A Faith of Her Own: Women of the Old Testament

by J. Ellsworth Kalas

In A Faith of Her Women of the Old Testament , popular author J. Ellsworth Kalas focuses on women who were crucial—some in obvious and some in less obvious ways—to the story of the Old Testament. Kalas takes a look at several different women of the Old Testament. He examines the Scriptures to see what we can learn about them and from them, including their defining characteristics, how they fit into as well as shaped the Old Testament story, and how their stories of strength, courage, perseverance, and faith have shaped our lives as believers today.

Chapters
- The Ultimate First Lady (Eve)
- A Woman Who Married Trouble (Cain's wife)
- The Compleat Woman (Sarah)
- A Mother Who Played Favorites (Rebecca)
- They May Have Been Twins--But Not Identical (Leah & Rachel)
- The Original Big Sister (Miriam)
- Israel's First Female Prime Minister (Deborah)
- The Perfect In-Laws (Ruth & Naomi)
- The Ladies Chorus (The women of Bethlehem, Ruth 4:13-17)
- The Woman Who Saved a King (Abigail)
- Counselor to Kings and Clergy (Huldah)
- Two Young Women of Courage (Esther & an anonymous slave girl)

A discussion guide is included.

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

J. Ellsworth Kalas has been part of the faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary since 1993, after thirty-eight years as a United Methodist pastor and five years in evangelism with the World Methodist Council. He has been a presenter on DISCIPLE videos and is the author of more than thirty books, including the popular Back Side series as well as the Christian Believer study.

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a bible study. I was skeptical of reading a book about biblical women written by a man when there are surely plenty of books by women about them. But for the most part it was pretty good. It discussed some women I would not have thought to include and offered a different perspective on others than I had heard before. I feel like I learned some things. 3/5 stars.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a nice look into the lives of the women I grew up adoring and revering. Nice perspective from the author.

[Michaela Willbanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for a Bible study, now granted I am agnostic, but I do appreciate church from an academic theology standpoint. I was not thrilled to be reading a book about biblical women written by a white man. But it wasn’t bad. I didn’t agree with all of his points (even in the headspace of a Christian. I did grow up Methodist) but some decent stuff in there. It is an older book, actually pretty progressive for when it was written.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Sunday School book.

[Sheryl Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I like the way the author kinda tells you something you may not know about the women of the old testament in the Bible. He made you see how you could relate to them today.

[Tracy Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected different women to be in this book.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not entirely accurate read on the subject.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 12 short, easy-to-read chapters, this Methodist minister introduces the reader to several women from the Hebrew Scriptures and plumbs their story for a spiritual lesson. Discussion questions for each chapter is provided in the back of the book for group study. I considered using this text for a summer group at my church. I appreciated that he spun off into speculation less frequently than many similar spiritual writers. I was hindered by two chapters, one that highlighted a non- existent character and the other an archetype.