Women in the New Testament World (Essentials of Biblical Studies)

Modern Readers Of The New Testament Often Notice Its Varying Ideas About Women. Some Passages Encouraged Women To Be Submissive And Remain Silent. Yet In Others, Women Characters Owned Property, Headed Households, Or Spoke With Approval. Women In The New Testament World Helps Readers Understand This Conflicting Evidence. It Argues That Social Norms Of The Time Encouraged Traditional Feminine Virtues. However, As Susan Hylen Argues, Women In The Culture Enacted These Virtues In A Variety Of Ways, Including Active Leadership In Households, Associations, And Cities. In Contrast To Earlier Approaches That Divided The Evidence Into Groups That Either Allowed Or Forbade Women's Leadership, This Book Points To A Tension That Was Pervasive Across Different Groups And Regions Of The Roman World. Society Widely Viewed Women As Inferior To Men Yet Applauded Their Active Pursuit Of Familial And Civic Interests. Thus, It Was Not The Case That Some Women Led While Others Were Silent; Instead, Women Were Praised For Modesty At The Same Time As They Exerted Influence In Their Communities. Elaborating On This Rich Historical Background, Hylen Illuminates New Possibilities In New Testament Texts. Introduction -- Interpreting Evidence For Women's Lives -- Gendered Virtues -- Marriage, Divorce, And Widowhood -- Class Status, Wealth, And Patronage -- Occupations -- Speech And Silence -- Conclusion. Susan E. Hylen. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Modern readers of the New Testament often notice its varying ideas about women. Some passages encouraged women to be submissive and remain silent. Yet in others, women characters owned property, headed households, or spoke with approval. Women in the New Testament World helps readers understand this conflicting evidence. It argues that social norms of the time encouraged traditional feminine virtues. However, as Susan Hylen argues, women in the culture enacted these virtues in a variety of ways, including active leadership in households, associations, and cities. In contrast to earlier approaches that divided the evidence into groups that either allowed or forbade women's leadership, this book points to a tension that was pervasive across different groups and regions of the Roman world. Society widely viewed women as inferior to men yet applauded their active pursuit of familial and civic interests. Thus, it was not the case that some women led while others were silent; instead, women were praised for modesty at the same time as they exerted influence in their communities. Elaborating on this rich historical background, Hylen illuminates new possibilities in New Testament texts. "This book presents and interprets evidence for women’s lives in the social context of the New Testament. Some of the evidence from this period of Roman history suggests that women’s roles were sharply restricted. Other evidence shows women taking on leadership roles, managing property, and the like. Previous interpreters have often argued that the two kinds of evidence describe different groups or arenas where women’s activity was either forbidden or allowed. However, this book argues that the evidence points to complex gender norms that were sometimes in tension. The culture widely recognized modesty, submission to men, and silence as virtues of women. Yet society also encouraged women to contribute to the economic well-being of their families and to serve as patrons of individuals, groups, and cities. The chapters of the book address the virtues of women, their legal status, wealth, patronage, occupations, and speech. Each chapter explores the way the New Testament writings emerge out of and reflect this complex set of social expectations for women" -- University Press Scholarship Online This text presents and interprets evidence for women's lives in the social context of the New Testament. Some of the evidence from this period of Roman history suggests that women's roles were sharply restricted. Other evidence shows women taking on leadership roles, managing property, and the like. Previous interpreters have often argued that the two kinds of evidence describe different groups or arenas where women's activity was either forbidden or allowed. However, this work argues that the evidence points to complex gender norms that were sometimes in tension Readers of the New Testament notice varying ideas about women. Some women are submissive and silent; others have titles of leaders or speak with approval. In this book, Susan Hylen guides readers through new interpretations of this evidence. She argues that women in the culture enacted feminine virtues in a variety of ways, including active leadership in their communities.