The Promise of the Father

"Phoebe Palmer's Promise of the Father (1859) is a massive defense of women's right to preach. She attributes the long-standing prohibitions against women taking an active role in the leadership of the church to two things: bad exegesis and a distorted and un-Christian view most men had of the opposite sex. She concludes that women, acting in their legitimate sphere, were more likely than men to exhibit true piety. Based on the promise of Joel 2:28, restated by Peter at Pentecost in Acts 2:17-18