Women across the Middle East are fighting for the freedom to learn. The field of theology is no exception. In Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinian Territories, women like Mother Lois Farah of Luther Seminary and former secretary general of the Middle East Council of Churches Souraya Bechealany are leading a new generation of female Arab theologians.
As they study the Scriptures and develop practical theology, these leaders look to their foremothers, whose stories span as far back as the first Christian communities. Take the desert mothers, for example. Amma Syncretic of Alexandria “led a community of women who desired to serve God, with religious insights highly esteemed in the writings of Pope Athanasius the Great,” writes Grace Al-Zoughbi in a recent CT article.
And then there’s “Amma Sarah, the fifth-century hermit from Egypt’s Wadi Natroun desert, was known for her asceticism, courage, and spiritual teachings. As a well-educated reader, she was concerned that her heart be fully upright in her pursuit of God.”
Al-Zoughbi describes more mothers, monastics, and mystics throughout Arab Christian history. May their stories inspire us just as they do the Arab female theologians who walk where their mothers in the faith once walked.
