Living on the Boundaries: Evangelical Women, Feminism and the Theological Academy

by Christine D. Pohl and Nicola Hoggard Creegan

Book Overview

"Both evangelicalism and feminism are controversial movements that provoke complex loyalties and ambivalence within the church and the world at large. In spite of a considerable degree of shared history, they are quite often defined against each other. Most of the rhetoric from and about the movements assumes that there are few connections and little overlap, and that individuals might locate themselves within one or the other, but not within both. Yet some evangelical women in the academy find themselves living on the boundary between feminism and evangelicalism, or on the boundaries between the multiple forms of both feminism and evangelicalism."--from the first chapterWhat happens when evangelicalism meets feminism?In their own biblical and theological training, Nicola Creegan and Christine Pohl have each lived at the intersection of these two movements They now both teach in Christian institutions of higher education where others follow along a similar pathway. They have a story to tell about their experience along with those of ninety other women they surveyed who have lived on the boundary between evangelicalism and feminism. They explore what it was like for evangelical women who pursued doctorates in biblical and theological studies. What were their experiences as they taught and wrote, were mentored and became mentors? What are the theological issues they faced, and how did they respond? How have they negotiated professional, family and church commitments? This well-informed, multidimensional and sensitive narrative of women's experience will be illuminating for anyone involved in the academic theological world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830826653
• ISBN13: 9780830826650
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 203 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Boundary or Creative Space?

This book is a constructive and positive investigation of the issues faced by women in institutional life and the church itself. It also puts many questions to the institutions women work in. Further, the overarching paradigm is evangelical - a tradition within which feminism is seen by many as one of the enemies. But Pohl and Hoggard Creegan challenge the idea that these are opposing world-views while retaining a critical distinction that avoids having feminism set the agenda. It is a generous and balanced consideration, able to identify and critique what is shared and what separates. The experiences recounted by fellow women academics show that the issues they adress are lived ones for those affected. Further, a definite theology emerges: one of trust in a faithful loving God as the ground of Christian life lived for others, for the creation, and for an ontologically coherent self. The book is a true example of the 'generous orthodoxy' invoked by the authors themselves.