Early Christian Women and Pagan Opinion: The Power of the Hysterical Woman

by Margaret Y. MacDonald

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521561744
• ISBN13: 9780521561747
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

New Insights into the women of early Christianity

MacDonald'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.