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Consider the Women
A timely and compelling new look at three key women in the biblical narrative Among the mostly male-dominated narratives in Scripture, the stories of women can be game-changing. In this book Debbie Blue looks closely at Hagar (mother of Islam), Esther (Jewish heroine), and Mary (Christian matriarch)—and finds in them unexpected and inviting new ways of navigating faith and life. As she sets out to explore these biblical characters who live and move in places and ways outside of the strict boundaries of tradition, Blue encounters many real life characters who challenge her expectations and renew her hope—a Muslim tattoo artist, a Saudi Arabian sculptor, a rabbi in a Darth Vader costume, Aztec dancers at a feast of Guadalupe, an Islamic feminist scholar, and more. Readers who embark with Blue on the sometimes unorthodox, subversive paths of these curious and lively figures will be led to envision more expansive and hopeful possibilities for faith, human connection, and love in our divided, violent world.
231 pages, Paperback
Published March 7, 2019
About the author
Debbie Blue
10 books12 followersDebbie Blue is a founding pastor of House of Mercy (HOM) in St. Paul, Minnesota. HOM is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches in the USA and is committed to the diverse and rich theology and worship of the Christian church, worldwide and historical. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, Blue is the author of Sensual Orthodoxy (Cathedral Hill Press)and From Stone to Living Word (Brazos). She lives on a farm outside of the twin cities with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 13, 2019
Blue's first book, "Consider the Birds" surprised me because I couldn't believe how many birds were mentioned in the Bible . . . and how the more I understood a bird, the more I understood God. In "Consider the Women," I wasn't surprised to read about Hagar, Esther, and Mary, I mean I knew they were in the Bible :). But because they each have an aspect that is hard to explain (mother of Islam, sexual prowess, and mother of God), as Protestants, we tend to mention them in passing. This book creates space for us to truly consider them and their God.
June 9, 2021
What I love about Debbie Blue’s remarkable book Consider the Women is the open-mindedness she embraces of never proclaiming only one path to knowing God. She resists the notion that certainty and absolutism are the purpose of religious traditions and the faith they offer us. Moreover, she keeps herself in a perpetual state of seeking knowledge by asking questions about the Bible and probing for new meanings therein. Her book serves as a brilliant example of how she remains on a lifelong journey to learn more and to gain more understanding about the numinous aspects of God’s genius and grace.
Blue approaches the Biblical stories with a keen and curious intent to reread and re-examine their meanings in order to discover the hidden knowledge they are yearning to reveal to us. For her, the Bible needs to offer hope if it is to sustain itself as relevant and eternal for every generation. Therefore, she provides us a guide to focus on three inspiring matriarchs: Hagar, Esther, and Mary. She shows us how we can embrace these three God-trusting women for how they questioned and endured the restrictive and oftentimes unjust customs, traditions, and attitudes of their historical times and places in order to upend patriarchal authority and supremacy.
As a writer, I always make my reading goals more important than my writing goals. Immersion in the brilliant work of fellow writers is a vital aspect of what propels me forward and inspires me to pursue my quest for new knowledge and understanding of the world through the novels I write. Debbie Blue’s empowering book most definitely resonated with me in the way she strives to revitalize our endless search for God through seeking new knowledge about God’s workings in this world and beyond. As she makes clear, we can better understand God’s purpose for humanity through the “feminine face of God” as revealed through the stories of Hagar, Esther, and Mary.
Lastly, I appreciate her discussion and admiration of Islam. I grew up in the Christian tradition, and my life’s journey led me away from God for some time, but Islam has been instrumental with guiding me to reconnect with God. So I liked very much how she provides an overview of the Abrahamic heritage that links the Judeo, Christian, and Islamic traditions and how women play vital roles in each religion. Blue’s brilliant book offers many sage ideas about what it means to have faith and to understand God, and I agree with her entirely that no single religious system can entirely capture the numinous nature of God. If only we choose to seek, we will find that our knowledge of God increases when we keep our hearts and minds open to learning from others and from discovering new meanings from open-minded examinations of our treasured Biblical stories.
Blue approaches the Biblical stories with a keen and curious intent to reread and re-examine their meanings in order to discover the hidden knowledge they are yearning to reveal to us. For her, the Bible needs to offer hope if it is to sustain itself as relevant and eternal for every generation. Therefore, she provides us a guide to focus on three inspiring matriarchs: Hagar, Esther, and Mary. She shows us how we can embrace these three God-trusting women for how they questioned and endured the restrictive and oftentimes unjust customs, traditions, and attitudes of their historical times and places in order to upend patriarchal authority and supremacy.
As a writer, I always make my reading goals more important than my writing goals. Immersion in the brilliant work of fellow writers is a vital aspect of what propels me forward and inspires me to pursue my quest for new knowledge and understanding of the world through the novels I write. Debbie Blue’s empowering book most definitely resonated with me in the way she strives to revitalize our endless search for God through seeking new knowledge about God’s workings in this world and beyond. As she makes clear, we can better understand God’s purpose for humanity through the “feminine face of God” as revealed through the stories of Hagar, Esther, and Mary.
Lastly, I appreciate her discussion and admiration of Islam. I grew up in the Christian tradition, and my life’s journey led me away from God for some time, but Islam has been instrumental with guiding me to reconnect with God. So I liked very much how she provides an overview of the Abrahamic heritage that links the Judeo, Christian, and Islamic traditions and how women play vital roles in each religion. Blue’s brilliant book offers many sage ideas about what it means to have faith and to understand God, and I agree with her entirely that no single religious system can entirely capture the numinous nature of God. If only we choose to seek, we will find that our knowledge of God increases when we keep our hearts and minds open to learning from others and from discovering new meanings from open-minded examinations of our treasured Biblical stories.
March 7, 2019
What happens when we dare explore Biblical stories from the perspectives of faith traditions different than our own? In Consider the Women, Debbie Blue does just that—and also looks at these stories through a matriarchal lens. The result—as is always the case in her provocative, engaging, inspiring writing—is a new way to approach and appreciate our odd, contrary, and sometimes disturbing Scriptures. We also gain a fresh look at Hagar, Esther, and Mary, “three matriarchs of the Bible.” Bonus: the reader’s guide at the end of the book moves way beyond rote Q&A and invites serious group study and contemplation. (Though “serious” is too dry and brittle a word; she compares Esther to Alexander Hamilton, for crying out loud, as she’s “not throwing away her shot.”) Highly recommend!
July 18, 2019
In truth I’d give this 3.5 stars, but rounding up, bc who has time to be negative these days.
If this book has a theme song it would be “Man, I Feel Like a Woman!” (dun dun na-na-na DUN DUN)
Some great takeaways from looking at three pivotal women in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sacred stories. Hagar, Esther, and Mary are understood distinctly within each of these traditions but still collectively carry prominence in their subversion of patriarchal powers that be.
If this book has a theme song it would be “Man, I Feel Like a Woman!” (dun dun na-na-na DUN DUN)
Some great takeaways from looking at three pivotal women in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sacred stories. Hagar, Esther, and Mary are understood distinctly within each of these traditions but still collectively carry prominence in their subversion of patriarchal powers that be.
May 10, 2019
Fantastic! Can’t wait to spend the weekend with Debbie and to hear more of her thoughts about the powerful and mighty women of faith!
February 21, 2020
When we think of biblical persons the names of male figures will likely come to mind. But what about the women? Who might the matriarchs be and what might their legacy be? While Mary, the mother of Jesus, might come to mind, would you be surprised to hear the names of Hagar and Esther? Sarah, perhaps, and Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron, they might come tom mind before Hagar and Esther, and yet Hagar and Esther might be fitting companions to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, or more precisely, Mary the mother of God (Theotokos).
In "Consider the Women" Debbie Blue explores the legacy of Hagar, Esther, and Mary. The pastor of House of Mercy in St. Paul Minnesota, Blue invites us to consider the stories of these three matriarchs not only from a Christian perspective but from an Abrahamic one. That is, she engages Hagar in conversation with Islam, of which she is a matriarch, and Esther, whose life is celebrated in Judaism. Of course, Mary is the mother of Jesus around whom Christianity is founded. What we find in this book is a reminder that these three women are provocative, and thus requiring a provocative introduction.
This book is first and foremost a book about the Abrahamic tradition. It lifts up three women who play significant roles in each of the three traditions. While most of the traditions lift up male figures, there is a parallel witness that is worth attending to. It's the feminine face of God and the witness of the women to the faith revealed in the biblical stories. As Blue notes, the women in the biblical story are "a little out there" They don't "conform to the image of the virtuous woman" she learned about in Sunday school (p. 25). These are real women, who are often anything but subservient.
After laying out the overarching story of the Abrahamic faith in Part One, she moves through three parts, exploring the lives of Hagar, Esther, and Mary. I will admit that while part four, focusing on Mary was enlightening, it was the sections on Hagar and Esther, that were the most intriguing, and perhaps the most informative.
IN the section on Hagar, she begins by retelling the biblical story of Hagar, including the way she has been treated in Christian retellings of the Abrahamic story. In Blue's retelling, she becomes a matriarch on par with Abraham. We see a woman is resilient and is rewarded by God for standing up for herself and her son after being exiled by Sarah and Abraham. We encounter a woman who names God as "The God who Sees." We hear the promise made to her that through her son, she would be the mother of a great nation. This a beautiful retelling of her story that leads to chapters exploring her role within Islam, including the Qur'an, and contemporary encounters with Muslim women. These encounters and her reports of them offer a different picture of Islam than many have of this religion. We find a religion that especially in its origins had a liberating message for women.
From a Christian perspective, Hagar and Esther are problematic figures. Hagar suffers from Paul's unfortunate contrast of her with Sarah, in his effort to lift grace over law. That portrayal has colored our perspective, besides we trace our theological heritage through Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, not Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar. For Islam, however, Hagar and Ishmael are the figures through whom they trace their lineage to Abraham.
When it comes to Esther, I have more experience. We read Esther in my Hebrew class, mainly because it was free of theological material, allowing us to focus on the language rather than theology. I led a study of Esther at my congregation. This was intriguing, but what Blue does here is emphasize the role of Esther within Judaism. While Christians have tended to leave it aside because it lacks references to God, and unfortunately because it was perceived by some as too Judaizing (that is, it was the victim of Christian anti-Jewish and anti-semitic propaganda). Whereas we rarely engage with the Book of Esther in Christian contexts, in Judaism, it is the foundation for the Feast of Purim, an event in Jewish life that features the reading of the entire book of Esther, complete with costumes and noisemakers, and more. Blue takes from the biblical story to Jewish celebrations of Purim. Even as Hagar was the scorned but provocative woman in Genesis, Esther is even more provocative, for she uses her sexual prowess and beauty to save her people. It's not the story we might expect to be celebrated, and yet, it is a story of the salvation of a people.
When it comes to Mary, she is equally provocative. While we have heard stories of the submissive Mary, if we pay close attention, she is not subservient. She is the one who proclaims the downfall of the mighty as well as the one who bears the Son of God (Theotokos). While Protestants have found it difficult to embrace her, she has been an ever-present presence, pictured in a variety of ways that may have served as a bridge between pagan understandings of the goddesses with the monotheism of Christianity. How this happens, well that's the intriguing part.
Ultimately, this is a book that will surprise, but it also offers points of contact with friends outside the Christian community. It's a book that will prove informative, but it is written in such a way that it will draw you in. You don't have to know the stories to be pulled into them through Blue's writing. Just in case you might want to use this in a group study, there is a study guide provided, that will further the conversation. So, take and read, you will be blessed (at least I was!).
In "Consider the Women" Debbie Blue explores the legacy of Hagar, Esther, and Mary. The pastor of House of Mercy in St. Paul Minnesota, Blue invites us to consider the stories of these three matriarchs not only from a Christian perspective but from an Abrahamic one. That is, she engages Hagar in conversation with Islam, of which she is a matriarch, and Esther, whose life is celebrated in Judaism. Of course, Mary is the mother of Jesus around whom Christianity is founded. What we find in this book is a reminder that these three women are provocative, and thus requiring a provocative introduction.
This book is first and foremost a book about the Abrahamic tradition. It lifts up three women who play significant roles in each of the three traditions. While most of the traditions lift up male figures, there is a parallel witness that is worth attending to. It's the feminine face of God and the witness of the women to the faith revealed in the biblical stories. As Blue notes, the women in the biblical story are "a little out there" They don't "conform to the image of the virtuous woman" she learned about in Sunday school (p. 25). These are real women, who are often anything but subservient.
After laying out the overarching story of the Abrahamic faith in Part One, she moves through three parts, exploring the lives of Hagar, Esther, and Mary. I will admit that while part four, focusing on Mary was enlightening, it was the sections on Hagar and Esther, that were the most intriguing, and perhaps the most informative.
IN the section on Hagar, she begins by retelling the biblical story of Hagar, including the way she has been treated in Christian retellings of the Abrahamic story. In Blue's retelling, she becomes a matriarch on par with Abraham. We see a woman is resilient and is rewarded by God for standing up for herself and her son after being exiled by Sarah and Abraham. We encounter a woman who names God as "The God who Sees." We hear the promise made to her that through her son, she would be the mother of a great nation. This a beautiful retelling of her story that leads to chapters exploring her role within Islam, including the Qur'an, and contemporary encounters with Muslim women. These encounters and her reports of them offer a different picture of Islam than many have of this religion. We find a religion that especially in its origins had a liberating message for women.
From a Christian perspective, Hagar and Esther are problematic figures. Hagar suffers from Paul's unfortunate contrast of her with Sarah, in his effort to lift grace over law. That portrayal has colored our perspective, besides we trace our theological heritage through Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, not Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar. For Islam, however, Hagar and Ishmael are the figures through whom they trace their lineage to Abraham.
When it comes to Esther, I have more experience. We read Esther in my Hebrew class, mainly because it was free of theological material, allowing us to focus on the language rather than theology. I led a study of Esther at my congregation. This was intriguing, but what Blue does here is emphasize the role of Esther within Judaism. While Christians have tended to leave it aside because it lacks references to God, and unfortunately because it was perceived by some as too Judaizing (that is, it was the victim of Christian anti-Jewish and anti-semitic propaganda). Whereas we rarely engage with the Book of Esther in Christian contexts, in Judaism, it is the foundation for the Feast of Purim, an event in Jewish life that features the reading of the entire book of Esther, complete with costumes and noisemakers, and more. Blue takes from the biblical story to Jewish celebrations of Purim. Even as Hagar was the scorned but provocative woman in Genesis, Esther is even more provocative, for she uses her sexual prowess and beauty to save her people. It's not the story we might expect to be celebrated, and yet, it is a story of the salvation of a people.
When it comes to Mary, she is equally provocative. While we have heard stories of the submissive Mary, if we pay close attention, she is not subservient. She is the one who proclaims the downfall of the mighty as well as the one who bears the Son of God (Theotokos). While Protestants have found it difficult to embrace her, she has been an ever-present presence, pictured in a variety of ways that may have served as a bridge between pagan understandings of the goddesses with the monotheism of Christianity. How this happens, well that's the intriguing part.
Ultimately, this is a book that will surprise, but it also offers points of contact with friends outside the Christian community. It's a book that will prove informative, but it is written in such a way that it will draw you in. You don't have to know the stories to be pulled into them through Blue's writing. Just in case you might want to use this in a group study, there is a study guide provided, that will further the conversation. So, take and read, you will be blessed (at least I was!).
May 22, 2025
After reading about Hagar, I wanted more from Esther and Mary. But I wasn’t as profoundly affected by the Jewish scholarship about Esther or the folk-culture interpretations of Mary as I was by the scholarly and cultural-Islamic considerations of Hagar.
The quotes I'll keep:
Near the end of Abraham’s life, after Sarah has died, Abraham marries Keturah. According to midrashic tradition, Keturah is actually Hagar’s real name. Hagar was just a descriptive name, meaning other, but Keturah was her real name. Far from cutting off the counter-narrative, Abraham embraces it. Takes it into his heart. Lays in bed with it – makes love with Hagar again and they have many more children. In this reading the world is not hopelessly divided. There isn’t one side or the other. Hagar and Abraham embrace in their old age. Boundaries are blurred. God’s love is let loose. May this somehow be so (44).
The Hebrew Scripture plants this potentially subversive seed: the blessed Other/Mother – or (M)Other – and leaves it. But it doesn’t simply wither and die. While the Hebrew Scriptures has few stories about Hagar and Ishmael, the Islamic tradition has many. Christianity and Judaism may have maligned her, but in Islam, Hagar is the matriarch of monotheism. It is through Ishmael that Muhammed eventually arrives. In Islamic tradition God leads Hagar into the wilderness so that through her a new faith might be born – a faith that allows a whole lot of “others” to encounter Abraham’s God (46).
The Islamic stories are similar to the ones in the Hebrew Scripture. Hagar and Ishmael are sent to the wilderness, where they run out of water. Determined to save her son, Hagar starts running back and forth between two hills, trying to get up high enough to spot a caravan that might help her. After her seventh run, Ishmael kicks the ground with his heel and a miraculous well springs out of the ground. It’s called the Zamzam well. When Muslims make their journey to Mecca, it’s part of their pilgrimage to reenact Hagar’s maternal determination by running seven times between the hills. Then they drink from the Zamzam, and they take some of the water back home in memory of Hagar (46).
The Ka’aba, located in Mecca, is the holiest shrine in Islam. According to Islamic tradition, it was first built by Adam and then rebuilt later by Abraham and Ishmael when Abraham came to visit his son. When Abraham leave Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness, he leaves them at the Ka’aba site, “The House of God.” In the Hebrew Scripture Abraham seems to abandon Ishmael, but in the Islamic stories he keeps coming back to visit this side of his family. There are heartbreaking and beautiful stories. One son in one place, one in another – Abe trudging back and forth, the father of not one, but two faiths. Abrham loves both of his wives and both of his sons (47).
We need a lot of help here on this broken planet. I believe in the grace of God. But when children die, and teenagers are shot by the police, and the entire Caribbean is ravaged by unprecedented hurricane damage, and the people who always get hit hard are getting hit harder, and a friend loses her twenty-two-year-old son, I don’t know how the aggrieved are supposed to muster Hagar’s effort. Or Esther’s charms. We need their stories to give us hope and strength and ideas of resistance, but at times we are so sad and sick and weary that we need to be able to lie down and find rest in the arms of a mother who knows suffering, who is so well acquainted with grief. She is the woman clothed with the sun that warms us – the sun that keeps us alive even when we hardly pay attention to its presence. She brings us a God who is of the earth, not apart from it. This is the God the broken-hearted need (147).
Truth isn’t always something that is expressed well through doctrine. We may see it more clearly sometimes in movements toward loving relationship: Loving mercy. Shalom. Salaam. The mother who loves all of her children and wants to keep them talking to each other.
The quotes I'll keep:
Near the end of Abraham’s life, after Sarah has died, Abraham marries Keturah. According to midrashic tradition, Keturah is actually Hagar’s real name. Hagar was just a descriptive name, meaning other, but Keturah was her real name. Far from cutting off the counter-narrative, Abraham embraces it. Takes it into his heart. Lays in bed with it – makes love with Hagar again and they have many more children. In this reading the world is not hopelessly divided. There isn’t one side or the other. Hagar and Abraham embrace in their old age. Boundaries are blurred. God’s love is let loose. May this somehow be so (44).
The Hebrew Scripture plants this potentially subversive seed: the blessed Other/Mother – or (M)Other – and leaves it. But it doesn’t simply wither and die. While the Hebrew Scriptures has few stories about Hagar and Ishmael, the Islamic tradition has many. Christianity and Judaism may have maligned her, but in Islam, Hagar is the matriarch of monotheism. It is through Ishmael that Muhammed eventually arrives. In Islamic tradition God leads Hagar into the wilderness so that through her a new faith might be born – a faith that allows a whole lot of “others” to encounter Abraham’s God (46).
The Islamic stories are similar to the ones in the Hebrew Scripture. Hagar and Ishmael are sent to the wilderness, where they run out of water. Determined to save her son, Hagar starts running back and forth between two hills, trying to get up high enough to spot a caravan that might help her. After her seventh run, Ishmael kicks the ground with his heel and a miraculous well springs out of the ground. It’s called the Zamzam well. When Muslims make their journey to Mecca, it’s part of their pilgrimage to reenact Hagar’s maternal determination by running seven times between the hills. Then they drink from the Zamzam, and they take some of the water back home in memory of Hagar (46).
The Ka’aba, located in Mecca, is the holiest shrine in Islam. According to Islamic tradition, it was first built by Adam and then rebuilt later by Abraham and Ishmael when Abraham came to visit his son. When Abraham leave Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness, he leaves them at the Ka’aba site, “The House of God.” In the Hebrew Scripture Abraham seems to abandon Ishmael, but in the Islamic stories he keeps coming back to visit this side of his family. There are heartbreaking and beautiful stories. One son in one place, one in another – Abe trudging back and forth, the father of not one, but two faiths. Abrham loves both of his wives and both of his sons (47).
We need a lot of help here on this broken planet. I believe in the grace of God. But when children die, and teenagers are shot by the police, and the entire Caribbean is ravaged by unprecedented hurricane damage, and the people who always get hit hard are getting hit harder, and a friend loses her twenty-two-year-old son, I don’t know how the aggrieved are supposed to muster Hagar’s effort. Or Esther’s charms. We need their stories to give us hope and strength and ideas of resistance, but at times we are so sad and sick and weary that we need to be able to lie down and find rest in the arms of a mother who knows suffering, who is so well acquainted with grief. She is the woman clothed with the sun that warms us – the sun that keeps us alive even when we hardly pay attention to its presence. She brings us a God who is of the earth, not apart from it. This is the God the broken-hearted need (147).
Truth isn’t always something that is expressed well through doctrine. We may see it more clearly sometimes in movements toward loving relationship: Loving mercy. Shalom. Salaam. The mother who loves all of her children and wants to keep them talking to each other.
May 21, 2024
Abby: “Truth is the sort of thing that is unfinalizable and we would do well to recognize that together we may arrive at more truth than any of us could alone.” (9)
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg: “Only when stability is lost, when given answers no longer offer support, can one reach for a different kind of stability. Stumbling and falling are the means by which standing is achieved.”
Abraham: “God made wander” (13) in the “waste space between clarities” where grace erupts and “radical astonishment abides.” (Zornberg 16)
James Alison’s “Living the Magnificat with Rossini and Mary”: “This I think is worth attending to: the “mono” in monotheism can have at least two valences. One of them is restrictive, zealously hygienic let us say, because God is in rivalry with other gods and needs everything to be narrowed down and made more exact, since the danger of idolatry is everywhere. The other is not in rivalry with anything at all, and is seriously concerned that we will not have enough joy and freedom and happiness unless we are set free from our fear of death and enabled to dare to participate in the life of the Creator. And the more signs of our being loved and encouraged and enabled to belong we get, the merrier. It is this rumbustiousness of God whose monotheism is decidedly unhygienic, whose oneness is nothing at all like our monisms, trying to get through to us that we are loved.” (18)
Debbie Blue echoes James Alison’s quote: “Monotheism without contemplation is dangerous.”
Krista Tippett’s Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living: “Generous listening is powered by curiosity, a virtue we can invite and nurture in ourselves to render it instinctive. It involves a kind of vulnerability—a willingness to be surprised, to let go of assumptions and take in ambiguity.”
Hildegard of Bingen: “Mary, ground of all being, Greetings! Greeting to you, lovely and loving Mother!”
“He whom the entire universe could not contain was contained within your womb, O Theotokos.”
Sara Miles’ City of God: Faith in the Streets: “Living here in the City of God, I have to consider the strong possibility that God is pointedly, continually, making all things new by deliberately mixing them up.”
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg: “Only when stability is lost, when given answers no longer offer support, can one reach for a different kind of stability. Stumbling and falling are the means by which standing is achieved.”
Abraham: “God made wander” (13) in the “waste space between clarities” where grace erupts and “radical astonishment abides.” (Zornberg 16)
James Alison’s “Living the Magnificat with Rossini and Mary”: “This I think is worth attending to: the “mono” in monotheism can have at least two valences. One of them is restrictive, zealously hygienic let us say, because God is in rivalry with other gods and needs everything to be narrowed down and made more exact, since the danger of idolatry is everywhere. The other is not in rivalry with anything at all, and is seriously concerned that we will not have enough joy and freedom and happiness unless we are set free from our fear of death and enabled to dare to participate in the life of the Creator. And the more signs of our being loved and encouraged and enabled to belong we get, the merrier. It is this rumbustiousness of God whose monotheism is decidedly unhygienic, whose oneness is nothing at all like our monisms, trying to get through to us that we are loved.” (18)
Debbie Blue echoes James Alison’s quote: “Monotheism without contemplation is dangerous.”
Krista Tippett’s Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living: “Generous listening is powered by curiosity, a virtue we can invite and nurture in ourselves to render it instinctive. It involves a kind of vulnerability—a willingness to be surprised, to let go of assumptions and take in ambiguity.”
Hildegard of Bingen: “Mary, ground of all being, Greetings! Greeting to you, lovely and loving Mother!”
“He whom the entire universe could not contain was contained within your womb, O Theotokos.”
Sara Miles’ City of God: Faith in the Streets: “Living here in the City of God, I have to consider the strong possibility that God is pointedly, continually, making all things new by deliberately mixing them up.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2021
An intriguing look at three women of the Bible- all of which gave me new perspective and thoughts to chew on.
I would probably have given it 4 stars, except for two things.
1 - it isn't a 4 or 5 star in comparison with her other books.
2 - the structure of second and third chapters being cultural and personal stories is uneven in delivery. The personal stories, in particular, lack the depth of other parts. Which is unfortunate, because it is clear she is trying to humanize others and create empathy for a variety of experiences. She would have done better to chose one or two examples, and tell them in a concise and clear manner (instead she chose too many and gave too little time to connect with them).
I would probably have given it 4 stars, except for two things.
1 - it isn't a 4 or 5 star in comparison with her other books.
2 - the structure of second and third chapters being cultural and personal stories is uneven in delivery. The personal stories, in particular, lack the depth of other parts. Which is unfortunate, because it is clear she is trying to humanize others and create empathy for a variety of experiences. She would have done better to chose one or two examples, and tell them in a concise and clear manner (instead she chose too many and gave too little time to connect with them).
December 30, 2024
Blue engages in the stories of three women: Hagar, Esther, and Mary, mother of Jesus, to take the reader on a journey of faith less fettered by patriarchy. As the sacrifice of Isaac has been called a “text of terror” for children, Blue’s interpretation is relevant.
Blue uses the stories of the Bible to examine the systems of power that are in place (6). Stories enable us to cross divides, and “dream up the unmaking of the world as it is” (7). Blue envisions a world where women’s stories move us past the “white, male savior myth,” rooted in patriarchy and supremacy (173). Ultimately, this book communicates something often lost in a country where biblical literacy is on the decline: scripture is multivalent, continually interpreted and reinterpreted for each time and context.
Blue uses the stories of the Bible to examine the systems of power that are in place (6). Stories enable us to cross divides, and “dream up the unmaking of the world as it is” (7). Blue envisions a world where women’s stories move us past the “white, male savior myth,” rooted in patriarchy and supremacy (173). Ultimately, this book communicates something often lost in a country where biblical literacy is on the decline: scripture is multivalent, continually interpreted and reinterpreted for each time and context.
June 1, 2019
Maybe you, too, need to detox from the headlines with "the transfaith trinity: the (M)other, the Vamp, and the Shape-Shifting Queen." I sure did after the rage-inducing anti-woman headlines this week. Lucky for us, Debbie Blue handles these stories of three biblical women with her characteristic playfulness and awe and depth -- the kind of writing that nourishes the soul. "Men have dominated the stories and study of our holy books for millenia," she writes. "I believe things shift in signficant ways when we focus on the women -- our concepts of God and our ideas of what faith is like. If the fathers build walls, the women keep finding ways under, over and around them."
June 8, 2019
This is a highly enjoyable book about three women in the Bible, Hagar, Esther and Mary, exploring how when we look at them properly they reveal more to us about God than we might usually see. Debbi Blue is a great writer, very readable with a great sense of humour. She explores how these women have been celebrated and what they mean to people the world over, to Jewish, Muslim and Christian women and people of no faith. She urges us to look beyond the white male version of God we have been rather stuck with and find the richness and depth beyond. I don't agree with everything she says but I found life and hope in this book, and I do recommend it.
March 18, 2019
In Consider the Women, Debbie Blue turns her discerning eye to the stories of Hagar, Esther, and Mary, and elucidates why their stories are so important for us. In her trademark style, Blue offers unique insights and thoughtful cultural critique along the way, offering plenty to ponder for those familiar with these women as well as those for whom these stories are brand new. This book is a wise gift that allows us to explore and consider the complex lives of these women and all they have to teach us.
April 14, 2019
Very good book. Added to my outlook on Hagar, Esther and Mary by connecting them to their time and religions that surrounded them, something I had not completely done. The author draws on not only the Christian bible but Islamic and Jewish texts as well as books that were not placed in the Christian canon (Christianity's New Testament) in the 5th century. She also draws on the mythologies of many cultures to compare each of the women to a goddess of mythology. If you are interested in studying religions, I would recommend this book to you.
April 30, 2020
Thought provoking. She is pastor of a church that skips the lectionary since Trumps election. The House of Mercy offers an opportunity to consider the women, in this case Hagar, Esther and Mary. Works for me to consider how our empire -dominated world has for centuries pushed the Biblical narrative from creativity, violence and harshness to eliminate women’s perspectives Moved us to have a Purim festival in the third Sunday in Easter
September 6, 2019
Really loved the book in that is expanded your horizons/mind on your take of these 3 women. I enjoyed looking at them from the many different points of view that Debbie Blue shown us. Thought provoking . I am recommending the book to everyone I know even my Pastor. Thank you Debbie Brown and thanks to Thrivent who had a review of it in the magazine.
March 16, 2019
Her book CONSIDER THE BIRDS is one of my favorites, and CONSIDER THE WOMEN did not disappoint. It examines three women in scripture - Hagar, Esther, and Mary - while also looking at their importance in the other Abrahamic faiths. The section on Hagar was my favorite.
August 7, 2019
The first book I’ve never finished. Maybe I’ll go back and read it but she did not grab me in the beginning enough for me to continue. Maybe I didn’t get her humor or sarcasm or whatever. I’m more disappointed by not actually finishing a book.
November 12, 2019
I did not finish this book. It was not what I expected it to be. The author tends to ramble about her process of researching this book. I thought it would be more of an in-depth Bible study, but it was more general as far as the scope of Hagar, Esther. I didn't even get to Mary.
July 15, 2020
The author looks at one important woman from the bible that is important to each of three main Abrahamic faith traditions. They are Hagar, Esther and Mary. I found this to be a fresh look at the stories I have heard so many times.
March 7, 2022
Interesting look at three women of the Bible and the religion they influence most. Blue looks at Hagar, Esther and Mary. Blue doesn't approach each woman as a biblical scholar but more as a sociological look at how the stories of each woman impacts people now. It is an interesting approach.
March 16, 2022
DNF. I really wanted to like this... but I got a few chapters in, and her writing is just too all over the place. I'm sure she makes some amazing points throughout the book, but the writing style just wasn't for me.
March 31, 2023
Love the view that the author takes on Hagar, Mary and Esther. The way she wrote about Esther, bakes me look at Esther differently. Mordacai as a bully, Vashti refusing to strip being compared to Donald Trump was absolutely hilarious but true.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2019
This book was wonderful, playful, challenging. I loved it.
July 9, 2019
An interesting exploration of Hagar, Esther, and Mary as the author engages with old stories in new ways in hopes of moving past a male dominated religious narrative.
July 22, 2019
Thoughtful, personal, and researched, openly sharing for the 3 femmes.
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September 23, 2019I reviewed this on Episcopal Cafe: https://www.episcopalcafe.com/book-re...
March 22, 2020
This book is on SE wall Stan's office middle section lower self.
May 22, 2020
Very compelling read and a nuanced look at the foundations of worldly religions that were built upon the stronghold of a male-dominated universe.
October 31, 2021
Uneven but thought-provoking.
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