Carla D. Sunberg is President and Professor of Historical Theology at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO.

Carla Sunberg has crafted a significant piece of historical retrieval. She has mined the writings of fourth-century Cappadocian Fathers to learn of the significant witness and influence of the women who helped shape their understanding of how one becomes a participant in the divine nature. Her meticulous research demonstrates that without these mothers in faith, the fathers would lack living witnesses for their formulation of early Christian understandings of Christology, mystical theology, and Trinitarian construction. Besides, these remarkable women challenged regnant notions of the inferiority of women. Sunberg has bridged a major gap in scholarship, and the whole church will profit.

• Foreword by T. A. Noble Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1 Introduction 2 The Christianization of Deification 3 Christocentric Development 4 The Development of Monasticism and the Role of Virginity in the Cappadocian Understanding of Theosis 5 The Fallen Virgin 6 Married Women as the New Eve: Nonna and Gorgonia 7 Macrina, the Perfect Virgin Bride 8 Practical Implications for Life and Ministry: Macrina the Elder,Emmelia, and Theosebia9 The Mothers Exemplify DeificationBibliographyIndex of NamesIndex of SubjectsIndex of Ancient Documents

Carla D. Sunberg is President and Professor of Historical Theology at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO.

Carla Sunberg has crafted a significant piece of historical retrieval. She has mined the writings of fourth-century Cappadocian Fathers to learn of the significant witness and influence of the women who helped shape their understanding of how one becomes a participant in the divine nature. Her meticulous research demonstrates that without these mothers in faith, the fathers would lack living witnesses for their formulation of early Christian understandings of Christology, mystical theology, and Trinitarian construction. Besides, these remarkable women challenged regnant notions of the inferiority of women. Sunberg has bridged a major gap in scholarship, and the whole church will profit.

• Foreword by T. A. Noble Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1 Introduction 2 The Christianization of Deification 3 Christocentric Development 4 The Development of Monasticism and the Role of Virginity in the Cappadocian Understanding of Theosis 5 The Fallen Virgin 6 Married Women as the New Eve: Nonna and Gorgonia 7 Macrina, the Perfect Virgin Bride 8 Practical Implications for Life and Ministry: Macrina the Elder,Emmelia, and Theosebia9 The Mothers Exemplify DeificationBibliographyIndex of NamesIndex of SubjectsIndex of Ancient Documents