Title: Women Who Knew Jesus: Revised Edition
Author: Rev. Dr. Bonnie Ring
Publisher: URLink Print and Media
ISBN: 9781684867370
Pages: 79
Genre: Religion & Spirituality / Screenplays
Reviewed by: Christina Avina
Hollywood Book Reviews
For those who choose to put their trust and faith in a religious belief system, the need to understand their place in the world often stems from how their faith dictates how they should approach this question. In the growing world of struggles for equality in all aspects of life, the women in society often play a pivotal role, and for those of the Christian faith, finding the role of women in those early days can be difficult to understand clearly.
Yet through author Rev. Dr. Bonnie Ring’s Women Who Knew Jesus: Revised Edition, readers are treated to several cases of women seen through the eyes of or engaged with the works of Jesus Christ. The book, working as a screenplay, brings to life several women and their interactions with the biblical figure Jesus, who either was inspired by the actions of these women or in turn inspired them. From the childhood gained from his mother, the Virgin Mary, to the wife of Pontius Pilate, the man who would eventually be tied to the death of Jesus himself, and so many others, these women and Jesus show how the role of women were in those times, and how Jesus cut through those social barriers to perform his miracles and show the true roles women played.
Utilizing a screenplay style of storytelling really brought an engaging aspect to this book. The author was not only able to relay the powerful themes of the Bible into this book, but using the dialogue and writing style that she did, the author was able to also convey the small interactions and emotional moments which these scenarios from the Bible didn’t always relate. The book both engages the reader on that emotional level, and also serves as a guided study of sorts, allowing the reader to gain and understand the lessons each encounter with Jesus was meant to impart on the reader.
In a book such as this, those readers who most closely relate to the message and stories found within are those who enjoy a focus on religion and spirituality, and those who enjoy books which deliver stories in a screenplay format. The author does an excellent job of showcasing how Jesus would undercut conventional norms to interact with women throughout his life, defying social norms set out from both a cultural standpoint and the words offered by religious leaders at the time. The need to embrace femininity and the ways in which Jesus, through the dialogue of these scenes, showcases the need to redefine things and not be so stuck on the lessons taught in the past.
Women Who Knew Jesus: Revised Edition would not only resonate with those familiar with biblical history but also with audiences interested in stories of strength, faith, and transformation.