Finding Phoebe: What New Testament Women Were Really Like
Overview
Forget what you think you know about women in the early church.
In this learned yet accessible book, Susan E. Hylen introduces first-century primary sources to illuminate readers’ understanding of New Testament women. Perfect for clergy, spiritual reading groups, and all curious minds, Finding Phoebe combines incisive scholarship and instructional sensibility to encourage readers to develop their own informed interpretations of Scripture.
Contrary to popular conceptions of “biblical womanhood” as passive and silent, women often served as leaders and prophets in their communities. Women owned one-third of all property during the period, granting them access to civic power through patronage. Many women worked outside the home and were educated according to the needs of their professions. Through careful examination of “modesty” and “silence” in the Greco-Roman world, Hylen reveals the centrality of these virtues to both men and women practicing self-control in service of communal good.
Hylen’s work will challenge readers to free their minds of modern preconceptions and consider New Testament women on their own terms. This practical book includes historical context, scriptural evidence, and questions for discussion.
This is a Logos Reader Edition. Learn more.
- Combines incisive scholarship and instructional sensibility
- Includes historical context, scriptural evidence, and questions for discussion
- Challenge readers to free their minds of modern preconceptions
- Introduction
- Property Ownership
- Property Management
- Marriage
- Occupations
- Patronage
- Social Influence
- Education
- Modesty
- Industry
- Loyalty
- Marital Harmony
- Everyday Speech
- Prayer and Prophecy
- Silence
- Speech and Silence
- Conclusion
Part 1: Wealth and Property
Part 2: Social Influence and Status
Part 3: Virtues of Women
Part 4: Speech and Silence
Accessible and engaging, Finding Phoebe is an educator’s dream. Hylen personalizes ancient women through close and imaginative readings of historical texts, including significant portions of the New Testament. She both models this method and gives students all the resources they need to do it on their own. By challenging the assumption that ‘women weren’t able to do much,’ Finding Phoebe has the potential to dislodge a stale debate over women in society and the church then and now.
—Rev. Dr. Amy Peeler, Wheaton College
Paul’s respect and admiration for Phoebe, named in Romans 16, is evident. But with only two short verses describing her, what can be said about this woman? Hylen’s Finding Phoebe is a rich and readable examination of historical examples of women functioning as patrons, benefactors, property owners, industrial workers, and those who wielded robust social involvement and power. The carefully crafted study questions based on primary sources are a great way for students to discover the various roles women played in antiquity. By the end of Hylen’s study, readers will have a much more informed account of who Phoebe was and the cooperative role she played in Paul’s mission.
—Dr. Joshua W. Jipp, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
- Title: Finding Phoebe: What New Testament Women Were Really Like
- Author: Susan E. Hylen
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Pages: 188
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Bible. N.T. › Biography; Women in the Bible
- ISBNs: 9780802882066, 0802882064
- Resource ID: LLS:FNDNGPHBWWRRLLY
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-12-19T18:57:42Z