Contextualizing Gender in Early Christian Discourse

Caroline Vander Stichele is Universitair Docent in Religious Studies at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Todd Penner is the Gould H. and Marie Cloud Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Austin College, Sherman, Texas, USA

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSINTERSEXIONSBibliography CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCING A GENDER-CRITICAL APPROACHDiscourse and the Social Production of KnowledgeSex, Gender, and PoliticsColonial Contexts and GenderHistory and DiscourseConcluding Contextual ObservationsBibliographyNotes CHAPTER 2: CONTEXTUALIZING GENDER IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLDDiscourse and the Meaning of SexModels for Understanding SexFrom the Politics of the Body to the Body PoliticPhysiognomy as Politics of the Body Gendering Bodies The Body Politic Bodies in EmpireBibliographyNotes CHAPTER 3: BOUNDARIES AND BODIES IN EARLY CHRISTIAN DISCOURSECanonical and Conceptual BoundariesCultural BoundariesPolitical BoundariesSocial BoundariesConclusionBibliographyNotes CHAPTER 4: GENDER AND THE MODERN INTERPRETERRace, Gender, and the Formation of Modern Biblical Scholarship The Racializing of Modern Biblical Scholarship The Gendering of Modern Biblical ScholarshipGender and Power in the Discipline of Biblical StudiesConclusionBibliographyNotes CHAPTER 5: READING (FOR) GENDERGender-Critical Reading Assumptions and Strategies Reading (for) Gender and the Worlds of the Text The World behind the Text The World in the Text The World in front of the Text SummaryThree Examples of Reading (for) Gender 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 Acts 18:1-18 Acts of Paul and TheclaConclusionBibliography Notes (DIS)CLOSUREBibliography INDEX

‘Caroline Vander Stichele and Todd Penner are arguably the most creative and learned intellectual partnership in contemporary New Testament and Christian origins scholarship. Both are rightly known for their wide-ranging knowledge of critical theory, Christian origins scholarship and ancient sources. Contextualizing Gender in Early Christian Discourse is a predictably impressive addition to their published work but this time with a more introductory focus. In addition to functioning as a first-class introductory text, this book moves beyond standard introductions to the New Testament and Christian origins in that it offers readers valuable summaries of prominent thinkers (e.g. Foucault, Butler, Said, Bhabha), interwoven with their influence and potential applications in the study of the New Testament and Christian origins. There is a common and not unfair complaint that works grounded in contemporary critical theory can have a tendency to be near-impossible to understand for those outside the discourse. These authors, however, could not legitimately be accused of such a thing. Their book is clearly written, neatly laid out and full of valuable and creative examples from sources ancient and modern, both famous and not-so-famous. Not only does Contextualizing Gender in Early Christian Discourse deserve to be on the bibliography for New Testament and/or Christian origins courses, it would make a perfect entry point for more experienced scholars unfamiliar or out-of-touch with contemporary ideological criticism and critical theory. As the book contains plenty of original insights, seasoned ideological critics will also discover a thing or two. While we could all learn from the chapters in this book, the chapter on ‘Gender and the Modern Interpreter' really ought to be read by all scholars in the guild, no matter what their favoured approaches may be, because it constitutes an accurate, incisive, morally-charged, and potentially revolutionary critique of the academic discipline of biblical studies.' -  James Crossley, Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield, UK