By Sarah Bessey
Jesus Feminist is a memoir-style argument for Christian Feminism.
My favorite section of the book talked about the statistics of women who are raped and abused, violence against women, lower education rates for women, the lack of access to water and sanitation in many countries etc. These are the reasons I also have become a feminist.
There is at least one chapter about Biblical interpretation in this book, and it is helpful, but Sarah mentions that this book is not predominantly the biblical case for feminism, as she feels she has been arguing over that for years and finds the arguments only divisive. I can’t blame her for that. Arguments over biblical interpretation often only lead to stalemates between stubborn people who are comfortable in their current interpretations.
Sarah’s stories about her own life, marriage, miscarriages and babies, tug on the heartstrings of those with similar journeys. However, I did want to hear more about why she is pro-life. I grew up in a pro-life environment but have recently decided that the world needs to be both pro-life and pro-choice. It is necessary in order to save women’s lives. I guess I would err toward pro-choice for this very reason: preserving the mother over the baby. Medical abortions are needed in numerous situations to spare the mother and also to spare babies from suffering and dying a more prolonged, painful death. I’ve met a woman who had an abortion so that she could undergo chemotherapy and heard stories of raped women who wouldn’t hesitate to take the morning after pill or have an abortion if they conceived under those circumstances. Sarah mentions how many children are orphans and how this is a reflection of the treatment of women. I think this is an important point too. While I believe women deserve the right to choose without judgment from me, on the other hand all of us (pro-life and pro-choice) should be supporting single mothers and orphans. Sarah upholds these goals and ideals and supports various ministries, as well as actively fundraising. I don’t think we can claim to be pro-life without being activists for mothers and orphans.
This is a deeply spiritual book, and Sarah obviously has a deep connection to Jesus. When you read it, you will encounter more of the love and justice of God and less of legalistic religion. Over all I enjoyed and appreciated Sarah’s perspectives!