Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women
Carolyn Custis James
Top 10 Best Quotes
“This is a moment for believers to embody a gospel culture where both halves of the church are thriving because following Jesus produces a climate of honor, value, and love and we are serving God together as he intended from the beginning. This is a golden opportunity to restore to women the indestructible and elevated identity that they have inherited as God's daughters and that a fallen world has stolen from them.”
“The whole human race, beginning with Eve, comes from Adam's wounded side. A second race--a new redeemed humanity--comes from Jesus' wounded side. Jesus is the second Adam. Even before there is despair, God foreshadows hope. The creation of the woman is a sacred, holy moment.”
“The Proverbs 31 woman is introduced as a 'woman hayil' the same Hebrew word used for Boaz and signifies 'strength' and 'power' like that of an 'elite warrior similar to the hero of the Homeric epic.' The meaning, however, gets lost in translation, for whenever hayil applies to a woman in the Bible, translators have opted for softer English words ('virtuous,' 'excellent,' 'capable,' or 'noble character'). These words don't begin to do justice to the meaning, for in reality 'it may well be that a woman of this caliber had all the attributes of her male counterpart.' She is a woman of valor--an apt description of an ezer.”
“Jesus' final act of public ministry was to address the needs of a widow, his own mother, whose eldest son was dying before her very eyes.”
“Is Jesus' whole body thriving and stronger than ever today because for over two millennia 'the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work' (Ephesians 4:16 NIV)? Do the world's headlines read, 'See how they love one another!'--not of tight-knit homogeneous subgroups of Christians, but of a bone-deep oneness that inexplicably thrives within wide-ranging diversity and denominational and theological differences and reaches across the gender divide? In two thousand years, how far have we come in attaining that kaleidoscopic trinitarian oneness Jesus longs to see? How is God's reputation in the world enhanced because of us? Has the world changed for the better, is the Enemy in retreat, and is justice flourishing in the earth because the Blessed Alliance of men and women is formidable and fully deployed for God's kingdom?”
“Instead of an unstoppable force for good and justice in the world and a deadly threat to the Enemy, male-female relationships have been dismantled of power.”
“I love how Victor Hamilton puts it: '[Kenegdo] suggests that what God creates for Adam will correspond to him. Thus the new creation will be neither a superior nor an inferior, but an equal. The creation of this helper will form one-half of a polarity and will be to man as the South Pole is to the North Pole.' She will be his strongest ally in pursuing God's purposes and his first roadblock when he veers off course.”
“I believe the church of Jesus Christ should be first in line to champion the empowerment of women and girls throughout the world to become contributing members in their societies.”
“God never retires his image bearers.”
“Genesis 2 is not out of synch with Genesis 1. Nor is the Bible's opening chapter a rough draft that God tosses out to start over with a scaled-down vision when he sculpts the first woman into being. The larger vision he is casting in the beginning remains firmly in place. Genesis 1 draws our attention vertically to the foundational and utterly vital bond between women and God by revealing our image-bearer calling. Everything about us depends on a solid link with God. For both men and women, this relationship alone completes us, defines our identity, and gives our whole lives meaning and purpose. Genesis 2 focuses us horizontally on the second most foundational relationship in all creation--the relationship between male and female.”
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Book Keywords:
jesus, women, proverbs-31, men-and-women, oneness, relationships, ministry, creation, god, ezer, god-and-women, genesis, women-and-the-church, god-s-design, kenegdo, compassion
