Women and the Gender of God

A robust theological argument against the assumption that God is male.

God values women.

While many Christians would readily affirm this truth, the widely held assumption that the Bible depicts a male God persists—as it has for centuries. This misperception of Christianity not only perniciously implies that men deserve an elevated place over women but also compromises the glory of God by making God appear to be part of creation, subject to it and its categories, rather than in transcendence of it.

Through a deep reading of the incarnation narratives of the New Testament and other relevant scriptural texts, Amy Peeler shows how the Bible depicts a God beyond gender and a savior who, while embodied as a man, is the unification in one person of the image of God that resides in both male and female. Peeler begins with a study of Mary and her response to the annunciation, through which it becomes clear that God empowers women and honors their agency. Then Peeler describes from a theological standpoint how the virgin birth of Jesus—the second Adam—reverses the gendered division enacted in the garden of Eden.

While acknowledging the significance of the Bible’s frequent use of “Father” language to represent God as a caring parent, Peeler goes beneath the surface of this metaphor to show how God is never sexualized by biblical writers or described as being physically involved in procreation—making the concept of a masculine God dubious, at best. From these doctrinal centers of Christianity, Peeler leads the way in reasserting the value of women in the church and prophetically speaking out against the destructive idolatry of masculinity.

Available from Eerdmans Publishing.

Hebrews: Commentaries on Christian Formation

How can the Letter to the Hebrews help Christians grow in their faith?

The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that God is trustworthy—that we can trust in Jesus’s defeat of death to lead us to eternal life. Complicating this crucial message, the letter’s enigmatic origins, dense intertextuality, and complex theological import can present challenges to believers wrestling with the text today.

Amy Peeler opens up Hebrews for Christians seeking to understand God in this learned and pastoral volume of Commentaries for Christian Formation. Her fresh translation and detailed commentary offer insights into Christology, the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, and the letter’s canonical resonances. She pays special attention to how the text approaches redemption, providing consolation for the anxious and correction for the presumptuous.

Peeler explains the letter’s original context while remaining focused on its relevance to Christian communities today. Pastors and lay readers alike will learn how Hebrews helps them know, trust, and love God more deeply.

Available from Eerdmans Publishing.

Other Books:

New Testament in Color. Co-editor with Esau McCaulley, Janette Ok, and Osvaldo Padilla. IVP, 2024.

Hebrews: An Introduction and Study Guide. Co-Authored with Patrick Gray. Sheffield Phoenix Guide to the New Testament, 2020. 

You Are My Son: The Family of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews. LNTS 486. London: T&T Clark, 2014.

Articles and Chapters:

“‘A Fearful Thing to Fall into the Hands of Living God’: A Study of Fear in the Epistle to the Hebrews.” Review and Expositor 115.1 (2018): 40-49.

“Desiring God: The Blood of the Covenant in Exodus 24.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 23.2 (2013): 187–205.

“The Son Like No Other: Comparing the Son to the Angelic Sons of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews.” Pages 1–12 in Son, Sacrifice, and Great Shepherd: Studies on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Edited by David M. Moffitt and Eric F. Mason. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 510. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.

“Promises to the Son: Covenant and Atonement in Hebrews.” Pages 195–208 in So Great A Salvation: A Dialogue on the Atonement in Hebrews. Edited by Jon C. Laansma, George H. Guthrie, and Cynthia Long Westfall. Library of New Testament Studies 516. London: T&T Clark, 2019.

“The Equal Glory of God and Christ in Hebrews.” Pages 57–84 in Trinity Without Hierarchy. Edited by Michael F. Bird and Scott Harrower. Kregel Academic, 2019.

“Following Jesus as Priest.” Pages 69–78 in Following Jesus: Prophet, Priest, and King. Edited by Timothy Gaines and Kara Lyons-Pardue. The Foundry Publishing, 2018.

“The Supper of the Lord: Goodness and Grace in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34.” Pages 13–26 in Come Let Us Eat Together: Sacraments and Christian Unity. Edited by George Kalantzis and Marc Cortez. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2018.

“The Eschatological Son: Christological Anthropology in Hebrews.” Pages 161–76 in Anthropology and New Testament Theology. Edited by Jason Maston and Benjamin E. Reynolds. Library of New Testament Studies 529. London: T&T Clark, 2018.

“Mishnah Pesahim and Mark 14:1–25: The Passover Tradition.” Pages 217–23 in Reading Mark in Context: Jesus and Second Temple Judaism. Edited by John Goodrich, Ben Blackwell, and Jason Maston. Zondervan Academic, 2018.

“Leadership in the General Epistles.” Pages 493–506 in Biblical Leadership: Exegesis for the Everyday Leader. Biblical Theology for the Church. Edited by Benjamin K. Forrest. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2017.

 “Imaging Glory: 1 Corinthians 11, Gender, and Bodies at Worship.” Pages 151–64 in Beauty, Order, and Mystery: The Christian Vision of Sexuality. Edited by Todd Wilson and Gerald Hiestand. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2017.

“If Son, Then Priest: The Filial Foundation of Ordination in Hebrews and Other New Testament Texts.” Pages 95–115 in Listen, Understand, Obey: A Festschrift in Honor of Gareth Lee Cockerill. Edited by Caleb Friedeman. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2016.

“Junia/Joanna: Herald of the Good News.” Pages 273–86 in Vindicating the Vixens: Men and Women Revisiting Gendered Bible Stories. Edited by Sandra Glahn. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2016.

“Hebrews.” Exegetical Tools: An Audio-Visual Commentary Series. 2017.

“The First Christian.” Co-authored with Jennifer McNutt. Christianity Today. Cover Story. (December 2019): 32–37.

Neither Barbie nor Ken-A Barbie Movie Review. The Holy Post Podcast. 2023.