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Women Mentoring Women: Ways to Start, Maintain and Expand a Biblical Women's Ministry
by Vickie Kraft Gwynne JohnsonThe 21st Century has brought a new urgency for Christian women to search for meaningful relationships whee they can live out their faith. This is due in part to our increasingly secular lifestyle and the radical changes in marriage and family life that have isolated and discouraged many women. Women Mentoring Women offers the solution to a chronic weakness in churches: the lack of involvement of wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters in vital women's ministries.
Women Mystics
by Louis BouyerFocusing on the lives and writings of five women mystics, the great theologian and spiritual writer Louis Bouyer shows that, far from relegating women to some inferior position, Christianity has often been shaped and steered by women. The Church passed beyond the collapse of medieval Scholasticism and the errors of the Renaissance largely due to a succession of exceptional feminine personalities. Bouyer studies five female figures whose influence catalyzed an interior renaissance within Catholicism—the kind the Church needs as much today as it did in times past. Between Hadewijch of Antwerp, Teresa of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Elizabeth of the Trinity, and Edith Stein, there is a striking continuity, yet each is unique—and deeply creative—in her spiritual mission, and each has given to Christians a vivid glimpse into the reality of the living God
Women Philosophers from Non-western Traditions: The First Four Thousand Years (Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences #19)
by Mary Ellen Waithe Therese Boos DykemanThis book presents the views of 22 women philosophers from outside the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian worlds. These eminent thinkers are from Mesopotamia, India, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, America, the Philippines and Nigeria. Six philosophers, the earliest of whom predates the Greek pre-Socratics by two thousand years, lived at “the dawn of philosophy”; another six from late Antiquity through the Classical period; five more taught and wrote during the Middle Ages up to the Age of Exploration, and yet five others were active during the modern period to the mid-twentieth century. Most belonged to major philosophical traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zen, or Sufism. The chapters of the book describe the life and views of the philosophers, outline the fundamental features of their respective schools, and contain translations of their writings. The book is intended for scholars of philosophy and women’s studies who wish to expand their knowledge ofnon-Western philosophical traditions and is ideally suited for undergraduate education. Comprehensive multilingual bibliographies of carefully documented sources offer scholars many promising resources for further research.
Women Pioneers in Continental European Methodism, 1869-1939 (Routledge Methodist Studies Series)
by Paul W. Chilcote Ulrike SchulerDespite the fact that women are often mentioned as having played instrumental roles in the establishment of Methodism on the Continent of Europe, very little detail concerning the women has ever been provided to add texture to this historical tapestry. This book of essays redresses this by launching a new and wider investigation into the story of pioneering Methodist women in Europe. By bringing to light an alternative set of historical narratives, this edited volume gives voice to a broad range of religious issues and concerns during the critical period in European history between 1869 and 1939. Covering a range of nations in Continental Europe, some important interpretive themes are suggested, such as the capacity of women to network, their ability to engage in God’s work, and their skill at navigating difficult cultural boundaries. This ground breaking study will be of significant interest to scholars of Methodism, but also to students and academics working in history, religious studies, and gender.
Women Preachers and Prophets through Two Millennia of Christianity
by Beverly Mayne Kienzle Pamela J. WalkerFor nearly two millennia, despite repeated prohibitions, Christian women have preached. Some have preached in official settings; others have found alternative routes for expression. Prophecy, teaching, writing, and song have all filled a broad definition of preaching. This anthology, with essays by an international group of scholars from several disciplines, investigates the diverse voices of Christian women who claimed the authority to preach and prophesy. The contributors examine the centuries of arguments, grounded in Pauline injunctions, against women's public speech and the different ways women from the early years of the church through the twentieth century have nonetheless exercised religious leadership in their communities. Some of them based their authority solely on divine inspiration; others were authorized by independent-minded communities; a few were even recognized by the church hierarchy. With its lively accounts of women preachers and prophets in the Christian tradition, this exceptionally well-documented collection will interest scholars and general readers alike.
Women Priests, Symbolic Violence, and Symbolic Resistance (Gendering the Study of Religion in the Social Sciences)
by Sharon JaggerThis book explores, from a feminist sociological viewpoint, the ways gender is constructed in the priesthood in the Church of England, and the political, emotional, and spiritual resources generated by women priests in their resistance praxis against a discriminating structure. Despite the increasing numbers of women being ordained, the Church continues to structurally support and legitimise the view that the priesthood should be exclusively male, and women priests still experience gender discrimination and/or differentiation. Drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic violence, the book aims to fill a gap in the research literature by showing how women priests do not necessarily misrecognise or collude in their domination but engage in hidden resistances and subversions. Based on empirical research, the study reveals that whilst there are barriers to protesting and complaining in conventional ways, there are also significant resistances in how women priests perform their role. The themes addressed are relevant for sociologists of religion and scholars of gender and women’s studies, as well as those with an interest in theology and Christian ministry.
Women Remaking American Judaism
by Riv-Ellen PrellThe rise of Jewish feminism, a branch of both second-wave feminism and the American counterculture, in the late 1960s had an extraordinary impact on the leadership, practice, and beliefs of American Jews. Women Remaking American Judaism is the first book to fully examine the changes in American Judaism as women fought to practice their religion fully and to ensure that its rituals, texts, and liturgies reflected their lives. In addition to identifying the changes that took place, this volume aims to understand the process of change in ritual, theology, and clergy across the denominations.The essays in Women Remaking American Judaism offer a paradoxical understanding of Jewish feminism as both radical, in the transformational sense, and accomodationist, in the sense that it was thoroughly compatible with liberal Judaism. Essays in the first section, Reenvisioning Judaism, investigate the feminist challenges to traditional understanding of Jewish law, texts, and theology. In Redefining Judaism, the second section, contributors recognize that the changes in American Judaism were ultimately put into place by each denomination, their law committees, seminaries, rabbinic courts, rabbis, and synagogues, and examine the distinct evolution of women's issues in the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist movements. Finally, in the third section, Re-Framing Judaism, essays address feminist innovations that, in some cases, took place outside of the synagogue. An introduction by Riv-Ellen Prell situates the essays in both American and modern Jewish history and offers an analysis of why Jewish feminism was revolutionary. Women Remaking American Judaism raises provocative questions about the changes to Judaism following the feminist movement, at every turn asking what change means in Judaism and other American religions and how the fight for equality between men and women parallels and differs from other changes in Judaism. Women Remaking American Judaism will be of interest to both scholars of Jewish history and women's studies.
Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples
by Joan Taylor Helen BondDo you think that Jesus only surrounded himself with men? Think again. Inspired by their popular Channel 4 documentary Jesus' Female Disciples, historians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor explore the way in which Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha and a whole host of other women - named and unnamed - have been remembered by posterity, noting how many were silenced, tamed or slurred by innuendo - though occasionally they get to slay dragons. Women Remembered looks at the representation of these women in art, and the way they have been remembered in inscriptions and archaeology. And of course they dig into the biblical texts, exposing misogyny and offering alternative and unexpected ways of appreciating these women as disciples, apostles, teachers, messengers and church-founders. At a time when both the church and society more widely are still grappling with the full inclusion and equality of women, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical and cultural origins of Christianity.
Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples
by Joan Taylor Helen BondDo you think that Jesus only surrounded himself with men? Think again. Inspired by their popular Channel 4 documentary Jesus' Female Disciples, historians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor explore the way in which Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha and a whole host of other women - named and unnamed - have been remembered by posterity, noting how many were silenced, tamed or slurred by innuendo - though occasionally they get to slay dragons. Women Remembered looks at the representation of these women in art, and the way they have been remembered in inscriptions and archaeology. And of course they dig into the biblical texts, exposing misogyny and offering alternative and unexpected ways of appreciating these women as disciples, apostles, teachers, messengers and church-founders. At a time when both the church and society more widely are still grappling with the full inclusion and equality of women, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical and cultural origins of Christianity.
Women Rising: Learning to Listen, Reclaiming Our Voice
by Meghan TschanzFresh out of college, hating her job, and searching for meaning, Meghan Tschanz left everything to join a mission trip around the globe, and quickly witnessed oppression experienced by women that she never thought possible. Over the next several years, she befriended women around the globe who had survived sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, and violence so extreme Meghan wondered at the woman's survival. Through listening to their stories, Meghan started to notice a pattern that pointed to systems of injustice that held women back—systems that her childhood church had taught and in which she was complicit. She was changed. Returning to the United States, Meghan became keenly aware of how the teachings and messaging surrounding women in her own upbringing were part of the problem. In the process, she began to find her voice, one that spoke out against injustice and moved her into tension with her Christian community. Women Rising is Meghan Tschanz's personal journey of transformation. But it's also a Christian blueprint for anyone wanting to confront injustice against women while pointing to a biblical standard for gender equality. With humility and grit, Meghan calls Christian women to amplify their voices for righteousness—and she calls the church to listen.
Women Talking: A Novel
by Miriam ToewsOne evening, eight Mennonite women climb into a hay loft to conduct a secret meeting. For the past two years, each of these women, and more than a hundred other girls in their colony, has been repeatedly violated in the night by demons coming to punish them for their sins. Now that the women have learned they were in fact drugged and attacked by a group of men from their own community, they are determined to protect themselves and their daughters from future harm. While the men of the colony are off in the city, attempting to raise enough money to bail out the rapists and bring them home, these women--all illiterate, without any knowledge of the world outside their community and unable even to speak the language of the country they live in--have very little time to make a choice: Should they stay in the only world they’ve ever known or should they dare to escape? Based on real events and told through the “minutes” of the women’s all-female symposium, Toews’s masterful novel uses wry, politically engaged humor to relate this tale of women claiming their own power to decide.
Women Who Achieved for God
by Winnie ChristensenThe drive to succeed is a strong force in Western culture, and women are powerfully influenced by it. It is tempting to pursue triumphs that will impress the world, rather than achievements that will advance God's kingdom. In these studies, you'll meet fascinating historical women of the Bible who enjoyed worthy successes--women whose willingness to act upon God's leading made them achievers for him. Some well-known, some lesser known; some rich, some poor, these women came from all walks of life. Studying their stories will encourage you to become an influencer for God in your world.
Women Who Believed God
by Winnie ChristensenThe Bible gives us story after story of ordinary women who, daring to trust God, influenced their families, influenced their families and communities. These women faced the same challenges we face today--poverty, illness, death, war, loneliness, injustice, and difficult relationships. Yet they chose to believe God in those circumstances--and because of them, the world was changed. You can follow in their footsteps. Find encouragement and strength to imitate their powerful faith as you study the intriguing lives ofWomen Who Believed God.
Women Who Do Too Much: How to Stop Doing It All and Start Enjoying Your Life
by Patricia SprinkleAre you tired of being all things to all people? Are you overwhelmed by busyness, guilt, and stress? Women Who Do Too Much has already helped thousands of high-pressured women depressurize. This new edition, streamlined and updated to address the needs of women today, shows you – the women who does too much – how to do less, live better, and accomplish what truly matters. By tackling the larger issues of goals and commitments first, Patricia Sprinkle helps you determine what God created you to do – and helps you focus on doing just that. In addition, she gives tips to help you handle the demands of everyday life, plus quick, simple exercises to help you apply what you learn.
Women Who Do: Female Disciples in the Gospels
by Holly J. CareyMeet the women who followed Jesus even when the Twelve failed. To be a disciple is to follow Jesus. And that requires action. But in the gospels, the disciples often falter. The Twelve even abandon Jesus at his crucifixion in many of the narratives. Yet it is female disciples who remain faithful to Jesus to the end. What do we make of this? In Women Who Do, Holly J. Carey examines what it means to be a disciple—and contends that it&’s the women who best embody discipleship in the gospels. Carey describes the expectations and social roles for women in first-century Greco-Roman and Jewish contexts. Then she offers a close reading of each of the four gospels, as well as Acts of the Apostles. What emerges is a cohesive narrative-critical case that the Twelve are not an equivalent group to the disciples. In fact, the Twelve are set as foils against the faithful, active, and often nameless disciples who populate the narratives—many of whom are women. Women Who Do is essential reading for students and scholars seeking a fuller understanding of women&’s roles in Jesus&’s ministry. Carey&’s argument not only clarifies the narrative of the gospels but also raises questions about how the church conceives of women&’s leadership today.
Women Who Followed Jesus: 40 Devotions on the Journey to Easter
by Dandi Daley Mackall"Powerful daily encouragement that will enhance your walk with God." —Jerry B. Jenkins, writer of the Left Behind series and The Chosen novelsLook with fresh eyes toward the Bible stories you have heard all your life. Contemplate, ponder, and glory at Jesus' final days on earth, his heart-wrenching death, and marvelous resurrection alongside relatable women, chosen by God to play extraordinary roles through Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and beyond! Women Who Followed Jesus honors ordinary women who were integral to declaring Christ as Messiah, serving as early church believers, and announcing Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture. From Lent to Easter to Pentecost and beyond, these forty fresh and thought-provoking Bible-based devotions draw readers closer to the risen Savior while reminding individuals that God has a purpose for each of our lives. The struggles and joys of these women connect with everyday readers on topics such as patience, hope, faith, trust, persistence, sacrifice, grace, and love, addressing women's needs that cross generations and centuries. The story of Jesus unfolds through the voices of Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Salome, Mary and Martha of Bethany, the Samaritan woman at the well, and others, in forty devotions: Each reading begins with a passage of Scripture. Grounded in the biblical account, readers are challenged to imagine each woman's journey toward living with a risen Jesus. Poignant questions invite daily meditation and personal reflection at the end of each day's reading. This biblical and research-based journey of the miraculous life, death, and resurrection of Jesus encourages readers to worship, grow, and submit to God's plans, offering hope to women no matter what stage of life they're in. The involvement of women in the work of Christ should be as commonly known as the story of his twelve disciples. Women Who Followed Jesus recognizes and honors the ordinary women God chose for his extraordinary purpose. Each of the daily entries offers greater appreciation of these important female voices. This spring, contemplate, ponder, and learn by using this as your Bible study and listen as women of the Bible glorify God's Divine Son, Jesus the Risen King. ECPA Easter Bestseller 2024Learn more about Women Who Followed Jesus and find free resources at womenwhofollowedjesusbook.com
Women Who Live Evil Lives
by Martha FewWomen Who Live Evil Lives documents the lives and practices of mixed-race, Black, Spanish, and Maya women sorcerers, spell-casters, magical healers, and midwives in the social relations of power in Santiago de Guatemala, the capital of colonial Central America. Men and women from all sectors of society consulted them to intervene in sexual and familial relations and disputes between neighbors and rival shop owners; to counter abusive colonial officials, employers, or husbands; and in cases of inexplicable illness. Applying historical, anthropological, and gender studies analysis, Martha Few argues that women's local practices of magic, curing, and religion revealed opportunities for women's cultural authority and power in colonial Guatemala. Few draws on archival research conducted in Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain to shed new light on women's critical public roles in Santiago, the cultural and social connections between the capital city and the countryside, and the gender dynamics of power in the ethnic and cultural contestation of Spanish colonial rule in daily life.
Women Who Risk: Secret Agents for Jesus in the Muslim World
by Tom Doyle JoAnn DoyleFor the first time ever Tom Doyle, popular author and pastor to the unreached, is joined by his wife and ministry partner, JoAnn, to explore the incredible work of God in the hearts and lives of women in the Muslim world.Despite enormous risks to themselves and their families, former Muslim women are now influencing their husbands and their children and bringing others to faith in Jesus Christ. No matter where they live, these women are the God-ordained spiritual gatekeepers of their families.Tom and JoAnn Doyle have worked for twenty-five years in the Middle East and are master storytellers of the miraculous works of God happening in the Muslim world. With a clear call to action, they "sound the alarm" to the body of Christ, using inspirational stories straight out of the underground church—stories you don&’t get on the news.The level of oppression that women face under Islam is unfathomable to many in non-Muslim nations. Life is often a string of abuses and near-enslavement under cultural norms that are anything but &“normal&” to the Western mind-set.The Doyles believe that women are a major reason why more Muslims than ever before are coming to faith in Christ. Over the years they have discovered that once God sets a Muslim woman free, she becomes an unstoppable force for God. Women Who Risk takes readers into the intimacy of Muslim homes in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, and other hot spots to see the drama of Christ at work.The stories of these women are both breathtaking and heart-rending. Living on the edge, these women spread the gospel without fear, and the victory of the gospel is thrilling for all to see. They are the new heroes of the Middle East.
Women Who Wear Only Themselves: Four Travelers on Their Sacred Journeys
by Arundhathi SubramaniamIn this inspiring book of divine discovery, poet and seeker Arundhathi Subramaniam gives us a glimpse into the lives of four self-contained, unapologetic female spiritual travelers.“Among the finest pieces of spiritual truth-telling literature I have ever read … A book to savor and celebrate.”—Mirabai Starr, author of Wild Mercy and Ordinary Mysticism“As the pages turn, one feels a growing sense of shared humanity, even kinship, with these extraordinary practitioners of the sacred.”—Tim Parks, author of Teach Us to Sit Still: A Skeptic’s Search for Health and HealingIn life, spiritual paths are often as unique as we are. Bringing together the voices of four women mystics walking very different spiritual paths, poet Arundhathi Subramaniam reveals the expansive potential of forging an intimate, personal connection with the divine. We'll meet these four travelers:Sri Annapurani Amma, who left the safety of home to follow the summons of a long-dead saint and chooses to live naked,Balarishi Vishwashirasini, a nada yoga teacher who became a guru as a child and admits she's missed out on a real childhood,Lata Mani, who discovered tantra after a major accident left her with a brain injury and today talks of how the spiritual life is deeply anchored in the wisdom of the body—not unlike the redwood trees of her adopted home, andMaa Karpoori, who needed to resist pressure to marry, and found her calling in a local yoga class and now radiates fierce independence and the contagious joy of living.Sensitive, insightful, and lyrical, Women Who Wear Only Themselves bathes us in the kind of mystery that feels deeply familiar and invites us to connect with whatever sparks our spiritual fire.
Women Writers and the Occult in Literature and Culture: Female Lucifers, Priestesses, and Witches (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature)
by Miriam WallravenExamining the intersection of occult spirituality, text, and gender, this book provides a compelling analysis of the occult revival in literature from the 1880s through the course of the twentieth century. Bestselling novels such as The Da Vinci Code play with magic and the fascination of hidden knowledge, while occult and esoteric subjects have become very visible in literature during the twentieth century. This study analyses literature by women occultists such as Alice Bailey, Dion Fortune, and Starhawk, and revisits texts with occult motifs by canonical authors such as Sylvia Townsend Warner, Leonora Carrington, and Angela Carter. This material, which has never been analysed in a literary context, covers influential movements such as Theosophy, Spiritualism, Golden Dawn, Wicca, and Goddess spirituality. Wallraven engages with the question of how literature functions as the medium for creating occult worlds and powerful identities, particularly the female Lucifer, witch, priestess, and Goddess. Based on the concept of ancient wisdom, the occult in literature also incorporates topical discourses of the twentieth century, including psychoanalysis, feminism, pacifism, and ecology. Hence, as an ever-evolving discursive universe, it presents alternatives to religious truth claims that often lead to various forms of fundamentalism that we encounter today. This book offers a ground-breaking approach to interpreting the forms and functions of occult texts for scholars and students of literary and cultural studies, religious studies, sociology, and gender studies.
Women and Buddhist Philosophy: Engaging Zen Master Kim Iryŏp
by Jin Y. ParkWhy and how do women engage with Buddhism and philosophy? The present volume aims to answer these questions by examining the life and philosophy of a Korean Zen Buddhist nun, Kim Iryŏp (1896–1971). The daughter of a pastor, Iryŏp began questioning Christian doctrine as a teenager. In a few years, she became increasingly involved in women’s movements in Korea, speaking against society’s control of female sexuality and demanding sexual freedom and free divorce for women. While in her late twenties, an existential turn in her thinking led Iryŏp to Buddhism; she eventually joined a monastery and went on to become a leading figure in the female monastic community until her death.
Women and Christianity, Volume 1: The First Thousand Years
by Mary T. MaloneIn this book, theologian Mary T. Malone situates Christian women in their time and context, thus creating a continuous historical narrative rather than simply a series of vignettes. She uses women's writings and voices as primary sources on almost every page. All women, Christian or otherwise, who seek an understanding of their past will value this comprehensive history of Christian women and their contributions, not only to faith but to civilization.
Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate
by Leila AhmedAre Islamic societies inherently oppressive to women? Is the trend among Islamic women to appear once again in veils and other traditional clothing a symbol of regression or an effort to return to a “pure†? Islam that was just and fair to both sexes? In this book Leila Ahmed adds a new perspective to the current debate about women and Islam by exploring its historical roots, tracing the developments in Islamic discourses on women and gender from the ancient world to the present. In order to distinguish what was distinctive about the earliest Islamic doctrine on women, Ahmed first describes the gender systems in place in the Middle East before the rise of Islam. She then focuses on those Arab societies that played a key role in elaborating the dominant Islamic discourses about women and gender: Arabia during the period in which Islam was founded; Iraq during the classical age, when the prescriptive core of legal and religious discourse on women was formulated; and Egypt during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when exposure to Western societies led to dramatic social change and to the emergence of new discourses on women. Throughout, Ahmed not only considers the Islamic texts in which central ideologies about women and gender developed or were debated but also places this discourse in its social and historical context. Her book is thus a fascinating survey of Islamic debates and ideologies about women and the historical circumstances of their position in society, the first such discussion using the analytic tools of contemporary gender studies.
Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (Veritas Paperbacks)
by Leila AhmedA classic, pioneering account of the lives of women in Islamic history, republished for a new generation This pioneering study of the social and political lives of Muslim women has shaped a whole generation of scholarship. In it, Leila Ahmed explores the historical roots of contemporary debates, ambitiously surveying Islamic discourse on women from Arabia during the period in which Islam was founded to Iraq during the classical age to Egypt during the modern era. The book is now reissued as a Veritas paperback, with a new foreword by Kecia Ali situating the text in its scholarly context and explaining its enduring influence. &“Ahmed&’s book is a serious and independent-minded analysis of its subject, the best-informed, most sympathetic and reliable one that exists today.&”—Edward W. Said &“Destined to become a classic. . . . It gives [Muslim women] back our rightful place, at the center of our histories.&”—Rana Kabbani, The Guardian
Women and Goddesses in Myth and Sacred Text: An Anthology
by Tamara Agha-JaffarThis cross-cultural primary source reader, provides an opportunity for readers to examine, compare and contrast the role of major female figures in Western, non-Western, major and indigenous religions.