Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 290 pages
- Published by: Cambridge University Press October 28, 1996
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0521567289
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0521567282
-
Book Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
- Weighs: 11.7 ounces
Product Review
"This sensitively written and subtly argues book sheds new light on the position of women in early Christianity by investigating the stereotypes of Christian women purveyed in pagan and early Christian texts through the lens of social-scientific models of gender relations." University of Toronto Quarterly
"Recommended both for the educated reader and the scholar of Christian origins." Sara C. Winter, Religious Studies Review
"This book will be of particular interest to early-Christian scholars working on women and/or on Christianity and pagan culture as well as to scholars studying women and religion." Susan A. Calef, Journal of Religion
"MacDonaldhas raised a very important question in the study of early Christianity, one that should continue to be pursued." Carolyn Osiek, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
"MacDonald has helped us to understand new dimensions of these tensions, and she has done so in a balanced and nuanced way that one can only admire." Peter Richardson, Studies in Relgion
"MacDonald writes a provocative inquiry into the interaction between women in earliest Christianity and the restraints and opportunities afforded them in Greco-Roman society. The volume is marked by informed and carefully applied social and anthropological contructs which bear on an analysis of religions in the first centuries C.E. Original lines of investigations are pursued, and some intriguing conclusions are offered to the reader. This book is a welcome addition to the academic study of religion and to New Testament scholarship in particular. It is cleanly edited, with helpful bibliography and serviceable index." Rollin A. Ramsarin, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"Those interested in women's studies will, of course, welcome this book, but any student of the early Church will learn from it. this is a good book for scholars and lay people alike." Stephen Benko, The Catholic Historical Review
Product Description
A study of how women figured in public reaction to the church from New Testament times to the second century CE. MacDonald shows the conviction of pagan writers that female initiative was central to Christianity's development, and the belief that women inclined toward excesses in religion. Concern in the New Testament and early Christian texts about the respectability of women is seen in a new light when one appreciates that outsiders focused on early church women and their activities as a reflection of the group as a whole.
Reader ReviewsMacDonald's book is wonderful in the way she picks up on clues that had been passed over before. By examining Christian texts and texts that criticized Christianity, we are able to find out what were the concerns of society in the first two centuries in regard to Christian women. She did a wonderful job in using socio-cultural anthropology and careful exegetical examination of the texts. It is a learned book yet easy to read that does not go into any extremes but simply makes an honest assessment of women's contributions in early Christianity. MacDonald's contributions are subtle points but have a great impact on the views and mindset of anyone studying early Christianity.
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