"Eve in Exile" | Book Review by Tessa

"Eve in Exile and the Restoration of Femininity" by Rebekah Merkle was recommended by Summer White, host of the Sheologians podcast. So, of course, I had to have my husband Amazon-prime that sucker to my front door as soon as I could. I devoured this book. First, I love critiques of feminism. Second, I love books that help me love and admire the Lord more, and this book helped me see the amazing Creator that the Lord is and how beautifully He has designed women (and men and families). Third, I love books that help me grow in obedience to the Lord. And this book definitely helped with that. It has revealed many areas of my own thinking about my role as a woman which the culture has influenced. "Our culture has come to despise fruitfulness so much that we Christians sometimes don't see how far it has crept into our own thinking as well" (pg 170). And the book showed me how and why these areas of wrong-thinking need to be reoriented in order to line up with the word of God.

Rebekah gives a historical overview of the philosophical development of feminism, which she describes as being one of the most destructive movements for American women and families. In the book, she makes an illustrative point on how the far right and left wings both make useless proposals to solve the problem of widespread unhappiness and purposelessness felt by American women:

"Somewhere along the line, America has swallowed a poisonous lie about what women were for, and by the end of the 50s was starting to feel queasy, but it wasn't until the 60s that the vomiting started....The liberals think the vomiting was necessary and helpful (pay no mind to the fact that our country is now in high fever, quivering spastically on the floor, showing no signs of improvement) and the ultraconservatives argue that this whole situation is terrible, so let's go back to that idyllic and nostalgic day when we ate the bad oyster--and then eat it again" (p. 71).

Additionally, Rebekah rejects the feminist hypothesis which states that in order for women to be successful, they must abandon the home and find fulfillment on the outside. She proposes that in order for women to truly find fulfillment and satisfaction in their work, they must return to their original design, which is laid out in the Bible. This design includes four main points which are expounded on in the book: to subdue, to fill, to help, and to glorify. When women submit to their God-given design, they will flourish.

This book was revealing and challenging to me in many ways. I would recommend it for any and every woman. Especially, young Christian women like myself, who may be out of college, newly married, and faced with some confusing choices about where and how to spend their work and energy in a God-honoring way. In the conclusion of the book, Rebekah leaves the reader with a challenging, but hope-filled exhortation to begin rebuilding our feminist-ravaged nation, through making the choice as Christian women of laying ourselves down for others, namely for our own family, in obedience to the Lord.

"Every family that is laughing together, loving one another, woven together by a strong woman who sees the profound importance of what she's doing--that is enormously significant for the rebuilding of this nation" (p. 203).

I underlined and starred so much in this book, which is why I'm sharing so many quotes and why I want you to read the book as well (since I can't fit them all here)! I will leave you with an abridged version of one of my favorite quotes from the book.

"When we lay on the altar that which is dearest to us, when we bury it in the ground, God gives it back to us, glorified. If we lay our pride down, He gives us incredible dignity. If we lay our dreams down, He gives us unspeakable fulfillment. When we bury our own ambitions, He returns them back to us with interest. That which we put in the ground is a shriveled little seed, and what God hands back to us is a gorgeous handful of flowers--not a bad trade. So we need to stop feeling self-conscious that we've lost our seed...When the culture sneers at us for having so foolishly laid our seed in the dirt....we need to turn and look at the blooms and thank God for His mercy that allowed us to let go" (p. 194).