New directions in redaction criticism and women

Abstract

Fiorenza’s In Memory of Her is a leading text in feminist theology, utilizing redaction criticism throughout to elucidate key principles regarding early Christian texts and the roles of women. The basis of ‘redaction criticism’ is the treatment of a biblical author as an ‘editor’ of their source material, such that by careful analysis of this editing process we can garner new insights into that author and their context. This brief article analyses three specific New Testament examples to better understand women in the early church: Jesus’s anointing at Bethany as described in the Gospels of Mark, John, and Luke; Priscilla and Aquila in Luke–Acts as compared to the Pauline Epistles; and the responsibilities of widows as discussed by Paul and a different proposed author, ‘pseudo-Paul’.