I wasn't sure what to expect when I began reading (A)typical Woman by Abigail Dodds. I have followed her on social media for several years and know her insights to be very thought provoking so I thought I'd give this new book a try.
I have read many books on biblical womanhood and often finish feeling a burden to do more and be more as a woman of God. Unknowingly, the authors of these books caused me to turn my eyes inward rather than upward encouraging me to place trust in my own hard, womanly work as a functional savior to my husband and family.
Such was not the case with this book. It was a breath of fresh air as I finished the final pages thinking about the beautiful gift I have been given in my womanhood and how Christ is the Savior that enables me to fulfill that role.
In the beginning pages of the book, Dodds makes this summarizing sentence: "Being a Christian and being a woman are both gracious, given, God-spoken, unchangeable realities." She spends Part 1 unpacking this weighty statement focusing on what it means to be hidden in Christ, what it means to be a woman, and how the two weave together beautifully. Although much of her writing caused me to have to re-read certain phrases due to its unnecessary wordiness, I was struck with foundational truths about womanhood that I had never quite grasped before.
Part 2 and Part 3 of the book zoom in to specific callings a woman may face such as motherhood, singleness, submission, and suffering. Each of these topics was handled with grace and wisdom once again pointing the readers eyes to Christ and his perfect fulfillment of each of these callings. Christian women cannot hope to grow in these areas by looking deeper inside themselves, but rather looking to Jesus' divine enablement.
Dodd says, "Many of us want someone to tell us exactly what to do to be a Christian woman; we want a universal and exhaustive template and checklist, but it doesn't exist. The nature of being Christian women isn't based on what we do but on who we are - who he's made us. The whole world, under the prince of the power of the air, is bent on rejecting how God has made men and women. As Christian women, we need to think long and hard about the direction in which we're leaning. Are we flirting with a subtle version of the outright rebellion of the world, manifested in discontentedness and small obfuscations of the parts of God's Word and design that we want to minimize - the parts that simply refuse to be contextualized to the twenty-first century? Or have we cloaked ourselves in a feminine stereotype that leans into legalism and away form the fullness of God's Word, God's design, and God's mission for us? Sisters, we dare not lean anywhere but deeper in to Christ."
(A)typical Woman was a fresh and thought-provoking look into biblical womanhood. It was a perfect blend of casting off old, burdensome stereotypes while being rooted in unchangeable Scriptural truths. It's worth the read no matter what stage of womanhood you find yourself in today!
Purchase your own copy HERE.
*I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
I have read many books on biblical womanhood and often finish feeling a burden to do more and be more as a woman of God. Unknowingly, the authors of these books caused me to turn my eyes inward rather than upward encouraging me to place trust in my own hard, womanly work as a functional savior to my husband and family.
Such was not the case with this book. It was a breath of fresh air as I finished the final pages thinking about the beautiful gift I have been given in my womanhood and how Christ is the Savior that enables me to fulfill that role.
In the beginning pages of the book, Dodds makes this summarizing sentence: "Being a Christian and being a woman are both gracious, given, God-spoken, unchangeable realities." She spends Part 1 unpacking this weighty statement focusing on what it means to be hidden in Christ, what it means to be a woman, and how the two weave together beautifully. Although much of her writing caused me to have to re-read certain phrases due to its unnecessary wordiness, I was struck with foundational truths about womanhood that I had never quite grasped before.
Part 2 and Part 3 of the book zoom in to specific callings a woman may face such as motherhood, singleness, submission, and suffering. Each of these topics was handled with grace and wisdom once again pointing the readers eyes to Christ and his perfect fulfillment of each of these callings. Christian women cannot hope to grow in these areas by looking deeper inside themselves, but rather looking to Jesus' divine enablement.
Dodd says, "Many of us want someone to tell us exactly what to do to be a Christian woman; we want a universal and exhaustive template and checklist, but it doesn't exist. The nature of being Christian women isn't based on what we do but on who we are - who he's made us. The whole world, under the prince of the power of the air, is bent on rejecting how God has made men and women. As Christian women, we need to think long and hard about the direction in which we're leaning. Are we flirting with a subtle version of the outright rebellion of the world, manifested in discontentedness and small obfuscations of the parts of God's Word and design that we want to minimize - the parts that simply refuse to be contextualized to the twenty-first century? Or have we cloaked ourselves in a feminine stereotype that leans into legalism and away form the fullness of God's Word, God's design, and God's mission for us? Sisters, we dare not lean anywhere but deeper in to Christ."
(A)typical Woman was a fresh and thought-provoking look into biblical womanhood. It was a perfect blend of casting off old, burdensome stereotypes while being rooted in unchangeable Scriptural truths. It's worth the read no matter what stage of womanhood you find yourself in today!
Purchase your own copy HERE.
*I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.