Two distinguished women writers, one Catholic and one evangelical, pioneered this theme at the Greenbelt arts festival. They go to the heart of the issues which divide Christian women, including women priests, female representations of Christ, and same-sex relationships.

A work of history, biography, and historical theology, A New Gospel for Women tells the remarkable story of Katharine Bushnell (1855-1946), an internationally-known social reformer and author of God's Word to Women, a startling reinterpretation of the Christian Scriptures that even today stands as one of the most innovative and comprehensive feminist theologies ever written.

Why should feminists care about Christianity? Why should Christians care about feminism? In Feminism and Christianity Riswold presents a collection of concise answers to basic questions like these in order to generate discussion about how the two can challenge each other and can even work together in the twenty-first century. Situated firmly in the third wave of feminist activism and scholarship as well as in contemporary Christian theology, Riswold addresses issues such as race, class, gender, and sexuality with an affirmation of tradition alongside a push for change. This book is an opportunity for Christians to gain a fuller understanding of feminism, moving beyond stereotypes and assumptions and into history and contemporary society. Simultaneously this book is an opportunity for feminists to understand the ongoing relevance of a religion whose social power and core commitments can contribute to a vision of a just human community.

Long a rallying point for concerned Christians who accept the authority of the Bible, this new third edition includes a new preface detailing the book's history and purpose; new material on wife battering, recovery from divorce, caring for aging parents, sexual harassment, and abuse; gender-related issues and the backlash against feminism; and more. An honored resource on the challenges and opportunities facing Christian women.

Written with poetic rhythm, a prophetic voice, and a deeply biblical foundation, this loving yet fearless book urges today’s church to move beyond man-made restrictions and fully welcome women’s diverse voices and experiences. A freedom song for the church. Sarah Bessey didn’t ask for Jesus to come in and mess up all her ideas about a woman’s place in the world and in the church. But patriarchy, she came to learn, was not God’s dream for humanity. Bessey engages critically with Scripture in this gentle and provocative love letter to the Church. Written with poetic rhythm, a prophetic voice, and a deeply biblical foundation, this loving yet fearless book urges today’s church to move beyond man-made restrictions and fully welcome women’s diverse voices and experiences. It’s at once a call to find freedom in the fullness, hope, glory, and work of Christ, and a very personal and moving story of how Jesus made a feminist out of her.

This long-awaited text charts clearly and comprehensively the enormously important area of feminist theory -- and brings it into fruitful conversation with Christian theology. Jones introduces the primary concerns that animate feminist theory through discussion of critical texts and through women's narratives. She shows how they pose uncomfortable questions, and leave no corner of the Christian tradition unchallenged. Jones unfolds feminist theory in three broad categories that analyze human identity and gender, oppression, and ethics. She then illustrates their potential for illuminating theological categories of experience, truth, text, and norm to revitalize three key traditional Christian doctrines: faith, sin, and church.

"Faith and Feminism unlocks storehouses of words old and new. The subtitle Ecumenical Essays indicates that these words, these tongues, belong to women of faith around the world--women who speak in diverse settings and situations. Though all the contributors claim the noun 'feminism, ' their developments of it range widely. To present their testimonies and engage the results marks the purpose of this book. Where dissonance and harmony intersect among writers, there readers confront choices, which, in turn, become their own testimonies." --from Chapter 1

Rita Gross and Rosemary Radford Ruether have long been known for their feminist contributions to Buddhism and Christianity, respectively. In this book, they talk candidly about what these traditions mean to them in both their liberating as well as problematic aspects. Throughout the book, their life stories provide the rich soil, perhaps even the rationale, for their theological and spiritual development. Despite the marked differences in their life histories and their respective religious faiths, Gross and Radford Ruether achieve surprising unanimity on the paramount issue: what engaged Buddhism and enlightened Christianity can offer in the struggle to create a new future for the planet.

Into the Deep traces one woman's spiritual odyssey from birthright evangelicalism through postmodern feminism and, ultimately, into the Roman Catholic Church. As a college student, Abigail Favale experienced a feminist awakening that reshaped her life and faith. A decade later, on the verge of atheism, she found herself entering the oldest male-helmed institution on the planet--the last place she expected to be. With humor and insight, Favale describes her gradual exodus from Christian orthodoxy and surprising swerve into Catholicism. She writes candidly about grappling with wounds from her past, Catholic sexual morality, the male priesthood, and an interfaith marriage. Her vivid prose brings to life the wrenching tumult of conversion--a conversion that began after she entered the Church and began to pry open its mysteries. There she discovered the startling beauty of a sacramental cosmos, a vision of reality that upended her notions of gender, sexuality, identity, and authority. This is a thoroughly 21st century conversion, a compelling account of recovering an ancient faith after a decade of doubt.

Early feminist theologians criticized the Christian doctrine of sin for its focus on female sexual purity and its enabling of the marginalization and oppression of women. Others have questioned whether the entire theological category of sin should be abandoned in favor of other ways of talking about the human predicament. In this new book, Rachel Baard argues for a feminist critique of traditional sin-talk alongside a constructive reinterpretation of the doctrine of sinone that can be life affirming for all persons. She claims that the Christian idea of sinthat tragic flaw at the core of human experienceprovides one of the best tools for understanding the evils of sexism, patriarchy, and traditional sin-talk itself. She likewise provides a new rhetoric of sin-talk, one that accounts for the diverse experiences of the human family, not simply those of powerful men.