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A review by josiahdegraaf
Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot
2.0
I found this to be a frustrating book to read. Part of it is that I simply don't agree with many aspects of Elliot's version of complementarianism--particularly her decision to use wifehood as the quintessential model of femininity as opposed to sisterhood, which causes her to have a hyper-focus on submission as being one of the key distinguishing factors of being a woman. (Whereas biblical writers, on the other hand, repeatedly use brother-and-sister language to distinguish between men and women.)
The other reason I found this frustrating, however, is that it's inhabiting this awkward place in between being a devotional and being a reasoned treatise. As a result, all of her arguments feel half-baked and incomplete, and there's a lot of vagueness/room for interpretation about what exactly she means. I tend to feel this way about many of Elliot's works--but for a work that is trying to be an argumentative work against the culture, it's a particularly poor fit. I still may not agree with Elliot's conclusions, but I would at least appreciate being able to understand her train of thought and what precisely she's arguing for than to be met with so much vagueness.
There did seem to be several good parts of the book (of course, as a guy, I'm not the intended audience, so take that with a grain of salt), and certainly Elliot was a noble woman of God who did many great things in her life. And honestly--most of this book is probably uncontroversial (for Christians) and likely good advice. But it's the 15-20% that deals with her particular blend of complementarianism that turned me off from most of the book.
Rating: 1.5-2 Stars (Inconsistent).
The other reason I found this frustrating, however, is that it's inhabiting this awkward place in between being a devotional and being a reasoned treatise. As a result, all of her arguments feel half-baked and incomplete, and there's a lot of vagueness/room for interpretation about what exactly she means. I tend to feel this way about many of Elliot's works--but for a work that is trying to be an argumentative work against the culture, it's a particularly poor fit. I still may not agree with Elliot's conclusions, but I would at least appreciate being able to understand her train of thought and what precisely she's arguing for than to be met with so much vagueness.
There did seem to be several good parts of the book (of course, as a guy, I'm not the intended audience, so take that with a grain of salt), and certainly Elliot was a noble woman of God who did many great things in her life. And honestly--most of this book is probably uncontroversial (for Christians) and likely good advice. But it's the 15-20% that deals with her particular blend of complementarianism that turned me off from most of the book.
Rating: 1.5-2 Stars (Inconsistent).