PNEUMA 40 (2018) 213–279
Book Reviews
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Lynn H. Cohick and Amy Brown Hughes
Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the
Second through Fifth Centuries(Grand Rapids,MI: Baker Academic, 2017). xxxviii +
292 pp. $31.56 paperback.
In their treatise on the contributions of women during the first three hundred years of the Christian church, Lynn H. Cohick and Amy Brown Hughes present a source for theologians to ensure the representation of women to and during the patristic period. Cohick, a professor of New Testament studies at Wheaton College, and Brown Hughes, an assistant professor of theology at Gordon Col- lege, use their expertise to open up the historical record of female contributions in shaping Christian theology and social praxis. They consider the authority, personal legacy, and impact on the church’s legacy of women who were poets, authors, scholars, martyrs, rulers, and matriarchs.
The authors present eleven strong female characters, along with a few minor subjects in nine chapters to depict how women worked with men in shaping the theology, philosophy, and practices of the early church. Cohick and Brown Hughes seek “to paint a general landscape of possibilities for women based on public records, physical evidence such as inscriptions or catacomb art and texts” (xxiii). They present members of the aristocracy, participants in govern- ment, writers, founders of religious buildings, and slaves.
For example, readers will meet the virgin promartyr Thecla, who rejected marriage in favor of asceticism after hearing the Apostle Paul. The authors debate the subject’s existence as a historical figure as she emerges in the apoc- ryphal texts of the New Testament, the Acts of Paul and Thecla, but settle on her representative model of early Christian women.Thecla represents a chaste, loyal, submissive disciple of Paul who rejects her fiancé and later, a second suitor. She demonstrates feminine virtue over male strength through her super- natural protection and rescue from the beasts of the arena. Her story was car- ried through the centuries providing strength and direction for other followers, which is evidenced by several shrines erected in her honor.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi: 10.1163/15700747-04001008
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Then there is Perpetua, martyred in 203, who represents the strength that the gospel gives women represented in the Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas. The text describes the visions and prayers of Perpetua, on whom most of the text focuses. Perpetua chose her faith over the Roman familial structure which required submission to male authority in the home. She rejected her father’s requests to turn from her convictions and save herself, finding more value in the Christian family of her church than in her biological family. Her actions made her immoral in Roman society, but elevated her in the Christian commu- nity. Along with Felicity—a slave—she was honored for her sacrifice. Cohick and Brown Hughes note that “neither woman wore a bishop’s robes, but their authority in prayer and intercession stood on par with, and perhaps at times exceeded that of male ordained clergy” (45).
Equally fascinating is the presentation of the Byzantine empresses Aclia Pulcheria (399–453AD) and Euodocia (400–460AD), which provides a glimpse into the life of the imperial female believer. The strength of an empress, the authors explain, was mostly found in her relationship to the emperor, whether father, brother, son, or husband. Her chief role was to support the empire, which was embodied in the emperor’s authority. In the case of a weak emperor, it fell to his deputy, the empress to ensure security. Pulcheria was an example of such a role. She was named Augusta of Rome in service to her eight-year-old younger brother, Theodosius II. Committing herself as the virgin of Christ at age 15, she ensured that the young emperor and her younger siblings received a proper Christian education. Pulcheria was devoted to Christianity her entire life: she built churches, supported monasteries, housed Christian relics, and participated in the Council of Chalcedon. The latter caused some conflict with her sister-in-law, Euodocia.
Euodocia represents the complexity of Christian humanity. While consid- ered a Christian scholar and avid patron of the church, she did not ascribe to Pulcheria’s asceticism. She came to her title because of her beauty. Theodo- cius II wished a beautiful wife, rather than one born of nobility and when he saw Euodocia, he wanted no one else. Euodocia converted to Christianity, was baptized, and married the emperor. However, later her fidelity was questioned, ending with her relocating to Palestine. A second scandal involved the murder of her husband’s bodyguard. In spite of the scandals, Euodocia is credited with participating in the “Christianization of academic education” (247). She was also a poet and prolific author who worked on restoring the wall of Jerusalem, the Church of St. Stephen, shelters for the poor, and other public works.
This sample of characters highlights how Cohick and Brown Hughes’s work reveals the power and authority wielded by women in a male-dominated world. Whether they operated under the crown as did Pulcheria and Euodocia, or
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under the humility and grace of the gospel as did martyrs, women have been effecting change in Christendom from its beginnings. Readers may share the observations and experience of the societal norms, beliefs, and views of patris- tic women in their time.
It must be noted, however, that the female voice is somewhat muted as most of the record is presented by the male pen. Men wrote about the times they experienced and society’s views of the female role. The actions recorded show the attitudes and activity of early women, leaving the reader with some sem- blance of their philosophies, desires, and ambitions. Still, it must be recognized that the characteristics of purity, loyalty, and submission modeled fall in accord with the norms patristic society expected and cultivated in its women.
Jane R. Caulton
Trinity Washington University, Washington,DC
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