Dancing Girls, Loose Ladies and Women of the Cloth

Spencer (What Did Jesus Do?) joins an increasing number of male scripture scholars concerned with feminist aspects. Written in a lively contemporary style, these seven essays address a knowledgeable academic audience and are accompanied by voluminous endnotes (nearly 600). A careful scholar, Spencer bolsters his own interpretations and speculations with a sweeping review of feminist contemporary output, mostly by women, including Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Jane Schaberg, and Esther Fuchs, as well as Marc Brettler, David Gunn, and many others. Not all accept feminist critics' reconstructions to counterbalance the Bible writers' predominantly male cultural views, but the book is recommended for religious and academic collections as an intelligent contribution to the ongoing debate.-Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Drawing from the biblical stories of Jesus' encounters with women, Spencer takes us into the world of a very human Jesus, showing from the text both the honesty and the complexity of his relationships with the women of his time. Spencer, who teaches New Testament at Baptist Theological Seminary in Virginia, calls his approach "reading with feminist lenses," but this can be deceiving. The approach is rather humanist. Jesus emerges as both a leader and a social being, comfortable with women of every stripe, unafraid of social stigma or censure. Using modern psychological and sociological methods, and exploring the nuances of the Greek text, the author brings the women in the gospels to the forefront by placing them in key positions in the Jesus story. Spencer is at his best exploring the dynamic that he calls "strategies of connection/opposition affecting male/female discourse." Jesus' discussions with, and about, the women in his life reveal a progressiveness beyond what one would expect, given the cultural and historical context of the New Testament. Scholars will appreciate Spencer's thorough research, but general readers will find this book challenging and a bit disturbing. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.