Books by Helen Paynter

The Bible Doesn’t Tell Me So: Why you don’t have to submit to domestic abuse and coercive control
Publisher:        BRF
RRP:                 £8.99
This book is addressed directly to women experiencing domestic abuse, and to those who seek to support them, including pastoral leaders, friends and support organisations.

Click here for a book review of The Bible Doesn’t Tell Me So.

God of Violence Yesterday, God of Love Today? Wrestling honestly with the Old Testament
Publisher:        BRF
RRP:                 £9.99
Do you find the violence in the Old Testament a problem? Does it get in the way of reading the Bible – and of faith itself? Helen Paynter faces the tough questions head-on and offers a fresh, accessible approach to a significant issue.
 
Click here for an interview with the author about God of Violence Yesterday, God of Love Today?.

Available from Baptist Union online shop

The Strange World of Elijah and Elisha
Publisher:    Grove Books
RRP:               £3.95
The narratives of Elijah and Elisha, spanning the centre of 1 and 2 Kings, are vivid, entertaining – and remarkably strange. Things happen that not only raise questions about the prophets, but also about the nature of God. In this fascinating study we explore the literary devices of carnivalization and mirroring – and begin to discover a world in which things are not what they seem, and the stories offer some profound insights into the ways of the world and of our God.

Immigration and the Church: Reflecting faithfully in our generation
Publisher:    Grove Books
RRP:               £3.95
In the United Kingdom, our society is becoming ever-increasingly divided on the question of immigration. What factors have caused these divisions? And how is the church to respond to such an issue? This study aims to provide tools for those who shape the thinking of British churches to consider some of these questions in a rigorous, ethical and theologically mature way. 

Telling Terror in Judges 19: Rape and reparation for the Levite’s wife
Publisher:    Routledge
RRP:               £16.99 paperback
Telling Terror in Judges 19 explores the value of performing a ‘reparative reading’ of the terror-filled story of the Levite’s pilegesh (commonly referred to as the Levite’s concubine) in Judges 19, and how such a reparative reading can be brought to bear upon elements of modern rape culture. Historically, the story has been used as a morality tale to warn young women about what constitutes appropriate behaviour. More recently, (mainly male) commentators have tended to write the woman out of the story, by making claims about its purpose and theme which bear no relation to her suffering. In response to this, feminist critics have attempted to write the woman back into the story, generally using the hermeneutics of suspicion. This book begins by surveying some of the traditional commentators, and the three great feminist commentators of the text (Bal, Exum and Trible). It then offers a reparative reading by attending to the pilegesh’s surprising prominence, her moral and marital agency, and her speaking voice. In the final chapter, there is a detailed comparison of the story with elements of modern rape culture.

Attending to the Margins: Essays in honour of Stephen Finamore
Publisher:    Independently published
RRP:               £20.00
Attending to the Margins is a collection of essays written in honour of the Revd Dr Stephen Finamore, and embracing something of the scope of his eclectic interests. When the editors were considering what unites Steve’s various concerns and passions, the word ‘margins’ seemed most appropriate. His work for community projects in both London and Peru were with people who were deeply marginalised. Steve is a principled Baptist who trains Baptist ministers, and Baptists have always, from proud conviction, occupied a place at the margins of power. Steve’s interest in the work of René Girard draws attention to the forces in every society which marginalise and scapegoat those who do not wholly belong.

The essays in this volume are written by some of Steve’s present and former colleagues, friends, and students, including Paul Fiddes, Rob Ellis, Ernest Lucas, and Stuart Murray Williams. The editors are Helen Paynter and Peter Hatton.

Click here for more information about this book.