“The book is not only timely, it is highly accessible reading to all ages. What a gift to have the witness of these women of great faith restored to the memory of the church.” Elizabeth A. Schenk’s thesis about women’s authority is wonderfully illuminated by photographs, tables, and appendixes. As in a detective story, each chapter supplies multiple material clues about ‘whodunit,’ enabling readers to confidently write women back into the history from which they have been erased. “This book opens a new window on the religious influence of early Christian women by decoding over two thousand artistic remains: frescoes, tomb inscriptions, carved sarcophagi, and the like. Crispina and Her Sisters is the most important analysis of new evidence in decades.” Gary Macy, Santa Clara University While literary sources about early Christian women remain scarce and ambivalent on the role of women, sarcophagi show us how Christian women imaged themselves as leaders in the church on their eternal monuments. “Christine Schenk’s meticulous study of sarcophagi from early Christianity will change not only the understanding of Christian women from this period but, indeed, the understanding of early Christianity itself. It is often said 'a picture is worth a thousand words.' The portrait tombs of fourth-century Christian women suggest that they viewed themselves and/or their loved ones viewed them as persons of authority with religious influence.Įxcavating the Evidence of Women’s Leadership and Influence in Early Christian Communities A fascinating picture emerges of womenæs authority in the early church, a picture either not available or sadly distorted in the written history.

An in-depth review of womenæs history in the first four centuries of Christianity provides important context.

Recent scholarship about Roman portrait sarcophagi and the interpretation of early Christian art is also given significant attention. It carefully situates the tomb art within the cultural context of customary Roman commemorations of the dead. This book explores visual imagery found on burial artifacts of prominent early Christian women.

Most people have never heard of Bitalia, Veneranda, Crispina, Petronella, Leta, Sofia the Deacon, and many others even though their catacomb and tomb art suggests their authority was influential and valued by early Christian communities. Discovering reliable information about women in early Christianity is a challenging enterprise.

Chip ingram heresy