There are some really good thoughts presented in this book. There is also a lot of filler. The book is slow to get going and slow to conclude and it can feel a bit unfocused at times. I found the middle chapters to be the most compelling.

I did not always agree with the author's philosophies, primarily when it came to typical western worldviews and assumptions about biblical teachings that modern scholars view with skepticism. The book does contain some valuable information and perspectives, though. I especially liked the sections where the author discussed the words ezer and hayil and how English Bible translations have influenced the way we view their interpretations. If there had been more of this type of analysis in the book, I would likely have given it a higher rating.

There are a couple of places where a very privileged western worldview peeks through in the author's words in insensitive ways, which didn't sit well with me.

Overall, it was a bit fluffy but offered a fresh perspective on a couple of things here and there that will stick with me as I dive deeper into my own study. ( )

This book has certianly awaken the giantess within. Carolyn James has crafted extremely well God's view, Biblical insights the kingdom and the original positional authority of the woman as image bearer and ezer Kenegdo. The structure of the book flows and transitions beginning going beyond ourselves to waking the sleeping giantess. The Ezer Unbond (Chapter 5) is the message of the book for me. Distinguishing the naking of a woman, her purpose and mission, later coupled with the understanding that without the Blessed Alliance, God's kingdom goes unfulfilled. As women in the Western part of the world, we must remember, and regain focus of othergirls and women globally that are marginalized, rejected and subjected to bodliy and emotional crimes, that God never intended for it to be. Her theological question: "Is God calling women to rule and subdue too"? has had much debate. But who if not women will continue to hold up Half the Sky?

If the church is wihout oxygen, it simply means there's a grave absence of the women who are gifted, anointed and call by God; made to either work their way around a male domineering system or a system that is ignorant to the plan the God in a Blessed Alliance relationship. The examples of Ruth in the shaping of a leaders soul is remarkable. Simply because Ruth doesnt hold proper credentials to even be included in a male dominating story. Jael. Deborah, Abgiail, Mary of Nazareth are seen as strong ezer role models. Girls in the Eastern Culture are forced, not mentored or fostered into becoming strong women but brutaly pawned off as little girls to be the wife of a man that's the age of her father. This will either force her to a place of strength if it doesn't kill her.

James explains and demonstrate for us the need to get back to God's original plan for the kingdom. This is a serious global issue that is facing the church and the sooner we wake up the giantess within the greater the church will become. Finally, the keen insight for the need of many convergences. Focus on what iis happening with women, reunite the gospel that's been split in half through most of the present generation and then accept the need for authentic blessed alliance --- even as God continues to work in and on us. Marvelous book on undesrtanding the need for recapturing "God's Global Vision for Women" We do hold up half the sky because we have been created as image bearers in the earth as half the church. 5 Stars

A great response to Half the Sky by Kristof and WuDunn. Well thought out and well put together. Read it all on the flight from the States to South Africa. I was impressed how well James opens up the discussion of women and the church. ( )

Hear their cries and arise!
Five Stars

In her three previous books James laid the Biblical foundation for a better understanding of God's vision for women. In Half the Church, she continues in that vein but also shifts her focus so that her mission has now become twofold.

First, she aims to widen the reader's scope of understanding from a primarily middle class Western worldview to a much broader international view. To do so she takes the reader through snapshots of the lives of individual girls and women identifying each by name and describing her circumstances in light of the societal context in which she lives. Although she spares the reader of some details too horrific to repeat, there remains enough information to cause the reader to be sickened by the knowledge that events so tragic happen in epidemic proportions in the 21st century.

Second, James draws from the Biblical foundations spelled out in her previous body of work to bring to the attention of the reader, whether male or female, God's explicit call on women to join alongside her brothers as ezer-warriors. To illustrate how both men and women benefit when the sexes join together to battle the enemy, James retells events that happened in the lives of great ezer-warriors both in scripture and in more recent history. Once the reader has gained that understanding and has heard the cries of the helpless, the author shifts her focus to call "half the church" to arise and go forth into their destinies.

The book is well structured. James's research and writing point readers to the bigger picture of the church's mission. She intentionally does not take sides on troublesome issues debated by Biblical scholars. Rather, she urges readers to dig deeper into God for answers on those passages of scripture. The topic is certainly thought-provoking and worthy of self-reflection. Through her writing, James seeks to awaken the sleeping giantess one reader at a time.

NOTE: I requested and received a copy of this title via NetGalley.com but made no commitment to review it. ( )