Outrageous Women, Outrageous God: Women in the First Two Generations of Christianity
Ross Saunders, Acorn Press, Melbourne, 2010 Outrageous Women, Outrageous God is a study into the status and ministry of women in the New Testament, and how they went against many of the social and religious constraints of their time. It is a fresh approach to the place women, both Jewish and gentile, made for themselves-from the conception of John the Baptiser to the death of the last apostle. When you stop to consider that all the authors of the New Testament books were men who were part of the constraints which society and religion placed on women, you cannot help being amazed at the extent to which women gained prominence in early Christianity. In describing these women and their actions, Ross Saunders has used the word 'outrageous' to emphasise just how far some of them stepped outside what was traditionally allowed them: 'That God would at times encourage such behaviour means that to some extent, God is the origin of this outrageousness.' |