Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church by Nijay K. Gupta

Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church Reviews

• 
  Vanessa Siemens

  It is refreshing to read a book that highlight women in ministry from a Biblical perspective, and highlighting the lives of women in the early church. This is a fantastic book that provides insight, depth and clarity around the topic of women in ministry.
  
  We often skim over the names listed in the Bible that aren't as familiar to us, but throughout these chapters, the stories of women are told and expanded upon, bringing them off the page and giving each woman a story to go with her name.
  
  This book will challenge misconceptions or assumptions that have been made while reading the bible through a patriarchal lens and shows the richness of the early church and how women were a driving force within the church.
  
  Parts one and two lay a base and then highlight various women. At the end of the book, there is also a section that addresses passages of scripture that have often been used to argue against women in leadership.
  
  A well researched and thoughtful book that is easy to read but rich in its content.
• 
  Jared Greer

  I was blessed with the opportunity to read & review “Tell Her Story” by Nijay Gupta prior to it’s forthcoming release. Before proceeding, I should say that I was not obligated to review the book favorably. My thoughts on it are genuine and sincere.
  
  As somebody who has read somewhat extensively on the topic of women in ministry, I can say with certainty that Nijay offers a unique and refreshing approach to the conversation, with a keen eye toward the sociohistorical contexts of the NT texts. As the title suggests, he spends less time on various “problem texts” (1 Tim. 2, 1 Cor. 14, etc.) and more time on bringing to life the manifold stories of gifted female workers in the gospels and the early Church.
  
  The bulk of his book focuses on the stories of these distinguished NT women, but he locates those stories within a broader biblical theology of gender, which he establishes and substantiates from other areas of scripture. Toward the beginning of the book, for example, he lays a theological foundation by offering an analysis of Deborah’s leadership (Judg. 4-5) and the creation/fall narrative (Genesis 1-3). And, although it is not his primary focus, as I have stated, he does address some of the difficulties of the so-called “problem texts” in the appendices of the book.
  
  After laying a theological foundation, he sets out to establish sociohistorical context. He examines a plethora of extra-biblical literature in an attempt to paint a clearer picture of the status of women in the NT world. The picture he paints proves helpful and nuanced, and it shatters a lot of popular misconceptions and preconceived notions about women in the Greco-Roman world.
  
  Toward the second half of the book, Nijay finally dives into the NT texts, and examines the stories of Mary of Nazareth; Anna the prophetess; Mary Magdalene; Joanna, wife of Chuza; Susanna; Tryphaena; Tryphosa; the mother of Rufus; Lydia; Euodia and Syntyche; Apphia; Nympha; Phoebe; Prisca; and Junia.
  
  The bulk of his time is spent analyzing and discussing the work of Phoebe, Prisca, and Junia; each one of these women receives a full chapter’s worth of treatment. Throughout these chapters, Nijay attempts to paint a more vivid picture of the work these women accomplished—by paying close attention to the immediate, canonical, and sociocultural contexts in which their stories are located.
  
  While at times Nijay’s scholarship proves careful and difficult to contest (as when he defends the gender and apostolic role of Junia); there are other instances where I believe he makes too much of the evidence available to us. (Although, to his credit, I could not find one such instance in which he did not admit to the hypothetical and ultimately speculative nature of his claims.) Perhaps the clearest example of this “overplaying” of the evidence is his analysis of Phoebe in Romans 16. Nijay seems to believe that Paul’s choice of Phoebe as letter carrier virtually necessitates that she read and exposited the contents of Paul’s letter to the Roman church. While this is certainly not impossible, or even unlikely—and I don’t believe that there are theological grounds to believe that this could not be true—it is still a much more contested and less certain position than Nijay’s book might lead one to believe. Randy Richards, for instance, has studied first-century letter-carrying extensively—and he is fairly agnostic on the role Phoebe may or may not have played in the reading and/or expositing of the letter. In any case, Phoebe’s role as a praiseworthy benefactor, letter carrier, and “ministry provider” (Nijay’s helpful translation of “diakonos”) is sufficient to substantiate his broader claim that Phoebe was a remarkable and trustworthy woman on the front lines of ministry in the early church.
  
  There are a few other speculative positions like this that are adopted throughout the book; and I do not always share Nijay’s confidence in them. But I still believe that this is an important work that will contribute much to the ongoing discussion on women in ministry. In the final chapter, Nijay summarizes the book’s contents by relating a few “key ideas and themes” that he intended to develop in the earlier chapters:
  
  -God’s people have needed wise, faithful, and brave women from the beginning
  -Women of all kinds encountered Jesus and His people
  -Paul preached harmony between men and women in the home and the church
  -Paul relied on numerous women leaders as coworkers in the gospel mission
  -Independently powerful women existed in the Roman World—and in the early churches, too.
  -Paul saw no deficiency of intellect, skill, or morality in women
  
  Evaluated against this six-fold rubric, Nijay’s book proves immensely successful. I have been excited with his unique contributions to this discussion; and there is no key idea or theme listed above that I do not find well-substantiated in the pages of this book. Another commendable aspect of this offering is the humble and kind posture that Nijay exhibits throughout.
  
  The book is written at the popular level; but that does not come at the expense of extensive and up-to-date scholarship—both biblical and historical. That said, it does sometimes limit the extent to which Nijay can delineate certain themes and ideas; and/or engage with specific arguments from his scholarly interlocutors. For this reason, some advanced readers might find Nijay’s treatment of particularly complex topics (like 1 Tim. 2) to be rather brief and unexacting. To these readers, I would recommend reading Nijay’s more detailed and technical work on these topics elsewhere. All things considered, I think Nijay has done an excellent job condensing and popularizing the best scholarship on these issues for his intended readership. Overall, I would recommend this book to any person/group interested in engaging the inspiring stories of the oft-overlooked women in the NT. If your small group/Bible class/book club is looking for material on women in ministry, this book could serve that purpose well.
• 
  Wagner Floriani

  A Bible feast addressing the subject of women in church leadership. Unlike other great contemporary works that tackle the topic from a cultural or sociological evaluation, Gupta’s insights into the New Testament world make this volume a must read for students of Scripture and church leaders across denominations.
  
  The chapters exploring the types of leadership in the NT, and the leaders themselves in context of the NT world, were eye opening and challenging. It made abundantly obvious that, yes, women were valued leaders in various capacities in the early church. However, while the gospel did in fact produce an equalizing effect across genders in the NT, Gupta does not persuade, either from a cultural or biblical standpoint, that certain church offices (pastor/elder) did not require an exclusively male leadership. I appreciate the clarity of his argument regarding the lack of strict or explicit prohibitions concerning the topic, but it seems the NT model betrays the principle as far as I can tell.
  
  While I was left unconvinced of some conclusions regarding egalitarian offices in the local church, I was challenged by the NT de facto elevation of women across leadership responsibilities in the church. Required reading for anyone entrusted with any level of church authority.
• 
  Leah

  Like many Christians my age, in recent years I have found myself trying to untangle what’s biblical and what’s cultural about my faith. Unsurprisingly, women in church has loomed quite large in my mind (especially as a woman who has worked for and taught [women] in a conservative church). I am thankful to live in a time where I have access to a wide range of scholars and fellow believers’ thoughts on the subject.
  
  Gupta does an excellent job providing (well-researched, well-cited) context for much of what was happening culturally in the early church and how that may have influenced the fledgling faith. While I was most interested in the last two chapters of the book dealing with the so-called prohibitive Pauline texts and household codes, I am glad Gupta puts those at the end as the earlier chapters provide a necessary foundation.
  
  One other reviewer noted that this text is unlikely to change the mind of many conservatives, and I believe they’re right. However, I think most readers would benefit from understanding the wider cultural context and history. “Tell Her Story” provides perspective from a faithful believer who arrives at a different conclusion and I think differing conclusions are beneficial for us to engage with.
  
  So, you should read this book. Gupta is a masterful writer with a lot of compassion for the “conservative” view. Even if you don’t end up agreeing with him, you will be the wiser and better able to engage those who disagree with you for having read “Tell Her Story.”
  
  Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Olivia Phillips

  Have you ever considered the stories of women in Scripture ​and how they might uniquely highlight God's plan? This book by Nijay Gupta is a great place to start.
  ​
  Reading Level: Medium (Approx. Grade 7)
  Most content within the book would be considered an 'Easy' read (Grade 4), however, some of the terminology used may be new to readers not well-versed in Christian academia. Although the terms are explained within the text (generally), it may still give pause to the reader and slow the process of engagement.
  
  Faith Engagement Level: Easy to Digest (Written to Believers, practical for all)
  While some of the terminology is difficult to absorb, the book is written in a very approachable manner. Faith wise, the author immediately addresses difficult content with authority and
  
  Reader Age Recommended: Teens and Up
  Content references some *difficult* aspects of history (especially in relation to the vulnerability of women in prison systems/Roman Temple practices). Comprehension may be difficult for younger audiences.
  
  ----
  Before I dive into the full review, I want to disclose that I am a part of the launch team for this book. That being said, I never recommend a book without believing that it might transform someone's life and faith experience. While I have been given advance access (and a t-shirt),
  ​my review reflects my own opinions of this work.
  ----
  
  WHY SHOULD I READ THIS BOOK?
  I was 13 years old the first time a youth pastor challenged my understanding of who the women in Scripture were. It was the first time that I ever considered that the Virgin Mary might be more than just a plot device, and that the women of the Early Church were mentioned for a greater purpose than just Paul's well-wishing to X congregation. My first 11 years of faith had little to no exposure to healthy female representation from Scripture/the Early Church.
  
  ​Unfortunately, my experience of faith is not one that happened in the isolation of a single church - nor is it unique among believers. Many of us grow in faith without ever seeing the women of Scripture as important - even central - figures to the narratives of what God is accomplishing in His Kingdom. In some cases, we are taught to actively dismiss the roles of these individuals as outliers, or even mistranslations of Scripture.
  
  The author, Dr. Nijay Gupta, was raised in a tradition that did not invite the participation of women in ministry - nor did it have a high view of women in the Scriptures. He openly admits that among his first papers written during his Christian higher education, was a paper dismissing and diminishing the role of women in the church. In the book, he explains "No, seminary didn't turn me liberal" (pg. 3), but that his shift towards inclusion of women in ministry and recognition of women participating in God's Kingdom came as a direct result of his encounters with Scripture.
  
  Unlike Dr. Gupta, I grew up in a tradition that teaches that women can actively serve in all ministries. I was raised to understand that women could be pastors - but still I found myself wondering in college if that was true as I wrestled with my own calling. Why? Despite all the acknowledgements of empowerment and inclusion, so few leaders had bothered to teach about the women of Scripture who served as vibrant members of the Kingdom of God that I wondered if our denomination was right.
  
  I really appreciated that the general experience of this book was what I would consider to be 'approachable academia.' As someone with a handful of degrees and titles, I was stimulated and challenged intellectually. As a pastor, these are not always the kinds of books I immediately pass along to my congregation - who generally read very infrequently and find academia about the faith difficult to engage. However, I would pass this book along and feel confident that members of my congregation could benefit from the wisdom it holds.
  
  This book was a meeting in the middle of academia and the average person. While we would read it from different lenses, both those who have little engagement with this world and those of us who thrive in the richness of learning about the world of Scripture can learn a tremendous about. Academically-inclined readers will find the footnotes enthralling, but the main text of the book will engage and challenge all readers to explore the Scriptures with the same contagious level of passion presented by Nijay in this work.
  
  I will note that there may be points where readers will need to step back to digest the book - as some parts can be a bit dense for readers to fully absorb. While you may want to sit and read it in one go, this is not a book you will want to rush through, as it challenges and stretches the reader deeply. I typically read books in 1-2 days, but I took 3 weeks on this one and read a chapter or two at a time because of how rich it was. This book was a bit like eating a deliciously rich cheesecake - if you eat too much at once, it can become overwhelming.
  
  WHAT DID THIS BOOK CHALLENGE ME TO DO?
  First and foremost, this book called out that I don't always think about the way that I address the inclusion of others in Scripture when I am preaching, teaching, or doing my personal times of study. I'm guilty of simply regurgitating things that I have learned from others - that in reality do not reflect the truth of Scripture and it's context. My challenge is to carefully consider if what I know is truth or folklore when it comes to the context of Scripture.
  
  This book challenged me to consider the way in which I address areas of disagreement with other Christians - particularly over matters related to the interpretation of Scripture. This book was a solid reminder that there will always be matters that will prove to be difficult to reconcile until we explore more of the cultural context and cues from Early Church History. It also reminded me that no everyone is necessarily in a place to engage with these aspects of the conversation, but could benefit immensely from considering even the ways in which women in leadership are addressed, communicate with others, and the kinds of positions which they hold.
  
  The perspective of this book was non-threatening, and shared with vulnerability. It was not confrontational towards individuals who still espouse that women don't belong in church leadership - but simply addressed the common concerns of Scripture surrounding that perspective. It likewise tackled the sermons and teachings of the church that are inconsistently taught within traditions that affirm women in ministry with sensitivity and clarity.
• 
  Conrade Yap

  One of the negative comments I have heard from modern readers is about the patriarchal nature of the Bible, especially the Old Testament. They note how the heads of households in the past are restricted to men. There are also many instances where modern folks quickly accuse gender discrimination. Why should Eve be a "helpmeet" to Adam and not the other way around? Why are most of the judges male? What about the way women are been treated? Is God being fair to the oft-referred "weaker" sex? Even in the New Testament, why did Paul put restrictions on women when it comes to teaching in the Church? These questions not only colour the minds of people, but they can also sometimes affect their faith. It might even cast doubts about God being fair and just. Sometimes, this has spurred the rise and development of modern feminism. Aware of such trends, scholars and theologians have begun addressing the issue of women and gender inequality in the Bible. In this book, author Nijay Gupta looks at the women leaders in the New Testament to highlight how such "hidden figures" have impacted the development of the Early Church. Apart from people like Mary, the mother of Jesus, Priscilla, and a few others like Phoebe and Eunice, the number of women leaders is agonizingly few. By shedding light on the impact of women leaders in the Bible, the author hopes to inform readers about the significance of women in ministry yesterday, today, and into the future. At the same time, there is definitely more than meets the modern cultural eye about women in the Bible. Gupta aims to debunk some of the myths that people have, such as women being resigned to insignificant roles in society then; and the unfair status imposed on women, etc. More importantly, by understanding the stories of these women, we get a better understanding of contexts. "Her Story" includes:
  
  - How Jesus interacts with women in the gospels;
  - Curious insertion of women in the Jewish genealogy in Matthew 1;
  - List of model women figures in Paul's list to the Romans 16;
  - ...
  
  In Part One, Gupta shows us the contexts of early women leaders such as Deborah, God's vision for both men and women, and how women navigated the Roman cultural norms. Deborah in particular was singled out for her leadership that led to 40 years of peace, something unheard of during the tumultuous period of the judges. God's plan in Genesis is about caring for and cultivating the earth, with shared responsibility for both Adam and Eve. In the New Testament, even when men were the defacto leaders in society, women are not necessarily marginalized according to the modern perceptions we have about ancient society. For instance, it is not true that women cannot own property or run a business then. While they are generally urged to adopt domestic duties, that does not prevent them from activities outside of the house. In the gospels, Jesus interacted with many women in a positive way.
  
  In Part Two, Gupta describes the context of the way New Testament writers communicate with the Early Church. This is then followed by a description of the roles and impact of some of the New Testament women in the Early Church like Phoebe, Prisca, Junia, and other co-labourers in the faith. He looks at leadership structures, ethos, roles, and various forms of leadership. There was no explicit gender-related prohibition when serving in these capacities. In the 1 Tim 2 passage about forbidding women to teach in Church, Gupta sets aside a chapter to discuss that pointing out common "misreadings" before showing the reasons why Paul wrote what he did. One key point the author makes is the problem of arrogance among some women who disrupted the Church with their superior patterns of leadership. The point is, Paul was writing the passage in a specific context in order to maintain calm and peace in the community. This specific passage should not be generalized. The call to order was more important than mere gender prohibition. Gupta also covers other areas such as the submission texts, the "saved through childbearing" verse, and many more. 
  
  My Thoughts
  ==============
  Throughout history, women have played major roles in society. Whether it is inside the home or in the office, it is fair to say that without women, society will stumble and in some cases fail to function at all. In some parts of the world, such as the Middle East, women are still relegated to minor roles. They are also subjected to all kinds of prohibitions. Even for those activities that they are allowed to do outside of the home, they need to be accompanied by a man. Whether such practices are inherited from past traditions, we do not know. What we know is that certain interpretations of ancient traditions and texts would have influenced the way many societies function. That is why interpretation needs to be wisely applied after diligent study. This book serves as a guide to help us understand the role and stories of women in the Bible. In doing so, Gupta has given us a fresh interpretation of women's role in the past. He provides us with a new lens to see how women in the Bible have contributed to the life of the people of God and the doing of the will of God. This is important for three reasons.
  
  First, seeing the prohibition in this new light frees all of us to see the will of God as bigger than human prohibitions. There is no need to make things more difficult for anyone who wants to serve. The best servants are willing servants. This should enable women not to be afraid of breaking scriptural principles when they have been gifted with spiritual gifts like teaching or preaching. Some of the best teachers I have benefitted from are women. It is inconceivable to deny a qualified lady from teaching just on the basis of the plain reading of Scripture. Every text comes within a context. Every context has unique challenges that led to scriptural injunctions. Many of the prohibition texts come within this category of unique circumstances. When gifted women serve, this book helps to address questions posed by people adopting a plain but uninformed reading of the Bible texts.
  
  Second, women continue to play a huge part in the modern Church. If there is any way we can encourage them more, we should and this book helps in that direction. Sometimes I wonder: "What if one day, all the women in the Church were to quit en mass?" Chances are, the Church will not be able to function or survive into the future. In every ministry, there is a chance of seeing more women than men. Take Sunday School for example. I have seen some churches where all the teachers were female! 
  
  Finally, as far as pastors and elders of the Church are concerned, many conservative churches still prefer to maintain a male requirement. Will this book change their position? Unlikely. No matter how we cut it, there is still the question of why many of the key characters in the Bible are male. The Old Testament have more major male characters than female. In the Early Church, Stephen, Peter, and Paul are some of the earliest evangelists. The New Testament writers use language that is more complementarian than egalitarian. Jesus chose 12 male disciples! Many churches still frown on some modern translations that have tried to make the Bible more gender-neutral. While I do not expect major shifts from the positions adopted by various churches, it is hoped that books like this will help one to be more open to new interpretive possibilities.
  
  Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, University of Durham) is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He has written several books, including A Beginner’s Guide to New Testament Studies, Paul and the Language of Faith, and academic commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1-2 Thessalonians. He is coeditor of the second edition of IVP Academic's Dictionary of Paul and His Letters and serves as a senior translator for the New Living Translation. He blogs at cruxsolablog.com.
  
  Rating: 4.25 stars of 5.
  
  conrade
  This book has been provided courtesy of InterVarsity Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
• 
  Gino

  Telling the Story of Women in the Bible through Solid Scholarship and Winsome Prose
  
  In Tell Her Story, Nijay Gupta provides a thoroughly researched and enjoyable to read account of many women in the scriptures. While these women have incredible stories to share, sadly, their narratives are not commonly known. We might read right past their names without considering the amazing ways women ministered, led, and taught in the early church. Gupta does the scholarly work to bring their stories to us today while describing life in the Greco-Roman world.
  
  As much as I admire Gupta's academic chops, he is also a great storyteller. His ability to weave together the threads of multiple disciplines into a highly engaging and accessible story is a gift to be shared. And that he does all this about such an important topic makes this a must-read book.
  
  I am thankful that Gupta has made an effort to Tell Her Story. Read for yourself, and you will be too.
• 
  Claire Hill

  So often we paint our own flawed perceptions about the past onto the Bible when really, we do not have a complete understanding. Tell Her Story contextualizes the mentions of women in both Old and New Testaments in their places in history and serves as a basic building block to understand what the world was like for women both culturally and in the early church. The author takes many preconceived notions about what men and women may and may not do in ministry and points out the women noted in scripture for in fact, doing those things.
  
  The author digs into how the contemporary culture of the time would have viewed women and how the church sometimes did not align with that. Women found a great freedom and even leadership opportunities in the early church. The book also digs into the Biblical text, looking at word choice and meaning of the Greek and Hebrew. I really appreciated how the author would expand upon the one-line mentions of women in the gospels and Paul’s letters such as Damaris or Lydia and extrapolates what we can understand about who they were and what their impact was in both the early church and their inclusion in the Bible by the writers.
  
  The sections that I loved, however, were the portions on Luke and how interested his gospel is in the lives of women and Jesus’s interactions with women, and the section on Junia and so many facets around her controversy and things I had never considered before!
  
  While not as impactful as other books I have read concerning women’s roles in the church (I think of The Making of Biblical Womanhood) I think Tell Her Story is a great starting point for those interested in history and the early church as well as a great refresher to really see the women that we far too often skip over in our studies of scripture.
  
• 
  Abigail Denton

  This was a wonderful book to read as a woman in christian ministry. I was so encouraged by the perspective that women were actively involved in prominent roles in the early church. Having been raised in a traditional and conservative form of Christianity I wasn't given a lot of teaching and examples of women serving and leading in ministry. So this book was a great way to research into the Bible. The author did a wonderful job giving cultural and historical context to what was going on in the world Scripture was written in. She gave lots of research and context to be able to hunt down my own facts. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I will be recommending it to any woman struggling to defend their desire to step into ministry.
• 
  Jeannine

  This is a challenge to write as Nijay Gupta is a well-respected academic, a New Testament scholar and author and I am an average lay reader. The book is well written and thoroughly covers the topic. I remain unconvinced on some points, as they seem conjecture to me versus proof positive. It’s a volume I intend to return to and study out in more depth. I did feel the need to read and review before publication as this was a NetGalley offering but I plan to spend a lot more time with the material.
  #TellHerStory #NetGalley
• 
  Tiffany Malloy

  Excellent primer for a look into the lives of women in the early church. This book serves as a great first read for people interested in learning more about women like Junia, Phoebe, Priscilla and more!
• 
  Marie Dezellem

  In short Tell Her Story is fascinating, enlightening, and absolutely worth your time. I was most looking forward to the chapter on Junia and I throughly enjoyed it as well as the other chapters.
  Gupta took a unique approach by starting with a study of Deborah and Genesis 1-3 which really set the stage for the rest of the book. He writes in an accessible manner while still engaging with scholarly issues.
  The women whose stories he tells leapt off the page because of the historical insights he brings forward to highlight their ministries. His writing is rich but not dense. I enjoyed that the book was focused toward how women ministered and elevated and amplified their contributions to the kingdom.
  This book is ideal for those hoping to learn more about how women ministered in the ancient Greco Roman world. Gupta is fair, careful, and humble in his interpretation of Scripture. He puts an excellent foot forward for the egalitarian position. Though complementarians may arrive at different conclusions about the passages he addresses, the historical background provided is enlightening regardless of one’s position on women in ministry.
• 
  Alex Connell

  Nijay does a great job of showing that women were present in the lives and activities of the early church. Contrary to some of the things that are said about women in the New Testament period, we see here that women were present as leaders and ministry providers to the early church.
  
  Gupta also shows the context around the Roman world, showing the role women played in the complex social ladder of the period, drawing on historical figures who broke the wider precedents (Plancia Magna, for example).
  
  The real gem of this book is the character surveys of Prisca, Phoebe and Junia at the end. I appreciate Nijay's work in bringing to light more about these important women of the early church.
  
  This is a highly recommended read for those interested in the role of women in the early church! Thanks for this great volume, Nijay!
• 
  Casey

  Full disclosure, I'm one of Nijay's students at Northern Seminary and I got early access to the book.
  
  That said, this book is FANTASTIC! I was reading it during lunch one day and accidentally tried to take a bite of soup with my highlighter - that's how engrossed I was. This book does a great job of shedding light on the lives of women in the Greco-Roman world, and particularly on the ways that women served as leaders in the early church. Nijay is very careful not to overstate his case at any point, and the result is a very compelling work of contextual biblical study.
  
  As is often the case with this topic, I'm not necessarily sure that this book will change anyone's mind. However, minds can be changed, and I'm hopeful that many who disagree with engage this book in a good-faith dialogue and be open to reconsidering their positions in light of the evidence Nijay presents.
• 
  Amanda

  I really enjoyed Tell Her Story by Nijay K. Gupta. It's more of an academic read that I expected going in, but I still think it's approachable for anyone. Definitely a lot of food for thought in going back to see these Biblical references with more in depth cultural context into the lives of women at this time (both in the Jewish tradition and in Greek/Roman life). I appreciated the stripping away of some of the added nuance of English translations that tip in favor of discrediting the contributions of women in the early church.
  
  Thank you to Netgalley and IVP for this earc to review. All opinions are my own.
• 
  Kayti

  This was a great walk through the different women leaders in the New Testament. An accessible book for anyone wanting to understand the women of the early church. In an appendix, the author also succinctly addresses two specific NT passages often used to justify gender hierarchy in the Church. Highly recommend.
• 
  Heather Hart

  I am thankful to read these stories of women who have built into the Christian faith. I am greatly appreciate Nijay Gupta’s academic scholarship & rigorous research, while at the same time his approachable writing style. I wish I had known about these women earlier in my life, they are a tremendous inspiration and encouragement. This would make an excellent study for a small group or Sunday School class.
• 
  Jaymie

  [I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
  
  5 stars = Outstanding!
  
  This was fantastic - scholarly and relatable. I heard the author speak on this material a couple years ago, so I was eager to dig into this new book. Fascinating look at history and context as well as the Biblical text. I think this could be used as a text book, but it's not too academic to keep it from equal use as a Bible study/personal study. I think this would make for a fascinating book group option. Highly recommend!
• 
  Douglas Lee

  As a male Christian and ordained minister, I am so glad for this book on how the Christian Scriptures testify to how and where women have, in Biblical history, led, taught, prophesied, and ministered. This book is important because sadly, in some areas of the Church, this remains a contentious issue with many shrill voices that often add more heat than light. Gupta, a New Testament Professor with a PhD from the University of Durham, is a credible and irenic guide through this study. I understand that Gupta moved to fully supporting women in ministry after careful biblical study and wide reading on the subject. He sets the scene in this book by looking at Deborah in the Book of Judges and then a careful reading through Genesis 1-3. The Book then works through the historical world of women in the New Testament era and the role of women in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Gupta in detail, then shines the light on women who ministered in the early church - Phoebe, Prisca and Junia. The final part of the book is focused on addressing the difficult scriptures in Paul's prohibitions and the household codes. Gupta's position is extremely well presented, meticulously footnoted, and beautifully written. I will personally use this book in preparing message series and encouraging women ministers and as a referral resource to recommend those who are wanting clarity on the role of women in ministry. This is a book that needs to be read by every minister who takes the Bible seriously. I also recommend it to every student and church leader. I recommend it to women who have been knocked down or hurt by less than Christlike attitudes and policies in churches.
• 
  Jessica

  Women were involved with the church, even in the earliest of days. Several are mentioned in the Bible. From Old Testament leaders such as Deborah, Mary who birthed Jesus, the many involved throughout Jesus’s ministry, and resurrection, to early leaders of the church such as Phoebe, Junia, Nympha, and many others mentioned throughout the New Testament. They were there, leading, ministering, and teaching.
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  Dennis Ticen

  "Tell Her Story" is a wealth of Biblical insight and interpretation. Gupta rightly corrects many misperceptions about women and their involvement and importance to the Biblical story—and our story today as well. While full of solid, academic research, this is a highly readable volume that is much needed today. Gupta's challenge is now ours: tell her story.
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  Laura

  I’m grateful to Dr. Nijay Gupta for writing this book. It does an excellent job looking at how women led, taught, and ministered throughout the biblical text. Gupta does a thorough job explaining the historical context for each of these “hidden figures.” This helps us understand how God used these women to serve the people of God. This book will be helpful for laypeople seeking to understand more about women in the Bible. It will also help scholars looking for more contextual insight on these stories. This book is well researched and contains excellent footnotes for those who want to learn more about this particular form of scholarship.