Do you think that Jesus only surrounded himself with men? Think again.
Inspired by their popular Channel 4 documentary Jesus’ Female Disciples, historians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor explore the way in which Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha and a whole host of other women – named and unnamed – have been remembered by posterity, noting how many were silenced, tamed or slurred by innuendo – though occasionally they get to slay dragons. Women Remembered looks at the representation of these women in art, and the way they have been remembered in inscriptions and archaeology. And of course they dig into the biblical texts, exposing misogyny and offering alternative and unexpected ways of appreciating these women as disciples, apostles, teachers, messengers and church-founders.
At a time when both the church and society more widely are still grappling with the full inclusion and equality of women, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical and cultural origins of Christianity.
Inspired by their popular Channel 4 documentary Jesus’ Female Disciples, historians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor explore the way in which Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha and a whole host of other women – named and unnamed – have been remembered by posterity, noting how many were silenced, tamed or slurred by innuendo – though occasionally they get to slay dragons. Women Remembered looks at the representation of these women in art, and the way they have been remembered in inscriptions and archaeology. And of course they dig into the biblical texts, exposing misogyny and offering alternative and unexpected ways of appreciating these women as disciples, apostles, teachers, messengers and church-founders.
At a time when both the church and society more widely are still grappling with the full inclusion and equality of women, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical and cultural origins of Christianity.
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Reviews
It's empowering, inspiring and important to learn about the key roles women played in early Christianity, which sadly almost disappeared from historical records, as men took control of the church.
Another argument made to good effect by the likeable authors, in this accessible and pleasurable addition to the largely impenetrable academic literature on the subject, is that the gospels as they appear in our Bibles were subject to heavy tweaking and editing over the century or two after they were written until a definitive version was agreed
This book nowhere seems to step beyond the limits of what can be demonstrated by actual history and real evidence.. a book which can be read with the hope of learning what is really thought today by the vanguard of scholarship... a continually interesting book.
As Joan Taylor and Helen Bond explore in their new book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples, there is plenty of evidence that women were not only involved in Jesus' movement, but were integral to it.
The authors piece together the evidence that has survived about the named and unnamed women. The demonstrate the richness and range of female activity in the first-century churches... readable and engaging, opening up the complex and fluid state of women in the Early Church.
Having excavated biblical texts, they expose deep-rooted misogyny and offer alternative accounts of women as apostles, teachers, messengers, and church founders.
Drawing on fifty years of feminist scholarship, they now expand the story to include most of the women mentioned in Christian scripture. Importantly, they show that the movement that came to be called Christianity was fluid and unstable for its first three centuries, attracting a diversity of women whose leadership was excluded as roles became formalized.
Having excavated biblical texts, they expose deep-rooted misogyny and offer alternative accounts of women as apostles, teachers, messengers, and church founders.
The authors piece together the evidence that has survived about the named and unnamed women. They demonstrate the richness and range of female activity in the first-century churches... readable and engaging, opening up the complex and fluid state of women in the Early Church
This book nowhere seems to step beyond the limits of what can be demonstrated by actual history and real evidence, some of it of very recent discovery by scholars around the world, and much of it quite unknown to many of us in the pews... a book which can be read with the hope of learning what is really thought today by the vanguard of scholarship...They show what women were said to have done or must have done, and what an equal role they played in the early days of the new faith. Of course we know that in our heart of hearts, for we can see in our churches every week from the role of parish administrator down to altar girls ...This is a continually interesting book, full of (to me) new information.'
there is plenty of evidence that women were not only involved in Jesus' movement, but were integral to it.