{"product_id":"virgins-of-god","title":"Virgins of God'","description":"\u003cp\u003eSituated in a period that witnessed the genesis of institutions that have lasted   to this day, this path-breaking study looks at how ancient Christian women, particularly in Asia Minor and Egypt, initiated ascetic ways of living, and how these practices were then institutionalized.  Susanna Elm demonstrates that--in direct contrast to later conceptions--asceticism began primarly as an urban movement, in which women were significant protagonists.  In the\n\u003cbr\u003eprocess, they completely transformed and expanded their roles as wife, mother, or widow: as Christian ascetics, they became `virgin wives', `virgin mothers', and `virgin widows' - with all the legal\n\u003cbr\u003eand economic implications of such a dramatic shift.  As importantly, though, Christian men and women ascetics lived together.  As `virgins of God' they created new families `in Christ'.  No longer determined by their human bonds or human sexuality, they were `neither male nor female'.  Finally, the book demonstrates how ascetic bishops - today known as saints - eventually `reformed' these early models of communal, ascetic life by dividing the `virgins of God' into monks and nuns and\n\u003cbr\u003ethus laid the foundation for the monasticism we know today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44156984623342,"sku":"9780198150442","price":185.08,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9612\/7726\/files\/9780198150442.jpg?v=1706256371","url":"https:\/\/bookland.com.au\/products\/virgins-of-god","provider":"Book Land AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}