Women in a Patriarchal World

‘This immersive, persuasive and triumphant celebration of women is smart, bold and brave, cheering us on and challenging us to live lives of liberation. Faith and ethics dance effortlessly together, as biblical women look us firmly in the eye.’ Rachie Ross, eco-theologian

The Bible includes many stories about women: some well-known, others lesser known; some named, others whose names are not given. In some of these stories, men are depicted negatively by the storyteller; in others men barely feature at all, except in the background or as powerful outsiders. All the compilers of these narratives were probably men, and all of them are set within an ancient world of patriarchal norms and conditions. And yet many of these narratives express the authentic voices of women, and in some cases the original sources will have been the women themselves.

In Women in a Patriarchal World Elaine Storkey focuses on the stories of women who faced a range of challenges and life-changing decisions. Her investigations will lead you to fully appreciate the authenticity of these accounts. They will prompt you to see the connections with our own lives and times. And above all they will empower you to respond more faithfully and intelligently to the many challenges that women are still confronted with today.

‘This book combines rigour with deep humanity and faith.’
Christina Rees CBE, writer, broadcaster and preacher

‘Each page left me feeling more empowered than the last.’
Ruth Akinradewo, Press Red Ambassador

Elaine Storkey is a philosopher, sociologist and theologian, having held posts at the Open University, King's College, London, and the University of Oxford. In 1997 she became President of Tearfund, and has since been involved in monitoring aid, relief and advocacy work in countries of the Global South. In 2010 she and her husband Alan became founder members of Restored, an organisation committed to advocating against violence to women.

Her writings include The Search for Intimacy (Hodder/Eerdmans, 1994) and The Origins of Difference (Baker, 2002). Her last book, Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and overcoming violence against women (SPCK, 2015/IVP USA, 2018), won the Christianity Today 2019 Book of the Year Award, Politics and Public Life.