Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength - Paperback

by Kat Armas (Author)

Christianity Today 2022 Book Award Finalist (Christian Living & Discipleship)

Outreach 2022 Recommended Resource (Christian Living)

"[A] powerful debut. . . . This persuasive testament will appeal to Christians interested in the lesser-known women of the Bible."--Publishers Weekly

"Armas expertly weaves her own abuelita's history of personal faith and resistance into each chapter and intersects it with biblical text, creating an approachable work."--Library Journal

What if some of our greatest theologians wouldn't be considered theologians at all?

Kat Armas, a second-generation Cuban American, grew up on the outskirts of Miami's famed Little Havana neighborhood. Her earliest theological formation came from her grandmother, her abuelita, who fled Cuba during the height of political unrest and raised three children alone after her husband passed away. Combining personal storytelling with biblical reflection, Armas shows us how voices on the margins--those often dismissed, isolated, and oppressed because of their gender, socioeconomic status, or lack of education--have more to teach us about following God than we realize.

Abuelita Faith tells the story of unnamed and overlooked theologians in society and in the Bible--mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters--whose survival, strength, resistance, and persistence teach us the true power of faith and love. The author's exploration of abuelita theology will help people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds reflect on the abuelitas in their lives and ministries and on ways they can live out abuelita faith every day.

Back Jacket

Discover the Wisdom of Overlooked Women

Combining personal storytelling with biblical reflection, Cuban American writer Kat Armas tells the story of unnamed and overlooked theologians--mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters--whose sacred wisdom teaches us something unique about spirituality and God.

"Kat Armas masterfully integrates biblical truth with social reality and invites us to consider learning from marginalized voices as a way of growing in the wisdom and knowledge of Christ."
--Sandra Maria Van Opstal, executive director, Chasing Justice

"Armas reminds us that theology can be lived, not just theorized by those with the most social power, and that it's happening precisely in the places where we have been told not to look."
--Hillary L. McBride, psychologist, author, speaker, podcaster

"Armas demonstrates that powerful named and unnamed women, who through the quotidian have affected the outcome of history, fill not only the Bible but also our lives. Let us sit at Armas's feet that we might gain the wisdom we so desperately need to embody abuelita faith ourselves."
--Marlena Graves, author of The Way Up Is Down: Becoming Yourself by Forgetting Yourself

"A tour de force. Armas immediately and boldly draws us into her abuela's magnetic and wise Cuban embrace while opening up an intimate universe of courageous, faith-filled women inside the biblical narrative and beyond."
--Mark Labberton, president, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Armas invites us to the space of the margins--a space full of struggle, failure, bodies, beauty, and the humanity we all desire to see and embrace. This journey will shake us, put us back together again, and make us free."
--Danté Stewart, writer and speaker

"This book will help people undo and heal from generations of patriarchy and envision a faith community that is guided by the wisdom, knowledge, and leadership of women."
--Patrick B. Reyes, award-winning Chicano author of The Purpose Gap and Nobody Cries When We Die

"[A] powerful debut. . . . This persuasive testament will appeal to Christians interested in the lesser-known women of the Bible."
--Publishers Weekly

Author Biography

Kat Armas (MDiv and MAT, Fuller Theological Seminary), a Cuban-American writer and speaker, hosts The Protagonistas podcast, where she highlights stories of everyday women of color, including writers, pastors, church leaders, and theologians. She has written for Christianity Today, Sojourners, Relevant, Christians for Biblical Equality, Fuller Youth Institute, Fathom magazine, and Missio Alliance. Armas speaks regularly at conferences on race and justice and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.