Recommended Resources
Please note that all links are affiliate links. I earn a small commission from these links at no additional cost to you.
Please also note that I do not necessarily agree with everything stated by the authors listed below. However, each source will enrich your understanding of the Bible and/or historical realities for women in meaningful ways. I’ve bolded the sources I most highly recommend.
On Gender Mutuality & Complex Biblical Passages
Entry Level:
Faithful: A Theology of Sex by Beth Felker Jones
Academic but Accessible:
Discovering Biblical Equality: Biblical, Theological, Cultural & Practical Perspectives edited by Ronald W. Pierce and Cynthia Long Westfall
Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament by Sandra Glahn
Rediscovering Scripture’s Vision for Women: Fresh Perspectives on Disputed Texts by Lucy Peppiatt
The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible by Scot McKnight
The Redemption of Love: Rescuing Marriage and Sexuality from the Economics of a Fallen World by Carrie A. Miles
Women’s Rights and the Bible: Implications for Christian Ethics and Social Policy by Richard H. Hiers
Very Academic:
Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ by Cynthia Long Westfall
Great Reference Works
Entry Level:
The Biblical World of Gender: The Daily Lives of Ancient Women and Men edited by Celina Durgin and Dru Johnson
The New Testament in Color: Multiethnic Bible Commentary edited by Esau McCaulley, Janette H. Ok, Osvaldo Padilla, and Amy Peeler
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament by Craig S. Keener
The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary edited by Catherine Clark Kroeger and Mary J. Evans
When in Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel According to Paul by Beverly Roberts Gaventa
Academic but Accessible:
1 Peter: A Commentary by Craig S. Keener
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus by Gordon Fee from the Understanding the Bible Commentary Series
Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context by Carol Meyers
The Letter to the Ephesians by Lynn H. Cohick from the New International Commentary on the New Testament series
The Letter to the Colossians by Scot McKnight from the New International Commentary on the New Testament series
Women in the World of the Earliest Christians by Lynn Cohick
On Women in Church History + Gender Theology
Entry Level:
Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength by Kat Armas
Academic but Accessible:
A New Gospel for Women: Katharine Bushnell and the Challenge of Christian Feminism by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
A Women’s History of the Christian Church: Two Thousand Years of Female Leadership by Elizabeth Gillan Muir
Handbook of Women Biblical Interpreters edited by Marion Ann Taylor and Agnes Choi
Our Mother Saint Paul by Beverly Roberts Gaventa (on maternal imagery in Paul’s letters)
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920 by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
Saving Women: Retrieving Evangelistic Theology and Practice by Laceye C. Warner
The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr
Women in the Mission of the Church: Their Opportunities and Obstacles throughout Christian History by Leanne M. Dzubinski and Anneke H. Stasson
On Specific Women in the Bible
Entry Level:
Phoebe: A Story by Paula Gooder (it’s a fictional account of Phoebe’s life but based in historical reality)
The Real Mary: Why Protestant Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus by Scot McKnight
Academic but Accessible:
Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries by Lynn H. Cohick and Amy Brown Hughes
Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church by Nijay Gupta
The Ministry of Women in the New Testament: Reclaiming the Biblical Vision for Church Leadership by Dorothy A. Lee
The Samaritan Woman’s Story: Reconsidering John 4 After #ChurchToo by Caryn A. Reeder
Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, and Marginalized Women of the Bible edited by Sandra Glahn
Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda C. Gafney
Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament edited by Carol Meyers, Toni Craven, and Ross S. Kraemer
Women Who Do: Female Disciples in the Gospels by Holly Carey
Very Academic:
Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels by Richard Bauckham
Other Media
Podcasts:
The Alabaster Jar by Dr. Lynn Cohick, Kelly Dippolito, and Sareen Musselman
On Script - academic discussions of relevant topics
Biblical World - understanding ancient times
Truth’s Table by Dr. Christina Edmondson and Ekemini Uwan - engaging culture; “by black women and for black women” (I have learned much by listening in on the conversation)
Pass the Mic by the Witness - on African American concerns and the Church
Protagonistas by Kat Armas - highlighting BIPOC Christian women
Websites:
Marg Mowczko - she’s doing amazing work on mutuality
Christians for Biblical Equality - they have an awesome church directory so you can find egalitarian churches in your area & produce an academic journal of egalitarian theology called the Priscilla Papers
On Women in the First Century
Academic but Accessible:
Women in the New Testament World by Susan Hylen
Women in the World of the Earliest Christians by Lynn Cohick
Primary Sources from Female Theologians
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself by Harriet Ann Jacobs
Sisters of the Spirit: Three Black Women’s Autobiographies of the Nineteenth Century edited by William L. Andrews
Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich (14th Century)