Women and Christianity Vol. 1 : The First Thousand Years

by Malone, Mary T.

• ISBN13: 9781570753664
• ISBN10: 1570753660
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Orbis Books

Summary

Women have enriched and enabled Christianity for more than 2,000 years. In this, the first of three path-breaking volumes, theologian Mary T. Malone situates Christian women in their time and context, thus creating a continuous historical narrative rather than simply a series of vignettes. She uses women's writings and voices as primary sources on almost every page. All women, Christian or otherwise, who seek an understanding of their past will value this unprecedented, comprehensive history of Christian women and their contributions, not only to faith but to civilization.

Author Biography

Mary T. Malone recently retired from St. Jerome's University and the University of Waterloo where she served as chair of the Graduate Department of Religious Studies from 1994-1996 and also on the faculty of the department of history.

Table of Contents

Dateline	7	(6)
Introduction	13	(4)
PART ONE: NEW TESTAMENT TIMES (FIRST CENTURY)
Reading Women into History	17	(26)
The Women Disciples	43	(21)
Early Christian Women	64	(22)
Women in Apocryphal and Gnostic Literature	86	(16)
PART TWO: APPROACHING THE `GOLDEN AGE' (SECOND TO FIFTH CENTURIES)
Women Martyrs	102	(15)
Deaconesses, Widows, and Virgins	117	(27)
The Life of Virginity	144	(28)
PART THREE: INTO THE DARK AGES (SIXTH TO TENTH CENTURIES)
The Abbesses	172	(26)
Women as Monastic Missionaries	198	(29)
The Point of the Story: Joan and Hroswitha	227	(17)
Conclusion	244	(4)
Select Bibliography	248	(8)
Primary Sources	256	(2)
Notes	258	(15)
Index of People and Places	273