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I was quite interested when I recently received a copy of Lisa Wilson Davison’s Preaching the Woman in the Bible. Both male and female preachers understand the challenge of preaching that appeals specifically to the needs and concerns of the women in the congregation. One of the ways that we might want to do that is to preach about the various women that we find in the Bible. This is the challenge that Davison has set out for herself. The book offers a rationale for preaching women’s stories from scripture, a discussion of the issues specific to this kind of preaching, and then ten different sermon themes and examples.
Some of the biblical characters included are Pharoah’s daughter, the daughters of Zelophehad, Jephthah, Huldah, and Mary. If some of these are not well familiar to you it might emphasize the author’s point, that preachers have not given due attention to the women in the Bible.
It could also mean that these woman are not well developed in the Bible itself. Davison acknowledges this lack of material arguing for a healthy use of the imagination in the spirit of “Midrash” which, she says, is a respected approach within the tradition of Jewish biblical interpretation but which has been largely unappreciated by Christians. Davison is calling for an attempt to imaginatively seek out the deeper meaning of this text. She cautions against eisegesis which reads into the text our preconceived notions, arguing instead for letting the text set the parameters for our imagination.
I applaud her for this caution and I appreciate the challenge of working with limited biblical materials. I might say, however, that the limits that the text provides show up some in the sermon samples. From an evangelical perspective, I might like to see a firmer biblical foundation for the things that are proclaimed.
Davison says, “All the resources mentioned above help expand the possibilities of preaching on the women of the bible. Preachers have no reason for not using the female characters as subjects for sermons, except the desire to keep them unknown (20). Actually, I can think of one other reason but it applies as much to the men in the bible as it does the women. People like Sidney Greidanus and Graeme Goldsworthy have questioned the validity of preaching sermons based not on texts but on biblical characters. The result, they have said, is often a moralistic sermon that develops out of positive or negative character traits that are lifted from the biblical and theological intention of the text. While this would not be Davison’s intent, it is a hazard that is intensified when the biblical materials are scant. The solution, is not to ignore these characters, but to try to discern how their stories can help us to understand and appreciate what God is saying and doing among us then and now. Certainly, there should be no willful lack of attention to the women in Scripture who are just as worthy of our consideration as the men.
I would like to affirm the intent to offer sermons that develop from scripture and speak specifically to the needs and interests of women. We need more such preaching. In most congregations women make up more than half the people present and they deserve more deliberate consideration of their concerns.
Of course, Davison does have an agenda. Studying the woman of the bible “is the only way to right the wrongs of sexist interpretations of the bible and the resulting oppression of women throughout history in culture and the church (19, 20).” Some of us might disagree as to the nature of such sexism and oppression in the history and culture of the church, but we all ought to agree that where it exists it should be banished. I’d be hard pressed to think of a better place to start than in a more inclusive study of the Scriptures.
Lisa Wilson Davison is professor of Old Testament at Lexington Theological Seminary. The book is published by Chalice Press.