The patristic period is a fascinating epoch in Christian history and one that speaks to our own time. The lessons the early Christians learned in accommodating a hostile pagan culture may come in handy sometime soon. Here is a new book from Baker Academic Publishing the looks worthwhile, Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries. Many notable names appear in the table of contents, including Thecla, Perpetua, the Empress Helena, and others. The authors are Lynn H. Cohick (Wheaton College) and Amy Brown Hughes (Gordon College). Here’s the description from the publisher’s website:

From facing wild beasts in the arena to governing the Roman Empire, Christian women–as preachers and philosophers, martyrs and empresses, virgins and mothers–influenced the shape of the church in its formative centuries.

Christian Women in the Patristic World provides in a single volume a nearly complete compendium of extant evidence about Christian women in the second through fifth centuries. Through a careful examination of literary and material evidence, the book highlights the social and theological contributions women made to shaping early Christian beliefs and practices, integrating their influence into the history of the patristic church and showing how their achievements can be edifying for contemporary Christians.