Women and Redemption: A Theological History (New Vectors in the Study of Religion and Theology) [Paperback]

Rosemary Radford Ruether (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998 | Series: New Vectors in the Study of Religion and Theology

Rosemary Radford Ruether's authoritative, award-winning critique of women's unequal standing in the church, which explored the complex history of redemption in evaluating conflict over the fundamental meaning of the Christian gospel for gender relations, is now in an updated and expanded edition. Ruether highlights women theologians' work to challenge the patriarchal paradigm of historical theology and to present redemption linked to the liberation of women. Ruether turns her attention to the situation of women globally and how the growing plurality of women's voices from multicultural and multireligious contexts articulates feminist liberation theology today.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Women and Redemption will take readers of Carol Lee Flinders's delightful Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics to the next level. Ruether, the author of the classic text of feminist theology Sexism and God-Talk, here systematically explores questions of gender and redemption chronologically from the time of the New Testament right up to current feminist thinkers (appropriately enough including herself). From Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa to the great medieval women mystics (Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Mechthild of Magdeburg); from Calvin and Luther to the Quakers, Shakers, and abolitionists of the 19th century, concluding with feminist theologies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, Ruether succinctly explores her thesis: that while in the early years of the Church a number of paradigms were offered, by the fourth century belief in equality between men and women had been eliminated--or relegated to a genderless afterlife.

Fairly argued and balanced, and written in Ruether's clear, personal style, this book is an immensely useful overview. It will give almost any open-minded reader a superb introduction to more than a dozen crucial writers even as it explores the long, unfolding saga of the place of women and equality in the redemption story. --Doug Thorpe

About the Author

Rosemary Radford Ruether is Visiting Scholar at the Claremont Graduate University and School of Theology. She is the author of numerous influential works in feminist theology and the history of theology and the editor of many others. Her recent works with Fortress Press include the edited volume Feminist Theologies: Legacy and Prospect (2007) and Many Forms of Madness: A Family's Struggle with Mental Illness and the Mental Health System (2010). --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 366 pages
• Publisher: Fortress Pr (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800629450
• ISBN-13: 978-0800629458
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,179,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Thousand Years of Women in Christianity, December 10, 1999

By 

H. Adiele (Wasington State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women and Redemption Cloth (Hardcover)

Rosemary Radford Ruether's WOMEN AND REDEMPTION, A THEOLOGICAL HISTORY is a gem. Don't be put off by the stuffy title or the author's theology professor background. This introductory survey is clearly organized, readable, and thoroughly engaging. Rather than overwhelming the lay reader, Ruether selects just enough details and examples to illuminate the main points of her narrative. Using representative thinkers (male and female) from the last two millenia, Ruether illustrates both the development of Christian views of women over time and the range of views in each era. In the first two chapters, she covers the early church from the various Jesus movements to the establishment Christianity of the fourth century. Chapters three through five follow the story from medieval Europe through the Reformation to 19th century American Shakers and feminist abolitionists. The last three chapters sample comtemporary feminist theology in Europe, North America, and the Third World. Throughout the book, general issues are balanced with close-ups of individual thinkers. This personal emphasis helps to balance occasional stretches of abstraction, anchoring the book to the real world. WOMEN AND REDEMPTION is an excellent introduction to the study of women's role in Christianity, one written with great clarity and a consistent (but never strident) feminist point of view. Ruether's presentation of various points of view is scrupulously fair and even-handed, and her attempt to make her subject accessible to the general reader while maintaining a high intellectual standard is totally successful. I strongly recommend WOMEN AND REDEMPTION to anyone interested in the topic of women in Christianity, but especially to women--whether they believe the Christian Church is a suitable home for a feminist or the opposite. Both groups of readers will find food for thought in this well-written book.