Book cover of The Hidden History of Women's Ordination: Female Clergy in the Medieval West

Book description

The Roman Catholic leadership still refuses to ordain women officially or even to recognize that women are capable of ordination. But is the widely held assumption that women have always been excluded from such roles historically accurate? How might the current debate change if our view of the history of…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Hidden History of Women's Ordination as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

So many Christian churches struggle over who ought to lead. Do female priests/pastors fulfill or discount God’s intentions? How does one know? Scripture? Tradition?

Macy digs into the long-term history and finds that women were clearly ordained in the early church, but evidence of that ordination has been erased or explained away. Women used to perform many duties that we associate with religious leadership today, including some sacraments.

Furthermore, some were ordained, receiving vestments, staffs, and mitres. Their gradual exclusion from their traditional roles happened over centuries and was virtually complete by the 13th century, as the Church redefined ordination…

If you love The Hidden History of Women's Ordination...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like The Hidden History of Women's Ordination?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Hidden History of Women's Ordination.

Browse books like The Hidden History of Women's Ordination

Book cover of Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
Book cover of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years
Book cover of Bitch: On the Female of the Species

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

190

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like The Hidden History of Women's Ordination, you might also like...

Book cover of Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation

Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation by Brian Lofton,

Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation, is a raw and faith-centered memoir about life after military service—and the internal battles many never see. Brian Lofton shares his journey through addiction, shame, identity loss, and spiritual distance, revealing how the hardest struggles often begin after…

Book cover of No Color Is My Kind

No Color Is My Kind by Thomas R. Cole,

No Color is My Kind tells the stories of the desegregation of Houston, TX, in 1960, the life of civil rights leader Eldrewey Stearns, and the author's relationship to Stearns.

They met in a psychiatric case conference while Stearns was hospitalized at the University of Texas Medical Branch. After his…

5 book lists we think you will like!