Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Canon Press (2016), 208 pages
Description
Eve in Exile is a book about how Biblical femininity and how it can be recovered east of Eden in America.
User reviews
LibraryThing member WilliamMelden
This book is excellent . . . and imperfect. But, in a day when "women's issues" are bandied about like tennis balls, "excellent" is pretty good.
Mrs. Merkle, who thinks deeply but writes with refreshing clarity, first traces the history of feminism — not comprehensively, but capably. (Inasmuch as
Having noted all these things, the author begins to expand on her main theme: the Biblical "roles" of women and men, and the psychological, social, and spiritual benefits that would accrue if today's unhappy women reexamined and seriously considered what the Bible says — NOT what too many loudmouthed, clueless pulpiteers have bellowed for centuries. The path to contentment and true fulfillment, Mrs. Merkle says, lies in a proper understanding of the teachings of the Bible.
Two things must be made clear. Although Mrs. Markle is herself a woman whose entire life is informed and empowered by her Christian faith, she has not written here an evangelistic "pitch." She would, no doubt, like for all of her readers to know the blessedness of the Christian life, but she is not playing an evangelistic role here. Second, Mrs. Markle is not a latter-day avatar of Marabel Morgan, the bestselling author of "The Total Woman" nearly fifty years ago. Anyone old enough to remember that book will understand the reference.
This is a very valuable book, 90% of which is well worth reading by any woman, be she Christian or not. Recommended, with one caveat: Mrs. Merkle, and her associates, are advocates of what's known as "Dominion" theology, and a radical "Covenant" theology, which I consider false and unscriptural. But that's a theological difference between Christians, and I look forward to the day when our unity in Christ will be undeniable, as we "merrily meet in Heaven."
Mrs. Merkle, who thinks deeply but writes with refreshing clarity, first traces the history of feminism — not comprehensively, but capably. (Inasmuch as
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it is not the main theme of her book, she is not obliged to record every peep and mutter ever emitted by any "feminist.") First in her chronology came "proto-feminism" (Mary Wollstonecraft and the harpies of the French Revolution); then "first wave" feminism (Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and that crowd); then "second wave" feminism (beginning with Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, and so many others, greatly assisted [if not enabled] by the invention of The Pill). She does not venture into an analysis of the alleged Third and Fourth "waves" of feminism, which are still very much in flux, as feminism itself is gradually swallowed up by the irrational conceits of "intersectionality." The importance of oral contraceptives cannot be exaggerated, but they were not the prescription for unprecedented happiness that many people predicted: indeed,their popularity led to such an increase in the use of psychiatric drugs that by 1963, 23% of American women were using some type of psychotropic medication: a fact acknowledged by Betty Friedan, and ridiculed by the Rolling Stones ("Mother's Little Helper"). "The Pill" could forestall conception; it could not guarantee contentment.Having noted all these things, the author begins to expand on her main theme: the Biblical "roles" of women and men, and the psychological, social, and spiritual benefits that would accrue if today's unhappy women reexamined and seriously considered what the Bible says — NOT what too many loudmouthed, clueless pulpiteers have bellowed for centuries. The path to contentment and true fulfillment, Mrs. Merkle says, lies in a proper understanding of the teachings of the Bible.
Two things must be made clear. Although Mrs. Markle is herself a woman whose entire life is informed and empowered by her Christian faith, she has not written here an evangelistic "pitch." She would, no doubt, like for all of her readers to know the blessedness of the Christian life, but she is not playing an evangelistic role here. Second, Mrs. Markle is not a latter-day avatar of Marabel Morgan, the bestselling author of "The Total Woman" nearly fifty years ago. Anyone old enough to remember that book will understand the reference.
This is a very valuable book, 90% of which is well worth reading by any woman, be she Christian or not. Recommended, with one caveat: Mrs. Merkle, and her associates, are advocates of what's known as "Dominion" theology, and a radical "Covenant" theology, which I consider false and unscriptural. But that's a theological difference between Christians, and I look forward to the day when our unity in Christ will be undeniable, as we "merrily meet in Heaven."
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Language
Original language
English
Physical description
8.5 inches
ISBN
1944503528 / 9781944503529