This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting upon Women and Gender in Early Christianity. This post reflects on Morwenna Ludlow’s “Useful and Beautiful: A Reading of Gregory of Nyssa’s On Virginity and a Proposal for Understanding Early Christian Literature”,[1] which argues that Gregory defends both marriage and virginity through employment of artful andContinue reading “Marriage, Virginity, and Rhetoric for Gregory of Nyssa”
Tag Archives: Gender
Montantism and the Authority of (Female) Confessor-Martyrs
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting upon Women and Gender in Early Christianity. In “The Role of Martyrdom and Persecution in Developing the Priestly Authority of Women in Early Christianity: A Case Study in Montanism,”[1] Frederick Klawiter contends that from its beginnings Montanism enabled women to rise to ministerial status through theirContinue reading “Montantism and the Authority of (Female) Confessor-Martyrs”
Gnosticism, Women, and Elaine Pagels
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting upon Women and Gender in Early Christianity. For today’s reflection, I outline and reflect on Elaine Pagels’ “What Became of God as Mother? Conflicting Images of God in Early Christianity.”[1] In so doing I argue that while Pagels’ approach to the question of the divine feminineContinue reading “Gnosticism, Women, and Elaine Pagels”
The Acts of Paul and Pastoral Epistles
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting upon Women and Gender in Early Christianity. In his article “I Permit No Woman to Teach Except for Thecla: The Curious Case of the Pastoral Epistles and the Acts of Paul Reconsidered” (Novum Testamentum 54 (2012): 176-203), Matthijs den Dulk offers a reanalysis of the relationshipContinue reading “The Acts of Paul and Pastoral Epistles”
Pheobe the Deacon
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting upon Women and Gender in Early Christianity. Pheobe the διάκονος: Reflections on a Program for Assessing Deaconesses in EC In the article “Deacons, Deaconesses, and Denominational Discussions,”[1] Clarence Agan III tackles the often controversial topic of NT women’s service is diaconal roles, employing Paul’s reference toContinue reading “Pheobe the Deacon”
A Feminist Introduction to Paul
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting upon Women and Gender in Early Christianity. In her A Feminist Introduction to Paul (St. Louis: Chalice, 2005. 159 pp.), Sandra Hack Polaski outlines some of the major feminist concerns with the Apostle Paul and his writings. Methodologically, Polaski advocates a “transformative” reading of Paul whichContinue reading “A Feminist Introduction to Paul”
Women in the Greco-Roman Context
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting upon Women and Gender in Early Christianity. One particular problem for establishing an adequate understanding of the Greco-Roman world constitutes the paucity of source materials and then, of course, the difficulties of interpreting that source material. This is especially true with regard to source material specificallyContinue reading “Women in the Greco-Roman Context”
Reflections on Method, Women, and Early Christianity
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be running a series of reflections stemming from a doctoral seminar on Women and Gender in Early Christianity, taught at Saint Louis University by Carolyn Osiek. These posts will proceed in (more or less) chronological order, beginning with today’s reflections on methodology. Introducing a “special edition” of Method andContinue reading “Reflections on Method, Women, and Early Christianity”
The Ethics of 1 Corinthians 11
Since its beginnings, the Christian tradition has been interested in the ethical and social concerns of its adherents and the wider world. In recent decades, questions concerning the role of women within the Church have fostered much discussion, academic and otherwise. Speaking broadly, conservative interpreters of the New Testament have affirmed an understanding of “BiblicalContinue reading “The Ethics of 1 Corinthians 11”
Pursuing Veritas 