A book by Ben Cooper reviewed by David Griffin
In many churches across the UK, discussing gender roles can feel like putting a match to firelighters. Whether you are egalitarian (both genders equal in status and role) or complementarian (equal in status, different in roles in family and church), emotions can run high. The Complementarian position, now a minority view, has few works written for UK readers. For these reasons, the little book Positive Complementarianism by Ben Cooper is a welcome addition.
Positive Complementarianism covers the ‘key biblical texts’ to demonstrate the plausibility of the scriptural interpretation that an elder should be male and Christian husbands should lead their families. The biblical texts include Genesis 1-3, Galatians 3:28, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 14 and Romans 16. Significantly these are the texts used by both sides. Cooper’s comments are brief but succinct, footnotes are provided to follow up on both sides’ positions. Throughout the whole book Cooper has his nose in the biblical text and avoids interpretations based on spurious historical reconstructions. He keeps looking at what the biblical texts actually say.
This work is short (50 pages), carefully argued, and most importantly: non-polemical. Cooper successfully avoids rudeness, point scoring or simply being performative. Instead, the tone of the book is gentleness, it could be called a ‘safe book’ in that it never seeks to overstate its case.
Sensing a defensiveness among complementarians because they are a minority, Cooper seeks to be a positive work, appealing to the good order in Eden, and seeking to create a distinctly Christian approach to leadership. Cooper is at his most insightful on 1 Corinthians 12, challenging the assumption that leadership implies superiority.
For anyone seeking to avoid both the gender stereotypes of the past and the confusion of the present, this is a helpful book. It is also helpful for those who wish to affirm women’s ministry while also embracing gender distinctions in marriage and the church.
This is a rare book in that I will happily recommend it to both my complementarian and egalitarian brothers and sisters in Christ.
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