The Corinthian Women Prophets

I am impressed. Wire's method, a close scrutiny of Paul's rhetoric to reconstruct the audience of the letter, is intriguing and fruitful. Ross Shepard Kraemer, Editor of 'Maenads, Martyrs, Matrons, and Monastics' Antoinette Wire has written an excellent and much-needed book on the Corinthian women prophets. A careful analysis of the rhetoric of Paul's argument has enabled Wire to reconstruct the theological understanding of the Corinthian Christian women and to show how Paul's loss of social status in becoming a Christian affected his theology and how their gain in status influenced theirs. An important book for feminist biblical scholarship, for our understanding of early Christianity, and for our understanding of how social status and theology may interrelate. Joanna Dewey, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.