Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Re-visioning the Past to Transform the Present 1
Rereading of the Johannine Gospel 2
Some Key Terms and Concepts 3
Searching for a New Historical Imagination
Looking at Christian History in a New Way 9
A New Historical Imagination 9
Cautionary Remarks 11
Reading of Spiral Movements 11
Daily Lives of Jewish Women and Men in the First Century 13
The Roman Colonial World 13
Family Life and Work Environments 16
Women and Men in the Earliest Christian Movements 25
Deities and Religious Leadership 34
In the Greco-Roman World 34
In the Jewish Communities 39
In the Earliest Christian Communities 45
Prophecy and "I Am" Revelation 51
Greco-Roman Prophetic Movements 51
Prophecy in the Corporate Personality 52
The "I Am" Revelation and Women 55
Women Prophets in the Jewish and Christian Traditions 62
Healing and Sign-Working 66
World of Divine Humans 66
Human Ailments and Healing 69
Sign Stories and Women 73
Storytelling and Tradition-Making 80
The Jewish Heritage of Women's Storytelling 80
Biblical Stories in Greco-Roman Times 84
Birth of Popular Literature 89
From Storytelling to Written Texts 93
Persecution and Patriarchalization 97
Roman Political and Religious Oppression 97
Roman Persecution and Women 100
Christian Patriarchalization and Women 103
Hearing the Story of Martha and Mary with New Ears
The Story and Its Characters 113
The Story 114
The Characters 115
Summary 128
Ethnicity, Class, and Gender of the Story World 130
Ethnicity 130
Class 132
Gender 135
Martha, Mary, and Christian Women (and Men) Today 139
Making the Best of Jesus 141
Old Stories, Our Stories, and New Identities 142
Notes 145
Bibliography 179
Index 197
