Book Reviews
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed.” Francis Bacon (d. 1626)
Breaking through the Stained Glass Ceiling
Maureen E. Fiedler, ed.
Seabury Books, New York, 2010
Reviewed by Audra Trull
Women are taking leadership roles in the secular world as well as in the religious world, and they will continue to make contributions in the field of theology, the study of sacred texts, interfaith relations, religious media, and in religious movements for justice, peace, and equality. The editor states four reasons for female leadership in these fields:
- Women’s secular leadership roles are establishing new parameters for the possible. Many women have been prime ministers, presidents, or equivalents. In the United States, we have a woman as Speaker of the House and had a female running for President. This entire trend toward female secular leadership makes it more “thinkable” that women can become religious leaders. A female bishop no longer looks like an impossible dream.
- With women’s rising successes in the secular world, the theological and scriptural arguments barring women from religious leadership roles sound archaic and out of touch with reality.
- Women are not only finding their theological voice, they are developing new attitudes believing that they can preach and lead, and they can do it as well as men.
- Finally, we live in an age of mass, democratized communication. The news that women are leaders and the theologies that underlie this are everywhere. Feminist theology is not only in books, but at conferences, in the media, and on the Internet.
The book’s eight chapters deal with a variety of subjects concerning women in religious leadership roles. The chapters that will be of most interest to the reader are:
Chapter One dealing with women as denominational or organizational leaders highlights many denominational women leaders—Episcopal, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), African Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian (USA), Islamic, Hindu, etc.
Chapter Two: Women Leaders in Theological and Scriptural Scholarship deals with women in academic roles, those who publish widely and hold prestigious chairs at various theological schools. These female leaders also provide insights into the beliefs they support—Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and others.
Chapter Three: Women in Feminist Theology portrays traditional teaching through the “lens” of women’s experiences, offering new and sometimes startling insights. These scholars discuss traditions of equality and justice that women had not obtained until recently. A most interesting interview was with Dr. Rena Pederson, author of The Lost Apostle: Searching for the Truth About Junia.
Chapter Six includes interviews with women leaders active in social justice, peace, and ecology. Most of these leaders were influenced by Catherine Mumford Booth, one of the founders of the Salvation Army, Coretta King, who was active in her own right in movements for racial and economic justice, and Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement advocating for peace and hospitality to the poor.
This book should be of great interest to women who need encouragement in their roles in religious life and to those persons interested in gender equality. The book also provides insight into the role of women in non-Christian religions and thought.
