Women sometimes go to desperate lengths to distort, mold, and fashion their bodies into that of the "ideal" woman. They live with the reality of the body, from its reproductive implications to pressures from the media to look a certain way. They are intimately connected to their bodies, despite the historical paradigm of a disconnected body and soul.

Lilian Barger notes that the splitting of soul vs. body is "part of our spiritual problem." So Eve’s Revenge is written not to help women overcome their perceived shortcomings, but to provide an increased understanding of how woman’s relationship with the body and its social meaning impacts spirituality. Barger investigates the tension women experience between their bodies and their desire for a spiritual life. She responds with the possibility of viewing women as something other than perennially split between body and soul. This paradigm, offered through the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth, provides insight into how women ought to live in the world and very much in their own skin.

Women struggling with a body/soul tension and those interested in the social and spiritual meaning of the female body will find this book revealing and liberating.

Eve’s Revenge is not about feminism, sabotage, or anger. Rather, it’s a book about women, women’s bodies, and the healing gaze of God. It’s a needed affirmation of what it means to be both human and female. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is searching for significance.–Sarah Sumner, Azusa Pacific University

Barger’s culture-challenging analysis collides with the American obsession with the body, how it looks to us and to others, and emerges triumphant. She provides a profoundly honest evaluation not only of the misogyny of our culture but also the misogyny of the Church, and offers something much better–a Christian view of the body. Barger reminds us that the incarnation of Christ means that our bodies are valuable mirrors in which we are enabled to see the redemption of Christ.–Frank A. James III, Reformed Theological Seminary