Woman in the World of Jesus (book)
Encyclopedia
Woman in the World of Jesus is a book written by classicist Evelyn Stagg
and renowned Baptist
theologian Dr. Frank Stagg. It was published in 1978 by Westminster Press in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
.
This book explores women's role in the church today by examining what it was like for woman in the world into which Jesus
was born. The authors show how woman was perceived, how she was treated, and how she saw herself.
The book describes:
The three divisions of the book:
The book is written from a Christian
perspective. The basic concern behind the book is to understand the intention of Jesus for woman, in which light the past performance of the church may be tested and directions for the church today may be sought. The authors expressed their intent to make Jesus the heart of the book. Their basic assumption in the book is that the New Testament, in particular the tradition centering in Jesus himself, as revealed in the Synoptic Gospels, remains for Christians their basic and authoritative witness for seeking direction.
The Staggs write that although Jesus founded the church, from the first it has struggled to understand him and to follow him. As examples, they cite Jesus' teaching that "whoever does the will of God is my mother, and my brother, and my sister," and the proclamation that "in Christ there is no male nor female."
In marked contrast, in the early Christian church women were told to wear veils when praying or prophecying and to keep silent in church. In the non-canonical Gnostic Gospel of Thomas
, Peter says to Jesus: "Tell Mary to leave us, "for women are not worthy of life." That book was widely circulated in the early church. Many church fathers began to preach that Jesus had died to rid the world of Adam’s sin. The source of that sin, said the clerics, was Eve. In the third century, the prolific defender of the orthodox church, Tertullian, wrote: "On account of [women]…even the Son of God had to die."
The Staggs believe that the six antitheses ("You have heard it was said...but I say unto you...") of are evidence that Jesus intended to correct his heritage.
in Louisville, Kentucky
. He also taught at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
.
Evelyn Stagg
Evelyn Stagg, née Evelyn Owen , was a trailblazer for Southern Baptist women in ministry. She was an authority on classical studies, which led to her extensive research on the cultural/historical status and treatment of women in the ancient world, and in the world into which Jesus was born. Married...
and renowned Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
theologian Dr. Frank Stagg. It was published in 1978 by Westminster Press in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
.
This book explores women's role in the church today by examining what it was like for woman in the world into which Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
was born. The authors show how woman was perceived, how she was treated, and how she saw herself.
The book describes:
- the status of woman in the world Jesus entered;
- the position of Jesus with respect to women; and
- the status of women in the church as reflected in the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
.
The three divisions of the book:
- Part I describes the Jewish-Greek-Roman world that bears most directly upon the world in which Jesus lived.
- Part II is concerned with Jesus' manner, teaching, and post-resurrection appearances to women.
- Part III investigates perspectives on woman in the writings of Paul, the early Domestic Code embedded in the New Testament, the Synoptic GospelsSynoptic GospelsThe gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...
, the book of Acts of the ApostlesActs of the ApostlesThe Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
, and the writings of the Apostle JohnJohannine literatureJohannine literature is the collection of New Testament works that are attached by tradition to the person of John the Apostle. The collection is usually considered to include:*The Gospel of John*The First Epistle of John*The Second Epistle of John...
.
Overview
The book opens with an in-depth probe of the ancient world to see how woman fared in the eras leading up to the birth of Jesus.The book is written from a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
perspective. The basic concern behind the book is to understand the intention of Jesus for woman, in which light the past performance of the church may be tested and directions for the church today may be sought. The authors expressed their intent to make Jesus the heart of the book. Their basic assumption in the book is that the New Testament, in particular the tradition centering in Jesus himself, as revealed in the Synoptic Gospels, remains for Christians their basic and authoritative witness for seeking direction.
The Staggs write that although Jesus founded the church, from the first it has struggled to understand him and to follow him. As examples, they cite Jesus' teaching that "whoever does the will of God is my mother, and my brother, and my sister," and the proclamation that "in Christ there is no male nor female."
In marked contrast, in the early Christian church women were told to wear veils when praying or prophecying and to keep silent in church. In the non-canonical Gnostic Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library...
, Peter says to Jesus: "Tell Mary to leave us, "for women are not worthy of life." That book was widely circulated in the early church. Many church fathers began to preach that Jesus had died to rid the world of Adam’s sin. The source of that sin, said the clerics, was Eve. In the third century, the prolific defender of the orthodox church, Tertullian, wrote: "On account of [women]…even the Son of God had to die."
The Staggs believe that the six antitheses ("You have heard it was said...but I say unto you...") of are evidence that Jesus intended to correct his heritage.
The authors
Evelyn and Frank Stagg are a husband and wife team who coauthored this book. Dr. Frank Stagg was Senior Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological SeminarySouthern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary , located in Louisville, Kentucky, is the oldest of the six seminaries affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention . The seminary was founded in 1859, at Greenville, South Carolina. After being closed during the Civil War, it moved in 1877 to Louisville...
in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. He also taught at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is a private, non-profit institution of higher learning affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, located in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the first institution created as a direct act of the Southern Baptist Convention. Missions...
.