God's Word to Women

by Katharine C. Bushnell

From Genesis to Revelation, Katharine C. Bushnell provides a thorough exposition of every Bible passage that touches on women. As a scholar of Hebrew and Greek, she studies the passages in their original languages and in their historical context, discovering insights sometimes obscured by Bible translators. The book emerged from Bushnell's lifetime of working for social reform on behalf of women, in which she observed correlations between the status of women and misunderstandings of Scripture. Scholars have leaned on her groundbreaking work since its first publication in 1921, deeming it one of the best, whole-Bible approaches to the question of women's role in the church and home.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Theology, Christian, Christianity

408 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2003

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will turn your understanding of God's view of women on its head. Katharine Bushenell makes it abundantly clear that Genesis 3:16 was not God's curse to women. The Bible from its opening chapters, pictures woman as allied with God, in the eventual salvation of the world.

Eve blamed the serpent and stood on the side of God and He blessed her for it. God saved a remnant of His church when Adam sinned and blamed God for his sin- "The woman you gave to be with me"; Eve remained true to God- "The serpent deceived me." God then further divides Satan and the woman as a blessing to her- "I will put enmity between thee and the serpent" (Gen. 3:15). It just does not even make a modicum of sense that in the very next verse God would reverse all that and curse Eve.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg about all that's covered in this thorough and scholarly work- head covering, women speaking up in church, etc.

The church is a woman.

[Anna Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book if they give one crap about what the Bible means

[Abbey Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book!
I can't believe Bushnell published this in 1910. She represents a powerful, prophetic voice, calling upon women to not forsake their birthright as children of God.
I think this context also contributes to the book's value as a fascinating piece of historiography. Bushnell polemicizes against several contemporary translations and interpretations which are now obsolete. That being said, I found it productive to compare those older translations to those still in use such as KJV or ESV, and see that some of the problems remain. As for interpretations, she effectively dismantles the argument that woman is subordinate to man because of Eve's sin. Modern interpretations have rejected this route to woman's subjection (perhaps because it was a nonsense argument) in favor of arguments that God ordained man as woman's ruler pre-curse (equally nonsense in my interpretation, but here we are). This means that some of the arguments against which she takes issue are no longer relevant, having been replaced by new mutations which she cannot address. (Note: as a product of her time also, Bushnell sometimes appears to fall into the sin of ethnocentrism, and fails to adequately address intersectionalism, so watch out for that.)
I found most of her interpretations robust (I'm not a biblical scholar by any means but I'm competent in koine greek); however, I was particularly convinced by her interpretation of Genesis as it relates to the real sin of woman and the divine commandment for female kinship. As well as her framing the letters to Timothy in historical context, under Nero.
I hope I can persuade more people to read this. I found it unbelievably edifying to read as a woman, and I was inspired by Bushnell's unrelenting commitment to biblical inerrancy and human fallibility. She radiates an inspiring love for Christ and Scripture, maintaining throughout the book that God has not sentenced woman to a life of humiliation and servitude, but one of dignity and power in Christ.
Perhaps I'll turn next to Du Mez's biography of Bushnell-- I'm not ready to be done with her just yet.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, let me say that this book was first published in 1921 according to the Amazon description. You can tell that the language is older and somewhat hard to read, but if you get over that and really take your time reading it there are tons of hidden gems all throughout the book. Her writing style is dense and not the most fluid, but the content is so very rich and extensive. I consider myself a fast reader, but this book took me almost a year to read, as I had to read a chapter and slowly and let it soak in. Definitely do not go into it thinking you can breeze through it. It's much easier to approach it how she has it set up as 100 lessons.

I have read a lot of books on women and equality in the church and so far, this is by far the most extensive, well researched, broadest context and richest arguments I have encountered. Yes, she goes over the usual subjects of translation for all the passages in the Bible involving women, but she dives much much deeper, going extremely far into cultural context and historical chronology. Besides the thankfully more and more, well-known translation issues addressed, Katharine Bushnell has many many more points, arguments and analysis that in my circle have not been brought up and addressed yet. So if you're looking for more and going beyond the usual equality arguments, this book is a phenomenal resource for countless issues and arguments involving women and their relationship to God.

Finally, this book is life-changing in that it has the capability to remove all doubts in regards to women's full equality and their place in God's plan. It is not about seeking status in the church, but creating a richer fuller understanding of the heart of God for women apart from cultural stigma and roles. This book, without a doubt, strengthed my relationship with Christ in an inexplicable way. I would highly recommend it, but go into it patiently taking your time.

[Richard Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredible book that has the potential to be world changing if people would only take it seriously. There were several areas in the book where I was unconvinced but Bushnell. I don’t agree that the Bible teaches humans were originally some form of male/female mixture in one individual. I don’t agree with her interpretation of Revelation 12. I think she is unnecessarily supernatural in her worldview when interpreting Genesis 6. But, these areas of disagreement do not diminish my appreciation for her deep thought and knowledge. Bushnell is very convincing in her argument that significant portions of the biblical text have been wrongly interpreted and translated because men’s biases against women have been more important to them than the actual biblical text. Her treatment of the “virtuous woman” and Julia are stellar. In the end, taking her arguments seriously, it is impossible to uphold any limitation of women in any area of life and especially the church. This should be mandatory reading.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

The most fascinating book on theology I've ever read (not that I've read hundreds) - I would have to read it 50 times to fully grasp everything she presents in this book.

Some highlights:
- incredible analysis of Abraham and Sarah's story and relationship, like nothing I've ever heard in church
- deep dive into what it means to take God's command that "man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife" literally
- extensive discussion of what the primacy of female kinship / mother-child kinship would mean for culture (Jesus' earthly kinship can only truly be traced through his mother yet the genealogies do not even mention her name)
- and of course discussion of translation bias and historical / cultural context for various passages of Scripture

Highly, highly recommend this dense theological text, if only because I promise you've never heard any of this in church or popular Bible study materials and your mind will kind of explode whether you agree with what she says or not.

[Jason St. Clair · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're confused by some of the things the Bible says about women or if you reject the standard interpretation then you should read this book. The author explores the language, the context, the culture, and the history of all the major verses pertaining to women and judges her interpretation and the traditional, male-dominated interpretation against the basic tenets of Christianity.
This book demonstrates the basic problem I have with people who insist on the infallibility of the Bible. Namely, they typically insist on a literal reading of the English words and refuse to question tradition. I am not saying that I doubt the infallibility of the Bible, rather I doubt the infallibility of people's interpretations. As humans we interpret everything we encounter through our previous experience and knowledge. This includes scripture. There is the issue of divine inspiration or providence, but apart from that I believe it's wise to be skeptical about all things, including our interpretation of the Bible. Especially if that interpretation promotes disparity among people.

[Elaine Ricker Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable how a woman in 1910 could publish a book that counters patriarchal church teachings. Katharine Bushnell was a medical doctor, global missionary, biblical translator, and advocate for justice against slavery, prostitution, and sex trafficking. She closely examined male bias in English Bible translations. She explains how woman was not cursed in Genesis, and the negative consequences of promoting the idea. She relates that Jews in the first century thought the first 'human' was a male-female in one person and she cites that some humans today have vestiges of both male-female. Her work is available on the website:
https://godswordtowomen.wordpress.com/

[Killer Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.52 overall rating; learned quite a bit even if didn't fully agree with author

[Icebear · Rating 5 out of 5]

English is not my native language and this book was a real challange to me. Still, I read 'God's Word...' in two weeks because every time I started to read I couldn't put it down. There is something fascinating about how Katharine C. Bushnell wrote: with passion and conviction. Katharine's writing is/was dedicated mostly to women, who are/were taught about their inferiority and submission to men based on the Bible. I think, though, this book is for everyone, who just wants to know more about the Scripture, its historical background and many possible translations of some difficult passages. I definitely don't agree with everything what Bushenll has to say but she opened my eyes to many false teachings I was not aware of. Her Ideas to the meaning and translation of Genesis are very innovative, even now, 90 years after the book was first published.

[Rien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything everyone thinks they know is a bit off with the continued perversion of man. Literally.
Katharine's facts are startling and overwhelming. The fact that over a century later her irrefutable wisdom, documented out with scientific methodology, is so little known shows how well the forces of evil work to suppress and corrupt truth.
Anyone who feels God or the Bible is misogynistic in even the slightest way needs to read this book A.S.A.P., as the truth will set you free!

[Kisha Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This precious woman was definitely ahead of her time! Though she mostly ignored by the biblical scholars of her day (simply because she was a female), her work on the role of women is a great treasure today among scholars and laymen alike. Read it. Enjoy it. Pass it to a friend.