God's Word to Women: With a fresh historical background of the Biblical sources by Amy Francis

Katharine Bushnell’s academic treatise concerning the rightful place of women in the church is very interesting. Her unvarnished opinion and sharp sense of humor speak eloquently to the social issues of her day and I admire her scholarship, critical thinking, and passion for justice, though I don’t agree with every conclusion she comes to. I would recommend this book for every mature Christian, women and men. Some of Bushnell’s topics are academically complex and understanding her point requires a comprehensive grasp of basic Christian concepts and history, including ancient language translation. While not difficult to read, Bushnell’s material is not suited for introductory theology lessons and much of her subject matter is too intricate for social media discourse. This book is more suitable for a young adult bible study, a more serious book club selection, or possibly as inspiration for Christian theology bloggers discussing the concrete application of faith to effect economic changes and support social justice in Christ’s Kingdom on Earth.

I've always struggled to understand why, in what seemed to be the teaching of the Church, the entire gender of womanhood appeared to have a subservient role, mostly bit-part actors or assistants to the major stories, themes and messages. Of course these days the Church is moving on from ancient ways, but at every step it always seems that any progress in opportunity or status for women is a generous gift from those in charge, rather than a birthright allocated directly by God.Katherine Bushnell must have been an astonishing person. I can see this from her writing: her ability to take a firm stand rather than merely hover in the sidelines, bowing and offering soft suggestions. This woman sets a fine example for everyone on how to research one's case and present it boldly. Even now this is impressive: how amazing must it have been in those olden days.I was even more surprised to learn of her worldwide practical achievements, liberating oppressed and brutalized women in several countries, setting up schools and establishing refuges.In this book, she meticulously dissects the assumptions we often have about the place of women in the Bible. It turns out that women are not predefined to be a downtrodden gender: rather (she argues) they have been sneakily trodden down by generations of people (all men) who have translated and interpreted the Bible. I think she is saying that they did this not to harm women's status, but rather in fulfillment of their own prejudices, without regard to the impact on women. However it happened, I think she is presenting a cogent case for how the Bible's story has changed over time to the disadvantage of the status of women.I still am startled, looking at her chart, how far the translations can shift, and in a consistent direction, across various ages and languages. I can see why Katherine Bushnell said it was important for us all to be confident to read and interpret the bible for ourselves, and examine the history of its translation, if we want to truly know the word of God.

The sexism in the church itself is well documented but the sexism in the translation of the Scriptures is not only shocking but just makes me sad. The fact men have used God and manipulated His word to suppress women is just maddening. Eye opening , must read book

Wow! What if the Apostle Paul was actually arguing for women's rights when he wrote those famous words about women in the church? Katharine Bushnell rips the veil off the gender bias in the church which has polluted the Word of God for too long. Drawing from her lifetime of studying the Bible in the original Hebrew and Greek, she shows how the difficult verses in the Bible make complete sense when you read them in the original text. The problem is that Bible translators have twisted certain verses to fit their own personal opinion because they couldn't accept the simplicity of Christ. Prepare to be stunned as she shows the original meaning of those verses-----turns out that the Apostle Paul was a Biblical feminist! This is such a jaw dropping book that makes you realize how God really does love His daughters as much as His sons------not the other way around like we've been taught for so long in church. This book needs to be studied by every church and Biblestudy group until us ladies come into the fullness of what God intended.

This version is not "abridged," it is censored. Bushnell's discussion of universal androgyny was simply removed- as a lesbian she placed this language deliberately. Plus the formatting is horrific. I am sad I bought it and thought this was the real book. Later reading the full version was a shock.

Katherine Bushnell was a brilliant scholar. The print is very light and small. It will take me twice as long to read this. I hate reading ebooks but I think the ebook will be easier to read. I'm disappointed in the print and font size. I dropped a star for this reason. But I will continue to recommend this book to others!

I loved loved loved loved this book, It is a comprehensive and direct look at many texts in the bible that relate to women. I found that as she wrote it in 1920 ish she isn't writing from my cultural world view which is very helpful when trying to get to the 'truth' behind some of the passages in the bible. She provides excellent knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. Excellent knowledge of the culture in which the texts were written and her work has been independently verified. Now, as you would imagine, some of the technology and developments in research that that we have today have found out more in this area of exegesis, and so you must never read a book and think its completely comprehensive. However I was surprised at how easy it is to explain some of the new testament passages with just some simple understanding of the words the writer used and some knowledge of who the writer (mainly Paul) was writing to. Katharine is a true believer in the Holy Spirit, the inerrant and in fallibility of the bible as a standard and in the anointing on the authors of the different books of the Bible as God's chosen vessels to reveal His word to us. I am so happy to have found her book.

Possibly the best book I have ever had the privilege of reading. This has transformed my understanding of God's views of women with extraordinary insights that I've never heard from a preacher of the Bible. (Probably as most of them are male)! Many of the questions I have struggled with are addressed here. I wish many more women, and men, would read this too.

This book which is masquerading as a treatise on Biblical languages, lets its mask slip on pg. 13, where, under the heading "Septuagint Greek version", there is a statement "Its name (Greek for 70)...,"which is laughably incorrect.The Greek for 70, transliterated is OBDOMENDA, Septuaginta is LATIN for 70.

English is not my native language and this book was a real challange to me. Still, I read 'God's Word...' in two weeks because every time I started to read I couldn't put it down. There is something fascinating about how Katharine C. Bushnell wrote: with passion and conviction. Katharine's writing is/was dedicated mostly to women, who are/were taught about their inferiority and submission to men based on the Bible. I think, though, this book is for everyone, who just wants to know more about the Scripture, its historical background and many possible translations of some difficult passages. I definitely don't agree with everything what Bushenll has to say but she opened my eyes to many false things I was not aware of. Her Ideas to the meaning and translation of Genesis are very innovative, even now, 90 years after the book was first published.