Description: This new textbook outlines a gender-critical perspective on the New Testament and other early Christian writings.
Review Quotes: "This gender-critical approach introduced in this volume seeks to situate the NT and early Christian writings in the broader context of ancient literary and religious traditions, to focus on discourse as a constituent aspect of identity formation, to foster an appreciation for gender issues, to continue to value a historical approach, to stress the role of ideology in the formation of the worlds of the text as well as ancient and modern readers, and to highlight the colonizing nature of empire. After a ten-page introduction, it introduces a gender-critical approach, contextualizes gender in the Greco-Roman world, discusses boundaries and bodies in early Christian discourse, reflects on gender and the modern interpreter, and considers reading (for) gender. Vander Stichele, university docent in religious studies at the University of Amsterdam, and Penner, professor of religious studies at Austin College in Sherman, TX, conclude that thinking beyond Thecla entails giving serious consideration to the structures and mechanisms of boundary-crossing, which is one of the critical components of their gender-critical approach."
-New Testament Abstracts, Vol. 54