Masculine Christianity is by Zachary Garris, ISBN 9781735473901. Garris runs the site Knowing Scripture and writes from a Reformed position.
Know what you are buying
This is not a general book on Christian manhood. Garris argues for biblical patriarchy, and he says so directly. His contention is that “patriarchy” is a better and more biblical word than “complementarianism,” and that the complementarian movement was built on shaky ground and has lost its way.
So the book has two targets, not one. He argues against egalitarianism, and he argues that complementarianism conceded too much to feminism and is itself a compromise. If you assume this is a mainstream evangelical book on manhood, you will be surprised by chapter three.
Where we land
Our position at CalledToBetter is that men and women are equal in worth and dignity before God, and that Scripture describes distinct roles for them. We do not go further than that, and we do not publish rulings on the contested specifics.
Garris goes considerably further than we do. He is making a detailed, systematic case for male authority in the home, the church and society. That is well past our stated position, and we are not going to present it as the only faithful reading of Scripture. Christians who take the Bible just as seriously land in different places on this.
We are also not going to pretend the book does not exist or refuse to describe it. If you are going to encounter this argument, you should encounter it accurately.
What the book does well
Garris engages the actual scholarship. He interacts with egalitarian and complementarian writers directly rather than caricaturing them, works through the relevant passages in the epistles, and gives a historical survey of feminism’s influence on the church. Even reviewers who disagree with his conclusions have credited the survey and the exegesis as substantive.
He also writes clearly. There is no hedging and no evasion, which makes the argument easy to follow and easy to disagree with precisely.
The strongest criticism of it
The most telling critique published against the book is that it leaves out love. Ephesians 5 is the central passage on a husband’s duty toward his wife, and it commands him to love her as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Reviewers have pointed out that Garris passes over that passage without serious exegesis while treating authority thoroughly.
That is a fair objection and worth weighing, because a case for male headship that does not spend real effort on self-sacrificial love has left out the part of the text that costs the man something. An earlier version of this review claimed Garris highlights Ephesians 5 and its call to sacrificial love. That claim does not survive contact with the criticism of the book, so we are not repeating it.
Who it suits
Worth reading if you want to understand the patriarchy position as its advocates actually state it, or if you are already persuaded and want it argued carefully. Worth reading critically if you lead men and are likely to meet this argument.
Not the book to hand a man looking for basic encouragement, and not a fair summary of where most evangelicals stand. Read it with Ephesians 5 open.
Bottom line
A clear, well-researched and deliberately provocative case for patriarchy that goes well beyond both mainstream complementarianism and our own position. Substantive on authority, notably thin on the command to love, and best read alongside the passages it moves past quickly.