Salty Wives, Spirited Mothers, and Savvy Widows: Capable Women of Purpose and Persistence in Luke’s Gospel

by F. Scott Spencer

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2012

Overview

Engaging feminist hermeneutics and philosophy alongside more traditional methods of biblical study, Salty Wives, Spirited Mothers, and Savvy Widows demonstrates and celebrates the remarkable capability and ingenuity of several women in the Gospel of Luke. While recent studies have exposed women’s limited opportunities for ministry in Luke, F. Scott Spencer pulls the pendulum back from a negative feminist-critical pole toward a more constructive center.

While acknowledging that Luke sends somewhat “mixed messages” about women’s work and status as Jesus’ disciples, Scott Spencer sheds fresh light on his portrayal of women with his engaging analysis of the interesting host of female characters found in Luke, including Mary, Elizabeth, Joanna, Martha and Mary, and the infamous wife of Lot—whom Jesus exhorts his followers to remember—as well as female characters in Jesus’ parables.

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Engages feminist hermeneutics and philosophy alongside more traditional methods of biblical study
• Discusses the remarkable capability of several women in the Gospel of Luke
• Sheds a fresh light on the portrayal of women found in Luke

Contents

• Toward Bluer Skies: Reducing the Threat Level and Resurrecting Feminist Studies of Women in Luke
• Can We Go On Together with Suspicious Minds? Doubt and Trust as Both Sides of the Hermeneutical “Coin” (Luke 15:8-10)
• A Woman’s Right to Choose? Mother Mary as Spirited Agent and Actor (Luke 1–2)
• The Quest for the Historical Joanna: Follower of Jesus, Friend of Mary Magdalene, and Wife of Herod’s Official (Luke 8:1-3; 24:10)
• A Testy Hostess and Her Lazy Sister? Martha, Mary, and the Household Rivals Type-Scene (Luke 10:38-42)
• A Hungry Widow, Spicy Queen, and Salty Wife: “Foreign” Biblical Models of Warning and Judgment (Luke 4:25-26; 11:31; 17:32)
• The Savvy Widow’s Might: Fighting for Justice in an Unjust World (Luke 18:1-8)
• A Capable Woman, Who Can Find? We Have Found Some in Luke!

Top Highlights

“anointing/kissing/weeping woman demonstrates in attending to Jesus his own vocation of ‘self-emptying love’ (7:36–50)” (Page 18)

Praise for the Print Edition

In this insightful volume he enters the fray of feminist debate over Luke’s decidedly ‘mixed messages’ regarding women, masterfully negotiating the tension between liberating and limiting elements of Luke’s presentation.

—Frances Taylor Gench, associate professor of biblical studies, Lutheran Theological Seminary

In this thoughtful, insightful, and engaging study, Scott Spencer investigates the women who inhabit Luke’s narrative. Recognizing mixed messages and avoiding anachronism, Spencer offers a nuanced presentation of capable women of purpose and persistence.

—Warren Carter, professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School

Spencer’s study of women in the Gospel of Luke is spirited enough to engage students and savvy enough to cause scholars to rethink, once again, the representation of gender in the Third Gospel.

—Jennifer Glancy, Joseph C. George Professor of Religious Studies, Le Moyne College

Insightfully challenges and complements feminist scholarship on a Gospel that is notoriously equivocal for women. . . . A welcome contribution to feminist discourse on the Gospel of Luke.

—Mary Ann Beavis, professor of religion and culture, St. Thomas More College

Product Details

• Title: Salty Wives, Spirited Mothers, and Savvy Widows: Capable Women of Purpose and Persistence in Luke’s Gospel
• Author: F. Scott Spencer
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 358
• Era: era:Contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Luke › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Women in the Bible
• ISBNs: 9780802867629, 0802867626
• Resource ID: LLS:SLTYWVSSVVYWDWS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:02:28Z

About F. Scott Spencer

F. Scott Spencer (PhD, University of Durham) has served as professor of religion at Wingate University (NC) and professor of New Testament and biblical interpretation at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (VA). He has authored numerous books and articles, including commentaries on Luke, Acts, and the Song of Songs. He has enjoyed acting in seminary, university, and community theater, including productions of Shadowlands, God’s Favorite, Godspell, and Cotton Patch Gospel.