting so many of these worldly ideas in the context of recent history and various waves of feminism.
As a result of looking at it for a specific audience, I’m not sure I have a good sense of what audience it is ideal for. I worry that some who might really benefit from it might not want to read it. But perhaps that would be more the case for women and young women who are already deeply committed to the idols the author exposes - beauty and ability, sex, abortion, LGBTQ+, and marriage and motherhood - and not interested in entertaining any related critique. For those teetering on the edges, I think this could be a timely, truthful, gracious, and life-giving read.
Bottom line: A loving, winsome, encouraging, forthright book by an author with strong poetic tendencies. My hope is that it communicates the beauty and hope of Christ to those who have been seeking - or have been tempted to seek - the meaning of life in one of many cultural counterfeits.
Recommended.
March 21, 2022
I had the privilege of reading the transcript of this book soon after its creative birthing and then to re-read it alongside women at my church over the past ten weeks. It has been a worthy and exhorting read both times. Jen is passionate about the gospel, about the flourishing of women, and about how the Word shines light on the narrow path we are called to walk as Christ-followers as we navigate the current events of our day. We are all like fish who swim in and consume the empty promises of our age everyday whether we want to or not. They are the murky water in our proverbial tank. To continue with my fish-bowl metaphor, this book, dips you out with a net (which can feel uncomfortable at times), refreshes the water with what is true, and then sets you gently back down to swim again. I also appreciate how she did not shirk away from confronting an empty promise that lurks in our churches of falsely exalting marriage and motherhood and therefore distorting it by asking it to promise to satisfy us in a way that was meant only for Christ. You will most assuredly find yourself confronted in some way, yet also exhorted to turn back to worship and be truly satisfied in Christ, the loving father of both his prodigal and legalistic daughters. I highly recommend this book and the author behind it!
April 17, 2022
"Cultural Counterfeits" by Jen Oshman could also be called "Lies Women Believe About Themselves". We, women, were created for so much more. There is a design and purpose for us.
It is an interesting read and I appreciate her biblical centering through out the book. I would have appreciated a little more dialogue from the male perspective and how this affects young boys. And it made me appreciate my own upbringing more, as there were parts of the book that I did not resonate with - lies I would never have believed.
My favourite part was when she explained the meaning behind the word "helper" in the Old Testament. It was very eye opening. Something that I will ponder in the days to come.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.
It is an interesting read and I appreciate her biblical centering through out the book. I would have appreciated a little more dialogue from the male perspective and how this affects young boys. And it made me appreciate my own upbringing more, as there were parts of the book that I did not resonate with - lies I would never have believed.
My favourite part was when she explained the meaning behind the word "helper" in the Old Testament. It was very eye opening. Something that I will ponder in the days to come.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.
June 5, 2024
I’ve read this book slowly due to the busy-ness of life and trips. But don’t take the fact that it took me a month to finish this small book as it not being interesting. Anytime we take a look at our world and hold up our thoughts, actions, and philosophies next to the light of the gospel it’s helpful. This is a good read for women especially but worthwhile for men, as well. It shows the true value we have in Christ in contrast to the idols we often pursue. The subtitle explains the subject matter: “confronting 5 empty promises of our age and how we were made for so much more.”
October 21, 2022
3.7. Talks about different cultural things going on that women are navigating through (sex, marriage/singleness, abortion, LGBT, etc). Clearly could be controversial and I think she is a bit more conservative than myself, but I generally can agree with the heart of her main takeaways and think she said things in a gracious way.
July 2, 2024
Oshman addresses cultural ideas that purport to satisfy our hearts, but don't in this book.
I did not feel like there were a lot of new ideas in this book, but ideas pieced together from other authors. The chapter on elevating motherhood/marriage to an unhealthy level was well done and an important concept to highlight in Christian circles. I think this would be a good read for Christian seniors entering high school.
I did not feel like there were a lot of new ideas in this book, but ideas pieced together from other authors. The chapter on elevating motherhood/marriage to an unhealthy level was well done and an important concept to highlight in Christian circles. I think this would be a good read for Christian seniors entering high school.
Read
September 13, 2024Apparently I ordered this book a couple of years ago for my wife to review, then stuck it in a stack of "to review" books (reasonable enough, right?), then promptly forgot about it until I read my way down through the "to review" books and this book's turn arrived. I didn't remember any details about the book other than that it was supposed to be reviewed, so I picked it up and started reading. A few sentences in I realized that 1) this book isn't really for me; and 2) it is an excellent book. Both of those facts held all the way through the text, which has now been finished and reviewed (at the request of the publisher--a positive review was not required) and handed off to the wife for reading by someone who will have more direct thoughts about the subject matter.
August 9, 2023
Very refreshing discussion of our current culture and how it sells women short. I appreciated the ease of language in this book. Would recommend to any Christian young woman!!
July 9, 2024
Excellently written and biblically sound…highly recommend!
June 20, 2025
Excelente!
Possui citações de vários autores sérios e faz reflexões importantes para os dias atuais.
Possui citações de vários autores sérios e faz reflexões importantes para os dias atuais.
June 16, 2022
A clear, much-needed, much-appreciated, Christ-centered, relevant voice in the noise of our age. Worth every minute.
April 19, 2022
Since the first sin committed by Adam and Eve, the human race has been living with emptiness in their hearts. Cain was deemed to become a restless wanderer. People become vulnerable to all kinds of temptations. The biggest weapon used by the evil one: Idolatry. As long as people could be led away from the Truth of Jesus, idols are pretty effective ways to stumble all people, especially believers.
The author begins by showing us how our modern culture has shaped our perceptions of feminism, liberal sex, free choice, and negative images of Christianity and the Church. Sadly, mainstream media has coloured people's general perception of the Christian faith. "The Handmaid's Tale" TV series caricatures Christianity as some fundamentalist cult that degrades women into mere child-bearing slaves. The "Da Vinci Code" makes people question the Church about hidden "secrets" of the past. For all the well-intentioned beginnings, parts of modern feminism have degenerated into detrimental movements that promoted the Sexual Revolution, of free love, including illicit sex. On the #MeToo movement, Oshman is convinced that this movement would never have happened "without millennia of influence from the Bible." In this book, author Jen Oshman highlights five of the idols that pose extreme dangers to our spiritual lives. With women as her key audience, the author describes the five empty promises of the following idols:
1) Beauty & Ability
2) Cheap Sex
3) Abortion
4) LGBTQIA+
5) Twisted View of Marriage and Motherhood.
The first empty promise drives home our culture's infatuation with what looks good, appearances, and abilities. This has implications for the way that we allow aesthetics to dictate how we behave instead of letting Truth be the primary motivation to be who we are. With regard to abilities, the author makes a keen observation about how the lack of abilities could become a strong driver for ending one's life! All of these aesthetics, appearances, and abilities, or the lack of them try to fill the hole in our hearts but they are by themselves empty. The second empty promise is about our culture's infatuation with sex, so much so that they reduce a person's worth in terms of sexuality. What is needed is a correct view of sexuality, marriage, and what it means to keep our covenant promises to one another and to God. The third empty promise focuses on the topic of free choice and abortion. We learn about how worldviews like dualism could give rise to justifications for abortion. The fourth is about the root of the LGBTQIA+ movement, where one's fixation on a particular form of sexuality as an absolute right could become problematic. Instead of allowing any form of sexuality to form our basic identity, Oshman pushes back by saying: "It's not who you love; it's who loves you" that should form our foundation. It is not us who define who we are, but God alone. Oshman's arguments are quite thought-provoking and counter-cultural. Finally, she looks at marriage and motherhood. Far too many women are feeling less fulfilled either because they are single or are unable to have children.
Oshman concludes with some powerful exhortations to help us move away from these empty promises to the Promise of God. To the question, "Why is it good to be a girl?" she provides ten answers to anchor readers on the Word of God.
My Thoughts
The problem of idols and empty promises from the culture around us is so prevalent that there are not enough resources to counter them. Thankfully in this book, Jen Oshman helps push back against this deceitful avalanche of false hopes. I think Oshman is spot on to identify the problem of appearances and abilities. For many people, especially the younger ones, the seductiveness of fame and self-promotion can be too enticing to avoid. Just see how many people are launching their own social media platforms and profiles to battle for more likes and followers. Is there a point at which they would sacrifice Truth just to get ahead of others? Appearances can affect one's self-esteem, but pretense and false facade could be worse. The empty promises of abortion and sex have been traditional areas of contention for decades. By listing them in this book once again, we are reminded that the problem is not old but continues to be a controversial area that Christians ought to counter. I know there are many in society who sees Christianity as a threat to their cultural way of life. I prefer to see it as a healthy counter, or to be politically correct, an alternative point of view. This counterview is increasingly more difficult. The rise of "cancel culture" has been used to deny or threaten the very expression of such counterviews. A true democracy needs to defend the right for all expressions of worldviews. Thankfully, Oshman's book is among the few voices bold enough to push back. More importantly, it is letting the Bible's voice speak amid a climate of unbiblical philosophies floating around. Without a biblical voice, even Christians could be misled by the world.
The chapter on LGBTQIA+ is probably one of the most difficult and contentious chapters for anyone to write. With the legalization of rights of this group, the concern is the eroding of religious voices, so much so that any alternative to the increasingly mainstream view could be labeled as bigotry or hate speech. I wonder. Such labeling is mischief at best and demonic at worst. Readers do not need to be female to benefit from the reading of this book. Fathers, preachers, husbands, and adult males can benefit too by knowing the struggles their wives, sisters, daughters, and female friends could face daily.
Jen Oshman has been in women’s ministry for over two decades as a missionary and pastor’s wife on three continents. She’s the mother of four daughters, the author of Enough about Me: Find Lasting Joy in the Age of Self, and the host of All Things, a podcast about cultural events and trends. Her family currently resides in Colorado, where they planted Redemption Parker, an Acts29 church. She blogs at jenoshman.com.
Rating: 4 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
The author begins by showing us how our modern culture has shaped our perceptions of feminism, liberal sex, free choice, and negative images of Christianity and the Church. Sadly, mainstream media has coloured people's general perception of the Christian faith. "The Handmaid's Tale" TV series caricatures Christianity as some fundamentalist cult that degrades women into mere child-bearing slaves. The "Da Vinci Code" makes people question the Church about hidden "secrets" of the past. For all the well-intentioned beginnings, parts of modern feminism have degenerated into detrimental movements that promoted the Sexual Revolution, of free love, including illicit sex. On the #MeToo movement, Oshman is convinced that this movement would never have happened "without millennia of influence from the Bible." In this book, author Jen Oshman highlights five of the idols that pose extreme dangers to our spiritual lives. With women as her key audience, the author describes the five empty promises of the following idols:
1) Beauty & Ability
2) Cheap Sex
3) Abortion
4) LGBTQIA+
5) Twisted View of Marriage and Motherhood.
The first empty promise drives home our culture's infatuation with what looks good, appearances, and abilities. This has implications for the way that we allow aesthetics to dictate how we behave instead of letting Truth be the primary motivation to be who we are. With regard to abilities, the author makes a keen observation about how the lack of abilities could become a strong driver for ending one's life! All of these aesthetics, appearances, and abilities, or the lack of them try to fill the hole in our hearts but they are by themselves empty. The second empty promise is about our culture's infatuation with sex, so much so that they reduce a person's worth in terms of sexuality. What is needed is a correct view of sexuality, marriage, and what it means to keep our covenant promises to one another and to God. The third empty promise focuses on the topic of free choice and abortion. We learn about how worldviews like dualism could give rise to justifications for abortion. The fourth is about the root of the LGBTQIA+ movement, where one's fixation on a particular form of sexuality as an absolute right could become problematic. Instead of allowing any form of sexuality to form our basic identity, Oshman pushes back by saying: "It's not who you love; it's who loves you" that should form our foundation. It is not us who define who we are, but God alone. Oshman's arguments are quite thought-provoking and counter-cultural. Finally, she looks at marriage and motherhood. Far too many women are feeling less fulfilled either because they are single or are unable to have children.
Oshman concludes with some powerful exhortations to help us move away from these empty promises to the Promise of God. To the question, "Why is it good to be a girl?" she provides ten answers to anchor readers on the Word of God.
My Thoughts
The problem of idols and empty promises from the culture around us is so prevalent that there are not enough resources to counter them. Thankfully in this book, Jen Oshman helps push back against this deceitful avalanche of false hopes. I think Oshman is spot on to identify the problem of appearances and abilities. For many people, especially the younger ones, the seductiveness of fame and self-promotion can be too enticing to avoid. Just see how many people are launching their own social media platforms and profiles to battle for more likes and followers. Is there a point at which they would sacrifice Truth just to get ahead of others? Appearances can affect one's self-esteem, but pretense and false facade could be worse. The empty promises of abortion and sex have been traditional areas of contention for decades. By listing them in this book once again, we are reminded that the problem is not old but continues to be a controversial area that Christians ought to counter. I know there are many in society who sees Christianity as a threat to their cultural way of life. I prefer to see it as a healthy counter, or to be politically correct, an alternative point of view. This counterview is increasingly more difficult. The rise of "cancel culture" has been used to deny or threaten the very expression of such counterviews. A true democracy needs to defend the right for all expressions of worldviews. Thankfully, Oshman's book is among the few voices bold enough to push back. More importantly, it is letting the Bible's voice speak amid a climate of unbiblical philosophies floating around. Without a biblical voice, even Christians could be misled by the world.
The chapter on LGBTQIA+ is probably one of the most difficult and contentious chapters for anyone to write. With the legalization of rights of this group, the concern is the eroding of religious voices, so much so that any alternative to the increasingly mainstream view could be labeled as bigotry or hate speech. I wonder. Such labeling is mischief at best and demonic at worst. Readers do not need to be female to benefit from the reading of this book. Fathers, preachers, husbands, and adult males can benefit too by knowing the struggles their wives, sisters, daughters, and female friends could face daily.
Jen Oshman has been in women’s ministry for over two decades as a missionary and pastor’s wife on three continents. She’s the mother of four daughters, the author of Enough about Me: Find Lasting Joy in the Age of Self, and the host of All Things, a podcast about cultural events and trends. Her family currently resides in Colorado, where they planted Redemption Parker, an Acts29 church. She blogs at jenoshman.com.
Rating: 4 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
November 21, 2023
It saddens me to write this review. I agree with almost every major point in this book. But –
I have just finished a month-long personal study of Ephesians. Obviously, no book or author can expect to recreate the power and majesty of a book breathed out by God Himself, and I would be a fool to expect inspired authority from anything other than the Bible. There are books however that drop us to our knees in awe of God’s power and in gratitude for His love. This book didn’t do that. It deals with holiness as Ephesians does, but turns the order of arguments on its head. Each chapter starts out by enumerating the disastrous effects of falling for a modern lie, then in a vague sort of way, it explains God’s better path. I couldn’t agree more. God’s path is better, but we don't follow it because it will give us a better life. We follow it because God is so overwhelmingly, gloriously loving and holy. Ephesians starts with God and His provision and then goes on to holiness so that we understand the transforming sanctifying power of God. Instead, her arguments left me with the impression that she wants us to know that we are enough, to recognize our value. I couldn’t agree more that every person is infinitely valuable as an eternal being created in His image. Still, we are not worthy, He is worthy. He has done all for us. He has given all for us and to us. That is why we strive for holy lives; that is Who gives us the strength to live holy lives. He is worthy. He is enough. He promises to make us what He desires us to be. We don’t have to strive to build our own existence and identity, that is settled in Him. We just have to obey and He gives us the strength to do that, so we don’t have to rely on our strength and wisdom for that either. What a relief to know that it’s all through Him!
I was studying Jude at the same time I was reading this book. Her treatment of false teachers was very different from Jude’s. She is willing to grant them good motives behind their desire to trap even the youngest of children in their philosophies and ways of life. Jude is blunter. There is no gentleness in his book toward those who would lead silly women astray. There are offers of forgiveness to them, but no compromise or accommodation for them.
It also wouldn’t surprise me, to find out that I disagree with Mrs. Oshman in several other areas that weren’t covered in this book as well. She seems quite enamored with feminism and the me-too movement. She also platforms Sam Alberry and his take on same-sex attractions.
She couldn’t be more right when she urges us to show Christ’s love to everyone we meet. Christ died for the vilest sinner on the street and the Pharisee in the pulpit. We are called to bring them all to Christ. But we are called to bring them to the Christ of the Bible by the Biblical path. We can’t, daren’t, change a detail of that Christ for Hell is the only alternative to Christ the only begotten holy Son of God. We can not compromise on that truth, but it is a truth that is love. Just read 1 Corinthians 13. That is God’s standard of love for each believer. But don’t stop there. It is a love informed by God’s holiness, just read the rest of the book. Paul who spoke so beautifully of love was brutally direct in dealing with sin and offering forgiveness and change to all who repent.
Chapter 8 seemed out of place in this book. While each of the other chapters dealt with a lie assaulting the church from the outside, this one took a sharp turn and dealt with a discussion inside the church. I couldn’t disagree with her more on this one. Singleness isn’t under attack from the wider culture. Marriage and Motherhood certainly are. Our culture is wildly individualistic and single. They look at marriage as a prison and children as burdens to be avoided as long as possible. It’s just not the attitude that we see in any book of the Bible. Instead, you see the beautiful submission and selfless sacrifice of marriages oriented around God’s glory and the care and guidance of Children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. To not fight for that is to fall for one of the cultural lies of our day. God has not blessed me with a husband, but the denigration of marriage and motherhood because some are not blessed that way was very disheartening. In the earlier chapters, she explains the brokenness of people through the fall as a reason not to change the normal, original, for the abnormal. To state that God’s original plan for the family is not the best path, because it doesn’t work out for everyone, is to forget that it is God's basic plan for humanity. It’s clearly acknowledged in the Bible that even that path was broken in the fall. But when looking for an illustration of the love of God for his people and believers for each other, the Biblical authors all use marriage and family as illustrations. Paul, in defending singleness, didn’t seek to deny the unique blessing of God on marriage and Motherhood. He simply says that God uses singles for His glory as well. We shouldn’t seek to erase the blessings of the normal for the abnormal. It is our, single or married, submission and obedience to Him that God blesses. No one person’s path will look like another’s. But for us women, God has blessed and created us with the ability and the nature to be wives and mothers to His honor and glory.
Again, that is what is missing in this book. FOR HIS GLORY. That is what our lives are to revolve around, not ourselves. If we are seeking Him and His will, these questions fade as we begin to know Him.
If you are a believer, I would recommend getting to know Ephesians. Read it over and over and over. If you don’t yet know Jesus as your Savior, immerse yourself in Romans. Read it over and over and over. After that read, Holy Sexuality by Christopher Yuan, You’re Not Enough (and That’s Okay) by Allie Beth Stuckey, Hyper-Grace by Michael Brown, Who Am I by Jerry Bridges, Your Eternal Reward and Managing Your Emotions by Erwin Lutzer, and How to Eat Your Bible by Nate Pickowicz. They will all bring you to many of the same conclusions as this book but on a much firmer Scriptural foundation.
I have just finished a month-long personal study of Ephesians. Obviously, no book or author can expect to recreate the power and majesty of a book breathed out by God Himself, and I would be a fool to expect inspired authority from anything other than the Bible. There are books however that drop us to our knees in awe of God’s power and in gratitude for His love. This book didn’t do that. It deals with holiness as Ephesians does, but turns the order of arguments on its head. Each chapter starts out by enumerating the disastrous effects of falling for a modern lie, then in a vague sort of way, it explains God’s better path. I couldn’t agree more. God’s path is better, but we don't follow it because it will give us a better life. We follow it because God is so overwhelmingly, gloriously loving and holy. Ephesians starts with God and His provision and then goes on to holiness so that we understand the transforming sanctifying power of God. Instead, her arguments left me with the impression that she wants us to know that we are enough, to recognize our value. I couldn’t agree more that every person is infinitely valuable as an eternal being created in His image. Still, we are not worthy, He is worthy. He has done all for us. He has given all for us and to us. That is why we strive for holy lives; that is Who gives us the strength to live holy lives. He is worthy. He is enough. He promises to make us what He desires us to be. We don’t have to strive to build our own existence and identity, that is settled in Him. We just have to obey and He gives us the strength to do that, so we don’t have to rely on our strength and wisdom for that either. What a relief to know that it’s all through Him!
I was studying Jude at the same time I was reading this book. Her treatment of false teachers was very different from Jude’s. She is willing to grant them good motives behind their desire to trap even the youngest of children in their philosophies and ways of life. Jude is blunter. There is no gentleness in his book toward those who would lead silly women astray. There are offers of forgiveness to them, but no compromise or accommodation for them.
It also wouldn’t surprise me, to find out that I disagree with Mrs. Oshman in several other areas that weren’t covered in this book as well. She seems quite enamored with feminism and the me-too movement. She also platforms Sam Alberry and his take on same-sex attractions.
She couldn’t be more right when she urges us to show Christ’s love to everyone we meet. Christ died for the vilest sinner on the street and the Pharisee in the pulpit. We are called to bring them all to Christ. But we are called to bring them to the Christ of the Bible by the Biblical path. We can’t, daren’t, change a detail of that Christ for Hell is the only alternative to Christ the only begotten holy Son of God. We can not compromise on that truth, but it is a truth that is love. Just read 1 Corinthians 13. That is God’s standard of love for each believer. But don’t stop there. It is a love informed by God’s holiness, just read the rest of the book. Paul who spoke so beautifully of love was brutally direct in dealing with sin and offering forgiveness and change to all who repent.
Chapter 8 seemed out of place in this book. While each of the other chapters dealt with a lie assaulting the church from the outside, this one took a sharp turn and dealt with a discussion inside the church. I couldn’t disagree with her more on this one. Singleness isn’t under attack from the wider culture. Marriage and Motherhood certainly are. Our culture is wildly individualistic and single. They look at marriage as a prison and children as burdens to be avoided as long as possible. It’s just not the attitude that we see in any book of the Bible. Instead, you see the beautiful submission and selfless sacrifice of marriages oriented around God’s glory and the care and guidance of Children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. To not fight for that is to fall for one of the cultural lies of our day. God has not blessed me with a husband, but the denigration of marriage and motherhood because some are not blessed that way was very disheartening. In the earlier chapters, she explains the brokenness of people through the fall as a reason not to change the normal, original, for the abnormal. To state that God’s original plan for the family is not the best path, because it doesn’t work out for everyone, is to forget that it is God's basic plan for humanity. It’s clearly acknowledged in the Bible that even that path was broken in the fall. But when looking for an illustration of the love of God for his people and believers for each other, the Biblical authors all use marriage and family as illustrations. Paul, in defending singleness, didn’t seek to deny the unique blessing of God on marriage and Motherhood. He simply says that God uses singles for His glory as well. We shouldn’t seek to erase the blessings of the normal for the abnormal. It is our, single or married, submission and obedience to Him that God blesses. No one person’s path will look like another’s. But for us women, God has blessed and created us with the ability and the nature to be wives and mothers to His honor and glory.
Again, that is what is missing in this book. FOR HIS GLORY. That is what our lives are to revolve around, not ourselves. If we are seeking Him and His will, these questions fade as we begin to know Him.
If you are a believer, I would recommend getting to know Ephesians. Read it over and over and over. If you don’t yet know Jesus as your Savior, immerse yourself in Romans. Read it over and over and over. After that read, Holy Sexuality by Christopher Yuan, You’re Not Enough (and That’s Okay) by Allie Beth Stuckey, Hyper-Grace by Michael Brown, Who Am I by Jerry Bridges, Your Eternal Reward and Managing Your Emotions by Erwin Lutzer, and How to Eat Your Bible by Nate Pickowicz. They will all bring you to many of the same conclusions as this book but on a much firmer Scriptural foundation.
September 3, 2022
Oshman has met a huge need by writing this book. She bravely tackles subjects we tend to shy away from because of the controversy and meets them with grace, love, and biblical truth. The research, statistics, and quotes were so up to date and helpful. She explains the issues well and dives into the biblical response with a genuine desire to help, not just say what's popular.
The one thing I put a question mark by was towards the end, she made a comment in passing about the church becoming the new Israel. She doesn't elaborate or go into detail on what she means.
If you know people (especially women) who struggle with seeing abortion, LGBTQ, feminism, sex, motherhood/marriage as idols, this would be a great book to pass to them or for you to read to know how to engage them in loving, biblical conversation.
The one thing I put a question mark by was towards the end, she made a comment in passing about the church becoming the new Israel. She doesn't elaborate or go into detail on what she means.
If you know people (especially women) who struggle with seeing abortion, LGBTQ, feminism, sex, motherhood/marriage as idols, this would be a great book to pass to them or for you to read to know how to engage them in loving, biblical conversation.
March 13, 2023
“This chapter (and book) is not a message of ‘be good girls and behave’; it’s a pleading to embrace your good God so that you might taste and possess real freedom. Freedom is not the absence of restrictions. Freedom is knowing your nature and thriving in the way you were designed… Our design is to be reconciled with God.”
Reading Cultural Counterfeits was like sitting with a dear, wise friend. Jen Oshman (who I now want to be besties with) speaks with calm and clarity on cultural lies that are so pervasive that even long-time Christ followers can fall for them. She sheds light on just how broken and fallen we and the world are, but offers the hope in Jesus that we so desperately need. I was brought to tears in the encouragement and empowerment of women and our design. Highly recommend and I’ll probably stick this one back in the To be Read pile to give it another go soon.
Reading Cultural Counterfeits was like sitting with a dear, wise friend. Jen Oshman (who I now want to be besties with) speaks with calm and clarity on cultural lies that are so pervasive that even long-time Christ followers can fall for them. She sheds light on just how broken and fallen we and the world are, but offers the hope in Jesus that we so desperately need. I was brought to tears in the encouragement and empowerment of women and our design. Highly recommend and I’ll probably stick this one back in the To be Read pile to give it another go soon.
March 10, 2022
"To live by counterfeits is to live an unprofitable, colorless life. To live by counterfeits is not to live at all but rather to die."
"We set up these idols in our hearts and give them meaning and power that should be reserved for God alone. We deify them by making them central to our lives, our value, our identity, and our purpose. We can make idols out of partners, children, careers, politics, money, sex, power, clothes, homes, vacations, cars, and who-knows-what else."
The title of this book was the first thing that caught my attention and the reason why I decided to read it. As the blurb states, Cultural Counterfeits specifically talks about five idols in the Western world that have been especially destructive to women and girls by giving empty promises. Chapter by chapter, Jen Oshman will reveal how we got here among these idols, unpack the most attractive and sinister counterfeits of our age, and in the end she will help reorient us to how good and sovereign and kind our God is. The author talks through a biblical perspective that will remind us of God's truth regarding these counterfeits. I also love the discussion questions at the end of each chapter that can be useful for personal or group reflection. I have to admit, there are are times when I wasn't able to relate to the Western culture that was mentioned because it doesn't really match with the culture in my country—but I still learned so much from what she writes regardless 😊.
"Idols are counterfeits. Idolatry is when we ascribe meaning or power to something that cannot actually bear it—when we expect created, temporary things to deliver that which only the one true God can."
"Women are hungry for healing and wholeness, but they continue to put their hope in new counterfeits of a forever-flawed ideology."
Whenever I think of an idol, I always think of some kind of statue that people worship because they believe its power. However, author and pastor Timothy Keller reminds us that, "An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, 'If I have that, then I'll feel my life has meaning, then I'll know I have value, then I'll feel significant and secure.'" The five idols in the Western culture that Jen Oshman discussed in this book are: the idol of outward beauty and ability, idol of sex, idol of abortion, idol of gender and sexual fluidity, and the idol of purity, marriage, and motherhood. She dedicated the first few chapters explaining the history of how the Western culture became what it is today—applauding the visually pleasing, believing that sex is our deepest need and highest good, thinking that abortion promises us control and choice, and more. I was utterly shocked by the facts and statistics that she shared in this book about eliminating unborn babies with disabilities and even assisted suicide—which I never knew about prior to reading this book. Even though I have so much to talk about all of these idols, I will only share my thoughts on two of them to avoid this review becoming too long.
The first one will be the idol of gender and sexual fluidity—also known as LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer, intersex, ally or asexual, and the plus sign is an umbrella for the inclusion of anyone else on the sexual orientation or gender identity spectrum). To be honest, I always had a difficult time confronting this topic because like Jen Oshman acknowledged in this chapter, "Rehearsing a biblical sexual ethic is now considered hate speech across campuses, in newspapers, and in legislation." But after reading a mind-opening passage in this chapter that touch on the topic of dualistic thinking, the author successfully strengthened my belief that we should continue to seek a way to communicate this issue with grace and truth instead of affirming or condemning.
"Every human body is invaluable because each one bears a soul, each one is imago dei, each one was created very good... Life is a gift to steward, not manipulate, exploit, or dispose of as the world sees fit."
The second one that I'll be discussing is the idol of purity, marriage, motherhood—when we've exalted these good gifts above the giver. Amongst all of the idols that are mentioned in this book, I think this one is the most relatable for me personally because where I live in, some people look to marriage and motherhood for ultimate meaning, value, significance, or security. I laughed a little when Jen Oshman quoted author Rebecca McLaughlin who said that the apostle Paul would not be impressed when we champion marriage above faithful singleness 😂. I am reminded that our highest calling is not limited to a temporary role on earth and they can never give us the soul satisfaction that we long for—only Jesus can fully satisfy us.
Throughout this book, the author also talks about the story of the prodigal son and the older brother. The whole parable reveals that both the sin of the younger brother and the legalism of the older brother prevents us from finding happiness and fulfillment. All of us are tempted by idols and none of us are immune to thinking that we are better people. Cultural Counterfeits has certainly encouraged me to think critically about the culture going around me through a biblical perspective. In the last chapter, we are reminded that no matter what we've done and no matter what our world is like, our God is with us—which is very comforting and full of hope. Highly recommend this book if you are struggling with any of these idols or want to have a firm biblical foundation on these particular topics 👍.
"Let's reject the empty promises of our age and embrace instead the God who satisfies our longing souls and fills you and me with good things."
"There is nothing we can do to make him love us more or love us less. His love and forgiveness are complete and unconditional. May his kindness lead us to repentance."
Read my full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2022/0...
March 15, 2023
Really enjoyed this read! Jen puts forth a great case for how 5 specific cultural premises - physical beauty, sex, abortion, LGBTQIA+, marriage/motherhood - overpromise and under deliver. She strategically articulates how arguments in latter wave feminism actually insult femininity and female bodies. She does not attack one specific ideology, however, but addresses issues across the spectrum. Being female is a GOOD thing and I just long for the day that we as brothers and sister can celebrate womanhood together. Obviously, this book is quite counter cultural and explains unpopular opinions. I'd recommend this to those who would agree with Jen to bolster their argumentation, and also those who disagree in order to engage in a charitable dialogue about the topics.
March 23, 2022
Every woman in the church needs to read this book. It was challenging and refreshing in so many ways. Jen Oshman confronts idols head on with the truth of the gospel. I appreciated her fierce dedication to scripture and the gospel while navigating tough cultural topics and issues that are close to the heart. She writes with both grace and truth. This book taught me a lot about each topic and it fostered deep conversation among women in my church. I am so grateful that Jen Oshman chose to write this book in this cultural moment.
April 26, 2023
First sentence from the introduction: I, like you, want to be accepted. I want the approval and applause of others. I hate to cause conflict or to offend. I like it when other people like me. But these are polarizing days, and complete acceptance is hard to come by. Most of us--whether we're in a classroom, a boardroom, a coffee shop, or online--keep a low profile and keep as quiet as we can, so as to not be seen as arrogant or rude. We want to be genuinely humble and kind, and we want to be perceived so too. That's what's hard about this book.
First sentence from chapter one: We live in a unique moment that was delivered to us by a specific timeline in history.
What you see is what you get. Will you like what you see and what you get? Maybe. Maybe not. Oshman seeks to call out, to confront, five false views, five HUGE deceptions facing our culture today. She writes specifically for women and girls. (I don't personally know why she limits herself to reaching out to one gender. I think ALL five issues/deceptions/worldviews effect everyone.)
So Oshman writes of culture, society, worldviews, etc. This is balanced out by the Word of God. She sees the world through the lens of Scripture and she encourages readers to do the same. She counters lies with the truth. This is the best way, perhaps the only way. She assumes (rightly) that the Bible is the Word of God. That it is all the things--authoritative, infallible, inerrant, inspired. We are all immersed--to one degree or another--in our culture. There's no escaping the messages that are being thrown at us 24/7. But we can counter those messages and hold them up to scrutiny, to see them in light of the one thing we know to be true--the Word of God.
These are the five chapters that share the five topics.
Obsessed: Bodies, Beauty, and Ability
Selling Out for Cheap Sex
Abortion Has Not Delivered
Trending LGBTQIA+
When Marriage and Motherhood Become Idols.
Some seem like obvious deceptions. (At least to me). But others surprised me. It is easy to see how the world is 'lying' to us in x, y, z ways. But there are subtler ways as well. In particular, I doubt many believers could ever make the leap to thinking that marriage and motherhood are idols. (Now, this chapter is contrary to others. This message that idolizes marriage and motherhood over singleness and/or childlessness most often comes from the church. And I think, to a certain degree, it is subtle and perhaps an unintended consequence. By focusing on biblical womanhood, biblical marriages, biblical gender roles, it can seem that marriage and motherhood are everything, absolutely everything. That to be single, to be childless is to be "less than." Again, I think that more often than not this is not intentional, more unspoken. But the chapter does resonate. I can see it both ways. As a single, childless christian, it can be frustrating that many/most books written for Christian women by Christian women about Christian women, assume that you are married with a couple of kids. On the other hand, I don't think anyone means any offense. There's something to be said for NOT being offended by every little thing. I think to find offense anywhere, everywhere, at all times, always is problematic.
First sentence from chapter one: We live in a unique moment that was delivered to us by a specific timeline in history.
What you see is what you get. Will you like what you see and what you get? Maybe. Maybe not. Oshman seeks to call out, to confront, five false views, five HUGE deceptions facing our culture today. She writes specifically for women and girls. (I don't personally know why she limits herself to reaching out to one gender. I think ALL five issues/deceptions/worldviews effect everyone.)
So Oshman writes of culture, society, worldviews, etc. This is balanced out by the Word of God. She sees the world through the lens of Scripture and she encourages readers to do the same. She counters lies with the truth. This is the best way, perhaps the only way. She assumes (rightly) that the Bible is the Word of God. That it is all the things--authoritative, infallible, inerrant, inspired. We are all immersed--to one degree or another--in our culture. There's no escaping the messages that are being thrown at us 24/7. But we can counter those messages and hold them up to scrutiny, to see them in light of the one thing we know to be true--the Word of God.
These are the five chapters that share the five topics.
Obsessed: Bodies, Beauty, and Ability
Selling Out for Cheap Sex
Abortion Has Not Delivered
Trending LGBTQIA+
When Marriage and Motherhood Become Idols.
Some seem like obvious deceptions. (At least to me). But others surprised me. It is easy to see how the world is 'lying' to us in x, y, z ways. But there are subtler ways as well. In particular, I doubt many believers could ever make the leap to thinking that marriage and motherhood are idols. (Now, this chapter is contrary to others. This message that idolizes marriage and motherhood over singleness and/or childlessness most often comes from the church. And I think, to a certain degree, it is subtle and perhaps an unintended consequence. By focusing on biblical womanhood, biblical marriages, biblical gender roles, it can seem that marriage and motherhood are everything, absolutely everything. That to be single, to be childless is to be "less than." Again, I think that more often than not this is not intentional, more unspoken. But the chapter does resonate. I can see it both ways. As a single, childless christian, it can be frustrating that many/most books written for Christian women by Christian women about Christian women, assume that you are married with a couple of kids. On the other hand, I don't think anyone means any offense. There's something to be said for NOT being offended by every little thing. I think to find offense anywhere, everywhere, at all times, always is problematic.
July 25, 2023
My wife handed me this book when I was between projects and had nothing specific in mind. Even so, I'm not sure what she was thinking. This book is definitely aimed at a female audience. Not that I don't read and enjoy books with a female perspective. I wholeheartedly support the principle that men and women are different (but equal) especially in the way they think. I often find a woman presenting thoughts that just didn't occur to me.
This book does address many current societal issues especially those pertaining to women or even those that pertain to both but they probably impact more women than men. When I say women, it definitely includes girls.
JO shines a bright light on these issues from a Biblical perspective. Most of what she says isn't that new, but it is a good summary of what the Bible says.
Probably 3 things caught my attention even though they weren't entirely new ideas.
The Christian church in America is made up more of women than men and by a significant amount although not overwhelmingly. Many of the Left characterize the church as a white male organization. While leadership is mostly male, women are far more active than men on average.
As for LGBT+++ issues, many in the church try to demonize the people represented by that characterization. JO points out that sin is sin whether it is hetero sin or the other. All sin is sinful and needs the grace of Jesus, but Christians need to stop acting like LGBT sins deserve grace any less than the rest. This thought wasn't new to me. I've said similar things for years, but I was glad to see it here.
Another public debate is over the role and honor in motherhood. Feminists complain that the stay-at-home mom is held back and a kind of lesser person. Many Christians retort that motherhood is "a woman's highest calling." JO not only refutes the latter idea but calls it an idol. JO's arguments are Biblically based. Not only that, but she shows how such statements can be hurtful to good Christian women who either are not able to have children, or have chosen Paul's higher calling of singleness.
JO closes with a chapter (actually second to last) proclaiming that it is good to be a girl. I didn't see this as a comparison to boys, but as a celebration in its own right.
As I read a thought nagged at me. I have taught teens and young adults in our church and one topic has been our identity in Christ. For me the pinnacle of this truth is contained in Ephesians, especially the first chapter. I missed any overt appeals to this passage. Ephesians 1 is quoted on only 1 page. However, JO weaves the theme of identity in Christ throughout the book, sometimes in subtle ways.
As I at least imply, I think women and girls are the best audience for this book. It covers a number of important social issues, but I don't really think there is much in the way of new facts or arguments. But as I said, the uniquely female perspective makes this book worthwhile in that sense and for that audience.
This book does address many current societal issues especially those pertaining to women or even those that pertain to both but they probably impact more women than men. When I say women, it definitely includes girls.
JO shines a bright light on these issues from a Biblical perspective. Most of what she says isn't that new, but it is a good summary of what the Bible says.
Probably 3 things caught my attention even though they weren't entirely new ideas.
The Christian church in America is made up more of women than men and by a significant amount although not overwhelmingly. Many of the Left characterize the church as a white male organization. While leadership is mostly male, women are far more active than men on average.
As for LGBT+++ issues, many in the church try to demonize the people represented by that characterization. JO points out that sin is sin whether it is hetero sin or the other. All sin is sinful and needs the grace of Jesus, but Christians need to stop acting like LGBT sins deserve grace any less than the rest. This thought wasn't new to me. I've said similar things for years, but I was glad to see it here.
Another public debate is over the role and honor in motherhood. Feminists complain that the stay-at-home mom is held back and a kind of lesser person. Many Christians retort that motherhood is "a woman's highest calling." JO not only refutes the latter idea but calls it an idol. JO's arguments are Biblically based. Not only that, but she shows how such statements can be hurtful to good Christian women who either are not able to have children, or have chosen Paul's higher calling of singleness.
JO closes with a chapter (actually second to last) proclaiming that it is good to be a girl. I didn't see this as a comparison to boys, but as a celebration in its own right.
As I read a thought nagged at me. I have taught teens and young adults in our church and one topic has been our identity in Christ. For me the pinnacle of this truth is contained in Ephesians, especially the first chapter. I missed any overt appeals to this passage. Ephesians 1 is quoted on only 1 page. However, JO weaves the theme of identity in Christ throughout the book, sometimes in subtle ways.
As I at least imply, I think women and girls are the best audience for this book. It covers a number of important social issues, but I don't really think there is much in the way of new facts or arguments. But as I said, the uniquely female perspective makes this book worthwhile in that sense and for that audience.
July 29, 2022
“Faithful followers of Jesus must make a difficult but necessary decision as to who they will follow: the strong cultural current of our day or the risen Jesus” (142).
@JenOshman delivers a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips in ‘Cultural Counterfeits.’ Jen explores the false hopes provided by the idols we set up in society: our body image and abilities, sexual promiscuity, bodily-autonomy, changing gender spectra, and motherhood and marriage. Jen filters all of these “identity questions and burdens through the lens of our unchanging and good Creator and Savior” (132). Jen opens the book with the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15) which she weaves from start to finish in order to show us how our own hearts mirror not just the younger son, but also the older son in the parable.
After seeing the topics Jen covers, you may be hesitant, like I first was, to suggest this for a book club. But let me push “play” where we pause—Jen’s tone is very-matter-of-fact with sundry statistics, but she is not lacking in compassion, gentleness, or warmth in her words. If you have ever listened to her podcast “All Things,” you know exactly what I mean. Jen has a compelling way of gently stepping on your toes in the most needed ways, while simultaneously extending the remedy of the gospel. She has one of the most balanced voices when it comes to cultural issues and how believers are called to live out truth in our postmodern world. That’s why I am confident that you would have fruitful discussion at the end of each chapter; because though Jen is incredibly passionate about rightly viewing cultural trends through Biblical lenses, she is not rash nor emotional in her writing. This is helpful, because it allows the reader to stay level-headed and think logically, calmly, and biblically through the already super-charged issues she calls to attention.
“We want to control our lives and outcomes, so we use the idols of our age to bring about the results we’re looking for. But they end up controlling us because we keep looking to them, making offerings to them, putting our hope in them. But they never really deliver. They never fully satisfy” (29-30).
I wish I could share every quote with you. I wish I could adequately express the urgency with which I know this book was written. Better yet, just read and think critically through what Jen presents. Like the father in the parable of the prodigal sons, our loving Father is actively running toward us with his arms open. “Whether we search for meaning, significance, and identity in reckless living or in our own righteous behavior—Jesus sees and intervenes. He is not ashamed of us, but runs to us and reconciles us to the Father through the cross.” Oh may you know that no matter what you have done in your life, “Jesus stands ready to forgive you, as you receive him. He already paid the prices in full to bring you all the way home” (195).
#readRENEEread
@JenOshman delivers a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips in ‘Cultural Counterfeits.’ Jen explores the false hopes provided by the idols we set up in society: our body image and abilities, sexual promiscuity, bodily-autonomy, changing gender spectra, and motherhood and marriage. Jen filters all of these “identity questions and burdens through the lens of our unchanging and good Creator and Savior” (132). Jen opens the book with the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15) which she weaves from start to finish in order to show us how our own hearts mirror not just the younger son, but also the older son in the parable.
After seeing the topics Jen covers, you may be hesitant, like I first was, to suggest this for a book club. But let me push “play” where we pause—Jen’s tone is very-matter-of-fact with sundry statistics, but she is not lacking in compassion, gentleness, or warmth in her words. If you have ever listened to her podcast “All Things,” you know exactly what I mean. Jen has a compelling way of gently stepping on your toes in the most needed ways, while simultaneously extending the remedy of the gospel. She has one of the most balanced voices when it comes to cultural issues and how believers are called to live out truth in our postmodern world. That’s why I am confident that you would have fruitful discussion at the end of each chapter; because though Jen is incredibly passionate about rightly viewing cultural trends through Biblical lenses, she is not rash nor emotional in her writing. This is helpful, because it allows the reader to stay level-headed and think logically, calmly, and biblically through the already super-charged issues she calls to attention.
“We want to control our lives and outcomes, so we use the idols of our age to bring about the results we’re looking for. But they end up controlling us because we keep looking to them, making offerings to them, putting our hope in them. But they never really deliver. They never fully satisfy” (29-30).
I wish I could share every quote with you. I wish I could adequately express the urgency with which I know this book was written. Better yet, just read and think critically through what Jen presents. Like the father in the parable of the prodigal sons, our loving Father is actively running toward us with his arms open. “Whether we search for meaning, significance, and identity in reckless living or in our own righteous behavior—Jesus sees and intervenes. He is not ashamed of us, but runs to us and reconciles us to the Father through the cross.” Oh may you know that no matter what you have done in your life, “Jesus stands ready to forgive you, as you receive him. He already paid the prices in full to bring you all the way home” (195).
#readRENEEread
January 3, 2023
Cultural Counterfeits is one of author and podcaster Jen Oshman’s latest releases. The book takes readers through common cultural lies about womanhood and examines them through the lens of Scripture. It generally seems that Christians who publicly examine cultural occurrences through a biblical lens tend to take on a harsh, condemning tone while rebuking culture’s sinful patterns. What I appreciate about this book is that the tone is compassionate, gracious, and charitable without compromise. The chapter on why it’s good to be a girl really encouraged my heart as a female myself and the mother of two daughters.
Cultural Counterfeits begins with a history of current cultural beliefs about women. As a fan of American history, I found this to be fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the chapter of the book that addressed marriage and motherhood. Jen’s voice in this area is very refreshing and much needed. I was encouraged by Jen’s acknowledgement that, “. . . the Christian church—at least the church in the United States, which I love and serve with my whole heart—has a tendency to set marriage and motherhood on a pedestal that Scripture does not support,” (pg. 152).
I felt hesitant as I approached the chapter on abortion wondering if the content would be primarily condemning. Since I had a type of miscarriage that is considered spontaneous abortion, I wasn’t sure how I might feel after reading this particular chapter. With wisdom and compassion, Jen approached the topic in a way that many Christians would do well to learn from. I am very grateful to her for examining not just the concept of abortion from a biblical perspective but the need for the church to nurture women who have had abortions. I appreciate that her tone toward this tender topic communicates that those who have had an abortion are not without hope.
Cultural Counterfeits is about women and for women but it is a helpful read for men too. I really enjoyed this book and will be thinking about it for a while and I look forward to reading more from Jen Oshman in the future.
I received Cultural Counterfeits compliments of Crossway in exchange for my honest review.
Cultural Counterfeits begins with a history of current cultural beliefs about women. As a fan of American history, I found this to be fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the chapter of the book that addressed marriage and motherhood. Jen’s voice in this area is very refreshing and much needed. I was encouraged by Jen’s acknowledgement that, “. . . the Christian church—at least the church in the United States, which I love and serve with my whole heart—has a tendency to set marriage and motherhood on a pedestal that Scripture does not support,” (pg. 152).
I felt hesitant as I approached the chapter on abortion wondering if the content would be primarily condemning. Since I had a type of miscarriage that is considered spontaneous abortion, I wasn’t sure how I might feel after reading this particular chapter. With wisdom and compassion, Jen approached the topic in a way that many Christians would do well to learn from. I am very grateful to her for examining not just the concept of abortion from a biblical perspective but the need for the church to nurture women who have had abortions. I appreciate that her tone toward this tender topic communicates that those who have had an abortion are not without hope.
Cultural Counterfeits is about women and for women but it is a helpful read for men too. I really enjoyed this book and will be thinking about it for a while and I look forward to reading more from Jen Oshman in the future.
I received Cultural Counterfeits compliments of Crossway in exchange for my honest review.
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