Kevin DeYoung’s Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction is a compact book, about 176 pages, published by Crossway in 2021. It is short on purpose. DeYoung is trying to give a reader the biblical case in one sitting rather than a five-hundred-page reference volume.
The previous version of this review described it as a guide to community engagement, neighborhood outreach, and mentoring youth. That is not what this book is about at all, and the framing has been replaced.
What the book actually argues
This is a case for complementarianism, which is the view that Scripture assigns men and women distinct roles in the church and the home, including reserving the office of elder or pastor for men.
Part one is exposition. DeYoung starts in Genesis and lays out, in a numbered list, the similarities and differences between Adam and Eve, then traces what he reads as a consistent pattern of male headship through the Old Testament and into the New. Part two is questions and applications, where he takes on the common objections to complementarianism and answers them directly.
He writes clearly and he does not hide the ball. You will know exactly what he thinks and why by the end.
Where CalledToBetter stands
This has to be said plainly, because the old review presented DeYoung’s conclusions as simply the biblical position.
Our position: men and women are equal in worth and dignity before God, and Scripture describes distinct roles for them. We do not define what those roles are beyond what the Bible states plainly, and we do not publish rulings on the contested specifics, including who may hold church office.
DeYoung goes considerably further than we do. That is his prerogative and he argues it carefully. But this is a live disagreement among Christians who all hold Scripture as authoritative, and it is not settled by one short book, however well written.
If you are going to read the case for this position, this is a good place to read it. If you want to understand the argument honestly, read something from the other side too. Philip Payne’s The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood is the strongest statement of the opposing case, and we have reviewed it here. Terran Williams has also published a book-length response specifically to DeYoung.
Strengths and limits
The brevity is genuinely the selling point. Most volumes on this subject are enormous and most readers never finish them. DeYoung gets a full argument into a couple of evenings.
Brevity is also the limit. Compressing a contested exegetical debate into 176 pages means the hardest passages get less room than their difficulty warrants, and readers on the other side have said exactly that. A short introduction is an introduction, not a settlement.
The previous review claimed the book includes reflection questions and action points. Part two is structured around questions, but I could not confirm study questions of the sort a group would use. Check the preview before ordering copies.
Note also that this post is filed under Community. It belongs under Faith or church life. It is a book about church order, not community outreach.
Who should read it
A man who wants to understand what complementarians actually argue and why, from someone making the case well. Elders and church leaders working through their own position. Anyone who has only ever heard this view caricatured.
Read it alongside a serious book from the other side. Do not read it as the end of the conversation.
Men and Women in the Church on Amazon