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June 13, 2023
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Start Time: 8:00 pm ET
Professor Teresa Calpino discusses the women who led and ministered in The Acts of the Apostles, with a particular focus on Tabitha (Acts 9:36–42) and Lydia (Acts 16:11–15). The women in Acts o have routinely been ignored by scholars or mentioned only in praising the male apostle associated with their story. As a result, these important characters have been obscured. An examination of their stories set against the expectations of women in Greco-Roman antiquity reveals their unconventional situations. In particular, representations of the “ideal woman” in the Greco-Roman world are at variance with the portraits of Tabitha and Lydia. Both women are portrayed as independent, support themselves financially, and are regarded as benefactresses in their own right. Of course, benefactions from women were commonplace among elite women of the dominant class, but neither Tabitha nor Lydia belong to such select families.