On this page there are reviews for each book. In order to take a look at the reviews for the book that you are interested in, simply scroll down to your right until you find the title you're looking for.

For Christians who are Seriously Dating or Would like to Be

Midwest Book Review, James A Cox, Editor in Chief

For Christians Who Are Seriously Dating Or Would Like to Be by Elreta Dodds (an ordained Minister certified in Advanced Church Ministries and a Certified Social Worker) is a thought-provoking book of questions that every faithful Christian should ask himself or herself before becoming engaged. A frank, no-nonsense discussion of core issues, with numerous blank lines [inserted] after probing questions that the reader can use to fill in his or her own responses. For Christians Who Are Seriously Dating covers matters concerning religion, lifestyle, the "ex"factor (former marriages or relationships on both sides), family and friends, children, issues of domestic violence, and more. For Christians Who Are Seriously Dating Or Would Like To Be is a superbly presented work and very highly recommended for its patient, non-judgmental manner of prompting the reader to think about serious issues before making the lifelong commitment of marriage.

Is God A Chauvinist?

4th Fridays with Rufis Harris, On-line newsletter, poet's corner 

Local author Elreta Dodds talked on stage to Rufis Harris about her new book-"Is God a Chauvinist? The Bible and Women: A Complete Look." She tackled many topics including great women of the Bible, women in leadership, and what the word "submit" really means. She also discussed where the word "Chauvinist" originated. It was a great discussion. If you missed it, you really missed a stimulating discussin. But you can always pick up a copy of her book at most bookstores.

Midwest Book Review James A Cox, Editor in Chief

"Is God a Chauvinist? The Bible and Women-A Complete Look" By Elreta Dodds (Certified in Advanced Church Ministry by the Evangelical Training Association) is  a carefully presented and highly informative study written expressly to dispel the notion that the Bible is inherently a chauvinistic or sexist book. Exploring women's concerns ranging from domestic violence, to marriage roles, pregnancy, how Jesus treated women, and more. "Is God a Chauvinist?" is a thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution to both Christian Studies, Biblical Studies, and Women's Studies reading lists and reference collection.

Chico (California) Enterprise Record (Newspaper), Larry Mitchell, Staff Writer  

     It's not surprising many women are alienated by the biblical injunction that wives "submit" to their husbands, author Elreta Dodds said in Chico last week.

     She was put off too, until she delved into the subject, said Dodds, a social worker and Christian minister from Detroit. She spoke about what she called the "S" word to an audience of about 40 people Saturday night at the Church of God--Anderson, Ind., Affiliates.

     "I feel there are a lot of women out there who think that the Bible is a chauvinist, sexist piece of literature that's against women," she said. "And they don't want to have anything to do with it."

     The shameful thing is that's a mistaken perception, she said. "God is not a chauvinist. He's an equal-opportunity God, who's very fair, a wonderful guy. He didn't make one sex superior over another."

     But why this apparently troubling matter of wives shall submit to their husbands?

     The first thing to recognize is that you can't get away from that: the Bible really does say it, Dodds noted.

     However, when you look at the Bible's original words and their context, the dictum doesn't seem so onerous, she said.

     First of all, while the Bible's "submit" sounds like an order, in the scriptures' original language it's softened by being stated in something called "the middle voice," she said. "It really means to "be in allegiance to" or  "to be at the disposition of."

     It's very important to be clear on these issues, Dodds said. Many men seem to think the Bible says all women must submit to men, but that's not so. It says wives should submit to their husbands. Women can skirt the issue altogether by choosing not to marry, which the Bible calls perfectly acceptable, she added.

    "A lot of people believe that Eve was made for Adam--that she was born in submission," but the Hebrew of the scriptures doesn't bear this out, Dodds said. "I think there's a possibility that they shared in authority."

     In its original language, the Bible refers to Eve as Adam's "ezer" or help meet (help mate), she said. The Bible uses the same word "ezer" to refer to God in his relation to humans, she added. "God is our help."

     Finally, you need to look at the context of the "S" word, she said. People assume that in the order of things God intended, women were to submit to their husbands. But actually, the dictum appears as part of a curse that God put on Adam and Eve and the serpent after they got into trouble in the Garden of Eden.

     Dodds said that as punishment, God told the serpent it would have to crawl on its belly forever after that, Adam and all men would have to work for their food, and that Eve, and all women would have increased pain in childbirth and also that they would have to submit to their husbands. You hear a lot about the "increased pain," but most pastors don't say much about the second part of this punishment for Eve, she said.

     This "curse" context puts a whole new light on the order to submit, Dodds claimed. "This is a punishment that the husband will rule over his wife. Before the curse, Adam was not dominating Eve. Now he's going to have a tendency to dominate her."

     For a man to find out that his biblical authority "has a curse tacked onto it ought to be a humbling thing, Dodds said. "A man has to be very careful how he treats his wife. Nobody wants to be a curse to another person."

     Dodds reminded her audience that according to the Bible, men have their own "S" word: "sacrifice." She said, "Men are told to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Christ loved the church so much that he died for it."

     Dodds discusses these and other issues in her book "Is God a chauvinist? The Bible and Women."

Chico Enterprise Record, Dan Barnett, Butte College Instructor

     "Male Chauvinists" writes Elreta Dodds in "Is God a Chauvinist? The Bible and Women: A Complete Look" ($15.00 in paper from Press Toward The Mark Publications, Detroit MI) "tend to think...they are better, smarter, more apt, more deserving, more able, more entitled, more fitting, more suited for roles that merit greater status and more spiritual than women, simply because they are men."

     She adds that "many women believe that the Bible is a chauvinistic book and that it discriminates against women. Because of this...there are those women who reject the Bible thereby rejecting the message of Jesus Christ and ultimately rejecting salvation." Written from a Christian viewpoint, "Is God a Chauvinist?" examines marriage and church roles, single women, women and sex, polygamy and abortion, and women as leaders.

     "Is God a Chauvinist?" takes a dispensational view of Scripture as the best-selling "Left Behind" series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. This perspective, she says, "is the theory that the work of God has been divided into seven different God-ordained time periods since the beginning of the creation of man. God has established certain rules by which mankind is to live, but there are those rules that only apply during a particular dispensation and then there are those rules that apply across all seven dispensations."

     The dispensations include Innocency (before the fall); Conscience (after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden); Human Government (the time after the Flood); Promise (that Abraham and his descendants would become a great nation); Law (that is, the Mosaic Law); Grace (the present church age); and Kingdom (the establishment of an earthly kingdom by Jesus Christ after a seven-year tribulation and the descent of the New Jerusalem from Heaven).

     This interpretative framework can be seen in how the author deals with the case of polygamy, which is "clearly, in today's time, a practice that goes against the word of God...God only allowed it during the dispensation of Conscience through the dispensation of the Law. One can only speculate as to why God allowed or tolerated it then, but we know for certain that it is a sin to engage in polygamy now. Therefore there is no chauvinism on God's part when considering the subject of polygamy. It is a dead issue."

     Dispensation also plays a part in Dodds' reconciliation of Genesis 2:24 ("a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife...") with first Corinthians 7:8-9a "(But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they remain even as I am, but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry").

     "It appears that during the dispensation of Innocence," she says, "before the fall and curse of man, marriage was overall a good thing. But after the fall, increasingly marriage, although still a good thing became something that was not the best thing for people to engage in if they wanted to serve the Lord as diligently as they possibly could." The passage in First Corinthians, which affirms female singleness, could not be the work of "a chauvinistic God...(who) would have instead inspired writings that teach that a woman is incomplete without a man."

     Other New Testament passages that appear to forbid female pastors are, Dodds affirms, simply expressions of cultural norms no longer applicable today. "One would be hard pressed," she writes, "to present biblical evidence to support limiting a woman's service in the church."

     "Is God a Chauvinist?" is not a scholarly work. The short bibliography cites mainly secondary reference works and Bible translations and there is no scripture index. Dodds frequently refers to unnamed "theologians" whose interpretation she sometimes accepts, sometimes challenges. The book is one woman's defense of the Bible against charges of chauvinism. Among Christian and non-Christian readers alike, Dodds is sure to evoke some spirited discussion.

What the Bible really says about Slavery

Upscale Magazine, Glenn R. Townes

A new book by theologian Elreta Dodds will surely resurrect old prophecies and myths about the sacred testament. "What the Bible Really Says About Slavery" is a surprisingly frank and revealing discussion about historical verses in the Bible that have been misinterpreted and misunderstood for centuries. Dodds attempts to clarify the teachings of the Bible, by highlighting specific verses and scriptures related to slavery. Perhaps the most stunning passage in the book is in the beginning where the author uses a quote from talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey. Dodds contends that hearing the daytime diva of gab was the catalyst for her book. "What the Bible REALLY says About Slavery" is a recommended read for anyone who yearns to learn more about where the Bible stands on slavery.

The Trouble with Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam

 Middle East Quarterly, Daniel Pipes

    Despite vicious attacks by Nation of Islam leaders on Christianity, the black church has barely responded. The result has been that the NOI has proved a bridge for African-Americans to move in large numbers toward Islam. Their number today approaches a million,and the director of Project Joseph, a rare Christian effort to fend off Islamic advances among black Americans,states that "If the conversation rate continues unchanged, Islam could become the dominant religion i Black urban areas by the year 2020."

     In her self-published reply to Louis Farrakhan, Dodds does not mince words, calling the NOI leader "an antichrist and false prophet steered by racist views...His spiritual father is Satan." To show that he "teaches false doctrine" she closely analyses in detail four of Farrakhan's notably speeches in 1995-96, including his address at the Million Man March. She is particularly upset a the way he tries to "convince unstudied Christians that Muslims and Christians worship the same God and that the Bible and the Koran basically say the same thing." Toward this end, she finds he again and again "takes biblical scripture and perverts it." For example, he quotes the 23 Psalm ("The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want") to refer to the Muslim deity. She also points to many inconsistencies in Farrakhan's statements, his close ties to dictators like Mu'ammar al-Qadhdhafi, and the unspeakable blasphemy of his likening himself to God. Whether Dodds is a lonely voice in the wilderness or the cutting edge of major black Christian response is yet to be seen.

Logos Horn Quarterly, Chicago Illinois, Terrance Johnson, Author

    On the way to the Milwaukee Barnes and Noble for her scheduled book signing, an uneasy feeling that something was going down came over Elreta Dodds, so she started talking to the Lord. When she entered the store, the overwhelming presence of the black dudes with the bow ties confirmed that she didn't have a case of heartburn or bat-size butterflies. There were no signs of Saints on this stop of the tour to promote her book, "The Trouble with Farrakhan and The Nation of Islam." With several men from the Nation of Islam in attendance for her sermon-like reading, she knew that there would be no amen corner for encouragement. So she tightened up her armor and delivered "Another Message to The Black Man in America" to the Black Muslim audience that she expected to be Christian.

     "The Trouble with Farrakhan and The Nation of Islam" is Dodds' second literary work of non-fiction, following up on the enlightening "What the Bible Really Says About Slavery." The book is an apologetic examination of the teachings [of the] Nation of Islam. At first glance at the provocative title, it could be easily assumed that this is a personal attack on Farrakhan. Indeed, the contents of the book are offensive to many black folks (especially Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam), but it's actually a bold defense of the Christian faith. Her message was vehemently and antagonistically rejected in her hometown of Detroit by one of the top ministers in the Nation.

     At issue is the assimilation of Nation of Islam beliefs with sound Biblical teaching. Throughout the book, most notably in the Epilogue, she admonishes Christian leaders not to align themselves with Minister Farrakhan in the name of unity.

     For clarification, Dodds examines the differences between Christianity, orthodox Islam, and the Nation of Islam when it comes to topics such as God, the Holy Bible, Salvation, and Jesus.

     Focusing on [four] monumental speeches delivered by Minister Louis Farrakhan--centering on his Million Man March message--Dodds dissects the doctrine of death like a mad scientist.

     Documenting his statements verbatim, she quotes Farrakhan allegorizing the Gospel accounts as representations of the black community, not as actual facts. In the same vein, he exalts Master Fard Muhammad (the mysterious Nation of Islam founder) as God in the flesh and Jesus, which contradicts his declarations that Elijah Muhammad is the Messiah.

     Dodds transcribed and commented on each statement in his speeches, using the scriptures as a microscope. She also helps the reader keep everything in context by pointing out the setting and the audience of the messages.

     To his 1996 Savior's Day, predominately Black Muslim listeners, Farrakhan boldly states "Christians, you make a mistake to worship Jesus! This is why you are powerless! Jesus never asked you to worship him! Jesus, two thousand years ago, was a prophet, but the Messiah comes in the last days. Elijah Muhammad is the Messiah," while he tones down his Nation of Islam tenets when speaking at Christian assemblies with ecumenical statements like "the scriptures of the Bible and the Koran are really a roadmap and a plan for salvation of an entire people.

     Often objectivity is lost when a writer addresses a sensitive subject. Even though Dodds is a Christian, her writing is impartial and impersonal when breaking down the religion. After all, the speeches are basically transcribed in their entirety, thereby keeping the context of the speaker.

     Although there is no sugar in her words, there is much love. At the conclusion of her reading in Milwaukee, Dodds explained that she wrote the book from a loving heart and didn't want anyone to be deceived all the way to hell. The response from the Black Muslims in Milwaukee was civil and diplomatic.

     This book is an easy read, making it a good teaching tool for all Christians, especially those who are involved in inner city outreach where there is a strong Black Muslim presence. It's also an excellent read for a Muslim with an open and objective mind.