of the
Earliest Christians
Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life
Lynn H. Cohick
Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cohick, Lynn H.
Women in the world of the earliest Christians: illuminating ancient ways of life / Lynn H. Cohick.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-8010-3172-4 (pbk.)
1. Christian women—Rome—Social life and customs. 2. Jewish women—Rome—Social life and customs. 3. Women—Rome—Social life and customs. I. Title.
BR195.W6C63 2009
274′.01082—dc22
2009029934
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Charles James Cohick
and
Sarah Bloom Cohick
3. Wives and the Realities of Marriage
5. Religious Activities of Gentile Women and God-Fearers
6. Religious Activities and Informal Power of Jewish and Christian Women
9. Benefactors and the Institution of Patronage
Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Writings
Fragment of Claudia’s letter to her friend Lepidina
Roman monument of a girl with a doll
Stele from Smyrna with the inscription: “Thalea [daughter of] Athenagoras”
A married couple represented in a Thessalonican grave stele
A dining scene from a funerary relief
The caldarium in Pompeii’s forum bath
Funerary relief showing the married couple Popillius and Calpurnia
Fragment of the Laudatio Turiae
Funerary relief of a husband and wife
Relief from the sarcophagus of M. Cornelius Statius highlights events in a young boy’s life
|
About Women in the World of the Earliest Christians: Illuminating Ancient Ways of LifeIn Women in the World of the Earliest Christians, Lynn Cohick provides an accurate and full picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents that illuminate their lives. She organizes the book around three major spheres of life: family (daughter, wife, mother, widow), religious community (including both official and unofficial activities), and society in general (work, slavery, prostitution, benefaction). Cohick shows that although women during this period were active at all levels within their religious communities, their influence was not always identified by leadership titles, nor did their gender always determine their level of participation. Women in the World of the Earliest Christians corrects our understanding of early Christian women by offering an authentic and descriptive historical picture of their lives. The book includes black-and-white illustrations from the ancient world. |
| Support Info | wmnworldearly |