In the Beginning Were the Women: Matriarchs, Mystics, Wise Women, and Warriors in the Hebrew Bible
by Claire K. McKeever-Burgett
Have you ever felt a profound longing for the unheard voices of faith, sensing that the stories you know are only part of a much grander narrative? For centuries, the vibrant experiences of women in the Hebrew Bible have been obscured, their names unuttered, their perspectives untold, leaving many of us with an incomplete understanding of God's people and God's loving nature. We've been left to wonder what wisdom, what power, what truth lies beneath the surface, waiting to be rediscovered. Perhaps you, like many, grapple with patriarchal interpretations of faith, seeking a spiritual connection that celebrates the full spectrum of divine love rather than constraining it to narrow, male-centric views. This journey can leave you feeling unmoored, searching for a deeper truth that resonates with your own intricate, multidimensional life.
Now, In the Beginning Were the Women, a transformative work, emerges from Claire K. McKeever-Burgett, a Christian feminist theologian and storyteller dedicated to bridging spirituality with social justice, who has spent years meticulously unearthing these sacred narratives. Following in the footsteps of feminist and womanist theologians, she offers an illuminating pathway to reclaim and celebrate the women who shaped our spiritual foundations. McKeever-Burgett, a preacher at heart, crafted this book so these stories "read well on the page, as well as preach well with others".
Endorsements
“Claire McKeever-Burgett reminds us that women have always been at the heart of the biblical story, even when denied the chance to speak for themselves. Their stories are crucial in helping shape our understanding of truth, justice, and love. This book is all at once restorative, empowering, and visionary. And it invites us as readers and people of faith to honor scripture, reclaim what has been silenced, and embrace our shared humanity.”
— Malynda Hale, Actress, Activist, Executive Director of The New Evangelicals
“In Jewish tradition, we speak of the Tanakh / the Hebrew Scriptures as black fire on white fire.The black fire is the letters on the parchment; the white fire is the fertile blank space that surrounds them. In the Beginning Were the Women is white fire. These imagined voices of our Biblical mothers light the way to new understandings. From a Hagar who speaks her truths of slavery and gives a name to the Holy One to a Huldah who knows that God is an action (and that action is Love), these are women of integrity, wisdom, and courage. Meeting them in these pages inspires me to return to these sacred stories anew. And like the midrashists of my tradition, McKeever-Burgett knows that no one interpretation is “the right one.” We find God in the many-splendored multiplicity of our imaginings. This is how we are made in the Image and the Likeness: our words create worlds. I thank God for the worlds within these pages.”
— Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, author of 70 faces: Torah poems and Texts to the Holy
“This is storytelling at its best! Based in scripture, drawing on history, and filled with imagination, Claire McKeever-Burgett offers not only creative stories, but liturgies, prayers, music and reflection questions to guide her readers into everyday life. I wish I’d had In the Beginning Were the Women in seminary!”
— Rev. Jane Vennard, Spiritual Director, Author of Fully Awake and Truly Alive: Spiritual Practices to Nurture Your Soul
“At a time when women’s rights are under threat and Christian nationalism is on the rise, Claire McKeever-Burgett’s In the Beginning Were the Women offers a refreshing and necessary voice. Unflinching and unapologetic, yet tender, this book makes space where there has long been constraint. McKeever-Burgett invites us into expansiveness, into a vision of women’s stories and wisdom too often minimized or erased. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of religion or gender, this book challenges you to think big about the ways women have molded, shaped, and created movements. It is both timely and timeless, and it deserves to be read widely.
— Raena Boston, Writer, Advocate, and Co-founder Emerita of the Chamber of Mothers
“Reading In the Beginning Were the Women made me fall in love with Scripture, God, and the complexities of my own life. Rather than simply telling us about the women of the Hebrew Bible, Claire draws us into their story and invites us to find our place in it. It’s a kind of odyssey into the dynamics of our own lives. One does not merely read this book, one is transported by it. All I can say is that I want more: more of Claire’s writing and more of the wisdom and strength that she gives us all.”
— Rev. Dr. Maria Kane, Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Waldorf, MD
“As a pastor and preacher, I often wrestle with how to capture the depth, humanity, and complexity of the women in the Hebrew Bible. Once again, McKeever-Burgett has offered a profound gift—one that enriches both my theology and my ministry. She finds a way to weave scriptural imagination, theological insight, and deep reverence for the ancient women of our faith. Her creative storytelling and the interactive aspects of each chapter allow me to really engage in the text with mind, body, and spirit. My congregation loved her first book; I have no doubt they’ll embrace this one just as wholeheartedly. McKeever- Burgett continues to shine a light on stories too often overlooked, misinterpreted, or forgotten—and we are better for it.
— Rev. Margie Quinn, Vine Street Christian Church
“Claire McKeever-Burgett has been one of my greatest teachers in learning to listen to and follow women’s wisdom. With In the Beginning Were the Women, Claire brings that gift to readers by giving voice to the women of the Hebrew Bible with honesty, poetic imagination, and deep spiritual insight. Moreover, she provides prayers, liturgies, and practices to help those women’s stories inform our lives today. This book belongs in the hands of anyone longing for a more just, whole, and life-giving faith.”
— Johnny Sears, Executive Director, Upper Room Programs & Director, The Academy for Spiritual Formation
“Claire McKeever-Burgett, through the vignettes and stories contained in In the Beginning Were the Women, gives a gift to woman-folk everywhere (and to those who love them). Through Claire’s eyes we are enabled to see women once rendered invisible by sleight of pen. Through her ears, we have an opportunity to eavesdrop and to contemplate their choices and ours in the poetic and comforting language of woman- speak. Through liturgy, poetry and song, we celebrate forgotten and overlooked women. Through the structure of this book, we are invited to assume a role in the ongoing biblical narrative. Are we Matriarch, Mystic, Wise Woman, Warrior, or some combination of all four? In the BeginningWeretheWomenisnotabookfortouristsorspectators.Claire calls us to dwell, to wade in deeper waters with these Old Testament women as we contemplate the messy business of living faithfully in unfaithful times.”
— Safiyah Fosua, retired associate professor of preaching, Black and Womanist Theology, Christian worship and Christian ministry, United Methodist clergy
“Claire McKeever-Burgett has gifted us a rich remix of sacred stories, pungent in their power to make us notice the divine feminine in Scripture again for the first time. Accessible enough for the uninitiated yet in-depth enough for the seasoned, her work beckons us to believe the women who began it all.
— Dawn Darwin Weaks, pastor and coauthor of Holy Disruption: A Manifesto for the Future of Faith Communities
“Reading In the Beginning Were the Women felt like being invited into a circle of sisters, mothers, and ancestors who affirm that I have always carried wisdom in my bones. Claire McKeever-Burgett retells women’s stories from scripture, allowing them to breathe new life into each of our lives. Her words remind us that women’s voices are not accessories to God’s story; they are the story. With poetry, liturgy, and sacred imagination, Claire calls us to remember the divine feminine within us and around us, to trust our own bodies and voices, and to believe that liberation is the heart of God for everyone.I will draw from this book over and over again in my own individual and communal spiritual practices.”
— Chelsea Kim Long, writer, meditation teacher, neighborhood pastor, spiritual guide,and author of forthcoming book on imagining Christianity outside of the patriarchy from Westminster John Knox
“My concurrent roles as pastor, parent, and professor often feel impossible to hold together. In the Beginning Were the Women manages to speak to each of the audiences I juggle and their sometimes competing needs. McKeever-Burgett has brought together responsible Biblical study, liturgical and spiritual creativity, and gorgeous prose to reveal and remind us that the complicated realities of womanhood and mothering have always been a part of the story of God’s people. We owe it to the women who have gone before, to ourselves, and to the creation still unfolding, to cherish these stories and be inspired to share our own.”
— Rev. Blair Trygstad Stowe, Assistant Professor at Claremont School of Theology and Co-Host of The Progressive Christians Podcast
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