Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- I. Women's Roles in the Church -- Teachers -- Prophets -- Martyrs -- Catechumens -- Widows -- Deaconesses -- Writings Opposed to Women's Ecclesiastical Duties -- II. Women and Virginity -- Female Comportment -- Major Treatises on Virginity -- The Subintroductae -- Transvestism -- III. Portraits of Ascetic Women -- Ascetic Heroines in Literature -- Biographies of Ascetic Leaders -- Women in Desert Asceticism -- IV. Women and Domestic Life -- Marriage -- Praise for Mothers and Sisters -- V. Female Imagery and Theology -- Eve-Mary Theme -- Marian Literature -- Female Images and Metaphors -- Appendices and Indices -- Appendix One: Timeline of Early Christian Women -- Appendix Two: Timeline of Early Christian Authors and Texts -- Appendix Three: Suggestions for Further Reading -- General Index -- Index of Biblical Passages.