Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us About Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength

Armas, a Cuban-American theologian and host of The Protagonists podcast, urges readers to respect the faith and wisdom of women—especially immigrant and Indigenous women—in her powerful debut. She combines stories from the Bible “that convinced me that God had uniquely called me and empowered me to lead” with stories from her grandmother’s life—she survived political upheaval in Cuba, lived in the U.S. during exile from her homeland, and raised a family as a widow—to create a distinctive view of Christian theology that pays close attention to the experiences of the marginalized. The faith Armas champions wrestles with a “story of displacement and belonging” between colonialist readings of Scripture and the marginalized voices of women who are “the heroines of someone else’s story.” Armas’s passion for her community and family history shines throughout, and her biblical exegesis powerfully lifts up lesser known tales—such as the mysterious wise woman of Abel, and Rizpah, one of Saul’s concubines, who responds to the death of her sons with silence. Armas makes a forceful argument that society’s most downtrodden merit respect and attention. This persuasive testament will appeal to Christians interested in the lesser-known women of the Bible. (Aug.)