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Women of early Christianity by Alfred…
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Women of early Christianity (edition 1976)

by Alfred Brittain, Mitchell Carroll (Joint Author.)

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This is a history of some of the crucial women who played influential roles in Christianity's origins. From the introduction:  "The position of woman has been more influenced by Christianity than by any other religion. This is not because there have not been noble sentiments expressed by non-Christian writers; for among the rabbinical writers, for instance, are many fine sentiments that could have come only from men who clearly perceived the place of woman in an ideal human society. Nor because in Christianity there have not been men whose conception of woman was more suitable to the adherents of those faiths that have regarded her as a thing unclean. But from the very nature of the appeal which Christianity has made to the world, the place of woman in society has been changed. The new faith appealed to all mankind in the name of the humanity which the Son of God had assumed, and consequently it was forced to treat men and women as on a spiritual equality. It was forced by the natural desire for consistency to break down any barriers that might keep one-half of the human race from the full realization of the possibilities of their natures, which were made in the image of God. It is in this relation of Christianity to the world, quite as much as in the sayings and precepts of its Founder and his Apostles, that has been found the ground for the great work of Christianity in raising the position of women in the world."… (more)
Member:Britt84
Title:Women of early Christianity
Authors:Alfred Brittain
Other authors:Mitchell Carroll (Joint Author.)
Info:New York : Gordon Press, 1976.
Collections:Your library, E-Books
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Women of Early Christianity by Alfred Brittain

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It is a bit strange reading this book now; for modern readers it seems very strange and not very scientific.
Brittain describes the role of women in early Christianity. According to him, Christianity affords women a greater measure of equality, but this sounds rather strange because women were far from equal to men at the time when the book was written.
For the first chapters Brittain's main source is the Bible, which he takes as a true account of the life and times of Jesus; though the Bible can give us some information on those times, I don't think any scientist these days would use it as a source in such a way. For later ages he does also use other sources, and it is very interesting to read his study.
However he is also very biased and clearly protestant. He considers Christianity in general a great good for all of mankind and especially for women. He fulminates against the preaching of celibacy that is seen in Catholic faith and also mentions a number of other Catholic practices in a derogatory manner.
All in all it does give some idea of how women are described in the Bible and the roles they played in the early centuries AD, but for current readers the obvious bias of the scientist writing it is strange, and means that we have to be critical when reading this work. ( )
  Britt84 | Aug 15, 2012 |
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This is a history of some of the crucial women who played influential roles in Christianity's origins. From the introduction:  "The position of woman has been more influenced by Christianity than by any other religion. This is not because there have not been noble sentiments expressed by non-Christian writers; for among the rabbinical writers, for instance, are many fine sentiments that could have come only from men who clearly perceived the place of woman in an ideal human society. Nor because in Christianity there have not been men whose conception of woman was more suitable to the adherents of those faiths that have regarded her as a thing unclean. But from the very nature of the appeal which Christianity has made to the world, the place of woman in society has been changed. The new faith appealed to all mankind in the name of the humanity which the Son of God had assumed, and consequently it was forced to treat men and women as on a spiritual equality. It was forced by the natural desire for consistency to break down any barriers that might keep one-half of the human race from the full realization of the possibilities of their natures, which were made in the image of God. It is in this relation of Christianity to the world, quite as much as in the sayings and precepts of its Founder and his Apostles, that has been found the ground for the great work of Christianity in raising the position of women in the world."

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