506 - The Corinthian Women Prophets: A Reconstruction Through Paul's Rhetoric

The Corinthian Women Prophets: A Reconstruction Through Paul's Rhetoric

By Antoinette Clark Wire

Minneapolis, Fortress, 1990. 316 Pp. $24.95.

If we are attentive to Paul's role as persuader, we may also learn much about those whom he hoped to persuade. With this seemingly simple proposal, New Testament scholar Antoinette Wire dares to conjoin the methods of literary critic and historian in order to engage in a piece of feminist detective work. Utilizing the tools of rhetorical analysis, Wire undertakes to reconstruct the social experience and theological self-understanding of the Christian women prophets of first-century Corinth. Her approach is methodical. Devoting an initial chapter to the rhetorical strategies characteristically employed by Paul in 1 Corinthians, Wire then proceeds to a section-by-section analysis of the structure of Paul's arguments in that letter. Each chapter adds further depth and persuasiveness to the emerging portrait of the influential women whom Paul addresses-women who, understanding themselves to be resurrected to new life in Christ, refuse their own subjection within patriarchal family structures and lay claim to the gift of spiritual insight and the right to speak freely to and for God. If Wire appears biased toward a positive evaluation of the Corinthian women, this stance represents a justifiable corrective to previous studies, and her treatment of Paul is fair and even sympathetic. The author relegates the details of scholarly debate to a series of useful and concise appendices. Her collection of translated texts documenting other prophetic women in antiquity is an added bonus.

Virginia Burrus, Drew University, Madison, NJ