Religious Testimonials from Women of the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries

Abstract

The collected volume is conceived as a contribution to “(inter-)confessional women’s history.” It contains texts by eighteen Christian women from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century who responded to religious questions, and therefore also social questions, of their time. By doing so, they undermine Apostle Paul’s command that women remain silent (1 Cor. 12.34). The editor’s intention is to make these women’s thoughts accessible to the general public. The women were well-known and unknown authors and poets, women’s rights advocates, deaconesses, women of religious orders, a female Salvation Army preacher, and other religious women. Additionally, the editor wishes to bring the autonomy and the originality of their texts to the foreground. Each of the women presented here have a connection to Switzerland. The book is appropriate for personal enjoyment but also for group work.