Karen Jo Torjesen

American scholar of early Christianity and gender studies, professor at Claremont Graduate University, and author of When Women Were Priests.

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  1. 1. When Women Were Priests

    Women's Leadership in the Early Church and the Scandal of Their Subordination in the Rise of Christianity

    A historical investigation into the early Christian church that argues women once held significant liturgical and leadership roles—including deacons and presbyters—supported by textual, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence. It traces how shifting theological interpretations, evolving church structures, and Greco-Roman gender ideologies gradually restricted and erased women’s authority, culminating in formal exclusions from ordained ministry. The narrative connects these developments to broader cultural forces in late antiquity and considers how recovering this history reframes contemporary debates about women’s roles in the church.

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