Re-Membering the Body: The Witness of History, Theology and the Arts in Honour of Ruth M.B.Gouldbourne

Abstract

This is a fi ne collection of fi fteen essays, enriched further by a personal appreciation from the dedicatee ’ s father, Derek Murray. The volume is produced as a sign of gratitude for Ruth Gouldbourne ’ s work at the point of her sixtieth birthday (challenging the usual practice of only producing a Festschrift on a person ’ s retirement). The sheer breadth of topics covered in the book – from Linda Wilson ’ s fascinating analysis of gendered prayer language in the Baptist Magazine (1850 – 1870) to Paul Fiddes ’ illuminating discussion of Shakespeare and Spirituality – indicate the extensive range of the dedicatee ’ s interests. Despite this breadth, there is a common theme which recurs in many of the volume ’ s essays (seven of the fi fteen), namely the impor-tance of paying attention to the role of women. This is hardly surprising given Rev Dr Gouldbourne ’ s own work in this area - see for example her The Flesh and the Feminine: Gender and Theology in the Writings of Caspar Schwenckfeld (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006) and her article ‘ Baptists, Women and Ministry ’ in Feminist Theology 26.1 (2017). This theme is also addressed from a wide range of approaches in the book: hence Ernest C. Lucas challenges the perception of Proverbs as a misogynistic text whilst Janice O ’ Brien draws attention to the signi fi cance of Emily Georgiana Kemp. I particularly enjoyed Karen Smith ’ s essay which challenges the common perception that Baptists were silent in the face of the su ff rage movement. Instead she persuasively argues that ‘ many Baptists cooperated together to encourage greater involvement of women in society and in the church in general, and more speci fi cally to give women the right to vote ’ (p.69).