Women's Faith Development

This is a relatively short book (181 pages), but it is a dense read. I would not recommend it for most people without a background in theological education. It is clearly intended for an academic audience.

This book helped me understand women's faith development better, though (as a man) I found it difficult to relate to most of the book, which supports Slee's claim that we cannot universalize men's faith development to include women. This book encouraged me to be more considerate about women's perspectives in my ministry to the best of my ability.

Many readers will find certain points of the book to be theologically problematic. For example, historic Christian beliefs about gender roles, sexuality, male language for God, etc. are described as oppressive to women throughout the book. Some of this is Slee accurately representing the women she interviewed, and some of it comes from Slee herself.

Individual/subjective truth is also emphasized, which is used to justify sinful (my term, not Slee's) lifestyles. Some of the interviewees even indicate that sins (again, my term, not theirs) have helped them in their faith development. I find this problematic. I do not believe that sin leads to human flourishing, even if it may appear to us as though it does in the moment.

Lastly, I think the book is biased against women who experience historic Christianity as a positive thing. I wonder if Slee even considers this a possibility or if she believes historic Christianity is inherently patriarchal, oppressive, and harmful to women? I don't know what Slee would say to that; I'm just wondering. To be clear, I do not want to discredit women who have been harmed by the church, but I also do not want to silence women who have flourished in healthy forms of historic Christianity. I believe both fundamentalism and theological liberalism are equally harmful to women and men alike.

That's my review, Amber, for which you asked. I hope you found it helpful.