Women and Redemption: A Theological History (New Vectors in the Study of Religion and Theology)

Women and Redemption will take readers of Carol Lee Flinders's delightful Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics to the next level. Ruether, the author of the classic text of feminist theology Sexism and God-Talk, here systematically explores questions of gender and redemption chronologically from the time of the New Testament right up to current feminist thinkers (appropriately enough including herself). From Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa to the great medieval women mystics (Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Mechthild of Magdeburg); from Calvin and Luther to the Quakers, Shakers, and abolitionists of the 19th century, concluding with feminist theologies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, Ruether succinctly explores her thesis: that while in the early years of the Church a number of paradigms were offered, by the fourth century belief in equality between men and women had been eliminated--or relegated to a genderless afterlife.

Fairly argued and balanced, and written in Ruether's clear, personal style, this book is an immensely useful overview. It will give almost any open-minded reader a superb introduction to more than a dozen crucial writers even as it explores the long, unfolding saga of the place of women and equality in the redemption story. --Doug Thorpe