Women and Spiritual Equality In Christian Tradition [Hardcover]

Patricia Ranft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1998

Women and Spiritual Equality in the Christian Tradition challenges the common assumption in contemporary discourse that Christianity is exclusively misogynist by documenting the presence of a long, strong, and positive tradition based on women’s spiritual equality. In chronological order, references and images of women in church writings and lay culture are explored, as well as the actual lives of women and their vitae. Patricia Ranft shows how the accumulated evidence provides persuasive data that this positive tradition coexisted with the more notorious misogynist tradition. For a millennium and a half, Ranft reveals, Christianity possessed the lone voice in society that posited women’s equality in any aspect. She argues that without knowledge of this tradition, our understanding of the history of Western women is significantly incomplete. Women and Spiritual Equality in the Christian Tradition is the first lengthy study to document such a tradition and it gives long overdue life to the previously muted voices of women’s equality in Western society’s discourse on women. Well-written and engaging, it fills a significant gap in the areas of ecclesiastical and women’s history.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Playing devil's advocate, Ranft (history, Central Michigan Univ.) works to demonstrate how Christian women achieved spiritual equality in a seemingly misogynist tradition. She documents with vigor, hoping to counter "the validity of the assumption that Christianity is at its core misogynist," challenging warnings from historians like Caroline Walker Bynum against inference from scanty evidence with a positivistic, Why not? Heavily weighed toward the early Christian centuries, Ranft's work cites more than it analyzes and for many biblical and feminist scholars will seem to overlook some key passages; the metaphor of the church as the bride of Christ and Mary's Magnificat both miss consideration. Ranft concludes that Christianity borrowed misogyny from its culture instead of inventing it; it's a simple point that takes a long time to come. Recommended for collections in need of depth in women's studies.?Sandra Collins, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Lib.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The research is well done and the book is commendable...recommended as an introduction for students in early and medieval church history..." --Hervormde Teologiese Studies

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 321 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1 edition (June 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312159110
• ISBN-13: 978-0312159115
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,335,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Ranft Has Done it Again!, December 10, 2008

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Mistress of Ravens (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women and Spiritual Equality In Christian Tradition (Paperback)

This book brings into perspective women's positions in medieval and early modern Christian traditions and has aided me in my own studies. I highly recommend it.