The Resignation of Eve by Jim Henderson is presented as tackling the “sad resignation…developing among dedicated Christian women who feel overworked and undervalued in the church.” I thought it might be the perfect counterpart to another book I recently read: Why Men Hate Going To Church. I felt the victim of bait and switch as I read this book.The real goal of this book is to promote women in the ministry. I must confess up front that women in the ministry is not a position that I find scripturally sound. He contends that many women are leaving church over this issue. Of course some women have left church if they could not have a key leadership/pastoral role in the church, but are we to believe that this is even in the top 5 reasons for women leaving church? What, then, is the reason men are leaving the church? Because leadership is open to them? He paints a dark picture of many more women leaving if they are not allowed to take any role they like.He makes his case with case studies of individual stories of women he interviewed. Each chapter is well written and you leave the chapter feeling you really know something about the woman be describes. Still, to prove a point, he uses only anecdotal evidence. Despite trying to say he used a good variety of women to present his case, the majority of Christian ladies I know could not be described by any example he used.
The few conservative women he wrote about were not the best examples he could have used (I mean these ladies no disrespect). Even with them I felt thay were presented as naive, just not sophisticated enough to see the obvious truth that everything the Bible says about women not being pastors was culturally charged and without present bearing. Many thoughtful Bible students would disagree and to just state it as fact is weak.
As the book went along, you got the feeling that he was promoting the idea that we must structure church to give people what they want to get them to stay. There was never a discussion of what the Bible actually said about how church should be done.
He did mention a few inconsistencies among some churches that refuse women the office of a pastor. But that alone couldn’t carry his premise.
The book should be advertised to the target audience of denominations that say they believe women are allowed to pastor but the numbers are out of kilter. Then the book could use arguments, as it did, that are used in the workplace. All in all, I cannot recommend this book.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
The Reagan Review 
Wonderful "negative" review honey. Full of factual information why you cannot recommend it but not full of emotional opinion about the wickedness of the writer…whoever he is. Good for you and way to keep the balance!:) Love you (your #1 fan):)
Thanks for taking time to read the book and write your review, expressing your of point of view. I appreciate that your perspective is different than mine.In the interest of transparency, I want to state I am a friend of the man Alicia calls "wicked" Jim Henderson. I find him to be a kind, generous, and humble man.After more than 50 years in the church, I currently find myself to be a church refugee. It seems to me that people/church leadership are more rigid today about women not leading men than almost anytime I can remember. They are also more rigid about what role they require men to play – regardless of the man's gifting from God.Did this come about because I have aspirations to be a pastor or be part of church leadership? NO! It was because they began bullying me and trying to make me be less than who God called me to be. Bullying is not biblical. I left because there was no transparency in how decisions were made and who was making them, and because they did not allow anyone to express doubts without punishing them.The focus of the book is to invite conversation about the role of women in church. It is to inspire people to talk publicly about what they have been saying privately about the role of women in the church. I'd like to invite you and your readers to our Resignation of Eve Cloud Conference on Feb. 27 @8pm EST – you only need a telephone to join the call and have a chance to participate in a conversation with Jim and the women of RoE when we virtually break you into small groups. http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/D5YMSUE4530RMOBYou can read more about it here: http://resignationofeve.com/roe-cloud-conference/
Elaine,I'm very sorry that you misunderstood what I was trying to say. The author of this blog is my husband and it was a comment between us that he understood but I did not think about anyone else misunderstanding.In our circles, many people would not even read this book because the author is not in our circle and would label him negatively. So, I was applauding my hubby, that even though he did not agree with everything Jim Henderson had to say, he did not portray him as a wicked man.I am very sorry that you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I am sure Jim Henderson is a genuine lover of God and therefore, is a friend.