This issue of Priscilla Papers focuses on defining women’s identity through the biblical lens of gift-based rather than gender-based ministry. The first article, by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary New Testament professor Aída Besançon Spencer, begins with the question of whether God has gender and how the answer to that question rebounds on humanity. Campbellsville University professor Susan Howell then explores what is actually true about human differences. The results of a victimizing definition are explored in their most lethal ramifications by former prison chaplain and noted author Margaret English de Aliminana in a heartrending examination of the plight of incarcerated women trapped in the prostitution industry. University of Tulsa undergraduate student Kara Kerr then examines society’s influence on adolescent girls’ body image and depression, and Union Theological Seminary student David Csinos addresses one means of correcting the problem through ministry to children. Our poet, Jennifer Reynolds, addresses the effects of sexism on one’s sense of personhood by reinforcing our responsibility to use our God-given gifts in formulating our own identity. Finally, Jean Lane Dimock reviews Beyond Abuse in the Christian Home, a collection of essays edited by Catherine Clark Kroeger, Nancy Nason-Clark, and Barbara Fisher-Townsend.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Editor's Reflections
  by WILLIAM DAVID SPENCER 
• Does God Have Gender?
  by AÍDA BESANÇON SPENCER
• Gender Differences:
  Facts and Myths
  by SUSAN HOWELL  
• Incarcerated Women:
  Theological Reflections on Their Stories
  by MARGARET ENGLISH DE ALMINANA
• Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Depression
  in Adolescent Girls
  by KARA L. KERR  
• Will Boys Be Boys and Girls Be Girls?:
  Correcting Gender Stereotypes Through Ministry with Children
  by DAVID M. CSINOS  
• BOOK REVIEW: Beyond Abuse in the Christian Home
  by JEAN LANE DIMOCK  
• POEM: Today I am a Rebel
  by JENNIFER REYNOLDS