ROMAN WIVES, ROMAN WIDOWS by Bruce W. Winter ( 9780802849717 )

Item Details

Title:

ROMAN WIVES, ROMAN WIDOWS
THE APPEARANCE OF NEW WOMEN AND THE PAULINE COMMUNITES

By:

Format:

Paperback

List price:	£14.00
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ISBN 10:

0802849717

ISBN 13:

9780802849717

Publisher:

WILLIAM B EERDMANS PUBLISHING CO

Pub. date:

1 November, 2003

Pages:

244

Description:

In this book Bruce Winter explores for the first time the impact of the new women on Christian wives and widows living in the early Pauline communities. Winter shows how changing social mores among women help to explain controversial texts in the New Testament.

Synopsis:

In Roman law you were what you wore. This legal principle became highly significant because, beginning in the first century A.D., a "new" kind of woman emerged across the Roman empire - a woman whose provocative dress and sometimes promiscuous lifestyle contrasted starkly with the decorum of the traditional married woman. What a woman chose to wear came to identify her as either "new" or "modest." Augustus legislated against the "new" woman. Philosophical schools encouraged their followers to avoid embracing her way of life. And, as this fascinating book demonstrates for the first time, the presence of the "new" woman was also felt in the early church, where Christian wives and widows were exhorted to emulate neither her dress code nor her conduct. Using his extensive knowledge both of the Graeco-Roman world and of the New Testament writings, Bruce Winter shows how changing social mores among women impacted the Pauline communities.This helps to explain the controversial texts on marriage veils in 1 Corinthians, instructions in 1 Timothy regarding dress code and the activities of young widows, and exhortations in Titus for older women to call new wives "back to their senses" regarding their marriage and family responsibilities.Based on a close investigation of neglected literary and archaeological evidence, Roman Wives, Roman Widows makes groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of first-century women, including their participation in public life as lawyers, magistrates, and political figures, which in turn affected women's ministry in the Pauline communities.

Illustrations:

black & white illustrations

Publication:

Imprint:

William B Eerdmans Publishing Co

Returns:

Non-returnable

Some other items by this author:

AFTER PAUL LEFT CORINTH (PB)

ONE GOD, ONE LORD IN A WORLD OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM (PB)

PHILO AND PAUL AMONG THE SOPHISTS (PB)

SEEK THE WELFARE OF THE CITY (PB)