Contents -- About the Contributors -- INTRODUCTION -- PART I: Creating the Context(s) -- 1. Women's Lives in the Ancient Mediterranean -- 2. Jewish Women and Christian Origins: Some Caveats -- 3. Jewish Women and Women's Judaism(s) at the Beginning of Christianity -- 4. Women's Religions and Religious Lives in the Greco-Roman City -- PART II: Women, Jesus, and Gospels -- 5. Reconstructing "Real" Women in Gospel Literature: The Case of Mary Magdalene -- 6. (Re)Presentations of Women in the Gospels: John and Mark -- 7. Women in the Q Communit(ies) and Traditions -- 8. (Re)Presentations of Women in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke-Acts -- PART III: Mining the Pauline Tradition -- 9. Reading Real Women Through the Undisputed Letters of Paul -- 10. Paul on Women and Gender -- 11. Rereading Paul: Early Interpreters of Paul on Women and Gender -- PART IV: Gender, Authority, and Redemption in Early Christian Churches -- 12. Women, Gender, and Gnosis in Gnostic Texts and Traditions -- 13. Women, Ministry, and Church Order in Early Christianity -- 14. Women as Sources of Redemption and Knowledge in Early Christian Traditions -- Abbreviations -- Comprehensive Bibliography -- Index of Ancient Sources Cited -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- Index of Names -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.