Christian Women Research Articles

What Does Morality Have to Do with It? What Haidt and Moral Foundation Theory Reveals about White Evangelical Christian Women Who Advocate for Politician Donald J. Trump

This qualitative research offers an explanatory framework to identify potential moral motives evangelical Christian women demonstrate when championing Donald J. Trump, who defies biblical morality. Through focus groups and in-depth semi-structured interviews and utilizing Haidt’s Moral Foundation Theory (MFT), which hypothesizes that conservatives rely on all five of his moral value pairings in their moral implementation. This study juxtaposes whether MFT pairing references are applied when evangelical white Christian women expound on their admiration for the politician, Donald J. Trump. The findings from this study suggest that MFT verbiage accounts for a considerable amount of moral rationale from the participants, who consider their religious faith to be first and foremost in their lives when discussing politics and their political viewpoints. Their discussions and answers touch on all five of Haidt’s moral value pairings. These conservative Christian women’s long-established sanctified realm of religion, family, and the sovereign state hold firm in today’s political debate.

Pedagogy of the “secluded” women and changing femininity in colonial India, 1830s–1930s

ABSTRACT Women missionaries who came to India with a superior Protestant religious imaginary were keen on critiquing Hindu cultural practices that created divergences and transfigurations. They blatantly proclaimed that the deep-rooted custom of women’s “seclusion” was a stumbling block to education, evangelisation and modernisation. This study demonstrates how missionary construction of “secluded” women’s femininity through civilisational, religious and pedagogical pretentions created conflicting emotions among a section of the orthodox Hindu and converted Christian women who defied the controversial missionary narratives that depicted women’s seclusion in a rather poor light. Nonetheless, the continued missionary encounters through education impelled a section of the secluded Hindu women to be critical of what is conveniently referred to by missionaries as orthodox femininity. This article takes a close look at and critiques how missionaries negotiated with both the conflicting emotions and orthodox femininity by constructing an alternative narrative – Christian femininity that sought to confront gender stereotypes in a more nuanced manner. It argues that the changing femininity in colonial India needs to be understood largely through missionary education, character-building zenana pedagogy and normative construction of femininity.

Women Undergoing IVF: Mitigating Anxiety and Stress and Building Infertility Self-Efficacy and Resilience Through Mindfulness Care

This article reports a study investigating whether an online mindfulness-based intervention mitigates stress and anxiety and builds infertility self-efficacy and resilience among South Asian women (age range = 32–41 years) undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. A waitlist control design study was conducted with the intervention cohort (N pretest = 78, N post-test = 68) undergoing the 20 weekly sessions of online mindfulness intervention (OMI) and the control (N pretest = 78, N post-test = 65) group who did not undergo any intervention. Data were collected via an online questionnaire administered in English. The OMI was effective and the intervention group reported lower anxieties and stress and increased self-efficacy and resilience post-test (p < .05; Hedges’ g = −0.78 to 0.65) compared to the control group. Education, occupation, living arrangements, religion, socioeconomic status, OMI attendance, and home practice were significant predictors of intervention impact. Overall, highly qualified women, salaried/self-employed individuals, those living with a spouse alone, Hindu and Buddhist women, middle-class individuals, or those with at least 50% intervention compliance gained more from the OMI. Specifically, however, the discriminant function indicated that participants’ education, socioeconomic status, and living arrangements did not have significant post-test intervening effects on trait anxiety and certain subdimensions of resilience such as perception of future, social and family cohesion, and social resources. Intervention compliance mediated the association between sociodemographic predictors and outcomes. With adequate emphasis on intervention adherence, the OMI is effective for South Asian women undergoing IVF treatment incorporating some refinements for Christian and Muslim women, upper-class individuals, those who were moderately educated, homemakers, and those living with a spouse and kith-kin or extended family.

Time-related changes in the knowledge of HIV/AIDS among followers of various religions in India

Background: The public knowledge levels about Human Immunodeficiency-Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) have been assessed in previous studies; however, time-related trends in association with socio-demographic standards among the followers of major religions in India are not known. Objectives: We assessed the 2005-06, 2015-16, and 2019-21 demographic and health survey (DHS) data from India to investigate trends in the levels of knowledge of HIV/AIDS among Hindus, Muslims, and Christians in relation to standard socio-demographic variables over a period of 16 years. Methods: The age range of the population was 15-54 years (n=611,821). The HIV/AIDS-related knowledge was assessed by developing a composite index based on ten questions about several aspects of HIV/AIDS, such as the mode of spread. We applied Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests to investigate whether people had heard about HIV/AIDS and their overall HIV knowledge in relation to several socio-demographic standards. Results: Generally, a higher increase in knowledge level was found between the first and second DHS surveys (2006-2016) as compared to between the second and third DHS surveys (2016-2021). We found the highest increase in the level of HIV/AIDS knowledge among Christian men than among Christian women followed by Hindus, whereas Muslims had the least increase over 16 years. Being a female, uneducated, poor, previously married, and having rural residence were associated with the highest increase in the knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Conclusion: Christian men had the highest increase in HIV/AIDS-related knowledge then came Christian women and followers of other religions. We also found the highest increase in HIV/AIDS-related knowledge among the poorest, uneducated, and rural residents. Our findings may help formulate public health strategies targeting various less knowledgeable groups to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS.

Kepemimpinan Wanita Kristen: Pengaruh Dan Tantangan Dalam Konteks Gereja Modern

In the context of the modern church, the leadership role of Christian women has become an increasingly important and complex issue. Despite increasing awareness of the importance of gender equality, there are still challenges and obstacles that hinder the advancement of Christian women in ecclesiastical leadership roles. This article aims to explore the influences and challenges faced by Christian women in ecclesiastical leadership and find solutions to promote their role in the modern church. Therefore, in this study the authors used a qualitative approach by applying a literature review and reflective analysis. A literature review was conducted to gather relevant literature on Christian women's leadership in the modern church, including scholarly articles, books, ecclesiastical journals, and theological sources. Reflective analysis was then carried out to deeply understand the influence that Christian women have on ecclesiastical leadership as well as to identify the challenges they face in the context of the modern church. Based on the literature review and reflective analysis conducted, this article reveals that Christian women have a significant influence in ecclesiastical leadership, including in ecclesiastical decision-making, public service, teaching, and spiritual guidance. However, they also face challenges such as restricted traditional roles, different interpretations of the Bible, gender stereotypes, lack of necessary support and training, and cultural conservatism. Therefore, this article concludes the need to recognize and promote the role of Christian women in ecclesiastical leadership by creating an inclusive environment, providing adequate training, overcoming cultural barriers, and promoting gender equality in the modern church.

Polygynous marriage union among Ghanaian Christian women: Socio-demographic predictors.

Polygamy has declined in the last decade, but it is still prevalent in West African nations including Ghana even with the arrival of Christianity and colonists, which came to be recognized as a form of slavery that needed to be abolished. To analyze the determinants of polygyny among married Christian women in Ghana. Ghana Maternal Health Survey data was used for this study to do an analytic cross-section study. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20. The association between dependent and independent variables was explored using chi-square and logistic regression. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. The prevalence of Ghanaian Christian women's involvement in polygyny marriage union was 12.2%, the prevalence was higher (15.0%) among women of Anglican denomination, catholic denomination (13.9%), and the lowest (8.4%) prevalence recorded among those of Methodist denominations. The predictor factors identified include the age of the woman, history of education, type of place of residence, region, ethnicity, early sex initiation, and history of multiple unions. The prevalence of polygyny in this present study is high given the strict position the Christian religion has against polygyny. This study recommends that the pros and cons of polygyny are objectively looked at from a scientific point rather than a religious point of view.

A GIRL DEFINED BY GOD: BIBLICAL WOMANHOOD, ANTI-FEMINISM, AND WHITE EVANGELICAL MICROCELEBRITIES

Girl Defined is a cross-platform fundamentalist Evangelical Christian ministry started by two sisters, Kristen Clark and Bethany Beal. The goal of their ministry is to encourage women to reject feminism, deny their personal desires, and live out God’s design for their lives: Biblical womanhood, which centers on traditional feminine gender performance, subordinance to one’s husband, and motherhood. This project seeks to understand the ways that white fundamentalist Christian women make sense of and mobilize against the feminist movement in order to augment our understanding of anti-feminist backlash and white Evangelical women’s place in the culture wars. Informed by research on white Evangelical women in the US and microcelebrity practices, I conducted a critical discourse analysis of 67 blog posts (2012-2021) and 14 YouTube videos (2016-2021) tagged “feminism” on the Girl Defined blog. This analysis demonstrates that Girl Defined portrays feminism as fundamentally self-interested and synonymous with mainstream secular culture. Clark and Beal appeal to their audiences by incorporating neoliberal logics of self-improvement while appropriating the language of progressive movements to modernize their presentation of traditional gender norms. Through their expansive construction of feminism as ideologically dominant, Girl Defined simplifies and individualizes women’s experiences to frame Biblical womanhood as a “radical” alternative to feminism. Overall, these findings provide insight into the paradoxical flexibility of hyper-conservative ideologies that center on a rigidly defined “us” vs. an ever-flexible “them” while expanding our understanding of the ways conservative thought leaders modernize old ideas and use digital networks and influencer logics to spread them.

Personality, Religiosity and Satisfaction with Life in Young Muslim and Christian Women in Pakistan.

This study investigated the relationship between personality traits, religiosity and satisfaction with life in young Muslim and Christian women. The current research involved a convenience sample (N=200; Mage=21.26) that was drawn from Kinnaird College for Women University Lahore, and Youhanabad Town Lahore, Pakistan. The Big Five Inventory, Centrality of Religiosity Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were administered. Results of correlation analysis demonstrated a significant positive relationship between 'conscientiousness' and 'religious ideology' among Muslim women, whereas 'openness' and 'agreeableness' were strongly associated with all the dimensions of religiosity in Christian women. Findings of hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that extraversion and agreeableness significantly predicted life satisfaction among Muslim and Christian participants respectively. Religiosity did not contribute to life satisfaction among both groups. Results of independent sample t-test showed that Christian women reported significantly higher degrees of extraversion and life satisfaction as compared to Muslim women who in contrast reported significantly higher level of agreeableness, neuroticism, and public religious practice. The findings are discussed in the context of gender, religion, culture and mental health.

The Status of Christian Woman in post – 2003 in Sinan Antoon's Baghdad Eucharist

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Christian Women and the Development of Nascent Feminist Consciousness in Nineteenth-Century China

In 2010, Padma Anagol argued that the first modern feminists in India were Christian women, women such as Laxmibai Tilak and Pandita Ramabai. Using Anagol’s definition of feminism as “a theory and practice which presented a challenge to the subordination of women in society and attempted to redress the balance of power between the sexes,” this article shows how feminist consciousness was cultivated in Christian schools, churches, hospitals, and organizations in late-nineteenth-century China. Kwok Pui Lan pointed out in 1992 that Christians were the first women in China to band together to fight women’s oppression; however, like so many of the claims made about women in global Christianity, this one has not yet been fully appreciated by historians and missiologists. I show how mission schools gave girls access to new models of personhood and womanhood. Likewise, Christian scriptures, churches, and voluntary societies such as the WCTU and YWCA provided space to reflect on gender identity and activism. Through all these avenues, a modest version of Christian feminism was cultivated in China decades before the secular women’s movement began in 1900.

Factors Associated with Deworming Medication Utilization among Pregnant Women in Benin: Evidence from the Demographic and Health Survey

Deworming medication utilization is a useful strategy to reduce the burden of anemia among pregnant women. Yet, we know very little about the prevalence and correlates of deworming medication utilization among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa, including Benin. To address this void in the literature, we used the 2017-2018 Benin Demographic and Health Survey and applied logistic regression analysis to explore the demographic, socioeconomic, and healthcare factors associated with deworming medication utilization in Benin. We found that deworming medication coverage was 65% at the national level. We observed that women aged 35-49 years were less likely to use deworming medication compared to those aged 15-24 years (OR = 0.79, p < 0.01). Compared to Christian women, Muslim women (OR = 0.70, p < 0.01) and women of other religions (OR = 0.51, p < 0.01) were also less likely to use deworming medication. Moreover, women with lower levels of education and household wealth, as well as unemployed women, were less likely to use deworming medication in comparison to their educated, richer, and employed counterparts. Women who visited ANC fewer than eight times were also less likely to use deworming medication compared to their counterparts who did so eight times or more (OR = 0.65, p < 0.001). Based on these findings, we discussed several implications for policymakers.

Influence of a Partner’s Pornography Consumption on a Christian Woman’s Sexuality: A Qualitative Exploration

The present study examines how a partner’s Problematic Pornography Use impacts the overall sexual experience of the Christian woman. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, we explored the intersection of gender, religion, and sexuality with 21 women of faith (the majority of whom had sought out mental health treatment) to better understand how the Christian woman’s sexuality shifts in response to her husband’s consumption of pornography. Three major themes emerged from the data: Discovery Impacts Desire, I Am Not Enough, and Sexually Disenfranchized. We discuss important implications for clinicians and clergy that promote the emotional, physical, and sexual safety of women.

Safer Sex Negotiation Among Ghanaian Women in Sexual Unions: Does Women's Household Decision-Making Capacity Matter?

Women's ability to negotiate for safer sex has been found to be dependent on their household decision making power. However, there is paucity of studies investigating the association between women's household decision making power and safer sex negotiation in Ghana. Thus, we examined the association between women's household decision making autonomy and safer sex negotiation among Ghanaian women in sexual unions using the 2014 Ghana's Demographic and Health Survey. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and multivariable logistic regression models were performed. Statistical significance was set at p < .05at 95% confidence interval.The results showed high prevalence of safer sex negotiation among women with high household decision-making capacity (91.6%). Compared to women with low household decision making autonomy, those with high autonomy in household decision making were more likely to negotiate for safer sex (aOR = 2.06; CI = 1.32-3.21). Women aged 25-34 were more likely to negotiate for safer sex compared to those aged 15-24 (aOR = 1.50; CI = 1.07-2.11). Higher odds of safer sex negotiation were found among women with comprehensive HIV and AIDS knowledge (aOR = 1.49; CI = 1.09-2.05), women who had tested for HIV (aOR = 1.57; CI = 1.27-1.95) and those exposed to newspaper (aOR = 1.80; CI = 1.17-2.78) compared to those who had no comprehensive knowledge on HIV and AIDS, those who had never tested for HIV and those who were not exposed to newspaper, respectively. However, women who belonged to other ethnic groups and the Islamic religion had lower odds of safer sex negotiation compared to Akans (aOR = 0.68; CI = 0.48-0.96) and Christian women (aOR = 0.63; CI = 0.46-0.85). Women empowerment programmes need to be intensified to enable Ghanaian women with low household decision making autonomy to negotiate for safer sex with their partners. Ghana could achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly, SDG 3.7 (universal access to sexual and reproductive health services), and SDG 5 (achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) when household decision-making capacity among women is further strengthened.

Global Christianity: A Guide to the World’s Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, by Gina Zurlo

<i>Global Christianity: A Guide to the World’s Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe</i>, by Gina Zurlo

In Search of Safe Spaces: An Exploratory Study of the Anticipated Help-Seeking Needs and Preferences of Protestant Christian Women in Singapore with Respect to a Hypothetical Abortion Scenario

Research suggests that religious beliefs may contribute to abortion stigma, resulting in increased secrecy, reduced social support and help-seeking as well as poor coping and negative emotional consequences such as shame and guilt. This study sought to explore the anticipated help-seeking preferences and difficulties of Protestant Christian women in Singapore with regard to a hypothetical abortion scenario. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 self-identified Christian women recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. The sample was largely Singaporean and all participants were ethnically Chinese females of a similar age range (late twenties to mid-thirties). All willing participants were recruited regardless of denomination. All participants anticipated experiences of felt, enacted and internalized stigma. These were affected by their perceptions of God (e.g., how they see abortion), their personal definitions of “life” and their perceptions of their religio-social environment (e.g., perceived social safety and fears). These concerns contributed to participants choosing both faith-based and secular formal support sources with caveats, despite a primary preference for faith-based informal support and secondary preference for faith-based formal support. All participants anticipated negative post-abortion emotional outcomes, coping difficulties and short-term decision dissatisfaction. However, participants who reported more accepting views of abortion also anticipated an increase in decision satisfaction and well-being in the longer term.

Women, Writing, and the Pandemic: An Autoethnographic Study on Factors Constraining or Supporting Women’s Research Writing at a Small Christian University

Previous research has shown that women face unique challenges in higher education when it comes to research, writing, and getting published. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified these challenges as both domestic and professional obligations increased for many women in academia. The goal of this autoethnographic study was to investigate the factors that supported or constrained four women faculty’s research writing during a pandemic in the context of a small Christian teaching university. We collected data for a year via long-term and weekly goal setting surveys, weekly reflections, and semester reflections, which generated 170 comments on supporting and constraining factors, including 97 comments on constraining factors and 73 comments on supporting factors. Our data analysis identified themes that emerged from these comments, revealing seven main factors that constrain women’s writing (i.e., family needs, mental and physical health, service and administrative work, teaching responsibilities, lack of research-related resources, non-research writing, and individual factors) and 10 main factors that supported women’s writing (i.e., peer accountability and support, deadlines, scheduling a regular time and place for research, setting concrete research goals, having uninterrupted research time, prioritizing mental and physical health, family and personal support, participating in the writing retreat, research resources, and other individual factors). The findings of this research project shed light on the understudied populations of Christian women scholars and their writing practices and offer implications for Christian higher educational leaders and faculty on how to support women’s research productivity in a post-pandemic world.

Intimate Partner Violence and the Influence of the Faith Factor

The research article is based on a broader research project that set out to investigate the influence of Christian teachings and biblical texts on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) among the Christian Women of Kilifi County of Kenya. Its specific focus is on how faith became a key coping strategy for women swimming in the troubled waters of IPV. Methodologically, it relied on oral interviews that were conducted among 30 women, 10 pastors, and 12 community leaders in Kilifi County. Overall, the research article argues that faith, in the larger realm of religion, is not only used to normalize IPV, but also utilized as a coping tool by victims. This further fuels a vice that is rooted in Judeo-African patriarchal ideals. Yet it has also established that some women adopted alternative strategies, outside the religious realm, so as to cope with the harsh reality surrounding them. The latter lost faith in religious approaches, and eventually adopted non-religious strategies in their endeavor to manage their circumstances. The need to revisit the idea of ‘separation’ and/or divorce, as a pragmatic approach for Christian women facing IPV, has been suggested as a workable strategy where need arises.

Gender, Christianity, and Peace in Chinese Women's International Thought 1914–1953

AbstractThis paper uncovers the various understandings of peace formulated by Chinese Christian women in the period from the First World War to the Korean War Armistice (1914–1953). In both the literature on Christianity in China and the histories of the national and international women's movements, Chinese Christian women have been subjected to multiple exclusions based on their race, class, gender, and religious identity. Drawing on the memoirs and writings of key Chinese Christian women thinkers active in international women's and Christian networks such as Deng Yuzhi 鄧欲志 and Zeng Baosun 曾寶蓀, as well as all less well-known female students writing in missionary school yearbooks, I dissect how Chinese Christian women variously constructed and deployed their own understanding of peace. How did they appropriate, adapt, or reject the rhetoric of “sisterhood” and maternalist arguments about women's supposed peace-making faculties circulating in the international women's movement for their own purposes? How did they fuse Christianity with early twentieth-century interpretations of Confucian ideas about peace and racial harmony? In what ways did Chinese Christian women active in Communist and Nationalist networks seek to deploy their own understanding of a “Just Peace” during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Korean War? Chinese Christian women's formulations of peace can help us to critically rethink European-centered chronologies of the women's movement and history of women's international thought.

Kryteria przynależności do wspólnoty wierzących w I–II wieku

The Christian Church in the 1st and 2nd century was already conscious of being a commu- nity of believers. The criteria of membership developed gradually and frequently only inciden- tally. Consequently it is still too early to say of a developed problem orthodoxy/orthopraxis or heterodoxy/heteropraxis. The basic 2nd century criteria of being a member of Christian Church in and out were as follows: belief in Jesus Christ corroborated by baptism, a sincere will of belonging to the Church of true believers in Christ, and a duty to live in agreement with the high moral standards. If a Christian man or woman broke the principles observed by the commu- nity, he/she was successively removed from the Church society of the faithful, and had to re- main out of the Church until he/she again converted to the true faith. The similarities between the Christian excommunication and Jewish herem are clearly visible. A heterodoxy was re- garded as sinful (a lack of unity with the church) and consequently must have been a painful experience of isolation from one another on both sides, orthodox and heterodox.

Ideal girls for Christian internationalism: the YWCA in early twentieth-century South Asia

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in constructing the terms of political engagement for young Christian women in South Asia. It focuses on a periodical called The Young Women of India and Ceylon, published between 1908 and 1916, which typically carried didactic essays and short aphoristic pieces of writing by Western educators and social workers, addressing a predominantly South Asian readership. Through this magazine, as well as through its Bible-study groups, social events, sporting gatherings and social work activities, the YWCA sought both to create opportunities for women’s participation in public life in South Asia and to articulate the boundaries of proper Christian womanhood in this practice. In particular, I argue that the writing in this magazine emphasised ideals of enterprise, positivity and professionalism. The article also examines the effects of this discourse, considering how South Asian Christian women inhabited an ethic of religious womanhood and showing that they engaged in a balancing act that both reiterated and contested the missionary ideal of ‘good’ womanhood.