Book 37: Women and the Word: The Gender of God in the New Testament and the Spirituality of Women by Sandra M. Schneiders I.H.M.

I first read this book around a decade ago, it was hard to find a copy through the library but the paperback is so cheap that I bought one regardless of never having read it before. This book was integral to healing my spiritual trauma and understanding where I stand with the Catholic Church. 

This was my third reading of the book, and the first time I fully appreciated that this is part of the Madeleva Lecture series. Sr. Madeleva Wolff made it possible for women in the US to study theology at the graduate level for the first time in the 1930s/40s. Schneiders summarizes her accomplishment and that this book is possible because of her, but I didn't fully understand the gravity of Wolff's work until reading her biography after the second time I read Women And The Word. 

Schneiders at times gets irritatingly academic, but overall rereading this book was very fulfilling. It's very short, only 71 pages! I first read this alongside several other feminist Catholic theological books, but rereading it now in chronological order shows me just how seminal it was since it's only book 47 out of over 200. Schneiders also touched on various topics, such as the distinction between sex & gender and the connection between patriarchy & racism, which wouldn't become commonplace (and yet still scandalous 🙄) for many years. 


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1291319.Women_and_the_Word

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