Date of Award
Summer 8-2015
Degree Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
School
Humanities
Committee Chair
Courtney Luckhardt
Committee Chair Department
History
Committee Member 2
Westley Follett
Committee Member 2 Department
History
Committee Member 3
Kenneth Swope
Committee Member 3 Department
History
Abstract
Despite centuries of Christian theologians and lay Christians alike assigning and/or accepting an entrenched misogyny in the writings of Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine, close examination of their work on its own terms and in its own time reveals that, in fact, they did not hold women in lesser esteem than men. Rather, time and again, in the writings of these Latin Doctors of the Church, women were promoted as exemplars of holiness and sanctity often in excess of their male counterparts and commonly as didactic tools used to lead their fellow Christians down a more righteous path. The following thesis serves as both examination and exculpation of these deeply influential figures in the history of Christianity, in an attempt to understand better the place of women in Christian society, teaching, and theology.
Copyright
2015, Lindsay Anne Williams
Recommended Citation
Williams, Lindsay Anne, "A Garden Locked, A Fountain Sealed: Female Virginity as a Model for Holiness in the Fourth Century" (2015). Master's Theses. 133.
https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/133
Included in
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Catholic Studies Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Women's History Commons