Welcoming this book, the New York Times commented that it showed that feminist theology has come of age and achieves what many people, whether feminist or not, have deemed impossible, charting a course that neither abandons the Christian religion nor succumbs to its patriarchy. With a wealth of scholarship lucidly presented, Professor Schussler Fiorenza in fact offers an alternative reconstruction of the early church from a woman's perspective. She claims that from the beginning, the Christian missionary movement, unlike the Jesus movement addressed people of different national, cultural, social and religious backgrounds. women were active as rich patrons and prominent leaders and the existence of churches in private houses offered equal opportunities for them. Moreover, according to the theology of the group, all Christians, male and female were equal.