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‘Bible Women’ Founded and Established the Chinese Church
Please join me in welcoming guest blogger Dr. Cynthia Hester. She contributed her expertise on women’s history to the book 40 Questions about Women in Ministry Leadership. Today she’s sharing with readers about the remarkable women in ministry leadership in China and Cambodia. God chose to work largely through women to found and establish the Christian church in China and Cambodia. Nineteenth-century pre-literate Chinese women, evangelized by Protestant women missionaries, were taught how to read Chinese characters, which enabled them to teach from the Mandarin Bible. These ‘Bible women,’ such as Dora Yu (1873–1931), publicly shared the gospel and taught the Bible to mixed-sex groups. Peace Lin and her son…
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Women’s Bible Studies Available Online
Are you looking for a quality women’s Bible Study for yourself or for your group? One with study questions that can be easily read online or that can be freely downloaded and printed? We have so many available for you right here on Bible.org! Check out the studies listed below according to the topic and what comes along with it—a study guide to download, any audio files that coordinate with the studies, and teaching aids. Many of them are also available in print form for those who have limited access to a printer. Ready to explore?
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The Tabernacle of Moses – God’s Heavenly Pattern for our Spiritual Transformation – Part VIII: The Women of the Tabernacle
After the Tent of Meeting was built, women were designated to serve at its entrance. There is minimal mention of these Tabernacle Women in scripture save for two scripture verses and possibly a third, fourth, and fifth. The First Biblical Reference for the Women of the Tabernacle He made the large basin of bronze and its pedestal of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. (Exodus 38:8 NET) And he made the laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, of the mirrors of the serving women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting. (Exodus…
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Vindicating Vixens: What about Michel, wife of David?
Since the publication of Vindicating the Vixens, I’ve received messages suggesting additional women in the Bible we’ve probably seen through negative eyes when the biblical text does not present them that way. Often I agree. But sometimes I don’t—as is the case with those who think we should add Michal, daughter of Saul and wife of David, to the list. We find her story in 1 Samuel. To set the scene, Saul is King, and the shepherd-boy David has defeated Goliath. So King Saul offers David the elder of two daughters, Merab, in marriage. David declines with “I’m unworthy,” so Saul marries off Merab to someone else (1 Sam 18:17–20). King…
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Fresh Perspectives on Women in the Bible–Phoebe by Lindsay Ann Nickens
Augustine of Hippo. Martin Luther. Billy Graham. Three giants of the Christian faith, and they each have this in common: God chose to hinge their salvation experiences upon the courage of a woman named Phoebe. This is because each of these men had salvation experiences through reading or hearing the book of Romans, which Phoebe faithfully and courageously delivered from Paul to Rome in the first century AD. “And though she be but little, she is fierce.” Phoebe is mentioned in only two verses, Romans 16:1-2, out of the 7,957 verses in the New Testament. However, these two little verses pack a big punch, revealing the…
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Vindicating the Vixens
Vindicating the Vixens (Kregel Academic, forthcoming, Octobre 2017) is the work of a diverse team of sixteen male and female theologians who’ve partnered to take a second look at vilified and marginalized women in the Bible. The church has often viewed women’s stories through sexist eyes, resulting in a range of distortions that cause us to miss what we should actually see in the text. In this panel discussion three theological professors and three seminary graduates talk about the women they revisited. SaveSave SaveSave
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Who Are Your (S)heroes?
The earliest record I have of one of my ancestors converting to Christianity comes from two centuries ago near the French town of Strasbourg. “Papa” Oberlin—as my father’s people called their pastor—brought the gospel to hungry villagers subsisting on milk-soaked grass. Along with the gospel came instruction on agricultural practices such that today the same valley is one of the world’s richest foodie destinations. Several centuries before the arrival of Pastor Oberlin—for whom Oberlin College is named—Strasbourg (which France and Germany passed back and forth) was home to another wonderful Protestant, Katherine Zell. A sixteenth-century German, Zell promoted the Reformation and supported gender equality. She also published a collection of…
