ChurchPublishing.org: God of Our Mothers

A lively, deep, personal look at some of the Old Testament's most powerful and intriguing women.

From Sarah, who was unafraid to nudge God into action; to Hagar, whose courage and passion founded a nation; to Judith, a woman and warrior whose faith saved God's people, readers will examine the stories of biblical women up close and personal. As they to read between the lines, readers will learn to use Bible stories to throw light on the stories of their own lives.

Each chapter will include questions for discussion and reflection, making this an ideal parish study book, or the perfect volume for Lenten meditation.

"Ritley asks whose stories these are and then, with deft scholarship and wise humor, shows us how to read skillfully, deeply, compellingly. By interlacing the ancient canonical texts with narratives from others of our ancestral mothers, she reminds us how valuable our own experience is for opening the depths of stories. Ritley brings us from a certain naivete through some of the terrain of postmodernity to help us recognize afresh the depths of the biblical narratives and their value for the lives we find ourselves in the midst of."—Barbara Green, Professor of Biblical Studies, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Graduate Theological Union

"God of Our Mothers is an engaging book, not least because its author is, herself, deeply engaged with the biblical text and relates it to women's lives today. It is a lively aid for Bible study and a downright good read."—Alda Marsh Morgan, author of From Ocean's Farthest Coast and contributor to Deeper Joy: Lay Women and Vocation in the 20th Century Episcopal Church

"No pious platitudes here! These figures are as real and as intriguing as your Aunt Clara, the one you never knew quite what to make of. And it's all right there in the Bible, too, though you may not have noticed it before. Once you've seen, with M. R. Ritley's help, what's really there in the texts, you'll never read the Bible the same way again. In fact, you'll probably never think about God in quite the same way again. And it's all to the good!"—L. William Countryman, Sherman E. Johnson Professor in Biblical Studies, The Church Divinity School of the Pacific

"...useful as well as instructive"- Martha K. Baker, Episcopal Life

"Ritley cleary wants the reader to see these women not as faultless but as able to cope with the circumstances of their lives. She includes in each chapter a story of a contemporary women who has had to deal with similar circumstances. At the end of each chapter are questions for study and reflection. This book is recommended for use by a Sunday school class or Bile study group."—Church and Synagogue Libraries