Kristina Lacelle-Peterson - Liberating Tradition: Womens Identity and Vocation in Christian Perspective

LIBERATING
TRADITION

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LIBERATING
TRADITION

Womens Identity and Vocation
in Christian Perspective

Kristina LaCelle-Peterson

2008 by Kristina LaCelle-Peterson

Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

LaCelle-Peterson, Kristina, 1960
Liberating tradition : womens identity and vocation in Christian perspective /
Kristina LaCelle-Peterson.
p. cm. (Renewed minds)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8010-3179-3 (pbk.)
1. Women in Christianity. 2. WomenReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Title.
BV639.W7L34 2008
270.082dc22

2007045675

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

For Mark
and Nathaniel and Linnea

CONTENTS

Introduction: Peril and Promise: Womens Experience and the
Christian Faith

4. The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Strange: Marriages
in the Bible

5. Mistaking the Industrial Revolution for the Garden of Eden:
The Myth of the Traditional Marriage

Part Three: Women in the Church and the World or Why
Watching TV Is Not Enough

9. Changing the World: Women in Missions, Social Reform,
and Church Work in American Evangelicalism

10. Not Counting Women and Children: Linguistic Invisibility
in the Church

11. The Discarded Images: Reasserting Biblical Language
for God

A book like this is the product of years of conversations and reading, of taking classes and teaching classes, of living life in this wonderful yet complex world. It would be impossible to name, or even remember, all the people who have contributed to my thinking on what it means to be a female human being, and specifically a Christian one. It is safe to say, though, that all sorts of peoplefamily, friends, colleagues, and studentsdeserve a great deal of credit. First I want to express gratitude for my parents who passed along the conviction that Christians, even Christian women, can and should think for themselves. Their ongoing love and support have buoyed my spirits through many eras of my life. My seminary friends also informed my thinking in significant ways as we conversed about being women in the church. More recently my students at Houghton College, particularly in courses such as Women in the Bible and Women in Church History, have challenged me to think in new ways through their questions and insightful observations.

More specifically related to the book, I am grateful to Baker Academic and the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) for their willingness to take on this project. In particular, I am thankful to Bob Hosack and Jeff Wittung at Baker Academic for all their efforts to bring this book to print in its best possible form. It was a pleasure working with them.

When it comes to acknowledging the contributions of people directly concerned with this book, two former colleagues from Roberts Wesleyan College immediately come to mind: Dave Basinger and Linda Quinlan. Daves belief that this book was worthwhile and his suggestions in constructing a proposal got the project off the ground. Lindas contributions to this undertaking were immeasurable: she and I spent hours over the course of several years talking through the issues that fill the following pages, both informally as we compared notes on juggling academic responsibilities with those of the domestic side of our lives and also as we dreamed together about the shape of the book. Her empathy and sense of humor helped sustain me, and our conversations helped to mold me and this project more than she will ever know.

I appreciate the input of Houghton College colleagues as well. Linda Mills Woolsey read the manuscript carefully and offered extremely helpful suggestions for improvement. Olga Gonzlez Nichols, going far beyond the call of duty, read multiple versions of each chapter with a discerning eye and offered comments with grace and lan. More than that, though, she has been a constant champion of the project, reminding me of the need to once more proclaim the message that the gospel is indeed good news for all.

Most of all I am grateful for my spouse and children, whose presence in my life has made all the difference. Nathaniel and Linnea, in their own ways, have taught me more about love than I thought I could know. In the past couple of years they have also exhibited a great deal of patience with their mother, who had to forego some walks in the woods and trips to Minnesota, among other things, to work on her writing. I have certainly been encouraged by their good humor and their pride in my work. Finally, though there is no way to adequately express my gratitude, I would like to thank Mark, who not only read many versions of the following chapters but also has been my constant discussion partner about these and all other life issues over the course of twenty years. My life has been immeasurably enriched by his presence in it.