Celebrate International Women's Day (with good books!)

Awareness days are a strange thing - but celebrating women is something is close to the heart of God. After all, both men and women are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27), and in an age when the very foundations of being human and being male and female are being challenged and questioned, it is more important than ever to clearly and calmly explain what the Bible teaches.

In the preface to their BST Themes volume The Message of Women, Derek and Dianne Tidball write:

"We are aware that the subject of this book is contentious but we would hope not to lose friends because of what we have written. We have no desire to add to the conflict or adopt a political agenda of any kind. Rather we hope it will contribute to unity in the body of Christ and the encouragement of both women and men to use to the full their gifts for the glory of Christ and for making him known".

At IVP we've published a variety of perspectives on the role of women in the church - with two highlights being Lis Goddard and Clare Hendry's The Gender Agenda, which models gospel-centred conversation, and Andrew Bartlett's careful Men and Women in Christ, which looks at the biblical texts in a way that doesn't sit easily in any one 'camp'.

Regardless of your view on the role of women in the church and the family, we hope that you'll find something to read by a women this International Women's Day. Here are just a few suggestions, which we've published recently.

• Devotionally, you could join in a journey to Easter with Ros Clarke and her popular book Forty Women. Or, if you prefer a 365 devotional, why not check out Catherine Campbell's award-winning Journey With Me?
• For thinking about some big questions, you could try Amy Orr-Ewing's Why Trust the Bible, or Kristi Mair's More Truth
• For prayerully considering issues of identity and mental health, Emma Scrivener's A New Name and A New Day have become modern classics,whilst Sharon Hasting's Wrestling With My Thoughts offers a blend of personal experience, medical expertise, and biblical wisdom.

If you want to dig deeper in to different books/aspects of the Bible, or tackle something more academic, then we've published a number of fine scholars who just happen to be women:

• Joyce G. Baldwin's The Message of Genesis 12-50 in the Bible Speaks Today series.
• Lissa M. Wray Beal's commentary on 1 & 2 Kings in the Apollos Old Testament Commentary series.
• Jeannine Brown's commentary on Philippians in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series.
• Chee-Chiew Lee's When Christians Face Persecution, a new look at this vital issue in New Testament perspective.

Ros Clarke writes in her introduction to 'Forty Women' that "although this is a book about women, it is not a book only for women. These womenare not part of the Bible'sstory in order to show women how to be women, any more than the men are there simply to teach men how to be men. The Bible is God's word for all God's people... If you want to learn how to trust God when your world isending, consider the widow of Zarephath. If you want an example of someone giving everything they hold dear to the Lord, remember Hannah. If you want to explore the depths of human depravity, Jezebeland Athaliah will show you. If you are looking for models of biblical leadership, read about Deborah, or of courageously destroying the Lord's enemy, consider Jael".

This International Women's Day, why not read a book by a sister in Christ?