Womanly Dominion

My husband receives a lot of books to review, and the ones for women he passes on to me. Recently this book, Womanly Dominion: More Than A Gentle and Quiet Spirit by Mark Chanski, appeared on my desk.

The title intrigued me, but the subtitle deterred me.

“What? More than a meek and quiet spirit? Why would I want something more than what Jesus declares to be beautiful in His sight?” (1 Peter 3:4).

I wasn’t interested. I wasn’t going to read it.

But then I flipped to the back cover and saw endorsements from men and women I greatly respect--men and women whose teaching is solid, biblical, complementarian

Hmmm….I thought. Maybe I should check out this book after all.

Well, I’m so glad I did.

In Womanly Dominion, Mark Chanski fearlessly tackles practical and tricky questions related to a woman’s calling; yet, his biblical perspective, winsome style, and inspiring examples make this thought provoking read a pleasurable one as well.

That’s all I’m going to say for the moment—my goal today is simply to entice you to read this book for yourself.

To that end, let me give you just a sample of what you’ll find. In speaking of Abigail in the Bible, Mr. Chanski explains:

“There’s a time for a woman to resignedly sit back and wait for the Lord to change her husband’s mind. And there’s a time for a woman to assertively rise up and take matters into her own hands. Abigail knew how to tell time” (p. 77).

Now are you intrigued? Do you want to learn how to exercise womanly dominion and “tell time” like Abigail did? I hope so.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is wise advice, to which I would add: “Don’t judge a book by its subtitle either!”