Description
Mediterranean Women in Romans 16 explores the cultural context of women in Romans 16 and seeks to shed new light on the discussion of the role of women in the early church. A social-scientific model of cultural values is constructed based on the findings of anthropological studies in the Mediterranean. The model is nuanced to reflect the insights gained from the study of women in ancient Greek, Jewish and Roman cultures. Anthropological studies are one lens through which these insights are viewed to seek to understand the values and behaviors of women in the Mediterranean. Hence, the nuanced model ultimately sheds light on the study of women in Romans 16 who were a part of the Mediterranean culture. Such a model is also useful as a guide to understanding women in New Testament texts as they relate to the understanding of women in their ancient context.
Sue Russell, PhD –
Julia Pizzuto-Pomaco’s meticulous study provides two important new directions for New Testament studies. Her study fills a gap in New Testament scholarship as she follows new directions in anthropology by treating woman as agents rather than just passive members in communities of men. Her groundbreaking work not only introduces a new framework for understanding the dynamics of women in the early church but also provides a more robust thodological approach for using anthropological models in New Testament studies.
Dr. Scott Morschauser –
Pizzuto-Pomaco’s work is a text-book example of how careful attention to cultural context combined with a close-reading of biblical texts, work together to illuminate our understanding of the early church. Her methodology and conclusions will provide scholars with an excellent foundation for further exploration of women in the New Testament, even as her insights have much to say to students, clergy, and lay-people about unity, diversity, and equality in contemporary Christianity.
Dr. Deborah Winters –
Julia Pizzuto-Pomaco brings to the fields of biblical and women’s studies a much needed reliable and nuanced social scientific model. Based on primary sources from anthropological studies, Pizzuto-Pomaco considers women’s roles in the social values of shame and honor, power, public and private settings, kinship, and religion in the ancient Mediterranean Greek, Jewish and Roman cultural contexts.
Dr. Craig Keener –
Few New Testament scholars take into account hard data on gender roles in Mediterranean culture. Because of its distinctive contribution, this book thus remains one of the “must-read” works engaging gender questions in the New Testament.