At one time, they were called "witches." They were outcasts. They were burned at the stake. Alice Walker, in her book of critical essays, In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens, called these 18th century African American women "artists." In Toni Morrison's novel, Sula, she called Black women of the early twentieth century, "Artists without art forms." In Stephanie Bibb's new book, Women's Liberation: Jesus Style, you recognize that six of eight of these essays are written by women who are "artists"--in their own right-- of the Scriptural word.

Today, these creative women are no longer expunged. Their words are not deleted, erased or blotted out as "heresy." No longer branded as "witches" for being different, these women are visionaries, and are making their presence known as they take their stand in the pulpit. Typical of all artists, they want to know from whence they came? What was the presence of women in the Bible and how is it relevant to today? This book inadvertently poses the question, what impact does having women in the pulpit have on the interpretations of the Scriptures? Or, how have women ministers influenced our understanding of the scriptures?

Unlike the movie Yentil, (where Barbara Streisand had to pose as a boy in order to get into a school for Rabbis,) six of the African American women in Stephanie Bibbs book, Women's Liberation: Jesus Style, were trained to become ministers. Although today it is not unusual to see women taking the lead in churches and synagogues, the sermons focused on in this book are very different. These sermons are groundbreakers in that they are on the cutting edge in understanding the scriptures. The eight sermons in this book bring new meaning to the role of the women in the Bible and how it relates to the problems faced by women today.

Particularly women of African descent. Women with a history of being stolen, plundered and raped. And we are not just talking about physical rape, but rape of African women's culture, their land, and their very essence. Can the scriptures offer hope to the female offspring of this legacy?

Consider this: Before the Civil Rights Movement, before the Women's Liberation, and before the presence of women became commonplace in the work force, uneducated Black women had three choices; to be taken care of, to be domestics, or to be prostitutes. Now that Black women are more "educated," have more "choices," are they more "free?" Far from it. Although Black women have graduated from working in kitchens to running corporations, life is fraught with more perplexities. Where are the answers?

As Stephanie Bibb's book contends, having more does not always equate with having fewer problems. Women are beset with other problems such as constructing strong families, dealing with economic disparity, and racial discrimination. In Women's Liberation: Jesus Style, the reader will find that the Bible provides answers for modern women.

To cite a few examples from the book, in the first chapter, "My Friend Sam," Reverend Brenda Salter McNeil deals with the roots of racial prejudice and gender discrimination. We find that this social problem goes back to the Samaritans, who were the offspring from the marriages of the conquered Israelites and the Assyrians. Subsequently, the Samaritans were considered "pariah," or second-class citizens. Many of the Samaritan women were considered "dirty, unclean." At the end of this chapter, the need to have a high self-esteem, was demonstrated through Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman, who had been married 5 times: "I am He, the one who can permanently quench your thirst. If you take a drink of this Living Water, I will give you an internal resource. I will place a spring within you."

In the essay, "Waiting to Exhale," Dr. Jeanne L. Porter addresses how to break free from "The Waiting to Exhale Syndrome." She speaks to a very common problem many people face today--living in the future. Always futurizing events. This particular essay shows how man has always been faced with the need for fulfillment, even in Biblical times. However many people are stuck in dysfunctional relationships, behaviors and attitudes which only serve to keep them stagnant. As Dr. Jeanne L. Porter points out, anything which keeps you from the glory God promised you, is the "waiting to exhale" syndrome.

The book is rounded out with two essays by male ministers. In one of the essays, (which the book is named after,) Dr. J. Alfred Smith Jr's, "Women's Liberation: Jesus Style," he addresses how a well-entrenched system of patriarchal power was conquered in the Bible. This chapter addresses the nameless slave girl in Acts 16: 16-18. She made her money through greedy and immoral men. Dr. J. Alfred Smith Jr. relates how Paul turned around and said to the evil spirit in the young woman, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her." As a result, this woman experienced liberation, Jesus Style.

You, the reader, will experience liberation, too, after reading this book. Stephanie Bibb's book shows the varying views of the eight ministers and their unique interpretations of the Bible with a feminist twist. Most of all, this book shows that the Bible has many examples of how women coped with problems in the past and how these stories can help us today. In essence, the essays in Stephanie Bibb's Women's Liberation: Jesus Style have woven the scriptures into an art form of the highest degree.

Reviewed by Maxine E. Thompson
Keywords: Women Ministers: Book Review