Magnificat - by Debbie Blue (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

WOMEN THAT BREAK THE RULE RULES AND MAKE THEMSELVES VISIBLE.

THOUGHT AND ACTION PROVOKING. INTIMATE, FURIOUS AND LOVING, DEBBIE BLUE GIVES VOICE TO THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE AS TOGETHER THEY TURN THE TABLE OF PATRIARCHY.

"The sayings of the wise are like goads," warned a preacher of old: words that are not as restful as one might expect. The wise speak and are goaded into action. Or perhaps the community works and the wise merely capture its hidden wisdom -words and deeds that can be more disruptive at times than polite. Debbie Blue attempts to tap into this spirit as she develops her preaching ministry as a founding pastor of House of Mercy, in St Paul, Minnesota.

Debbie took a step further along the line of the preacher of old. She collected her sermons, and as a result you have this book in your hand. Its contents are piercing as nails sometimes:

Goads that are unsettling more than complacent when it comes to questioning patriarchy. This is a collection of fifteen sermons that revolve around women. "The women in the Bible break a lot of rules, resist empire, disobey the cultural norms, cause good trouble (and sometimes not such good trouble). They are fully human. They help us glimpse the possibility of transformation (not always, but often). I think we are at a time and place in the life of the world where we need to hear their stories."

THERE IS A STORY BEHIND THE REIGNING, PATRIARCHAL CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE.

IT IS THE STORY OF WOMEN, THEIR GOD, THEIR RESISTANCE

True to her style, pastor, preacher and author Debbie Blue, in Magnificat: A God Who Never Stopped Considering Women, spurs us on to that "possibility of transformation". She and the women in the stories with their resourcefulness, dancing, joie de vivre, irreverence, solidarity, pain, laughter and anger, constantly reminds us that God loves us and means to set us free.

Review Quotes

Magnificat follows the lead of the women, where there are no easy heroes or happily ever after's, but where one can glimpse profound hope in each testimony given. Debbie Blue honors the women of Scripture and honors the community of faith with this gift of sermons for our journey onward in the ways of Jesus.

-Kelley Nikondeha, Author of Adopted: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World and Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach Us about Freedom

If you suspect that the Bible wasn't written to warm our hearts (at least not female hearts) you're ready for Debbie Blue. Elevating texts that feature women, she peels away misogyny to show how complex humans navigated a relationship with God - the One who is merciful and loving, but also beyond our grasp. Her words help scripture achieve its purpose and break our hearts open.

- Rev. Ruth Everhart, Author of The #MeToo Reckoning and Ruined

Debbie Blue's Manificat is a powerful collection of reflections on the profoundly important role that women have played throughout the history of our faith. Her insights into the stories of these women and the lessons that their lives teach us will challenge and inspire everyone who picks up this book, inviting us to look again at many familiar stories with fresh eyes and from a new perspective and be captivated by the prophetic wisdom and faithfulness of these women of faith.

- Rev. Brandan Robertson, Author of Filled to Be Emptied: The Path to Liberation for a Privileged People

Debbie Blue has a special knack for observing every corner of the text. She considers them up and down, she peers into every nook and cranny, there is no detail that eludes her gaze. She unmasks malicious patriarchal interpretations and brings forward fresh approaches. She gets out of comfort zones, which is the most appealing trait of her contributions: you receive what you are not waiting for. You might go along her writing thinking that you are going to find what it usually has been and is said about the text, but then you discover that such is not the case. And you give her a nod of assent.

- Elsa Tamez, Mexican-Costa Rican Bible scholar and Theologian, author of several books, such as Women in the Jesus' Movement (JuanUno1 Books, 2021)

In this book, at times I laughed and other times came close to tears. Storylines are followed and characters are explored with dexterity and attention to the text and its interpreters, including the contemporary audience. Blue displays phenomenal skill in engaging the audience with the biblical story and characters while casting them in fresh perspectives.

- Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, Professor of Old Testament Emerita at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

In a religion that has historically not been so considerate of women, Debbie Blue is masterful at finding the cracks in the patriarchal foundation and blowing them up with homiletic dynamite. (Ruth actually proposes to Boaz? Wisdom can be personified as God's nursing child? Mother Mary is a threat to monotheism?) The rubble is something glorious, a reminder that we do not have to be good or pure or male to be loved and embody Love in return.

- Erin S. Lane, Author of Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe