A Feminist Companion to the New Testament Apocrypha

Description

The eleventh volume in this series examines New Testament Apocryphal texts, including the Acts of Paul and Thecla, the Acts of John, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Martyrdom of Perpetua, the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena, the Acts of Andrew, the Acts of Thomas, and the Apocalypse of Peter, as well as Joseph and Asenath, the Irish apocrypha, and the Greek novels. In this diverse collection the contributors utilize a variety of approaches to explore topics such as the construction of Christian identity, the Christian martyr, heterodoxy and orthodoxy, conjugal ethics and apostolic homewreckers, trials and temptations, the rhetoric of the body, asceticism, and eroticism.

Amy-Jill Levine is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, Vanderbilt University Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion, and director of the Carpenter Program in religion, gender and sexuality in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Maria Mayo Robbins is a doctoral candidate in religious studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

"Edited by Amy-Jill Levine, a Feminist Companion to the New Testament Apocrypha is an anthology of essays by a wide variety of learned authors exploring apocryphal New Testament texts such as the Acts of Paul, the Acts of Peter, Thecla, the Apocalypse of Peter, and much more, as well as Irish apocrypha and Greek novels, from a feminist perspective. Specific topics discussed include Christian identity, Christian martyrdom, heterodoxy and orthodoxy, conjugal ethics and apostolic home wreckers, asceticism, eroticism, and much more. An extensive bibliography and index of references rounds out this scholarly and at times technical close analysis. Enthusiastically recommended for advanced theology and Biblical literature reference shelves." -- The Midwest Book Review Reviewed by Judith Lieu, Theological Book Review Vol. 19 No. 1 2007 This book is the 11th volume in the series A Feminist Companion to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings. It is an important publication in an important series. For almost a decade, series editor Amy-Jill Levine has presented volume after volume of important and groundbreaking essays. The series is indispensable for any New Testament scholar with an interest in gender issues... This volume reflects the important work that has been done by feminist scholars on the apocryphal writings of early Christianity - texts on the margins of the canon... Some of the essays are reprints of earlier publications, while others were especially written for this volume. The combination works well, as does the selection of contributors, which ranges from scholars well known for their feminist approach to scholars whose interest in gender may be quite new. -- Anna Rebecca Solevag, School of Mission and Theology, Stavanger, Norway * Theology and Sexuality *