This book is a study of the contribution of women to the development of the newly legitimate Christian church in the twilight of the Western Roman Empire. There are many women noted for the example of their life in this period, regarded amongst the luminaries of the day; but while their male mentors, the patristic authors have retained their fame, the women who surrounded and influenced them have all but disappeared from sight. The women themselves are partly to blame for this, for in order to be pious it made sense to disguise one's sex sometimes literally: Dr Cloke gives examples of those whose sex was discovered only after their death - they sought to become androgynous, a third sex before God. This book looks at a multitude of examples in some detail and takes an overview of the role of Christian women at this time. It should appeal not only to historians, classicists and theologians, but also to anyone who takes a general interest in the changing status of women over the the centuries.

"Confusion abounds today about relationships and gender, but the Bible provides a clear picture of what God intended these to be. This resource provides tools for adults seeking a biblical understanding of how God created and designed men and women, showing that both men and women together bear God's image and that, ultimately, marriage reflects the relationship between Christ and the Church. This book explores men, women, marriage, and family units. It covers women's ordination, homosexuality, and other relevant applications of God's Word for our world today. Adult laypeople will learn how to compassionately respond to the results of sin in our manhood and womanhood. They will also be reminded of their identity in Christ, understanding how their manhood or womanhood is a special and important part of that identity"--

Equipping a New Generation to Live Out God’s Design This thorough study of the Bible’s teaching on men and women aims to help a new generation of Christians live for Christ in today’s world. Moving beyond other treatments that primarily focus on select passages, this winsome volume traces Scripture’s overarching pattern related to male-female relationships in both the Old and New Testaments. Those interested in careful discussion rather than caustic debate will discover that God’s design is not confining or discriminatory but beautiful, wise, liberating, and good.

A new Pope will be chosen in Rome . . . and she just might be a woman. But she's made some powerful enemies who will stop at nothing-not even murder. The world is watching as massive crowds gather in Rome, waiting for news of a new pope, one who promises to be unlike any other in history. It's a turning point that may change the Church forever. Some followers are ecstatic that the movement reinvigorating the Church is about to reach the Vatican, but the leading candidate has made a legion of powerful enemies who aren't afraid to kill for their cause. From a difficult childhood with drug addled parents, to a career as a doctor on the front lines in Sudan, to a series of trials that test her faith at every turn, Brigid Fitzgerald's convictions and callings have made her the target of all those who fear that the Church has lost its way-dangerous adversaries who abhor challenges to tradition. Locked in a deadly, high-stakes battle with forces determined to undermine everything she believes in, Brigid must convert her enemies to her cause before she loses her faith . . . and her life. From a civil war in Sudan to the drug dens and law firms of Boston, Woman of God spans the globe with a thrilling tale of perseverance, love, trust and what it means to live in a fallen world.

Help for women to understand men's spiritual needs, why today's church doesn't meet them, and how to successfully point them to God. Women don't understand men's spiritual needs but they want to and desperately need to know what they can do (and should not do) to keep their men engaged at church. In the follow-up to his bestselling Why Men Hate Going to Church, author David Murrow speaks directly to women to help them understand the real reasons men resist Christianity. He offers a way of talking about faith that intrigues men instead of repels them and then challenges them to bring more risk and adventure to their own walk with the Lord.

Kevin Giles has been writing on women in the Bible for over forty years. In this book, What the Bible Actually Teaches on Women, he gives the most comprehensive account to date of the competing conclusions to this question and the issues surrounding it. To understand the bitter and divisive debate among evangelicals over the status and ministry of women, it needs to be understood that those who since 1990 have called themselves "complementarians" argue that in creation before the fall God set the man over the woman. Thus, the leadership of the man and the subordination of the woman in the home, the church, and wherever possible in the world (the whole creation) is the God-given ideal that is pleasing to God. It is this "theology" that Kevin Giles deconstructs and shows to be without a biblical foundation. Giles shows that he is fully conversant with the complementarian position and yet is unpersuaded by it. He sees it as an appeal to the Bible to preserve male privilege, similar to the appeals to the Bible to validate slavery and Apartheid; appeals to the Bible made by some of the best Reformed and evangelical biblical scholars, and now seen to be special pleading. Carefully studying the limited number of texts on which complementarians predicate their theology of the sexes, Giles finds not one of them actually teaches what complementarians claim. Furthermore, complementarians too often ignore the texts that are very difficult for them. In this book the ordination of women gets only passing mention. The constant focus is on whether or not the Bible subordinates women to men as an abiding theological principle.

This book is a study of the contribution of women to the development of the newly legitimate Christian church in the twilight of the Western Roman Empire. There are many women noted for the example of their life in this period, regarded amongst the luminaries of the day; but while their male mentors, the patristic authors have retained their fame, the women who surrounded and influenced them have all but disappeared from sight. The women themselves are partly to blame for this, for in order to be pious it made sense to disguise one's sex sometimes literally: Dr Cloke gives examples of those whose sex was discovered only after their death - they sought to become androgynous, a third sex before God. This book looks at a multitude of examples in some detail and takes an overview of the role of Christian women at this time. It should appeal not only to historians, classicists and theologians, but also to anyone who takes a general interest in the changing status of women over the the centuries.