This is a very timely book because it seems that in an effort to combat liberal theology and feminism, the conservative church may have narrowed their focus a bit on the whole woman issue. As thankful as I am for some very helpful teaching on biblical womanhood, I am afraid that we may have become a bit reductionistic and one-dimensional. Now we tend to read Scripture and look at society through this lens of biblical womanhood. And what has happened is that the subject matter has become about men and women, rather than God.  

As much as I love to read Dorothy Sayers, her book Are Women Human? was a bit of a disappointment to me. I was left frustrated because the two essays contained in it housed some very good “Sayersesque” points, yet they were lacking something significant. Even as great as the title was, and as much as some of the arguments even made me want to stand up and clap, there was a theological element to the book that I didn’t have fulfilled. Of course, the subtitle reveals that the focus is more on the role of women in society, so Sayers gets a pass and I still love her works. Plus, she smoked a pipe with those Inkling fellows, which just makes her a total rock star in my book.

But I am very happy to say that Hannah Anderson has provided a theologically rich and easy to read book that could have the very same title: Are Women Human? And Anderson goes into detail about what it actually means to be human, made in the image of God. This is a very timely book because it seems that in an effort to combat liberal theology and feminism, the conservative church may have narrowed their focus a bit on the whole woman issue. As thankful as I am for some very helpful teaching on biblical womanhood, I am afraid that we may have become a bit reductionistic and one-dimensional. Now we tend to read Scripture and look at society through this lens of biblical womanhood. And what has happened is that the subject matter has become about men and women, rather than God.

That’s why Anderson’s book is a breath of fresh air. She doesn’t begin with the easy and obvious woman issue, but rather the very heavy issue that we are made in the image of God. Before we even question our identity as women, we need to question our identity as image bearers. And so Anderson affirms our sameness with men in humanity, as well as the implications of our differences. She explains how God reveals two important truths with his creation of Adam and Eve:

(1) both men and women are fully formed, equal image bearers, and (2) we are different from each other and therefore dependent on each other. In other words, while each of us is fully in the image of God, none of us can fully reflect and represent God alone. Instead we reveal the nature of God together; and as a result, we also find identity together. (37)

Read More