Wednesday Festival: Women Who didn't Shut Up and Sit Down

Exciting news: One of our long-time ring members, Shawna R.B. Atteberry, has just published an e-book titled Women Who didn't Shut Up and Sit Down. Read all about it below, and for more information and to order, visit her website.

We've heard their voices all our lives.

• Around the table.
• From the pulpit.
• From the boardroom.
• They whisper in the wind.

They've spoken so long we think what they say is true. You know those voices:

"How wanton are the women of these heretics! they dare to teach...to dispute, to carry out exorcisms, to undertake cures, it may be even to baptize....It is not permissible for a woman to speak in church, nor may she teach, baptize, offer, or claim for herself any function proper to a man, and least of all the office of priest." --Tertullian

"Woman, a weak, gullible creature, should find her natural vocation in a life of domesticity in subordination of her husband." --A. T. Hanson

"The fact that Adam was created before Eve means that men are not to be subjected to the authority of women. Applying this principle to the organization of the church, Paul teaches that it is wrong for a woman to assume or hold a position in which she rules over a man; in such a case, the Creation hierarchy is violated." --James Bordwine

"I believe that the Scriptures ask me to refrain from exercising final spiritual authority in the church. I am to avoid usurping the authoritative roles of men in teaching and in church discipline. Specifically I am to avoid teaching men or judging male leadership." --Rebecca Jones

All of us have grown up with these voices whispering insidiously in our ears. For centuries Western Christian theology has promoted the subjugation of women, and it affects many women who grew up even in secular countries. In the last years I've read rants against the evils of feminism from some of the top Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christian leaders who blame women wanting to go to work, go into ministry, and be equals to their husbands for all the social ills happening in our country. If women would just stay home divorce rates would plummet, no abortions would happen, public schools wouldn't be in trouble, and all the world's ills would come to an end.

There's just one little problem.

Does the Bible really say all of that?

No.

Women Who Didn't Shut Up & Sat Down will introduce you to women in the Bible who:

• Were religious leaders.
• Disobeyed their husbands to obey Godde.
• Had careers.
• Made their own decisions.

And guess what?

The world did not end. (Yes, I realize that's a bit presumptuous on May 17, 2011 when the world is supposed to end on May 21,2011. But then again I remember 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Happen in 1988, so I will be presumptuous.)

There are over 30,000 verses in the Bible. Eight verses have been used to keep women out of leadership positions in both sacred and secular realms. Eight verses have been used to make women second-class citizens, and at times, virtual slaves to their husbands. The rest of the Bible is full of stories of strong women who led their families, their people, and their countries.

In this E-book you meet women like:

• Deborah who was a prophet, judge, and military leader.
• Abigail who disobeyed her husband and saved her household.
• The Syro-Phoenician woman who wouldn't take "No" from Jesus.
• Phoebe, a pastor and patron of the early church.

Every year women turn away from their dreams to have a career, be a pastor, or be a priest because they have been told their entire lives that those desires are a sin. Every year many woman believe that they are obeying Godde and turn away from their callings because only men can do those jobs. Every women resign themselves to the reality they will never be the people Godde made them to be because of these lies.

And they are lies.

Lies that have told for 2,000 years.

But lies nonetheless.

It's time to tell the other side of the story. These women's stories. Our story.

For a limited time when you buy the E-book, Women Who Didn't Shut Up & Sit Down, you will receive six free podcasts of responses to the book. The interviews are with a variety of people: Christian and non-Christian, scholars, church members, and those who have an interest in the Bible historically but not religiously. On June 1 these podcasts will go into their own package and will no longer be free. I am still conducting the interviews and editing them; I will E-mail them to you as they become available.

Don't let those voices keep you from doing what you have dreamed of.

Don't let those voices keep you from being the woman Godde created you to be.

Buy Women Who Didn't Shut Up & Sit Down today and find out what it looks like to be a woman made in the image of Godde.