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Article: Rebecca Anna Phillips: question of authority and gender among Primitive Baptists: Primitive Baptists in the nineteenth century took New Testament scriptures on the role of women as a mandate for women to be silent during worship.
- Article from:
- Baptist History and Heritage
- Article date:
- January 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Baptist History and Heritage Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Even today, Primitive Baptists follow nineteenth-century Victorian norms for the separation of male and female spheres. (1) Yet Rebecca Anna Phillips (Anna) wrote and published a spiritual autobiography and composed articles on biblical interpretation that appeared regularly in Primitive Baptist journals between 1880 and 1911. She was consulted by men and women, both laity and clergy, for advice on matters of doctrine and practice. As one of her biographers explained, she was known as "a deep, instructive and spiritual writer ... a teacher sent of the Lord." (2)
Why was Anna allowed to claim this kind of authority given the restrictions on women's public voice in ...