From cinemas to reality TV, the idea of the princess has never been more popular. The world fell in love with Princess Diana, and now Australia has its own fairytale princess: Princess Mary. Tweens (kids aged between 8 and 13—no longer a kid but not yet a teenager) are riveted by the actor Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted). Disney brings together seven of their female characters and dubs them princesses, with corresponding merchandise for little girls. The media often uses the term to refer to females who have made an impression on our hearts. We have watched as Australia’s Princess of Pop, Kylie Minogue, battled with cancer, and have followed the grief and heartache of Princess Bindy (Bindy Irwin) as she spoke at her father’s funeral. Our interest with the idea of princesses is such a part of our society, when Granada Productions called for women between the ages of 18 and 30 to be groomed for a reality television show called Australian Princess, more than 4,000 women applied.1
However, this fascination with being a princess doesn’t just stop there. Recently, there has been movement towards embracing this idea of princess-hood within the teaching of the Christian church. Christian bookshops have an array of books, resources and merchandise for children and adults alike that have the words “his princess” proudly displayed. Hillsong Church has taken on the language of royalty when presenting their ministry to women. Women are now described as “daughters of the king”, and “warrior princesses”. You may even find that, in your own church, the princess theme is alive and well in the children’s teaching program.
Having now recognized that this is a real issue within our current culture and that it is quickly underpinning our teaching, it is important to explore some of the ideas behind this phenomena. This paper aims at making some suggestions regarding our use of princess themes within our churches, especially when teaching our children. But before we can do this, it would be helpful to look at the following issues: our historical engagement with the idea of princesses; the current immersion of our society with the princess theme—particularly within the church; the Bible passages that are being used to speak into this theme; and, finally, the benefits and dangers of embracing this idea of being “his princesses”.
Historical engagement
Firstly, it is helpful to remember that this love of princesses is not new. Historically, we have been exposed to princesses from an early age. The most common forms of bedtime reading for children have traditionally been fairy tales, myths and legends. Here you are bound to come upon a princess or two—maybe even 12! AS Byatt tells us that “The characters and motifs of fairy tales are simple and archetypal: princesses and goose-girls; youngest sons and gallant princes; … fairy godmothers and other magical helpers; … and prohibitions and breaking of prohibitions.”2 Many mothers and fathers throughout the ages have watched their children as they have pretended to be damsels in distress or princes coming to the rescue. We have delighted in their play, and encouraged them in their imaginations.
It is also interesting to note that fairy tales are not limited to one culture or country. Zipes in his book The Great Fairy Tale Tradition tells us that “Fairy tales with very similar plots, characters, and motifs are found spread across many different cultures”.3 Catherine Orenstein offers two possible explanations for why there are common elements in fairy tales found spread over continents: “One is that a single point of origin generated any given tale, which then spread over the centuries; the other is that such fairy tales stem from common human experience and therefore can appear separately in many different origins.”4 As I think back to my own love of fairy tales, I remember the enjoyment of hearing wrongs being made right—good overcoming evil—and I especially loved that final sentence: “And they lived happily ever after”.
Another aspect of fairy tales is the knowledge that the characters within the story are fictional. As children have engaged with fairy tales throughout the centuries, they have been invited to use their imaginations to enter into new and exciting lands and adventures. Fairy tales are not about “actual places, persons, and events; they take place ‘once upon a time’ rather than in actual times”.5
Lastly, it is helpful to recognize that, originally, adults were the audience of a fairy tale just as often as children.6 In 1812, the Brothers Grimm published their collection of tales entitled Children’s and Household Tales. Jack Zipes tells us that “the first volumes were much criticized because, although they were called ‘Children’s Tales’, they were not regarded as suitable for children, both for the scholarly information included and the subject matter”.7 And so stories were added or subtracted in light of their appropriateness for children: “Many changes through the editions-such as turning the wicked mother of the first edition in Snow White and Hansel and Gretel to a stepmother, were probably made with an eye to such suitability”.8 The link with children has only grown stronger with time so that, in the 19th and 20th centuries, the fairy tale came to be associated with children’s literature.
Immersion
With the advent of cinema came the opportunity to present these stories to a wider audience. The most notable example of this is seen in the work of Disney’s films. Grant and Clute believe that “the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 was a ground-breaking film for fairy tales and, indeed, fantasy in general”.9 Snow White was so successful, it remains the third-highest grossing film of all time within the United States when adjusted for inflation.10
Disney’s influence in producing children’s movies and the ensuing development of merchandising that is now famous with any box office film (especially those aimed at children, the most recent example being Shrek 3) has paved the way for our children to become immersed in the Disney Princess culture of today. There is no end to the possibilities available for our children to live the dream of being a princess—to bring what was once in the imagination into the concrete world. Toys, clothing, foods, books, DVDs, and personalized stories where a child’s name can be inserted as the princess in the story are all part of the marketing strategy to make every little girl’s dream of being a princess a reality.
However, it is not only in the world of the child that we find this strong emphasis on being a princess. The ripple effect continues into the world of adults. Young women feel drawn to the idea of being a princess—as if it is within this title that they can be their true selves. For example, one young woman who applied to be a contestant on Australian Princess said, “I think every woman’s desire is to be the beauty of a story. I guess I believe in myself as a princess in a way. Not royalty and blood, but I know the woman inside of me, and I desire the opportunity to shine.”11
So are we producing a generation of young women who refuse to grow up—who cannot leave the world of their childhood imagination behind—who become caught up in a world of unrealistic expectations where one day they will shine? Or are we only now just discovering who we are meant to be? There are a number of different answers that can be given to these questions.
Some would say that the desire to be the princess or the beauty in a story is to be caught up in “the princess myth”. Alexa Moses uses this term in her article ‘Princess Power’. In it, she gives a definition of this myth:
[A]t the heart of the princess myth lies the notion of transformation. Inside the female, the myth goes, waits a flawless being, gracious and pure … Oh, and physically beautiful, of course. It just takes someone—a fairy godmother, prince or reality television producer—to pare back the soiled layers and scrub off the tarnish, and the true, perfect self is revealed. 12
The tone of Alexa’s words show a degree of cynicism that suggests that we are foolish to think that all this will happen, unless there is some miraculous intervention. But we live in a time where the reality television producer is alive and well, and so to deny that this won’t happen may not be as easy as it was in the past. Commenting on the Australian Princess series, academic and author Dr Catherine Cole of the University of Technology, Sydney, has said, “What once might have been a mythological process, a fairytale or a story that was a metaphor for something has become something that people see as quite real and potentially doable.”13 So we have moved from fairy tales that happened ‘once upon a time’ to fairy tales that are now a reality, even if only for a small few.
Others would argue more strongly that we are right to hold onto the idea of being princesses. In fact, this is meant to be every woman’s reality. The belief is that there are other factors at work responsible for this longing to shine—for this desire to be the beauty of a story. The belief is that, not only is it doable, it is the right way for women to engage with the world.
This belief is held within some of our churches. To assist us in understanding how this thinking has developed, it might helpful to explore one of the influential books that has introduced this thinking. Christian authors John and Stasi Eldredge in their book Captivating have presented a refreshing emphasis on the wonderful, unique creation that is woman. The book engages with stories from Stasi’s life that reveal her disappointments, struggles and sins. It contains a great sense of hope for those who have struggled with similar issues, and affirms that God can and will heal relationships and emotional pain. It is also clear in teaching that God is accessible and knowable.14
John and Stasi also encourage people to explore and embrace the idea of being ‘princesses’. This is demonstrated in their response when asked to summarize the key ideas within their book: Stasi replied,
[E]very woman wants to be romanced; every woman wants to play an irreplaceable role in a heroic adventure, not just to be useful but to be irreplaceable; and every woman longs to have a beauty that’s all her own to unveil, both an external beauty and an internal beauty as well. To be the beauty and to offer beauty.15
Chapter 11 of their book develops this concept into ‘Warrior Princesses’.
John and Stasi support their ideas theologically with the following interpretation of Genesis 2:21-23. They speak of Eve in these terms: “She is the crescendo, the final astonishing work of God … She is the master’s finishing touch … Eve is breathtaking … Given the way creation unfolds, how it builds to ever higher and higher works of art, can there be any doubt that she is the crown of creation?”16
To aid the reader in personalizing this, the authors suggest taking in a beautiful scene and declaring, “The whole, vast world is incomplete without me. Creation reached its zenith in me.”17 This description is impressive. But it is a flawed and dangerous message. It gives an inflated view of women and a lower image of God. It is essential, at this point, to make sure that we have a true understanding of Genesis 2:22: woman is made to be a helper, not to be proclaimed as “the crown of creation”. She has been made from one of Adam’s ribs (Gen 2:23) and, together with Adam, is given dominion over the created world with the responsibility of ruling under God. There is no suggestion in Genesis 1or 2 that we rule as princes and princesses. There is also no reason for me to believe that, as a woman, “Creation reached its zenith in me”. It is misleading for John and Stasi to interpret these verses in this way. God’s purpose in creating the whole world and its people is to bring glory to himself.18 If we think that we’re created as the pinnacle of creation, we will end up misconstruing the purpose of the whole exercise. It was not to create woman!
Donna Thoennes, in her review of Captivating, helpfully reminds us of what our true response to God should be:
It may be tempting to empathize with this attempt to build a woman’s self-esteem, but the sins of pride and self-centredness are only encouraged with this declaration. A more appropriate response would be to praise God rather than self after gazing upon his handiwork. Such instances should humble us as we realize God’s goodness in choosing us and bestowing his grace upon us, not because his creation was lacking, but because he is good.19
These words are helpful because they remind us that it is God who is to be “praised and lifted up”, not ourselves.
John and Stasi connect with the idea of princess not only in the language they use, but also in this story that Stasi shares about her inner longings to be like the Russian princess Anastasia: “For a reason I could not explain, I felt a kinship with this mysterious princess … something deep in my heart whispered that I, too, was more than met the eye … My heart quickened at the thought of being a women who was a true princess.”20 The implication is that Stasi has stumbled upon a truth—that, in fact, she is a princess. We feel invited to ask that question of ourselves. It is then natural to throw in other images such as ‘daughter of the king’ and ‘royal priesthood’, and it is not long before it seems right to come to the conclusion that this is truly what women are meant to be.
Again, I have a problem with the way that the authors use Stasi’s experience to give credence to their theology. This is not the way to go about discerning God’s truth. Our theology must stem first from the word of God, and then flow into our experiences.
Bible passages
So what does the Bible have to say about being “his princess”? When I looked up the word ‘princess’ in theological dictionaries and concordances, I was surprised and even a little disappointed to find that it wasn’t there. I think I might have been hoping that John and Stasi had simply not chosen the right passage to make their point. It seems that, unconsciously, I too had embraced the theology of being a princess, and wanted to find evidence to support this. In response to my second search for ‘daughters of the king’, there were references in the Old Testament to Michal, the daughter of King Saul, being given as a reward to David (1 Sam 18:27); Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram rescuing Joash from being killed (2 Kgs 11:2; 2 Chron 22:11); and daughters of kings being among your honoured women (Ps 45:9). But none of these support the question under discussion. The only other time that the term ‘princess’ has come up in my research is in reference to the meaning of the name ‘Sarah’.21
So why is it that the term ‘princess’ has become so important in our current thinking? My guess is that it stems from our fallen nature and what seems to be our never-ending search for self worth. I wonder if our promotion of self-esteem has fed into our desire to be something more? It is worth considering in light of these comments in a recent Sun Herald article speaking about today’s young adults:
The overpraised generation is turning out to be rather unattractive … An analysis of responses from 16,000 university students found two-thirds scored above average on a rating for narcissism, which is characterized by excessive self-admiration, vanity and a sense of entitlement.22
Taking this type of findings into consideration, it is essential to keep the truth of God’s word as our reference for engaging with the concept of princess. However, before moving onto further theological discussion, I feel it is necessary to challenge one other idea that is presented in Captivating.
The Eldredges introduce the concept of beauty. Their understanding is that “Beauty is the essence of woman”.23 If you are not sure what this means, John and Stasi go to great efforts to help us understand: “[W]e want to be perfectly clear that we mean both a physical beauty and a soulful/spiritual beauty. The one depends upon and flows out of the other.”24
Personally, I find this to be of great concern. Firstly, it is theologically incorrect. I cannot reconcile this thinking with passages from the Bible that tell us clearly where our beauty is to be found, for example, “ Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Pet 3:3-4) and “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, / but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Prov 31:30). Woman is not the essence of beauty; it is the work of Christ within us that causes God’s beauty to have an outworking in our lives.
Secondly, I am concerned about the Eldredge’s view because it reinforces the message that is already strongly supported within our society—a message which exalts external beauty, and feeds one’s desire to be the centre of attention, worthy of pampering. The producers of Australian Princess state clearly that their contestants will be “preened, pampered and polished to within an inch of their lives as they learn how to walk, talk and act like proper ladies.”25 We need to teach against this thinking, and we should work hard to make sure that this is not an unspoken message within our churches. God’s grace towards us while we were ‘unlovely’ must be kept central to all that we teach (Rom 5:6-8).
Donna Thoennes contemplates this idea of women being the essence of beauty, and her response is worth noting:
The idea may appear encouraging at first glance, but a woman’s essence is not really beauty. Rather, her essence, or the central core of her being that gives her immense worth, is the very image of God in her … true security lies in the truth that we are loved in Christ whether we look or act lovely or choose to unveil our beauty … God sets his affection on us through Christ; He is the Initiator not the Responder in our loving relationship.26
We are made in the image of God, and our security rests in Jesus and his saving work. This needs to be presented in contrast to that of the Eldredges’ and society’s expectations of beauty. We must be sure to direct women who are searching to understand who they are and who may be confused about their sense of worth to the Bible. The Bible’s clear and strong message is that our worth is found in Christ who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace (2 Tim 1:9, Rom 5:1, Eph1:5, 2:6, 10, 13, Phil 3:20, 1 Pet 1:2-3)! Our true sense of worth is found in our saving relationship with Jesus.
Although we may not support the theological teachings of the Eldredges and similar writers,27 it would be naive not to recognize that their thoughts are being embraced by large numbers of Christian women all over the world—particularly within Sydney. Over 16,000 gathered together on the 16 March 2007 for the opening night of the Hillsong annual Colour Your World Women’s Conference. Alongside the teaching program, the strong message was that women are “daughters of the king—princess warriors”.28 So it is important to look at what the Bible has to say so that we can evaluate this concept and any role that it currently has in teaching children.
There are a number of biblical images that are connected with this theme. The three images that are most commonly referred to when discussion arises are ‘God is king’, ‘We are his children’ and ‘we are a royal priesthood’.
God is king
Firstly, God is king:
In the Old Testament, the tabernacle (Ex25-40) and the temple (1 Kings 5-7; 2 Chron. 2-4) were images or shadows of God’s throne room in heaven (Ex 25:40; Heb. 8:5-6; 9:1-14) … We may start with the core idea of God’s kingship, represented by his throne. God, as the great King, rules over the whole universe, assisted by a surrounding court of heavenly beings (angels).29
Placed alongside this are the beautiful descriptions painted for us in Isaiah 6:1-5, Psalm 29 and Revelation 4-5 which give us a rich picture of the majesty, power and dominion of God as king: “God’s appearance far surpasses the splendour of any earthly king’s court. The precious stones display his wealth, his beauty, his glory.”30 As king, God rules: “God has absolute mastery, ownership, and control over what he has created”.31 We can find comfort in this knowledge and purpose: “Our primary job in heaven, like that of every other created being in heaven, is to worship God. In the present life, worship that focus on God’s worthiness—both his character (4:8) and deeds (4:11; 5:9cf both in Ps. 150:2)—is our nearest foretaste of heaven.”32 It is good to be reminded of this as we consider our interest in being “his princesses”. Is it to bring glory to him, or is it to receive glory for ourselves?
We are his children
God is king; we are his children. We are confident of this because God’s Spirit himself testifies to it (Rom 8:16,17). But is it right, then, to interchange ‘children’ with ‘princess’? The logic is simple: God is king. I am his daughter, therefore I am a princess. At first glance, it would seem that this is not an unreasonable step to make. But is it the best one for us in our understanding of what it means to be God’s children, especially if he is our king? It seems that being a princess focuses on how the world sees us, whereas being a daughter is at the centre on how our heavenly Father sees us. It seems to me that no king deals with his child as ‘princess’ in preference to ‘daughter’. Focussing on ‘princess’ puts us in danger of emphasizing how the world sees us, rather than how God sees us.
As we look at Romans 8:16-17, it is useful to think about the language used in the preceding verses. The teaching is presented in the descriptive language of family. In verse 12, Paul uses the term ‘brothers’ when encouraging fellow believers to live by the Spirit. In verse 15, he tell us that we cry out to “Abba, Father”. These are not the words that are used to address royalty or sovereignty, but words that express relationship and intimacy. The work of the Spirit in our lives enables us to speak to God in this way. FF Bruce tells us just how intimate that relationship is: “By the power of that same Spirit they can address God confidently and spontaneously as Father … ‘Abba’ was the distinctive word for ‘Father’ that Jesus had used (cf. Mark 14:36)”. 33
How is it possible that we can call God “Abba, Father”? In verse 16, we see that the Spirit testifies that we are his children. We are children who, as co-heirs with Christ, share in his suffering and glory. As co-heirs,
Believers have been brought into a state of safety; but their comfort consists rather in hope than in enjoyment. From this hope they cannot be turned by the vain expectation of finding satisfaction in the things of time and sense. We need patience, our way is rough and long; but He that shall come, will come, though he seems to tarry.34
We cannot share in God’s glory unless we share in his suffering. And there are no shortcuts. However, there is such a wealth of encouragement, beauty and purpose to be found in being God’s child. It is a gift given to us from the will of God (John 1:12,13), and we should not take it for granted or consider it to be of no worth. The Apostle John stated this beautifully when he wrote, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1; NIV)
We are a royal priesthood
The last idea to explore is that of ‘royal priesthood’. 1 Peter 2:9 tells us “ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”. The meaning of the phrase ‘a royal priesthood’ has received various interpretations: “By many they have been considered as equivalent to the declarations in the Apocalypse, that Jesus Christ makes his people ‘kings and priests unto God’ ”.35 Others have considered the expression as indicating the exalted nature of the priesthood to which they are raised, or the noble and dignified temper in which they discharge its functions: “Their priesthood is not a plebeian, but a royal priesthood, as far exalted in dignity above the Levitical priesthood as royalty is above the level of ordinary life”.36
As for me, although I can see merit in both of these interpretations, I’m inclined to look further. The best place to look is when it’s originally used in Exodus 19:6 where God promises this status to all in Israel who keep his covenant: “[Y]ou shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. Here the word ‘kingdom’ is used to express that God’s people are subjects of a sovereign. Jehovah is their king, and all that they do is being done for him. This is the same meaning in 1 Peter. Grudem explains,
Just as believers are a new spiritual race and a new spiritual priesthood, so they are a new spiritual nation which is based now neither on ethnic identity nor geographical boundaries, but rather on allegiance to their heavenly king, Jesus Christ, who is truly king of kings and Lord of lords (Rev.19:16)37
John Brown opens this up for us further: “Christians are not a collection of isolated individuals; they are the body of Christ, and members in particular … And they are not a republic, they are not a self- governing body; they are ‘a kingdom,’ they are the subjects of a sovereign.”38 So it would seem appropriate when using these verses in our discussion that we should think in terms of our being subjects of the king, rather than brothers and sisters of the king.
John Brown links being God’s children and members of a royal priesthood together:
The best way of showing your gratitude is, by acting in a manner corresponding to the high and holy dignity to which you are raised. Conduct yourselves like members of the chosen family, denizens of the priestly kingdom. Be affectionate children; give your father the veneration, the esteem, the love, the confidence, he so well deserves. Be obedient children … And remember that ye are not only children of your father in heaven, but that ye are subjects of your sovereign in heaven.39
We are children of our heavenly father and subjects of the king at the one and same time. We do not need to swap ‘daughter’ for ‘princess’. I recognize that the image of ‘princess’ seems more powerful and hopeful for women who have had absent or abusive fathers, but we shouldn’t underplay the healing power, joy, sense of purpose and worth that comes in the experience of being God’s child. This is the true teaching of God’s word. It is the gospel that makes all of my hopes of “wrongs being made right, good overcoming evil and living happily ever after” a reality.
Benefits and dangers
So what do we want to tell our children about who they are in God’s eyes? Should we use the theme of princess because it taps into their world, or should we leave it behind?
One reason the princess theme is given serious consideration is due to the prolific amount of inexpensive merchandising that can be sourced to support the theme. This is a bonus for those working in children’s ministry as it relieves some of the pressure of preparation. Another reason people have been interested in teaching this theme is the appeal it has to a wide age range of girls. This is helpful for smaller churches who need to combine their groups due to lack of numbers or leaders, and who struggle to think of material that will appeal to a cross-section of girls.
But how much weight should these considerations receive when compared to the difficulties that have been presented? As well as the theological reasons that we have mentioned, there are also a number of practical reasons that speak against using this as a theme for teaching.
The first is its exclusion of boys. It is wise to remember that this theme is best suited to girls. Many churches struggle to make a combined group work, let alone having to separate the children because the teaching theme only appeals to one gender.
The second difficulty is that when people have used this theme, they have often fallen into the trap of teaching a moralistic message rather then a gospel message. For example, “This is what a princess does …” We need to be quick to teach grace rather then works. Children may not be able to discern the difference between doing good works to win God’s favour, and responding to God’s goodness by living for him.
The final difficulty we face is making sure we offer a balance to the messages presented to our children as they live in the postmodern world where it is all about the individual. Our fallen nature desires autonomy, and the Bible tells us that even our own hearts deceive us (Jer 17:9). Will we be supporting unwittingly the message ‘It’s all about me’? “I’m to be treated as a princess”, in today’s terms, means being looked after and pampered. These are significant problems that must be taken into account.
Now add to this the difficulty of dealing with the prior learning that girls have about princesses due to their immersion in an unhelpful princess culture. We need to be careful not to feed the images that are already strongly owned by those who have been exposed to Disney Princesses on a daily basis.
To conclude, I think that it is only fair to admit that I have struggled within myself as I have grappled with this paper. I have been challenged to hold less tightly to being “his princess”, and to capture more fully that I am God’s child, a member of his family and subject to him as king. I personally have found it surprising to see how much the current culture has developed my thinking and directed my actions. I have carried my copy of Captivating, empathizing with Stasi and the stories of others. I have encouraged young women to embrace and enjoy the knowledge that they are “his princesses”, especially to those who have struggled in their relationship with their fathers. And I have found comfort in the image of being God’s princess as I have entered his throne room in prayer, asking him to make wrongs right, to be sovereign, to rule over evil and to equip me for the good things he has prepared for me to do. And alongside this, I have fallen victim to the message of the world. I recognize that my idea of being his princess has been tainted with moments of self-interest, vanity and the desire to be pampered. I too have also longed for moments to shine at the cost of being obedient and ready to serve my God and king.
I find it interesting that we entitled the paper ‘Look at me! I’m a princess!’. It was chosen because it is a delightful statement from the lips of a child as they innocently enjoy the world of their imagination and play. Now I feel that, at the same time, it has a sense of irony as it serves as an appropriate reminder of the danger we face in wanting others to look at us, rather then Christ. It is likely that I will continue to struggle in embracing who I truly am in Christ, but I look forward to when I am in heaven—when I shall receive the real crown that is being held for me there (Rev 2:10)!
Bibliography
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Bruce, FF, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, Eerdmans, 1977.
Clowney, Edmund P, The message of 1 Peter, The Bible Speaks Today, Inter-Varsity Press 1997.
Eldredge, John and Stasi, Captivating, Nelson Books, 2005.
Grant, John and Clute, ‘Cinema’, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, St. Martin’s, 1997.
Grudem, Wayne, 1 Peter, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Inter-Varsity Press 1997.
Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?b=45&c=8&com=mhc.
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Horin, Adele, ‘Hard work beats self-love’, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 21, 2007: http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/hard-work-beats-selflove/2007/07/20/118456003861.
Kam, Rose Sallberg, Their Stories, Our Stories, Women of the Bible, Continuum New York, 1995.
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Moses, Alexa, ‘Princess power’,The Sydney Morning Herald, August 6, 2005.
Orenstein, Catherine, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, New York: Basic Books, 2002.
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Polythress, Vern S, The Returning King, P&R Publishing, 2000.
Sheahen, Laura, ‘“There’s Something Fierce in the Heart of a Woman”: John and Stasi Eldredge, co-authors of Captivating, explain what women want’. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/174/story_17410_1.html.
Thoennes, Donna, ‘Who’s Captivating Whom? A Review of John and Stasi Eldredge’s Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul’, 2005. Accessed online 10 March 2006: http://theresurgence.com/donna_thoennes_2005_whos_captivating_whom_book_review.
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Endnotes
1 http://www.granadaproductions.com.au/austprincess.html.
2 AS Byatt, “Introduction”, Maria Tatar (ed), The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p. 18.
3 Jack Zipes, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm, p. 845.
4 Catherine Orenstein, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, Basic Books, 2002, pp. 77-78.
5 Orenstein, p. 9.
6 Jack Zipes, When Dreams Came True: Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition, Routledge, 1999, p. 1.
7 Jack Zipes, The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988, Palgrave MacMillan, 2002.
8 Ruth Michaelis-Jena, The Brothers Grimm, Routhledge & Kegan Paul, 1970. p 9.
9 John Grant and John Clute, ‘Cinema’, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, St Martin’s, 1997, p. 196.
10 Box Office Mojo, ‘All-Time Box Office: Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation’. Accesed 8 September, 2006: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm.
11 Alexa Moses, ‘Princess power’, The Sydney Morning Herald, August 6, 2005.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Donna Thoennes, ‘Who’s Captivating Whom? A Review of John and Stasi Eldredge’s Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul’, 2005. Accessed online 10 March 2006: http://theresurgence.com/donna_thoennes_2005_whos_captivating_whom_book_review
15 Laura Sheahen, ‘“There’s Something Fierce in the Heart of a Woman”: John and Stasi Eldredge, co-authors of Captivating, explain what women want’. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/174/story_17410_1.html.
16 John and Stasi Eldredge, Captivating, Nelson Books, 2005, p 25.
17 Ibid.
18 John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad, Baker, 1993.
19 Donna Thoennes, ‘Who’s Captivating Whom? A Review of John and Stasi Eldredge’s Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul’.
20 John and Stasi Eldredge, Captivating, p. 21.
21 Rose Sallberg & Kan, Their Stories, Our Stories, Continuum Publishing, 1995, p. 33.
22 Adele Horin, ‘Hard work beats self-love’, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 21, 2007.
23 John and Stasi Eldredge, Captivating, p. 36.
24 Ibid.
25 http://www.granadaproductions.com.au/austprincess.html.
26 Donna Thoennes, ‘Who’s Captivating Whom? A Review of John and Stasi Eldredge’s Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul’.
27 For example, Holly Wagner, God Chicks, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.
28 http://www2.hillsong.com/media/default.asp?pid=1387.
29 Vern S Polythress, The Returning King, P&R Publishing, 2000, pp. 98, 101.
30 Ibid, p. 100.
31 Ibid, p. 107.
32 Craig S Keener, The NIV Application Commentary, Zondervan, 2000, p. 180.
33 FF Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, Eerdmans, 1977, Chapter 19.
34 Matthew Henry, Romans 8: 10-17, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?b=45&c=8&com=mhc.
35 John Brown, 1 Peter, Geneva Series of Commentaries, Banner of Truth Trust, 1980, p. 262.
36 Ibid.
37 Wayne Grudem, New Testament Commentaries 1 Peter, p. 111.
38 John Brown, 1 Peter, p. 264.
39 Ibid, pp. 266-267.
