Feminist in The Books Store

"I was amazed to find that I had no idea how to unfold my spiritual life in a feminine way. I was surprised, and, in fact, a little terrified, when I found myself in the middle of a feminist spiritual reawakening." ––Sue Monk Kidd

For years, Sue Monk Kidd was a conventionally religious woman. Then, in the late 1980s, Kidd experienced an unexpected awakening, and began a journey toward a feminine spirituality. With the exceptional storytelling skills that have helped make her name, author of When the Heart Waits tells her very personal story of the fear, anger, healing, and freedom she experienced on the path toward the wholeness that many women have lost in the church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore, to monastery retreats and to rituals in the caves of Crete, she reveals a new level of feminine spiritual consciousness for all women– one that retains a meaningful connection with the "deep song of Christianity," embraces the sacredness of ordinary women's experience, and has the power to transform in the most positive ways every fundamental relationship in a woman's life– her marriage, her career, and her religion.

This Plus edition paperback includes a recent interview with the author conducted by the book's editor Michael Maudlin.

A controversy of major proportions has spread through the church. Recent generations bear witness to the rise of “evangelical feminism”—a movement that has had a profound impact on all of life, challenging some of our basic Christian beliefs.

In this new edition of an influential and award-winning best-seller, more than twenty men and women have committed their talents to produce the most thorough response yet to this modern movement. Combining systematic argumentation with popular application, this volume deals with all of the main passages of Scripture brought forward in this controversy regarding gender-based role differences.

Anyone concerned with the fundamental question of the proper relationship between men and women in home, church, and society will want to read this book. New preface included.

“In Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, twenty-two men and women commit their talents to produce the most thorough response yet to evangelical feminism. All who are concerned with the fundamental question of the proper relationship between men and women in home, church, and society will want to read this important book.”
—Association of Theological Booksellers

“The best book in print today on this subject. A very important contribution in an age that needs
to know.”
—Christian Literature World

“Piper and Grudem have achieved a commendable breadth of subject area supported by clear, specific, and precise treatment—all of which consistently make the case for ‘biblically balanced male leadership’ in home, church, and society.”
—Michael G. Maudlin, Discipleship Journal

“Without a doubt this is the most impressive and comprehensive statement of a conservative evangelical understanding of these issues to be published to date. No one seriously involved in seeking a responsible Christian engagement with such concerns can afford to ignore this magisterial undertaking.”
—Timothy George

“A trumpet-call to the church at large to wake up to the issue. Yet for a book that pulls no punches, it remains reasoned and courteous. It also sets an excellent model in the principles of biblical debate.”
—Graham Keith, Banner of Truth Trust

“This significant contribution to the ongoing debates over roles and liberties consciously seeks to be governed by Scripture rather than by contemporary culture. Headship by men is a responsibility from God, not a privilege for their own advantage. Much of the confusion of our day is laid at the feet of men who have failed in their role by being either domineering or domesticated. Here is strong medicine for healthy balance with full respect for women and men in their intended roles.”
—William Smallman, The Baptist Bulletin

"We have just elected a female pope."
—Cardinal Alessandro Bichi, 1644

Today's Roman Catholic Church firmly states that women must be excluded from church leadership positions, but they neglect to mention that for over a decade in the seventeenth century a woman unofficially, but openly, ran the Vatican. Now, Eleanor Herman, author of Sex with the Queen, exposes one of the church's deepest secrets, laying bare facts that have been concealed for 350 years.

Beginning in 1644 and for eleven years after, Olimpia Maidalchini, sister-in-law and reputed mistress of the indecisive Pope Innocent X, directed Vatican business, appointed cardinals, negotiated with foreign ambassadors, and helped herself to a heaping portion of the Papal State's treasury. Unlike the ninth century's Pope Joan, whose life is shrouded in mystery, Olimpia's story is documented in thousands of letters, news sheets, and diplomatic dispatches.

Knowing of Pope Innocent's absolute dependence on his sister-in-law, Cardinal Alessandro Bichi angrily declared on the day of Innocent's election, "We have just elected a female pope." Mischievous Romans hung banners in churches calling her Pope Olimpia I. Cardinal Sforza Pallavicino bewailed the "monstrous power of a woman in the Vatican." One contemporary wrote that women might as well become priests, since one of them was already pope.

Born in modest circumstances, Olimpia was almost forced into a convent at the age of fifteen due to the lack of a dowry. She used deceit to escape, and vowed never to be poor and powerless again. Throughout her life, Olimpia exacted excruciating vengeance on anyone who tried to lock her up or curb her power. But her grisly revenge on the pope who loved her would be reserved for after his death. . . .

Seventeenth-century Rome boasted the world's most glorious art and glittering pageants but also suffered from famine, floods, swarms of locusts, and bubonic plague. Olimpia's world was kleptocratic; everyone from the lowliest servant up to the pope's august relatives unblushingly stole as much as they possibly could. Nepotism was rampant, and popes gave away huge sums and principalities to their nephews instead of helping the poor. Dead pontiffs were left naked on the Vatican floor because their servants had pilfered the bed and stripped the corpse. Mistress of the Vatican brings to life not only a woman, and a church, but an entire civilization in all its greatness . . . and all its ignominy.

Elizabeth George’s Loving God with All Your Mind (more than 200,000 copies sold) has been revised and expanded. Elizabeth lets women know that loving the Lord involves action! Focusing on six main scripture passages, she helps readers understand what it means to truly—

• let your mind think on what is true about God and about life
• grasp and move toward God’s purpose for life
• trust the Lord in all things

Drawing on biblical wisdom as well as personal experience, Elizabeth helps women handle their emotions and discover inner peace that comes from focusing on what is true. She shares six powerful Bible truths that will help readers draw closer to God and know His joy and love.

How far can I go? It's the question of a generation wanting straight answers. Often the very questions we ask reveal our hearts better than anything else. In Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry, Lisa Bevere tackles these tough issues by moving us from rules to relationship. There is no question we need a renewal of purity, but what we're doing is not working.

How far can you go? Ask yourself: What do you ultimately want? Immediate and temporary gratification that wanes with the passage of time? Or passion and exclusive intimacy that endures and intensifies?

God wants to move us beyond the restraint of the law (which arouses sin) and plant us into a garden of longing -- where our sexuality and passion is carefully guarded and cultivated until the time for its awakening. This is a book for every daughter in waiting and every woman who has never known desire in her life and marriage.

My dear friend Wendy has trained thousands of women in practical theology through her teaching ministry. I am delighted to see her helpful wisdom now being made available to many more women through this book.”
Mark Driscoll, Pastor and Founder, Mars Hill Church; President, Acts 29 Church Planting Network; President, Resurgence

Have you ever wanted to understand the deep things of the Word but been put off by the intimidating vocabulary of theologians? Have you assumed that studying the attributes of God is for seminary students only? Or maybe “just for men”? Have heavy doctrinal themes felt beyond you and your everyday world? If so—if you’ve ever thought theology was too deep, too impractical, or too irrelevant for your life as a woman—this book is for you.

As author Wendy Alsup explores fundamental theological issues you’ve always wondered about—minus the daunting vocabulary and complex sentence structure of academic tomes—she brings them into real life… into your world… and reveals the heart of true theology. It’s really about “simple yet incredibly profound stuff that affects our daily lives,” she says. Stuff like faith and gaining a right knowledge of God as the foundation for wise daily living.

Alsup writes: “Truly, there is nothing like a good grasp of accurate knowledge about God to enable you to meet the practical demands of your life—the practical demands of being a daughter, mother, wife, sister, or friend.” Let Practical Theology for Women show you the everyday difference that knowing God makes.