The Position of Women in the Apocryphal Acts of Apostles from feminist perspective

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Abstract

Recently, in feminist studies, a new Field has been opened in the revision of religious texts and theology in a feminist perspective. Feminist theologians not only examine the canonical texts of religions, but also discuss texts that are not considered valid by the religious community today. In the Christian tradition, too, a fivefold collection called the Apocryphal of the Acts of the Apostles caught the attention of feminist theologians. These texts which are Written in the first three centuries of Christian history reflect the concerns of elites about the presence of women in the religious community, which contains unique points from other similar texts. The purpose of this study is to provide a clear view of the discourse ignored in the early years and the formation of canonical Christianity, thus according to other texts answering the question of whether, women in the first centuries of Christianity were constantly subjugated in the masculine structure or not. Therefore, in the present study, a descriptive-analytical method examines the personality of women in these texts from a feminist perspective and concludes that these texts portray women in two aspects: victim-hero. It is worth mentioning that both aspects should be discussed from different dimensions to reveal its unseen angles.

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Comparative Study of Religions and Mysticism
Volume 7, Issue 1
November 2023
Pages 178-196

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  • Receive Date: 01 November 2023
  • Accept Date: 01 November 2023

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