Why do religious people choose paths that lead to their deaths as martyrs? Why do some who are killed for their faith become known and revered while others do not? Gail Streete asks these important and disturbing questions in the context of early Christianity, looking at the stories of martyred women such as Thecla, Perpetua, and Felicitas--women whose stories helped shape Christian faith for centuries, yet are all but forgotten in the modern world. Streete reclaims these stories and relates them to tragic instances of martyrdom in our own world, pulling from stories as diverse as the victims of Columbine and female suicide attackers in the Muslim world. What do their deaths mean, and why do we find their stories so moving?

This book examines the image of the savior and the experience of salvation, two concepts that are inextricably entwined. Gail Streete asserts that Christianity set aside female images of salvation by emphasizing the maleness of Jesus. She draws on solid knowledge of the Jewish sources of Christianity and from the Greek-speaking classical world, from which Christianity assimilated so much, to show that the image of God could be seen as both male and female.The Gender and the Biblical Tradition series brings to a wide audience important new discoveries concerning women and the Bible, ancient Israel, and early Christianity. The books explore the role of sexuality within the biblical tradition and document the continuing influence of biblical treatments of gender on subsequent life and thought.

Why do religious people choose paths that lead to their deaths as martyrs? Why do some who are killed for their faith become known and revered while others do not? Gail Streete asks these important and disturbing questions in the context of early Christianity, looking at the stories of martyred women such as Thecla, Perpetua, and Felicitas--women whose stories helped shape Christian faith for centuries, yet are all but forgotten in the modern world. Streete reclaims these stories and relates them to tragic instances of martyrdom in our own world, pulling from stories as diverse as the victims of Columbine and female suicide attackers in the Muslim world. What do their deaths mean, and why do we find their stories so moving?

This book examines the image of the savior and the experience of salvation, two concepts that are inextricably entwined. Gail Streete asserts that Christianity set aside female images of salvation by emphasizing the maleness of Jesus. She draws on solid knowledge of the Jewish sources of Christianity and from the Greek-speaking classical world, from which Christianity assimilated so much, to show that the image of God could be seen as both male and female.The Gender and the Biblical Tradition series brings to a wide audience important new discoveries concerning women and the Bible, ancient Israel, and early Christianity. The books explore the role of sexuality within the biblical tradition and document the continuing influence of biblical treatments of gender on subsequent life and thought.