enGendered: God’s Gift of Gender Difference in Relationship
Overview
enGendered celebrates the God-given distinctions between a man and a woman. It concludes that the more distinction is embraced, the closer a man and woman become. Thus gender, rightly understood, is a tool for intimacy. Written in a compassionate tone and winsome style, the volume speaks to Christians who want to know what the Bible says about gender differences and why. This theology of gender is also of value for people who struggle with same-sex attraction but want to follow Christ.
enGendered was selected as as the winner of the 2015 book-of-the-year in the Accessible Theology cateogry by World Magazine.
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Top Highlights
“Clumsiness is endemic because of what gender really is: a fundamental element of bearing the image of God. Gender is hard to understand because God is hard to understand.” (Page 37)
“Thus, according to Jesus, God’s creation of gender is the necessary cause of marriage. Marriage happens as an expression of gender distinction.” (Page 52)
“If women really are practically interchangeable with men, because there is hardly any difference, why would it be important to strive for equal representation in a presidential cabinet? The distinction becomes something equivalent to hair color. Would fairness demand an equal number of blondes and brunettes in government?” (Page 36)
“First, it is a gift. An often overlooked feature of the Bible’s wifely submission commands is how they are addressed to the wives, not the husbands.” (Page 111)
“First and foremost, then, the Bible sees gender as a further gift added upon our biology, shaping our identities and deeply revealing of God’s Self.” (Pages 37–38)
Contents
- Introduction: Prohibitions Are Not Enough
- Part 1: The Way through the Thicket: Who We Are and Where Relationships Come From
- We Have Lost the Trail of Relational Love
- The God of Closeness Has Shown Himself
- Gender Is Hard to Talk About for Good Reason
- They Are Equal in Power and Glory
- Gender Matters in Relationship
- Sex Differences Form the Platform of God’s Gift
- Part 2: The Trail Markers: Embracing Asymmetry for the Other
- The Grand Asymmetries of Gender Give Us Specialies
- The Asymmetry of Origin: The Man of the Solid Ground and the Woman of the Resting Rib
- The Asymmetry of Order (Part 1): The Firstborn
- The Asymmetry of Order (Part 2): The Promoter
- The Asymmetry of Intent: The Commissioned and the Empowerer
- Gender Specialties: Banishing Independence
- Culture: The Clothes of Gender
- Part 3: The Inner Wood: The Dynamics of Getting Close
- The Purpose of the Genders: A Gift to Foster Intimacy
- Deeper Still: Dynamics of Intergendered Intimacy
- Sex: Respecting the Platform of Distinction
- Continuum of Closeness: When Gender Does and Doesn’t Matter
- The Immense Invitation
Product Details
- Title: enGendered: God's Gift of Gender Difference in Relationship
- Author: Sam A. Andreades
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2015
- Pages: 256
- Format: Logos Digital, Paperback
- Trim Size: 6x9
- ISBN: 9781683591887
About Sam A. Andreades
Sam A. Andreades was senior pastor of Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church in Quarryville, Pennsylvania from 2014 to 2018. Before that, he was a pastor for ten and a half years in Greenwich Village, New York City, and is the founder of Higher Ground (originally called G.A.M.E.: Gender Affirming Ministry Endeavor), a New York City ministry of Christian discipleship serving those with unwanted same-sex attractions. He is a graduate of Yale University (B.S., geology and geophysics), Reformed Theological Seminary (M.Div., pastoral ministry), New York University (M.S., artificial intelligence), and Covenant Theological Seminary (D.Min., urban mission and ministry) where he wrote his dissertation on gender distinction in marriage. Sam married his wife, Mary K., in 1990 and they have four children together—Thaddaeus, Jeremy, Veronica, and Enoch.