The Gospel Coalition Encourages Women to Find Food For Thought in Progressive Feminist's Book
For decades now, the creeping fungus of egalitarianism has been clawing its way through the soft underbelly of American Evangelicalism. Dressed in the skin of compassion and armed with the weaponized vocabulary of secular feminism, it has disguised itself as “progress” while laying siege to Scripture’s authority.
It began, as most doctrinal rot does, not with a frontal assault—but with a quiet question: "Did God really say?"
What was once reserved for fringe leftist seminary classrooms and the dusty footnotes of postmodern theologians has now become the mainstream position of the respectable class of Evangelical elites. Household names like Jen Hatmaker, Sarah Bessey, and Rachel Held Evans laid the emotional groundwork, while men like David Gushee and Russell Moore supplied the theological cover fire.
And, of course, Beth Moore, for all her demureness, played both sides of the fence long enough, until she didn’t anymore, to hand egalitarianism the keys to the kingdom.
Into this hall of compromise strides Beth Allison Barr—perhaps the most subversive of them all. With a grin sharpened by grievance and a pen dipped in the ink of resentment, Barr has made a name for herself by repackaging the feminist revolt against Scripture in historical wrapping paper.
Her latest offering, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife, is the literary equivalent of poison in a perfume bottle. And predictably, The Gospel Coalition is eager to take a deep whiff and encourage you to do the same.
Barr, still comfortably tenured at Baylor University, is not simply dabbling in progressivism—she is neck-deep in it. Baylor, once nominally Christian, has now become a laboratory for theological transhumanism. LGBTQ student organizations? Check. Gay-affirming events? Absolutely.
Subversive language that undermines biblical clarity on sexuality? It’s practically a mission statement. Barr’s ongoing silence is deafening. Simply by her continued presence and cooperation with the institution, she has effectively aligned herself with the university’s progressive trajectory, including its embrace of pro-LGBTQ activism and its soft-pedaling of biblical sexual ethics.
Yet here comes The Gospel Coalition—clad in tweed and nuance—earnestly recommending Barr’s book as a thought-provoking read, even for those who still believe the Bible means what it says. The book review, written by Wendy Alsup, reads like a hostage letter written under the ever-watchful gaze of a seminary diversity committee.
Alsup acknowledges Barr’s harsh tone and doctrinal looseness, only to pivot and declare the book still offers "food for thought."