Speaking for Ourselves: Voices of Biblical Women

Rating:
Summary: I hear their voices
Review: Speaking for Ourselves, Katerina Whitley's fist collection of Biblical storytelling pulls the reader into the thoughts of a number of Biblical women. She displays a remarkable ability to enter the mind of a variety of women, from Tamar, David's daughter searching for peace after being raped by her stepbrother Absalom; to Mary's thoughts as her son dies on a cross.

Whitley does not change the scriptures make her characters live, but expands on them, using her extensive knowledge of the history and anthropology of the middle east. More important than her academic understanding of the era is her intuition about how people who have been touched by the presence of the divine might feel about it afterwards. Each woman wants to tell her own story. She wants the listener to hear it as a specific, real event, not something lost in the mists of time or obscured by theological padding.

Whitley succeeds admirably in transcribing these women's thoughts for us to share. The book can be read as a collection of superb short stories by people of any level of Biblical knowledge and interest as well as an illumination to the Bible as part of a study program. Individual stories are brief enough to use as an introductory meditation for a study group or committee meeting. They are full of information and insight and, with or without the included discussion questions, will spark thoughtful reflection among readers or listeners.

Rating:
Summary: I hear their voices
Review: Speaking for Ourselves, Katerina Whitley's fist collection of Biblical storytelling pulls the reader into the thoughts of a number of Biblical women. She displays a remarkable ability to enter the mind of a variety of women, from Tamar, David's daughter searching for peace after being raped by her stepbrother Absalom; to Mary's thoughts as her son dies on a cross.

Whitley does not change the scriptures make her characters live, but expands on them, using her extensive knowledge of the history and anthropology of the middle east. More important than her academic understanding of the era is her intuition about how people who have been touched by the presence of the divine might feel about it afterwards. Each woman wants to tell her own story. She wants the listener to hear it as a specific, real event, not something lost in the mists of time or obscured by theological padding.

Whitley succeeds admirably in transcribing these women's thoughts for us to share. The book can be read as a collection of superb short stories by people of any level of Biblical knowledge and interest as well as an illumination to the Bible as part of a study program. Individual stories are brief enough to use as an introductory meditation for a study group or committee meeting. They are full of information and insight and, with or without the included discussion questions, will spark thoughtful reflection among readers or listeners.

Rating:
Summary: As a woman, I've waited my whole life for these stories.
Review: Women of every faith, philosophy and denomination should read this book. I wish I could afford to send it to everyone I know.