Overview

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.

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9780190237585

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Reviews

Susan Hylen's new book is not another study of the literary portraits of New Testament women, but rather an in-depth exploration of the social world in which these real women lived and these literary figures are portrayed. It lays out methods and interpretive problems, presents evidence, and walks the reader through the conflicting ideals and reports that come to us from that world. An excellent resource for the interested general reader. --Carolyn Osiek, Professor Emerita, Brite Divinity School

Susan Hylen's new book is not another study of the literary portraits of New Testament women, but rather an in-depth exploration of the social world in which these real women lived and these literary figures are portrayed. It lays out methods and interpretive problems, presents evidence, and walks the reader through the conflicting ideals and reports that come to us from that world. An excellent resource for the interested general reader. * Carolyn Osiek, Professor Emerita, Brite Divinity School *

Author Information

Susan E. Hylen is Associate Professor of New Testament at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. She is the author of four books, including A Modest Apostle: Thecla and the History of Women in the Early Church.

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