That argument is absolutely everywhere and we need to burn it down.

Anti-Judaism and antisemitism is rife in modern Christian feminism, and a lot of it is based in the idea that Jesus was a feminist in opposition to JudaismвЂ™s supposed misogyny. If you have access to academic databases through your college or public library, вЂњAnti-Judaism in Feminist InterpretationвЂќ by Judith Plaskow is a must-read. ItвЂ™s also broken up into essays, so you can digest it one segment at a time. ItвЂ™s a little bit out there, but it certainly makes you re-evaluate a lot of things. Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century is the place to start with her writing and exploring theology outside of the overwhelmingly dominant White Masculine way of experiencing faith.ДЇor a bit of a kick and a lot of fun, Indecent Theology: Theological Perversions in Sex, Gender, and Politics by Marcella Althaus-Reid is вЂ¦ oh, itвЂ™s interesting. This book forces us to reckon with the Bible as it is, not the sanitized version that gets preached from fundiegelical pulpits.ДЄda MarГa Isasi-DГaz is one of the most significant modern theologians, and her point of view on the Christian religious tradition is incredibly healing and hopeful. This book is one of the most fundamental Christian feminist texts in existence, and is referenced constantly by basically every Christian feminist theologian IвЂ™ve ever read. No list like this can be complete in my opinion without recommending Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives by Phyllis Trible. ItвЂ™s not too academic, but each essay explores its topic well. Take Back the Word: A Queer Reading of the Bible edited by Robert Goss and Mona West is a collection of essays by LGBT+ persons of faith, and is a solid introduction to looking at the Bible through a queer lens.

ItвЂ™s a bit of a tome, but since itвЂ™s broken up into the individual stories itвЂ™s easy to sit down and read one story at at time. It is utterly unlike anything IвЂ™ve encountered in fundiegeliclaism, and I think it should be the starting place of anyone returning to the Bible as an post- or ex-vangelical. If youвЂ™re unfamiliar with midrash, itвЂ™s a Jewish approach to storytelling from Scripture, and Gafney infuses it with her African-American hermenuetical tradition the result is beautiful and insightful. I cannot say enough good things about Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda Gafney. The commentary comes from both Orthodox and Reform Judaic scholars, and itвЂ™s been instrumental in how I explore the Tanakh. When studying what most Christians refer to as the вЂњOld Testament,вЂќ I use the Jewish Study Bible, which uses the JPS Tanakh Translation. If youвЂ™re coming from a fundamentalist background where youвЂ™re used to being bludgeoned with Scripture or you have difficulty trying to read familiar passages with new theological lenses, The Message can be a really great tool in rediscovering the Bible.ДЇor study, I primarily use two books: the Jewish Annotated New Testament, which uses the NRSV and is footnoted with commentary from Jewish scholarsвЂ“ it also includes some really great essays and the frontmatter for each book or letter is phenomenal. I quickly moved on to reading the NIV, and then I discovered The Message. When I first got away from that mode of thinking, the translation I picked up was the English Standard which hasвЂ¦ issues. If youвЂ™re like me, you were taught that the King James Version is the only translation a True Believerв„ў is allowed to read and study.

So, without further ado: A Word on Bible Translations: Not that NT Wright, Bart Ehrman, John Spong, Marcus Borg et al shouldnвЂ™t be read, but that itвЂ™s disappointing when these are always the first names on peopleвЂ™s lips. Usually the responses are limited to recommending books by straight old white men. Also, as IвЂ™ve been moving through progressive Christian spaces, this question comes up a lot and in my opinion the answers are usually вЂ¦ letвЂ™s just say they can be frustrating. One of the questions I get asked most often is вЂњwhat are the books I should read to learn about progressive Christianity?вЂќ or a variant of that, like вЂњwhat are some good books to get away from evangelicalism/fundamentalism?вЂќ I get this question often enough I thought it might be a good idea to have a basic list to refer people to.

Fascinating womanhood workbook