Transforming the Struggles of Tamars: Single Women and Baptistic Communities - Paperback

by Lina Andronoviene (Author), Parush Parushev (Foreword by)

This book explores the unprecedented challenge of involuntary singleness for women, and the implications of disregarding this challenge for the Christian (and particularly, baptistic) communities of faith. It argues that these communities not only fail involuntarily single women, but also in so doing, suffer a serious detriment to their own communal health and Christian witness. Taking the challenge of involuntary singleness as a test case, this book explores the method of convictional theology and argues for a holistic framework that can draw together the personal, communal, and visionary spheres of human existence. Although primarily a work of theological ethics, it also draws from a number of different disciplines, including cultural studies and sociology as well as intersections of science and theology.

Author Biography

Lina Andronoviene is a Lithuanian, born in the port of Klaipeda. Since her early days, she has been involved in the life of the Baptist church in Klaipeda (which, after the Soviet period, meets again in the oldest Baptist church building in use on continental Europe). She never thought she would be a theologian, and had focused her energies on languages, literature, and creative writing. However, some years ago, it dawned on her that theology could include literature and the rest of humanities, and two passions became one. While she remains involved in the life of Lithuanian Baptists, her work and ministry has been largely international. For a number of years, she taught at the International Baptist Theological Seminary (Prague, and now Amsterdam), and now is based at the Scottish Baptist College on the West coast of Scotland. A musician and artist as well as a theologian, she remains involved in the wider church life, and speaks at conferences on various aspects of ethics, spirituality, and theology of culture.