© All content remains the property of the author and cannot be reproduced without written permission
E. AnneClements
Minister and Lecturer
Revd Dr Anne Clements
Revd Dr Anne Clements originally trained as a teacher and then spent ten
years teaching in mainland China. She was called to the ministry in 2002,
trained at Spurgeon’s College, London, and was ordained in 2006, as
minister of West Kingsdown Baptist Church. She completed her PhD on the
women in Matthew’s Gospel in 2012 and lectured part-time at Spurgeon’s
College.
Books
Mothers on the Margin?
The Gospel of Matthew opens with a patrilineal genealogy of Jesus that intriguingly includes five women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, "she of Uriah," and Mary. In a gospel that has a strongly Jewish and male-orientated outlook, why are women incorporated? In particular, why include these four Old Testament women alongside Mary? Rejecting traditional as well as feminist views, Anne Clements undertakes a close literary reading of the narratives to discern how each woman is characterized and presented. All are significant scriptural figures on the margins of Israelite society. From this intertextual world established by Matthew, she explores why Matthew may have named these women in the opening genealogy and what implications their inclusion may have for the ongoing gospel narrative. Mothers on the Margin? argues that Matthew's Gospel contains a counter narrative focused on women. The presence of the five women in the genealogy indicates that the birth of the Messiah will bring about a crisis in Israel's identity in terms of ethnicity, marginality, and gender. The women signal that Matthew's Gospel is concerned with the construal of a new identity for the people of God. Just occasionally we are offered a fresh and enriching lens through which to read a narrative. By means of a close, careful, and perceptive reading of the stories of the women to whom Matthew's genealogy alludes, Anne Clements enables a renewed engagement with this Gospel and a sharper focus on its themes of covenant faithfulness and righteousness, together with its embracing of all of those 'on the margins. John Colwell, Spurgeon's College, London The Stone Chapel Podcast - Anne talks to Dr David Capes, Lanier Theological Library, Houston about Mothers on the Margin? The Alabaster Jar Podcast - Anne talks to Dr Lynn Cohick, Northern Seminary, Illinois about Mothers on the Margin?Rhythms of Faithfulness: Essays in Honor of John E. Colwell
Christmas: Eternal Humanity at the Heart of God E. Anne Clements This collection of essays by British Baptists honours the work of John Colwell amongst the Baptist community, recognizing in particular the contribution he has made to Christian doctrine and ethics and more recently his involvement in the formation of The Order for Baptist Ministry (OBM). The book explores what we are doing in morning prayer and what it is to allow the seasons and festivals of the Christian year to shape our lives. Wrestling with the Word: A Woman Reads ScriptureThe Whitley Lecture 2011
How does a woman who does not wish to reject the authority of Scripture but who increasingly becomes aware of the androcentric, male centred, nature of the text and the patriarchal character of many of its stories come to terms with the Word ? Not only the text itself but patriarchal interpretation of these texts has caused anguish for many women called in different ways into God’s work. Anne Clements relates her journey from a call to ministry that led to an intellectual engagement with issues of interpretation and the formulation of her own hermeneutical stance. Out of this came her revisionist work on the women in Matthew’s Gospel in the conviction that the biblical text contains a self-critique of patriarchy. The gender issue is now a mainstream topic both within the academy, the church and at popular cultural levels. It is increasingly important to be able to articulate and develop a hermeneutic that both recognises the Bible’s patriarchy for what it is, whilst at the same time hearing God’s Word speaking within the complexities of lives lived in the 21st century.
© All content remains the property of the author and cannot be
reproduced without written permission
E. AnneClements
Minister and Lecturer
Revd Dr Anne
Clements
Revd Dr Anne Clements originally trained as a teacher
and then spent ten years teaching in mainland China.
She was called to the ministry in 2002, trained at
Spurgeon’s College, London, and was ordained in 2006,
as minister of West Kingsdown Baptist Church. She
completed her PhD on the women in Matthew’s Gospel
in 2012 and lectured part-time at Spurgeon’s College.
Books
Mothers on the Margin?
The Gospel of Matthew opens with a patrilineal genealogy of Jesus that intriguingly includes five women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, "she of Uriah," and Mary. In a gospel that has a strongly Jewish and male-orientated outlook, why are women incorporated? In particular, why include these four Old Testament women alongside Mary? Rejecting traditional as well as feminist views, Anne Clements undertakes a close literary reading of the narratives to discern how each woman is characterized and presented. All are significant scriptural figures on the margins of Israelite society. From this intertextual world established by Matthew, she explores why Matthew may have named these women in the opening genealogy and what implications their inclusion may have for the ongoing gospel narrative. Mothers on the Margin? argues that Matthew's Gospel contains a counter narrative focused on women. The presence of the five women in the genealogy indicates that the birth of the Messiah will bring about a crisis in Israel's identity in terms of ethnicity, marginality, and gender. The women signal that Matthew's Gospel is concerned with the construal of a new identity for the people of God. Just occasionally we are offered a fresh and enriching lens through which to read a narrative. By means of a close, careful, and perceptive reading of the stories of the women to whom Matthew's genealogy alludes, Anne Clements enables a renewed engagement with this Gospel and a sharper focus on its themes of covenant faithfulness and righteousness, together with its embracing of all of those 'on the margins. John Colwell, Spurgeon's College, LondonStone Chapel Podcast - Anne Talks to David Capes
about Mother’s on the Margin?
The Alabaster Jar Podcast - Anne talks to Dr Lynn Cohick, Northern Seminary, Illinois about Mothers on the Margin?Rhythms of Faithfulness: Essays in Honor of John E.
Colwell
Christmas: Eternal Humanity at the Heart of God E. Anne Clements This collection of essays by British Baptists honours the work of John Colwell amongst the Baptist community, recognizing in particular the contribution he has made to Christian doctrine and ethics and more recently his involvement in the formation of The Order for Baptist Ministry (OBM). The book explores what we are doing in morning prayer and what it is to allow the seasons and festivals of the Christian year to shape our lives. Wrestling with the Word: A Woman Reads ScriptureThe Whitley Lecture 2011
How does a woman who does not wish to reject the authority of Scripture but who increasingly becomes aware of the androcentric, male centred, nature of the text and the patriarchal character of many of its stories come to terms with the Word ? Not only the text itself but patriarchal interpretation of these texts has caused anguish for many women called in different ways into God’s work. Anne Clements relates her journey from a call to ministry that led to an intellectual engagement with issues of interpretation and the formulation of her own hermeneutical stance. Out of this came her revisionist work on the women in Matthew’s Gospel in the conviction that the biblical text contains a self-critique of patriarchy. The gender issue is now a mainstream topic both within the academy, the church and at popular cultural levels. It is increasingly important to be able to articulate and develop a hermeneutic that both recognises the Bible’s patriarchy for what it is, whilst at the same time hearing God’s Word speaking within the complexities of lives lived in the 21st century.
