(Christianity Today) Women fill the pages of the Bible. Some of them enter the narrative as mothers and wives, others as refugees, judges, and queens. Yet one burden many of them share is our interpretive tendency to blame them for sexual offense no matter how honorable their example. No doubt, some of the women in Scripture have rightfully earned such a legacy, but others bear it without warrant. Vindicating the Vixens reexamines the stories of 14 biblical women who are often misinterpreted through a sexualized or marginalized lens.
As stories from the #MeToo and #ChurchToo campaigns have rippled into the church, they have kindled needed conversation not only about the proper methods for handling cases of sexual assault but also about how we discuss sexual assault itself. This collection of essays is an instructive addition to the dialogue. It demonstrates how our mishandling of the stories of biblical women, especially those involving sexual abuse, adversely affects our handling of similar circumstances today.
Edited by Sandra Glahn, associate professor of media arts and worship at Dallas Theological Seminary, the essays focus on revisiting the “sexualized, vilified, and marginalized women of the Bible.” Some may be tempted to read this as a politically motivated subtitle, but Glahn contests this conclusion in her preface, stating, “Our motivation is to handle faithfully the biblical text, which involves bringing to light a number of women labeled as ‘bad girls’ who deserve a fresh look.”
