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 historicizes problematic ideas about women's bodies that still persist today.
By:
Julia Kelto Lillis
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 13
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 499g
ISBN: 9780520389014
ISBN 10: 0520389018
Series: Christianity in Late Antiquity
Pages: 290
Publication Date: 13 December 2022
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Contents Acknowledgments Notes to the Reader Abbreviations for Series and Reference Works Introduction: Ancient and Present-Day Meanings for Virginity PART ONE. Virginity with and without Virginal Anatomy 1. Testing, Showing, and Perceiving Virginity in Antiquity 2. Mary’s Forms of Virginity in Early Christian Writings PART TWO. Christian Conceptualizations of Virginity in the Fourth Century 3. Virginity of Body and Soul: Fourth-Century Christian Configurations 4. Sealed Fountains: The Imagery of Fourth-Century Christian Virginity Discourse PART THREE. The Cost of Anatomized Virginity for Late Ancient Christians 5. Perceptible Virginity: Its Usefulness and Consequences 6. Augustine of Hippo and the Problem of Double Integrity Conclusion: Variety Persists Bibliography Index
Julia Kelto Lillis is Assistant Professor of Early Church History at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York.
Reviews for Virgin Territory: Configuring Female Virginity in Early Christianity
"""An exciting and essential addition to the ever-growing body of scholarship on the body in antiquity."" * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *"
