Includes bibliographical references and index.

Beyond textual harassment : engaging tyrannical texts (1 Timothy 2:8-15) -- Wives, be subject? : articulating biblical authority (Ephesians 5:21-33) -- Women and worship wars (I) (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) -- Women and worship wars (II) (1 Corinthians 14:33b-36) -- Reining in rambunctious widows (1 Timothy 5:3-16) -- Women in ministry (Romans 16:1-16)

The Bible includes any number of "tyrannical texts" that have proved to be profoundly oppressive in the lives of many people. Among them are Pauline texts that have circumscribed the lives and ministries of women throughout Christian history. What are people who honor Scripture to do with such texts, and what does it mean to speak of biblical authority in their presence? In Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts, Frances Taylor Gench provides strategies for engaging such texts with integrity -- that is, without dismissing them, whitewashing them, or acquiescing to them -- and as potential sources of edification for the church. Gench also facilitates reflection on the nature and authority of Scripture. Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts provides access to feminist scholarship that can inform preaching and teaching of problematic Pauline texts and encourages public engagement with them.