Title: Women Who Knew Jesus
Author: Rev. Dr. Bonnie Ring
Publisher: Book Venture Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1640697027
Genre: Christian meditation and worship
Pages: 228
Reviewed by: Lisa Brown-Gilbert
Hollywood Book Reviews
A work that intelligently sparks divine inspiration and soul-searching with a feminist bent, Rev. Dr. Bonnie Ring’s Women Who Knew Jesus addresses the necessity for self-love and the spiritual expansion of the feminine soul through examining the biblically documented encounters Jesus had with women during his life and ministry.
Overall, this is a book that is scholarly in its scope, author Rev. Dr. Ring whose many years of experience as a licensed psychotherapist, Episcopal priest, spiritual director, and educator, brings a voice of clarity and expertise to a subject which truly needs deeper exploration and exposure. Especially in this modern, still very patriarchal based society, where women are more recognized for their plasticized physical attributes than their spiritual or intellectual contributions, Women Who Knew Jesus is an important work. It exposes the attempted dissolution of the patriarchal culture by Jesus whose tenets of unconditional love were meant for all, not just males.
Moreover, what she truly accomplishes with this book is to open and clear the path for those who may be unaware, to see the ministry of Jesus in a renewed light as she artfully engages the reader with the experiences that Jesus had with women throughout his gracious ministry; unconditionally healing, loving, teaching while inviting them into the kingdom of God in ways that were not allowed for women during that time. Culturally, women were overlooked, their place was thought to be in the home, not being healed, interacted with or taught by the messiah. However, Jesus wielded true unconditional love, recognizing the inherent dignity of women when he ignored the patriarchal oppression, and instead of judging or chastising he proceeded to talk with women in public, heal them, showing respect and compassion as well as teaching as he also had females disciples.
Altogether, I found Women Who Knew Jesus to be an excellent work of feminist biblical scholarship. As a layperson in the world of the Christian religion, the included information made for a lucid, astonishing, and thought-provoking read, as I had no idea other than Mary, about Jesus’ multiple experiences with helping and healing women.
This is truly an eye-opening reading experience, that kept me engaged with its subject matter as well as the included poignant guided meditations, personal anecdotes, relevant illustrations, and references to scripture, as well as provided deeply provocative insights. I found this work to be well-written, well-organized, and thorough in its scope. Author Reverend Doctor Bonnie Ring did a phenomenal job of creating a clear vision of this seldom-visited aspect of biblical history and transforming it into a more complete spectrum of the history of Jesus’ life. I highly recommend this read.