Cultivating Womanhood in a World of Competing Voices
Todd Miles, one of our bloggers here at Credo, has recently contributed a book review to the Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. His review is titled: “Cultivating Womanhood in a World of Competing Voices.” A Review of James Dobson, Bringing Up Girls: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Women
You can read the entire review here. And here is part of the closing evaluation of the book:
I highlight two areas of concern, one small, the other more significant: At times, Dobson runs into the same confusion regarding femininity and gender roles that is manifest in the culture. It is apparent that he is trying to walk a fine line between the strength of women on the one side and their femininity on the other. At one point he defends the strength of his feminine grandmother by recalling that she co-pastored a church with his grandfather and that she was an excellent preacher. I’m not sure that appealing to an occasion where a woman does what is forbidden by Scripture is testimony to legitimate strength. Admittedly, it is a difficult line to walk when you are trying to speak against a culture that wants to treat women as sexual objects while also affirming the differences between men and women that the feminist movement despises. Scripture alone is able to guide one along this line, celebrating the differences between men and women that are designed by our wise and loving Creator while upholding the precious dignity of women as image-bearers and the unique and special creations of God.
Which brings me to my largest concern: There is virtually no Bible and even less gospel in this book. Surely the gospel has incredible implications for how we parent our girls! And I am speaking of more than a general “raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord” instruction. If Jesus came to save sinners (including mothers, fathers, young women, and little girls) and that salvation is holistic in the manner and depth that Scripture reveals, then the gospel has to uniquely guide our aspirations, philosophies, techniques, and prayers for our daughters as females and our sons as males. It is not until the last chapter that Dobson turns to Scripture for divine revelation on the roles and responsibilities of parents. And when he does so, it reads more like an obligatory add-on, rather than an authoritative appeal to the Word of God to give definition, explanation, and instruction to femininity, adolescence, and parenting. Why not begin with a brief biblical study on femininity and masculinity? Why no reference or appeal to the verses or passages that speak specifically to women and womanhood? But there were plenty of references to science, psychological studies, opinion polls, and anecdotal evidence. Dr. Dobson’s appeals to behavioral science, psychology, and physiology are impressive. And it is clear to me that Dobson is convinced that men and women, girls and boys, are unique and different because God designed them to be so. With that presupposition in mind the data makes perfect sense and is helpful. Why not make that presupposition explicit by rightly grounding the theology, philosophy, goals, and manner of parenting girls in the Bible? But in the absence of that presupposition, one will inevitably conclude that the source of authority and insight for parenting lies in the behavioral sciences. Really, apart from the last chapter and the unwritten presuppositions that ground the entire worldview of the volume, there is nothing distinctly Christian about the book. I think that Dobson recognizes the priority and sufficiency of Scripture, but it is not clear from the book structure that this is the case.
But Dr. Dobson has earned our trust and we know of his commitment to Christ. His voice is no longer heard by as many parents as it was during the seventies and eighties when he called parents to love their children enough to “dare to discipline.” One look around society and even the church suggests that most parents are not suffering from too much good advice and godly instruction. If anything, the stakes for our children are higher now, and the world that much more dangerous. For these reasons and more, Bringing up Girls is a book well worth reading.
Read the rest here.
HT: Denny Burk
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