Out of the Shadows

Reviews / Votes

"Shercliff and Bruce boldly take on stories of biblical women-from the patriarchally oppressed and abused to the feisty survivors and tricksters. They offer the reader pastoral and preaching guidance for how one might inhabit these ancient texts and find therein a way to weave one's own life stories of pain, hope, trauma, healing, and faith." -- Margaret Kamitsuka "Far too often when women speak out about our experiences, we are told that we are the problem for mentioning how we are treated. It is perhaps not surprising that much of the most troubling treatment of women in the Bible has long been ignored, tiptoed around, not mentioned. In avoiding reporting this treatment, generations of commentators have been avoiding being themselves seen as problematic for doing so. In this vitally important volume Kate Bruce and Liz Shercliff unflinchingly address these troubling accounts and allow the reader to engage with the raw humanity of women whose experiences have been sanitised to oblivion over the centuries, or worse- have been blamed on the women themselves. This is a tough but important read for every preacher who truly wishes to engage with the text and through that text to wrestle with those 'problematic women' who challenge our comfortable narratives." -- Ruth Hake MBE KHC RAF "Inspired by anger and courage in the face of intersecting injustices, and brimming with insight, creativity and resourcefulness, this book illuminates hidden corners of scripture and current experiences and potential." -- Graham Adams "This powerful and confronting book engages robust biblical scholarship and creative reimagination to reflect critically on the lost, hidden, and stigmatized stories of women in the Bible. The texts are brought into conversation with present-day pastoral concerns surrounding women's and girls' economic vulnerability and ongoing resilience in the face of abuse. The book is a rich resource for preachers, pastors, and scholars alike." - -- Susannah Cornwall "In these pages Bruce and Shercliff model for us how to interrogate a difficult text, bring it into dialogue with contemporary experience, and take a congregation from 'you what?' to 'oh, wow!'. " -- Miranda Threlfall-Holmes