Gender issues flaring within Western culture have been argued for centuries within the church. To achieve better outcomes in this conflict zone, one needs respect for tradition, intellectual curiosity, awareness of one’s own cultural biases, readiness to acknowledge past mistakes and humour. These are exactly the attitudes adopted by Deborah Candler in Framed. From beginning to end the reader is transported on a roller coaster of surprising scholarship, enthralling insights and courageous confrontation with seemingly intractable texts and scholarly saints. This book brings tears of laughter and grief as it stirs each to re-examine our understanding of women in leadership. It’s a compulsory read for all people of Christian faith.

When I read the introduction to Framed, I knew immediately that this was going to be a timely resource that I would both concur with wholeheartedly and thoroughly enjoy reading. For the sake of the generations to come and in particular, to ensure women flourish in the church, this well-articulated narrative gives necessary Biblical framework to RE-FRAME what has become a hinderance to the kind of equality God intended for his Kingdom to truly come on earth! Deb thoroughly explores the scriptures to illuminate grace and truth on the subject of women and the church. I highly recommend FRAMED to every human who has a desire to see women – as well as men flourish in every sphere and season they find themselves.

Another partner to tell the same story—that both men and women are gifted equally to be bearers of God’s good news, and that the Bible is not the great divider, but the great equalizer.

This is a belly punch or irrefutable logic! Framed demystifies the fuss around Christianity being totally, the fruit of unfolding revelation. Deb reminds us that packing up our winter woollies, storing them for archaeologists, and cutting our new garments to fit the unfolding story is thoroughly gospel. Framed is not just a mountain peak with a sturdy road map ensuring the reader does NOT get lost–it’s a solid arrival for all men and women of faith.

Deb Candler’s heart on the pages of “Framed” is the convergence of years of study and diligent research and a life authentically lived on the coalface of ministry, family, and community. “Framed” challenges its readers to a continual quest of reinterpretingand reforming our understanding of God and the fullness of His plans and purposes for all creation and humanity, not only women. Deb tackles the hard questions about women in the Bible and throughout history, with a forensic eye, taking deep theological truth, peeling it from culture then and unveiling it afresh in light of culture now. Her depth of understanding and revelation of the expansiveness and inclusivity of Jesus is inspiring; rekindling a hunger in the reader to reinterpret old perspectives in light of new frames of reference. Deb’s passion urges the reader to recover the expansive, inclusive, wholeness and victory that the Good News of Salvation truly is. Then we are compelled to ask ourselveshow we work our salvation out in our own context so as to transform culture to showcase God as “Emmanuel, God with us.”In expertly addressing the hierarchical interpretation of the Genesis creation story, Deb creates a platform for both men and women to enter the fullness of God’s kingdom purposes and join in the “Divine Dance” that embraces and welcomes all who want to join. Thank you, Deb for a clarifying, challenging, and celebratory Australian theological reframing of the “new creation” Jesus working in us and through us.

Framed - What a read! Deb’s fully researched, compelling and heartfelt writing on this topic is both respectful and refreshing as biblical scholarship meets personal stories. She speaks from a place of love and a desire to build rather than simply break, while remaining unafraid to rattle the cages that desperately need to be shaken up. Thank you Deb for giving voice through this book to the half of the church that has been kept silent for too long, and for freeing the other half from the burden of carrying a weight that was not all theirs to carry. I’ve read this book with many tears, both of pain from past experiences and of a growing hope for the following generations of women who can benefit from this Godly, scriptural freedom in their ministries and lives.

Men, some of you will be encouraged to wave your green flag even higher as you partner with the women in your world. Some of you will be relieved to know that responsibility is shared responsibility. And some of you will have an urge to protect what tradition alone has said is yours alone. You decide. If you are a woman, some of you will have felt a bit unseen and lost and longing to be seen and found. Some of you will have felt trapped, and on one hand, desperate to be free, and on the other, terrified of what they might mean. In any case, you will come to see that the only thing that is wrong with you is that you thought something was wrong with you. We’ve been framed. Only the brave will RE-FRAME.