Hi All...
I will be honest, it's been a LONG while since I posted on this blog. But I finally have a GREAT reason to do so!
Baker Book House graciously gave me a copy of one of there brand new titles and asked for my opinion on it!
I got to choose from 4 different books and I chose: 50 Women Every Christian Should Know: Learning From Heroines of the Faith by Michelle DeRusha. At 377 pages it took me a LONG time to read this as I was only able to do a chapter or two at a time once the kids were in bed. The stories are not devotionals, more like vignettes or mini biographies of each woman. Some of them I had read about, like Gladys Aylward (one my favorite historical Christians) and others were completely new to me such as Simone Weil. There was a wide variety of individuals from female preachers, to nuns, to missionaries, to writers and more. I appreciated the diversity. The chapters went chronologically through history starting in the 15th century. The history major in me appreciated this.
I really have only one complaint about the book and really for some, maybe it wouldn't be a problem. But I was raised conservatively and my definition of "Christian" is someone who believes that Jesus Christ came to earth as a man, was crucified to take the sins of the world, and rose again to reign forever in Heaven. A FOLLOWER of the Christ. Some of the women in the book never actually professed to believe this and their spiritual eternity could be questioned. But, the title does not specify that each woman is a Christian, just that every Christian should know of them...so perhaps the author's intent was not to feature ALL Christian women.
And lastly, I would have liked to hear more recent stories too. The last one was Flannery O'Conner-who died more than 20 years before I was born in 1985. It would have been nice to read about a few more contemporary women. Maybe another volume will accompany this one at some point!
I would definitely recommend the book-the writing is very concise, not repetitive and the breakdown makes it easy to lay it aside for a bit and pick right back up later on. The stories tell of women who broke gender barriers, racial barriers, denominational barriers and more. As a woman, I was encouraged by the perseverance of these women-no matter their background or true spiritual state.
*Note: This volume was provided to me free of charge to review but in no way does that affect my opinion or judgement of this book.
