Karen Jo Torjesen’s book, ‘When Women Were Priests’ examines the subject of women in the early Christian movement, and particularly the role of women in the leadership positions in the church. Torjesen, a leading expert on women in ancient Christianity, is on faculty at Claremont Graduate School.
As women have attained rights to ordination in various denominations (Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist) and even other religions (the first woman to be ordained a rabbi in the United States took place in 1972), increasingly scholars have come to re-examine the role of women in the early church, and have been arguing with mounting evidence and persuasiveness that this is not a new phenomenon, but rather a recapturing of women’s roles that have periodically existed in both Jewish and Christian communities.
The question of the gender of a priest (the requirement by Roman Catholics, as in the Vatican’s 1976 Declaration on the Question of Admitting Women to the Priesthood that priests be in the bodily image of Christ, for example) brings into question sexuality and the common perception of women by society. When Barbara Harris was consecrated at the first female bishop in the Episcopal Church (USA) in 1989, Time magazine made a reference to her red nail polish–as if this has anything to do with her qualifications; but of course, it has everything to do with the way people perceive the issue.
Torjesen examines multiple sources of ancient data to show evidence that women were preachers, prophets, pastors and patrons in the early Christian movement. Some of these can be found in the Bible itself. The tradition of women as prophets actually dates back to Jewish times: Deborah was a judge, and Miriam, the sister of Moses, is described as a prophet in one of the oldest parts of the Torah, the song of Miriam (in Exodus). Various art works depict women in liturgical stances or settings, behind a table (presumably presiding) or with arms outstretched in liturgical praise fashion. Of course, one gospel account speaks of Mary Magdalene being the first person to see the risen Christ, and being charged to tell the others of the miracle, hence becoming ‘Apostle to the Apostles’. Indeed, the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas and Gospel of Mary each show a rivalry between Mary and Peter for pre-eminence among the apostles, with Jesus coming down on Mary’s side.
Various Pauline letters another other extra-testamentary writings show a strong female presence among the leaders of communities and house-churches–Junia is hailed by Paul as ‘foremost of the apostles’ (Romans 16:7); synagogue and grave archaeology have turned up inscriptions such as Sophia of Gortyn, elder and head of the synagogue of Kisamos lies here. Where Christians emulated the synagogue style of worship and organisation, naturally women’s leadership would have been carried over too. Of course, in house-church traditions the role of women’s leadership is understood, as women’s dominance of household affairs is well-known and documented throughout the Roman Empire at the time of Christianity’s first expansions. Indeed, one second-century critic of Christianity, Celsus, dismissed it as ‘a woman’s movement’.
Torjesen’s better chapters are the early ones which talk about history and evidence; her later chapters on theology, biology (?) and society are interesting, but less valuable from a critical-scholarship standpoint. Each section, however, is generously documented with notes and sources, and the book would be valuable if only for the extensive notations. Happily, this book is much more than that–clear and energetic in writing, controversial but well-explained and well-defended, Torjesen makes her case well and adds valuable material for the defensive of women’s leadership in churches today, and much for those who maintain more traditional mores to think about. In essence, if one can’t refute the arguments here (and I am not saying they cannot be refuted–merely that they must be engaged, not dismissed), one must examine the basis for holding the exclusive-male-leadership belief.
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A book that should be read by all Holocaust-denyers. Had the privelage of meeting the authors and one of the family members written about.
The layout of this book is unique and superb — it includes both comtemporary color photos and historic b&w photos of the families involved in the hiding from the Germans, as well as location photos, and artifacts. Although a paperback, the cover is protected with a gloss and has beautiful colors. I was so attracted by the layout that I have considered using ideas from the book in publishing a book of photos of my own amateur photography.
The narrative is just detailed enough to hold interest but not get bogged down. The story is not just another story of hiding; it is hiding underground for so long that it holds the record for duration of time underground. Some of those involved are still alive and have provided the information to the authors who located them, upon the recommendation of people near to the caves. Better still, the story is expected to become a movie. I will be there; will you?
Two authors, a cave expert and a photographer, tell this almost unbelievable story of how thirty-eight Jews from a village in the Ukraine survived the Holocaust. They clung tenaciously to life in two different caves for over one year, and somehow managed to come out of the experience physically, mentally, and emotionally intact. We feel admiration and empathy for these determined people who risked everything in order to stay together.
The story of the caves is interwoven with the story of these people’s survival. The authors conducted extensive interviews and consulted the memoir, We Fight to Survive, written in 1960 by Esther Stermer, the matriarch of one of the families. This book reads like an adventure story with a suspense-filled plot and fascinating characters. However, this is brutal fact, not artificial fiction. Generous margins, gorgeous photos of the people and places involved, accurate maps and fascinating sidebars make for a handsome book. The only elements lacking are an index and bibliography. One of the survivors, Shulim Stermer, states: “Everyone has it inside of them to survive.” Peter Taylor wondered if he would be capable of the same will to fight for his own family’s survival. The Secret of Priest’s Grotto brings us face to face with this difficult question. Ages 10-14.
This is a very nice book about a little-known story from WWII. It is just incredible what these Jewish families were able to endure to stay alive by hiding in caves, although none of them were experienced cavers. The story of the modern-day cave experts who rediscovered the story is also well done, and the two tales are woven beautifully to create the book. Modern cave photographs and historical images work combine to help tell the story.
This story has all the elements of great drama – mystery, adventure, survival – and it’s all true. As a school librarian, I am grateful for such a detailed presentation directed to our readers, as well as adults.
Though very little light was shed as to the over-all story of Priest, this volume did one thing that had me intrigued, and that was to present the darkness of the storyline that is to come. Using Christianity as a base, Priest follows Ivan Isaacs, a man possessed by a want for revenge and holding within him awful secrets that most religious men wouldn’t want to know, including a glimpse into Hell. Now, serving his master Belial, Ivan journeys across the American West in search of a man named Jarbilong, fighting Jarbilong’s zombie tools along the way. While on a train in search of this man, Ivan Isaacs’s journey is interrupted when a group of bandits robs the train in order to save their wanted leader. Yet these bandits have no idea what waits for them in the darkest part of the train, and only the Priest can fight off the evil creatures that are ready to rise.
I think the best part about this volume was the way in which it begin. Very controversial, especially for a religious minded person; Ivan Isaacs hangs from a cross and faces his own resurrection of sorts, and ends up becoming the powerful, gun-toting, knife-slashing outlaw he now is. The agony of Ivan Isaacs is apparent in every action he makes along the way, and his history, which is explored only briefly, is enough to keep me reading this series. I just liked the character of Ivan and the setting in which he was placed.
Though absolutely not a perfect start, as this volume gets almost nowhere fast, it is definitely an intriguing beginning to what is shaping up to be a very bloody and mature series. While Priest technically isn’t manga(it’s Korean in origin) I would still recommend this to fans of mature manga like Hellsing, as it shares a lot of similarities with that series.
I had never heard of this manga until I went to a used book shop and picked up the first 10 Volumes of this manga for $25 and I must say it was well worth the money. Anyway, this is my review of this wild and awesome manga.
Priest starts off with several small pictures depicting a man on a cross and a dark stranger in dialogue, but this mystery quickly takes a back seat as we see a priest reading from the bible, tons of flesh-crazed zombies, a stranger dressed in a long coat, and set in an Old West town. Quickly the action picks up as the zombies attack the man in the long coat who fights back with what can be best described as a “Tommy Gun” and a sawed-off shotgun, blasting the zombies with ammunition, but just as the stranger in the long coat faces off with the priest, the scene quickly changes to a train already in progress where several large, onimous looking boxes are heavily chained down.
The stranger in the long coat (who’s named Ivan Issacs) boards the train that quickly turns into a bloodbath as an outlaw gang leader is led by Marshalls to stand trial for their misdeeds, but the gang has something to say about their leader’s imprisonment. The train soon turns into a bloodbath for all the innocent’s on the train, but the tide quickly turns as whatever is in the crates begins to come to life. Ivan Issacs does what he does best, and that’s to kill, but these towering creatures are easily able to kill several men at once, what chance does one other man stand against such dire odds. Well, when you’re armed with a Tommy Gun, a Sawed-Off Shotgun, and several sticks of dynamite, you can really level out the playing field.
This is one of the strangest stories I have read, vengeance, zombies, the old-west, and “new-aged” type of weapons all rolled up into one neat little ball, well, I guess you can’t really call it neat because you’re hardpressed to find any pages in this book that doesn’t contain some sort of bloodshed. The drawing is amazing and the action sequences are masterfully drawn. Just the whole idea in this story is enough to grab hold of you and hang on. After reading this first volume, I was eager to read volumes 2-10 just to see what happened to Ivan Issacs and his journey, but those reviews are best left for another day.
In conclusion, if you like zombies, if you like the old-west, if you like to read about one man’s quest for revenge on those who took everything from him in life, go out and get Priest (and yes, there are several religious tones to this story but nothing that is necessarily preachy).
Plot is for wooses!
Who needs a plot when you have zombies, demons, blood, guns, zombies, gore, bullets, zombies, psudo-religion and plenty of death?
Oh, did I mention zombies?
Hopefully it will not remain like this in the next book, but after the first I doubt that I’ll check it anyway.
Having just read the entire series 1-16 (although its not yet finished), I can say that Priest dramatically deepens in complexity and nuance as it goes on. The first 2 volumes have a heavy emphasis on action, and few comic artists do action as well as Min-Woo Hyung. But by the end of volume 7 Priest has also introduced a large cast of characters, followed them through multiple time periods, and touched on a variety of philosophical issues including the nature of god and the fallibility of faith. Highly recommended.
So I bought this Dream Theater album Systematic Chaos and I found that the lyrics to the most epic song was inspired by Priest. After I fell in love with the lyrics, I wanted to know the whole story.
The story is slightly different — the DT lyrics are taken to somewhat more symbolic level.
I drowned into the world as soon as I read the first page, it is very catchy. The story is well written. There’s a lot of blood, killing and dying but even the soon-to-die characters have enough space to have their personalities drawn. The drawing style is intriguing and delivers the atmosphere well.
Although it deals with Christian topics, it is viewed from a different point of view than most Christianity-related stuff you can find out there. The symbolism is shifted and you can smell the different culture from which it comes.
Almost everything is pretty dark, none happy. The main driving force for most characters is revenge, God is unforgiving and the main character’s greatest desire — to reunite with his love — is without hope.
The story in Volume 1 is pretty short as you can expect from a comic book but given that, it is a very solid one with impressive delivery and will leave you with a lot of curiosity about the continuation.
I was captivated by author Suzanne Giesseman’s new book that portrays the engaging story of two highly interesting people whose lives strike quite a contrast. Their individual paths before meeting each other are truly fascinating, with a great many synchronicities despite living in vastly different surroundings. In partnership, their outlook on life and the eternal are nothing less than inspiring. Suzanne gets into the hearts and the minds of this man and woman and beautifully illustrates a broadened view of what a truly spiritual life can look like from more than one perspective.
The rich conversation between the two at the end is a charming exchange on comparing the tenets of Spiritualism with those of Catholicism. The conclusion is an exemplary truce, illustrating so beautifully how we can all learn from and appreciate contrasts with love and respect. For me, it was a refreshing journey into a portrayal of religious tolerance – to regard and cherish all of life and all of that which is divinely inspiring and uplifting to humans no matter what label or practice their path has taken them on. Having seen them work together at Rev. Gehman’s spiritual center in Northern VA, they are every bit as harmonious and loving as they are in the book. Their joint take on life and the infinite is heartening for me as I plan my own future direction.
The questions at the end of the book for discussion will speak to anyone who is seeking clarity and enlightenment for their own spiritual paths. I am recommending this delightful read to all my friends and family!