Women in the World of the Earliest Christians: Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)The focus of this book is made clear by a careful reading of the title: This is a book about in the world of the earliest Christians and not a survey of references to in early Christian texts. Distinguishing her work from previous studies on in the Gospels or the Pauline Churches, Lynn H. Cohick describes her volume as a prolegomena to the study of New Testament women (24). She is especially interested in the story of the average woman recovered through detailed analysis of pagan and Jewish sources mainly from the time of Alexander the Great's conquests to the turn of the first century C.E. New Testament texts are considered at various junctures with an emphasis on comparison, but they are not the main focus of this book.The book is deeply and self-consciously a historical study and not a theological one. Cohick is critical of failures to engage in proper interpretation or historical scrutiny in an effort to safeguard canonical authority, but also of extreme skepticism about the ability of texts to reveal significant information about real women's experiences. Her historical approach is amplified by other methods including the use of social-scientific models and literary critique, but she is explicit about using sparingly the hermeneutics of suspicion, the interpretive approach that questions the objectiveness of the author's description (27). From feminist critiques she draws important insights on gender construction, but particularly important, especially in light of many recent studies, is her statement: reject the postmodern conclusion that rhetoric is reality and the attending corollary that is lost behind this veil. Although texts and even inscriptions follow customs of propriety, I maintain that these pieces of information are attached to retrievable history (28).The chapters are organized largely in terms of the following major categories: familial relationships, religions and occupations, and benefaction and patronage. Chapter 1 is focused on a woman's role as daughter in relation to both parents and siblings, but also includes discussion of infanticide, maternal bonds, and inheritance rights and how the marriage of daughters affected the family dynamics more broadly, including social standing. Chapter 2 concentrates on the ideal wife--the Roman matron--who functions as literary trope in ancient literature. Cohick examines the influence of Augustus and his legislation, evidence for what scholars have termed the woman, negative portrayal of wives, and descriptions of the dining and bathing practices of wives. Chapter 3 moves from wife as ideal construct to historical realities. Here we find an examination of how the parameters and responsibilities of wives, and the realities of divorce, remarriage, and concubinage, intersected with other factors such as wealth, citizenship and slavery. Chapter 4 is a particularly helpful chapter, bringing together much new research on motherhood and exploring such topics as childbirth, grief, caring for infants, and children's education.Chapter 5 shifts from family life in the first instance to consider the religious activities of gentile women, ranging from their involvement in the domestic cult, to Vestal Virgins and the cults of the Bona Dea and Dionysus. The chapter also includes discussion of descriptions of female conversion by male writers and of God-fearers--Gentile who were associated with the synagogue, some of whom became attracted to early Christianity. …

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