A Woman's Way: The Forgotten History of Women Spiritual Directors

by P. Ranft

Overview

Given the significance of spiritual leadership in modern Christianity, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the tradition upon which today's spiritual leadership is built. Patricia Ranft sheds new light on the way society understands a woman's spiritual life and her role in the Christian world, as well as Christian understanding of the role of women in society and as spiritual beings. She examines spiritual leadership from early Christianity to the early Medieval West to the late Middle Ages and finally the modern era. This book delineates the history of spiritual leadership for women and by women within the larger context of the history of Christian spirituality and its understanding of human perfectibility.

Author Biography: Patricia Ranft is Professor of History at Central Michigan University. Her books include Women and the Religious Life in Premodern Europe and Women and Spiritual Equality in Christian Tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312294441
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	11/29/2001
Edition description:	2000
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Patricia Ranft is Professor of History at Central Michigan University. Her books includeWomen and the Religious Life in Premodern Europe and Women and Spiritual Equality in Christian Tradition.

Table of Contents

Introduction
• Early Christianity
• Women Spiritual Directors of Church Fathers
• Early Monasticism and the Early Medieval West
• The Great Medieval Directors
• Late Middle Ages: Direction Comes of Age
• Confessors, Spiritual Directors, and Women
• Spiritual Directors within the New Orders
• Spiritual Direction among the Protestants
• The Modern Era

Editorial Reviews

Ranft analyzes [Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity] with insight. —Library Journal

From the Publisher