"Beginning with the Jewish and Roman families of antiquity, Ruether shows that the anti-family traditions of the Gospels and early Christianity can be understood as a critique of oppressive forms of family. But as the eschatological fervor of early Christianity waned, and the church grew into a stable social force, it came to rely upon family life, and soon sought to shape it.

As Ruether traces the conjunctions between Christian theologies of family and political and economic change through patristic and medieval Christianity, the Reformation, and up to the present day, we see how religious and philosophical ideals have functioned again and again to prescribe, rather than describe, family roles. In particular, we see how these ideals have sought to tell women how to behave in relation to men."--BOOK JACKET.