Women of the Bible - US News and World Report
NEW TESTAMENT
In Search of the Real Virgin Mary
The peasant girl from Nazareth embodies Christianity’s thorniest paradoxes.
A Warm Protestant Welcome for Mary
Focus on the mother of Christ is no longer seen as Catholic territory.
Behind the Cult of Mary
Devotion to the Virgin Mother is a surprisingly controversial affair.
Mary Magdalene: A Long Miscast Outcast
Long misunderstood, she was none of the things a pope claimed she was.
Fact and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code
Many significant elements of the popular novel are incorrectly taken as accurate.
Mary and Martha: Two Models of Christian Devotion
New scholarship points to different layers of meaning in the sisters’ story.
Salome: A Deadly Dance
Her seductive and deadly dance has inspired artists and playwrights for centuries.
Phoebe, Prisca, and Junica: Three Stalwart Sisters in Faith
We owe much to her and two other unsung heroes of the early Christian church.
The Feminist Hit List
Here are the 10 Bible verses women most love to hate.
Intro
The Daughters of Eve
Most of the women in the Old Testament defy male authority when it is unjust.
OLD TESTAMENT
Eve: The First Rebel
The first woman was a risk taker and a rebel, not a temptress or victim.
Sarah and Hagar: Dueling Mothers
Both women bear a son for the patriarch Abraham, and therein lies the drama.
Zipporah: The Woman Who Stood Up to God
For mystery, mayhem, and plain weirdness, nothing in the Bible comes close.
Bathsheba: Wife, Mother, Queen, Object of Royal Lust
This tale of sex and politics resonates even today: a sly lover, a king weakened by lust.
Jezebel: The Reigning Icon of Womanly Evil
Few in the Bible are more equated with evil, but this temptress had her good side.
Esther: A Clever Heroine
The beautiful orphan who becomes queen of Persia and saves her people from destruction.
Ruth: Mixed Message
It’s a short book, but her story lends itself to a wealth of conflicting interpretations.
Dirty Rotten Men
Biblical bad boys you wouldn’t want to have over for dinner.
Delilah: One Fiesty Femme
Her life is a morality play, a feminist discourse, or a caution to lovesick men.
Deborah: Facing Down ‘900 Chariots of Iron’
In answering God’s call, she became a singular biblical character: a female military leader .
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(Leonardo Da Vinci, Summerfield Press/Corbis)
