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Virgin Territory

Configuring Female Virginity in Early Christianity
By Julia Kelto Lillis
Series: Christianity in Late Antiquity
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Virgin Territory examines the complex significance of women's virginity in early Christianity and the Mediterranean world. Julia Kelto Lillis reveals that early Christian thinkers had varied and often nonanatomical understandings of virginity. The book traces the eventual cultural shift towards viewing virginity as tied to women's anatomy, analysing both its benefits and drawbacks. By placing this transformation in the wider context of ancient thought, the work highlights overlooked differences among early Christian texts and challenges persistent historical ideas about women’s bodies.
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Format: Hardback
$18099
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for scholars and students of religion, history, gender studies, and classical antiquity who seek a nuanced understanding of early Christian concepts of virginity and the body.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Women's virginity held tremendous significance in early Christianity and the Mediterranean world. Julia Kelto Lillis demonstrates that early Christian thinkers developed diverse definitions of virginity and understood its bodily aspects in surprising, often nonanatomical ways.

Eventually, Christians took part in a cross-cultural shift toward viewing virginity as something that could be perceived in women's sex organs. Treating virginity as anatomical brought both benefits and costs. By charting this shift and situating it in the larger landscape of ancient thought, Virgin Territory illuminates unrecognized differences among early Christian sources and historicises problematic ideas about women's bodies that still persist today.

Series: Christianity in Late Antiquity

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as "an exciting and essential addition to the ever-growing body of scholarship on the body in antiquity" (Bryn Mawr Classical Review), this book is noted for its sophisticated and well-researched exploration of virginity's intellectual history (Plekos). It is described as "consummately well conceived, researched, written and produced" (The Classical Review) and is expected to be invaluable for scholars interested in sex, gender, body studies, and late antique religion (Catholic Historical Review).

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780520389014

Publisher: University of California Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 13 December 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: University of California Press

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 499g

Pages: 290

Collections

Education & Reference Julia Kelto Lillis Non-Fiction Religion & Spirituality Series: Christianity in Late Antiquity

About the Author

Julia Kelto Lillis is Assistant Professor of Early Church History at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York.

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