Virgin Territory

Configuring Female Virginity in Early Christianity

Julia Kelto Lillis

$157.95

Hardback

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English

University of California Press
11 April 2023

History of religion; Christianity; Christian Churches & denominations; Christian aspects of sexuality, gender & relationships; Gender studies, gender groups

Series: Christianity in Late Antiquity

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: 11 April 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

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 * ""Lillis offers a sophisticated study that enhances historians’ sensitivity to an intellectual history of virginity."" * Plekos * ""This book is consummately well conceived, researched, written and produced."" * THE CLASSICAL REVIEW * ""Lillis’s sophisticated treatment of this important subject will no doubt be useful to scholars exploring topics of sex, gender, the body, and late antique piety."" * Catholic Historical Review *