The Church venerates among its saints several Early Christian women whose teaching and wisdom contribute to the depth of our theological heritage. Their inspired voices can be heard at work witnessing: in the New Testament, in the early centuries of the Church Fathers and throughout the Byzantine era. Readers will find this volume bringing female leaders from the Early Church to life from the traditional ancient sources and sharing their experience of the presence of God. Their remembered advice to followers still illuminates issues of faith and justice which bind us together as Christians today.
2021 Winner Best Indie Book Award for Religion/Spiritual
Praise for From Their Lips: Voices of Early Christian Women:
“In her engrossing book, From Their Lips: Voices of Early Christian Women, V.K. McCarty brings to light the contributions of Early Christian women in the formation of the Christian tradition. When one wakens to a sense of God’s gifts to us in our life history, talents, gender, and faith experience, the world looks different. McCarty joins a growing group of Christian scholars asking probing questions about women who have been obscured by patriarchal attitudes. In many cases they have been hiding in plain sight, known chiefly for their relationship to prominent men: Lydia from the Acts of the Apostles, Macrina, sister to the Cappadocian Fathers, Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine. With her meticulous scholarship these women emerge as compelling witnesses to Christ and crucial participants in the life of the early Jesus Movement. With other women theologians enriching the modern Church, McCarty helps us to see them as part of the historic witness of women in the Church. This book recognizes their vital leadership and redresses a lamentable suppression of women’s voices that has impoverished the Church for too long.”
The Rev. Clark Berge, Former Minister General of the Society of St. Francis, author of Running to Resurrection
“In the dozen sketches given here—from Lydia in first century Philippi to Anna Komnena in the twelfth-century Byzantine imperial court—V.K. McCarty offers very rich, and enriching, insights into the remarkable lives that women have played in the Church, which are sure to inspire many today.”
V.Rev. Prof. John Behr, Regius Professor in Humanity, University of Aberdeen, author of The Mystery of Christ
“Martyrs and donors, empresses and nuns, composers of hymns and of histories: here are inspirational women from the first Christian centuries. Their stories, retold with lively scholarship, encourage change and renewal in the churches of today.”
Dr. Gillian Clark, Professor Emerita, University of Bristol, author of Women in Late Antiquity: Pagan and Christian Lifestyles
REVIEWS
“McCarty’s book is well-researched, delightfully narrated, and filled with love for the human persons that fill its pages.”
“She writes with love and wit. She masterfully captures in sparse prose the essence of her subjects and their contributions to the history of Christianity.”
“Her love for the church, its history, and its liturgy shines forth on every page.”
“McCarty makes history accessible.”
-- Excerpts from Anneke H. Stasson, Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies 6:1 (2023)
“This volume offers insightful portraits of women from the New Testament era to the twelfth-century Byzantine imperial era…Voices emerge from within a variety of genres: women in ancient texts, the reported correspondence of women, hymns composed by women, and the writings of women themselves.”
“Drawing attention to experiences that would resonate with a modern audience, McCarty is especially apt at illustrating why the account would likely have been relatable in a broad variety of early Christian contexts.”
“(From Their Lips) is unusual in its breath, allowing new historical questions to emerge and crossing centuries in a learned way. The work has clearly been composed with a wider readership in mind.”
-- Excerpts from Margaret Y. MacDonald, Review of Biblical Literature (RBL) (02/2023)
