Outrageous Women Outrageous God: Women in the First Two Generations of Christianity

Book Review Women behaving outrageously By Gillian Moses Diocese of Brisbane's August 2010 Focus magazine Ross Saunders, an Anglican priest from the diocese of Sydney, began his study of women in the early Church as a Bible study with the Community of the Sisters of the Church, in Glebe, Sydney. He then developed his series of talks into the present book form, first published in 1996 and now in a revised edition, published posthumously this year. Using a social scientific approach, which sets the accounts from Scripture and the early church fathers firmly in their social and political context, Saunders considers the way women and women’s ministry have been viewed within the church over its first 400 years. Surprisingly, perhaps, it is Paul of Tarsus who emerges from this study as a leading light in the battle for women to minister and lead within the early church. Through the social sciences, which offer a picture of life in the ancient near-eastern society of the New Testament, we notice how outrageous these women were in demanding to be seen, heard, healed, and to serve. Equally outrageous was the God who, through Jesus, noticed and approved the behaviour of these radical women. When Saunders turns his attention to the letter of Paul, he argues that Paul saw women as partners in God’s mission, working beside men and in some cases leading local congregations. For example, the only deacon identified by name in all of Paul’s letters is Phoebe, a woman (Romans 16:1–2). Perhaps Saunders’ most interesting thesis concerns the apocryphal writings of the early church. These “Novellas” often featured heroines doing outrageous and miraculous deeds, with men firmly in the background. Saunders observes that the rise of outrageous-women-of-faith literature coincides with the disappearance of women from church leadership and ministry. As the church bowed to pressure to conform socially, women’s desire to witness to their faith sought an alternative expression through these fictional tales of derring-do. Outrageous Women, Outrageous God would be a good study for a parish group interested in engaging with the issue of women’s ordination through the scriptures. Saunders wrote from within the landscape of Sydney Anglicanism although, as a member of the Anglicans Together organisation, his inclusive credentials were sound.