Assertive Biblical Women

(Hardback)

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Description

Most of the women described in this study were atypical biblical women. Israelite women, like women in most cultures of the world, had status principally within the home. However, exceptional women occasionally had prominent roles outside the home and dared to assert themselves. The chapters contain biographical sketches, with comparisons to contemporary women's roles, of two dozen women. Beginning with Sarah of Ur and ending with Priscilla of Rome, their lives range over an era of nearly two millennia. These women were, at crucial times, sagacious in decision making and skillful in executing their decisions. They made such a distinctive mark on the events of their time to be remembered by subsequent generations as more than breeders of male heirs. Each woman's story relates how a dynamic woman was able to swim against the strong currents of patriarchy. To make explicit the relevancy of this study, the brief biographies are related to such current feminist issues as surrogate parenting, gender stereotyping, and civil disobedience over unequal treatment by governments.

Reviews

"Phipps continues to offer fresh insights into gender issues with this book's explorations into the stores of over twenty biblical women from Sarah of Ur to Phoebe, Prisca, and Junia of Rome. . . . [Readers] will be delighted to discover Phipps's fine skill at weaving together sources ranging from biblical studies and theology to popular culture and the movies. Further, the ways Phipps juxtaposes the situations of the biblical women with some contemporary issues could prompt readers to think differently about each situation."-Interpretation
Phipps continues to offer fresh insights into gender issues with this book's explorations into the stores of over twenty biblical women from Sarah of Ur to Phoebe, Prisca, and Junia of Rome. . . . [Readers] will be delighted to discover Phipps's fine skill at weaving together sources ranging from biblical studies and theology to popular culture and the movies. Further, the ways Phipps juxtaposes the situations of the biblical women with some contemporary issues could prompt readers to think differently about each situation.-Interpretation
This is a wonderful collection of biographies of important biblical women who played prominent public roles. Phipps is good at resurrecting largely forgotten women, and reinterpreting others (such as Mary of Bethany). He also makes analogies to contemporary issues such as civil disobedience in response to unequal treatment and gender issues. Often Phipps shows how mistranslation has denigrated the roles of these women. He concludes that Jesus regarded full humanity as "a blending of characteristics from both genders." For academic and public libraries.-Library Journal
"This is a wonderful collection of biographies of important biblical women who played prominent public roles. Phipps is good at resurrecting largely forgotten women, and reinterpreting others (such as Mary of Bethany). He also makes analogies to contemporary issues such as civil disobedience in response to unequal treatment and gender issues. Often Phipps shows how mistranslation has denigrated the roles of these women. He concludes that Jesus regarded full humanity as "a blending of characteristics from both genders." For academic and public libraries."-Library Journal

Author Bio

WILLIAM E. PHIPPS is Professor of Religion and Philosophy and Department Chair at Davis and Elkins College, Elkins, West Virginia. He is the author of six books, including Genesis and Gender (Praeger, 1989) and, most recently, The Wisdom and Wit of the Rabbi Jesus.