Women and Redemption Paper

Rosemary Radford Ruether's WOMEN AND REDEMPTION, A THEOLOGICAL HISTORY is a gem. Don't be put off by the stuffy title or the author's theology professor background. This introductory survey is clearly organized, readable, and thoroughly engaging. Rather than overwhelming the lay reader, Ruether selects just enough details and examples to illuminate the main points of her narrative. Using representative thinkers (male and female) from the last two millenia, Ruether illustrates both the development of Christian views of women over time and the range of views in each era. In the first two chapters, she covers the early church from the various Jesus movements to the establishment Christianity of the fourth century. Chapters three through five follow the story from medieval Europe through the Reformation to 19th century American Shakers and feminist abolitionists. The last three chapters sample comtemporary feminist theology in Europe, North America, and the Third World. Throughout the book, general issues are balanced with close-ups of individual thinkers. This personal emphasis helps to balance occasional stretches of abstraction, anchoring the book to the real world. WOMEN AND REDEMPTION is an excellent introduction to the study of women's role in Christianity, one written with great clarity and a consistent (but never strident) feminist point of view. Ruether's presentation of various points of view is scrupulously fair and even-handed, and her attempt to make her subject accessible to the general reader while maintaining a high intellectual standard is totally successful. I strongly recommend WOMEN AND REDEMPTION to anyone interested in the topic of women in Christianity, but especially to women--whether they believe the Christian Church is a suitable home for a feminist or the opposite. Both groups of readers will find food for thought in this well-written book.