“I was lost and didn’t know it. I was the pastor’s daughter and literally grew up in church. ‘Lost’ was the last word I would have used to describe myself. I belonged to Jesus. I was in the fold—one of the ‘found’ ones. I knew my way around my Bible, felt at home in the church, and had a clear sense of my calling as a woman. I knew where I was going in life. But I got lost anyway….
It is a terrible thing to admit, but I had to lose my way before realizing how many other women feel lost too…. What are we to do when we don’t or can’t fit the mold? Or when in public we look like we have perfect lives and behind closed doors it’s just a sham? And what about the gifts God entrusted to us? Does he intend for us to use them or will they get us into trouble?
No matter what view we take on debates over Christian womanhood, we want to know how to live faithfully as followers of Jesus Christ. We don’t want to waste our lives.” —Lost Women of the Bible
ENDORSEMENTS:
“Carolyn Custis James gives the church a precious spiritual gift: How ten unsung heroines of the Bible shaped and expanded the kingdom of God and continue to bolster the faith of the church. Her penetrating and unforgettable biographies of these risk-taking biblical heroines are built on solid exegesis and a deft use of rhetorical criticism—though she never uses the term, seeing truths in the text that only a woman can see. Her engaging style with lightning bolt sentences demonstrates the valuable resource God has given the church in her gifted daughters to minister in words and deeds. This book explicitly challenges women of every social stratum to become the culture makers God intended them to be.”
—Bruce K. Waltke, Ph.D.Professor of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary/Orlando; Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Regent College
“What does it look like when women do theology? Carolyn James shows us by dusting off Hagar, Tamar, and Hannah from centuries of neglect and misreading. Carolyn allows these biblical characters to jump off the page in unexpected ways right into our own often messy lives. A spiritual breath of fresh air and a must read for both women and men. Within two days of reading this book I had already used it in providing spiritual direction.”
—Lilian Calles Barger, Ph.D., Author,
Eve’s Revenge: Women and Spirituality of the Body and
Chasing Sophia: Reclaiming the Lost Wisdom of Jesus
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION: Lost
CHAPTER 1: A Forgotten Legacy—Eve
CHAPTER 2: The Unknown Soldier—Mrs Noah
CHAPTER 3: Lost in the Margins—Sarah
CHAPTER 4: The Invisible Woman—Hagar
CHAPTER 5: Missing in Action—Tamar
CHAPTER 6: The Power Behind the Throne—Hannah
CHAPTER 7: A Sleeping Beauty—Esther
CHAPTER 8: The First Disciple—Mary of Nazareth
CHAPTER 9: Apostle to the Apostles—Mary Magdalene
CHAPTER 10: Recovering the Blessed Alliance—Paul and the Women of PhilippiDISCUSSION QUESTIONS with each chapter
TO ORDER: Lost Women of the Bible: The Women We Thought We Knew
Carolyn Custis James 