Controversial author Beth Allison Barr is on the spotlight again for her new book, "The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How The Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth," due to a chapter allegedly commending "child abandonment."
Church Leaders reported that Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Executive Director Colin Smothers took screenshots of the review of Barr's book written by London Lyceum Co-Founder Jordan Steffaniak in December to highlight its erroneous content on "patriarchy" and "womanhood."
The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has a mission to propagate Biblical teachings on the "complementary differences between men and women" despite being "created equally in the image of God."
"The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How The Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth" is currently #1 in the "Gender and Sexuality in Religious Studies" section of Amazon and has received various endorsements including that of Truett Seminary Professor of Christian Scriptures William Hinson, who is an awarded and distinguished member of the Baylor University
"Here's a good review from @LondonLyceum. I remain baffled by how many continue to laud this book," Smothers tweeted on Thursday.
Smothers' tweet contained the synthesis of the conclusion and actual conclusion of the book review where Steffaniak raised the many "problematic" parts of the book. Steffaniak acknowledged the timeliness of the book's topic but stressed Barr's failure to "fairly explain or resolve" the problems she herself raised in so far as "biblical womanhood" is concerned.
Steffaniak, who is the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Center for Faith and Culture Research Fellow and a blogger, wrote a lengthy book review and presented both the good and bad sides of the book. He also made a detailed review of each chapter and provided it's contents that present a feminist view of the author in what she is driving at against the subjugation of women, failing to see that the whole Bible presents how God has deigned a woman to be. Steffaniak concluded that the book "isn't great" and "not good, either."
"I cannot recommend this book as a worthwhile companion. In fact, I think the faults in the book are grievous enough that they ought to lead both complementarians and egalitarians to find the book deeply dissatisfying," Steffaniak said.
"And it's a real shame. There is a great need for a book on this topic. But this is not the one. So, again, I simply cannot recommend the book as worthwhile reading. I hate being the big bad mean reviewer here, but I am bound to confess the truth. And Barr's book simply doesn't provide a faithful interaction with 'biblical womanhood' or a serious critique of it. I think there is needed space for such a book in the future, but hopefully it won't make these same mistakes," he stressed.
Smothers picked up from one of Steffaniak's detailed chapter review, particularly where Barr highlighted a medieval woman named Saint Paula who "abandoned her children for the 'higher purpose of following God's call on her life,'" which was to "translate a Bible." Smothers called out Barr for implicating it was all right to abandon one's children.
"On my own trek through the book, this was when my jaw hit the floor. Does Barr really commend *child abandonment*?? Yes, yes she does," Smothers revealed.
In the said review, Steffaniak raised how unbiblical Saint Paula's actions are by citing 1 Tim 5:8 where the Apostle Paul stressed that anyone who fails "to provide for one's family is worse than being an unbeliever." Steffaniak called this a "direct disobedience to God's will for parents to care for, love, and provide for their children."
Boyce College Biblical Studies Professor Denny Burk similarly commented on Barr's use of Saint Paula to embody what she perceives as "biblical womanhood" should be.
Barr responded on Friday in Twitter to the book's review and did call out Smothers and Burk for claiming she was endorsing child abandonment. Bar denied such allegations and called out the two critics as "despicable."
"Y'all, I have never endorsed child abandonment. This is such a desperate attempt again to try to get people to not read #MakingBiblicalWomanhood. I will not let @colinsmo and @DennyBurk (who jumped in the thread) get away with it," Barr remarked.
"Y'all, I'm a kind person. But I'm also a fighter. And I have hit my limit with @DennyBurk & @colinsmo. There behavior toward me has been despicable. They failed trying to smear my orthodoxy; they failed trying smear my church; so now they are trying to smear me as a mother," she rebutted.
Burk then underscored in his blog that "Saint Paula is no exemplar of the faith" and responded to the "sharp" response Barr made against her book's review. Burk corrected Barr's accusations that he and Smothers were taking the criticisms on a personal level, particularly on her being a mother. He said he and Smothers never made such a statement.
