A Women S History Of The Christian Church

Tracing two thousand years of female leadership, influence, and participation, Elizabeth Gillan Muir examines the various positions women have filled in the church. From the earliest female apostle, and the little known stories of the two Marys - the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene - to the enlightened duties espoused by the nun, the abbess, and the anchorite, and the persecutions of female "witches," Muir uncovers the rich and often tumultuous relationship between women and Christianity. Offering broad coverage of both the Catholic and Protestant traditions and extending geographically well beyond North America, A Women's History of the Christian Church presents a chronological account of how women developed new sects and new churches, such as the Quakers and Christian Science. The book includes a timeline of women in Christian history, over 25 black-and-white illustrations, a glossary, and a list of primary and secondary sources to complement the content in each chapter.

Women have been central to the work of Christian ministry from the time of Jesus to the twenty-first century. Yet the story of Christianity is too often told as a story of men. This accessibly written book tells the story of women throughout church history, demonstrating their integral participation in the church's mission. It highlights the legacies of a wide variety of women, showing how they have overcome obstacles to their ministries and have transformed cultural constraints to spread the gospel and build the church.

From commoner to queen, the women in this book embraced the freedom and the power of the Gospel in making their unique contributions to the unfolding of history. Wherever possible, the women here speak for themselves, from their letters, diaries or published works. The true story of women in Christian history inspires, challenges and demonstrates the grace of God producing much fruit throughout time.

The status of women in the church is one of the most hotly debated issues of our time. Some Protestant churches have either abandoned or radically modified their interpretations of Biblical passages to allow women to take leadership roles and to accommodate social change; for others, the Old and New Testament passages forbid women to take leadership roles, even though equality between the sexes was taught by Jesus Christ and demonstrated in the early Christian community. The current fervor concerning women in the church is examined in this book, which also traces the status of women through 2,000 years of church history. Chapters are devoted to women in the life and ministry of Jesus, women in the earliest Christian community, solutions to transitional problems, the church's reversion to patriarchal models, Alexander Campbell and the American Restoration Movement in the 19th century, the antislavery movement and modern feminism, and the differing stances taken by churches concerning women in leadership roles.

Radiant records the triumph of the gospel as Christian women faced kings and governors, soldiers and wild beasts, Japanese guards and Muslim raiders, fire, exile, Nazis, cannibals, riots, and more. "Look to heaven and forsake the world" has been their cry for two thousand years, and in Christ these women became invincible. From South America to Europe, from China to Africa to the Wild West, in prisons and in throne rooms, the Christian heroines of Radiant have left a stunning legacy. These short and moving biographies for young people introduce fifty often unfamiliar champions of the faith: women like Ida Kahn, who opened the first hospital in a Chinese city of 300,000 people; Lady Anne Hamilton, who rode with the Covenanter cavalry at the decisive Battle of Berwick; and Anngrace Taban, who was forced to type secret battle plans for the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Christian Women and Modern China presents a social history of women pioneers in Chinese Protestantism from the 1880s to the 2010s. The author interrupts a hegemonic framework of historical narratives by exploring formal institutions and rules as well as social networks and social norms that shape the lived experiences of women. This book achieves a more nuanced understanding about the interplays of Christianity, gender, power and modern Chinese history. It reintroduces Chinese Christian women pioneers not only to women’s history and the history of Chinese Christianity, but also to the history of global Christian mission and the global history of many modern professions, such as medicine, education, literature, music, charity, journalism, and literature.

This engaging book is about how women have fared in the Christian Church. Church history is about men, historians hardly mention women, as a gender or as individuals; it is as if they were invisible.This book looks at women's position in the early church, where they were accepted, and at how they were restricted as Christianity became a state religion.It describes some of the gifted women who lived in the Roman Empire, during the so-called dark ages, under the misogyny of the early medieval Church and during the Reformation and Enlightemment. It covers the outstanding women in recent centuries who were involved in creating a more just and compassionate society; spreading the Gospel across the world; and seeking to increase women's rights and opportunities in their own and other cultures.Finally it brings the story up to date and describes recent changes that have brought opportunities that women in the past could not have hoped for or even imagined.

Madigan and Osiek assemble relevant material from both Western and Eastern Christendom.--Robin Jensen, Vanderbilt University Divinity School, author of Face to Face: The Portrait of the Divine in Early Christianity "Catholic Historical Review"