American Society of Church History

Three Early Female Protestant Reformers' Appropriation of Prophecy as Interpretation of

Scripture
Author(s): G. Sujin Pak
Source: Church History, Vol. 84, No. 1 (MARCH 2015), pp. 90-123
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church
History
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Church History 84:1 (March 2015), 90-123.
© American Society of Church History, 2015
doi: 10.1017/S0009640714001723

Three Early Female Protestant Reformers'

Appropriation of Prophecy as Interpretation of
Scripture

G. SujiN Pak

After setting forth a wider context of the role ofprophecy for German medieval women,
the dual medieval tradition ofprophecy as visionary and as interpretation of scripture,
and the protestant emphasis on prophecy as interpretation of scripture, this essay
demonstrates that Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schütz Zell, and Marie Dentière
not only echoed the appeals to the priesthood of all believers made by contemporary
male reformers, they also embraced the teachings of these same male reformers that
viewed prophecy as interpretation of scripture. In this way, prophecy became a
significant lens by which Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schütz Zell, and Marie
Dentière conceived of themselves and their ministries—an understanding often
lacking in the secondary sources that study these women. Specifically, it will be
shown that each of these women employed Old Testament prophecy in ways that
parallel contemporary male reformers' use of prophecy: presenting herself as
speaking God's Word and not her own, locating her ministry within a larger biblical
prophetic tradition, interpreting contemporary situations in the light of biblical
prophecy and to distinguish between true and false prophets. The article concludes
by exploring whether the male reformers actually intended this application of their
teachings for women and exploring what is distinctive in these women's views and
uses of prophecy.

mystics and visionaries in the region now known as Germany. Some of

In the
thelater
more Middle
famousAges, there include
women was a significant
Hildegardconstellation
of Bingen of(d. women
1179),
Elisabeth of Schönau (d. 1165), Mechthild of Magdeburg (d. 1282), Mectild
of Hackeborn (d. 1298), and Gertrude the Great (d. 1302). While each of
these women addressed particular situations and audiences, they were all
German women who experienced divine visions and claimed to speak on
behalf of God. In his book The Laity in the Middle Ages, André Vauchez

The author extends deep gratitude to the reviewers of this essay, whose feedback greatly
strengthened the end result—particularly the introduction and conclusion. Of course, any errors
herein are the author's own.

G. Sujin Pak is Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity at Duke Divinity

School.

yu

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 91

emphasizes how the religious life became more accessible to la

women (and to lay women in particular) in the wake of the Grea
which loosened hierarchical authority and created a context in w
visionaries found space to lift their voices in calls for reform. H
sees a preponderance of female visionaries at this time and the flo
lay women groups, such as the Beguines.1 Vauchez also ident
female visionaries as prophets.2 Rosalynn Voaden in God s Words
Voices clarifies even further that it was precisely through these
the gift of prophecy that women could claim authorization to spe
in a world in which the female sex was expected to be silent in t
sphere.3 Voaden points to the fact that significant contemporary
—such as Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux—affirm
connection between prophecy and visions. In his Summa Th
Aquinas identified "prophets" more properly as "those who see in
imaginative visions," and he explicitly affirmed that a woman could be a
prophet.4 Even as women were allowed in principle the vocation of the
prophet, scholars rightly note the discourse of "exceptionalism" that
surrounded these late-medieval women, as well as a system of discernment
to verify that these women truly spoke the words of God.5
More broadly, however, late-medieval Christians inherited and passed on
two general definitions of prophecy: one that defined prophecy as
foretelling, in which visions often played a central role, and the other that
defined prophecy as interpretation of scripture.6 In the explications of the
first kind of prophecy, church fathers often emphasized the role of

'André Vauchez, The Laity in the Middle Ages: Religious Beliefs and Devotional Practices, ed.
Daniel E. Bornstein, trans. Margery J. Schneider (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press,
1993), 220-222, 226-227.
2Vauchez, Laity in the Middle Ages, 220-221.
3Rosalynn Voaden, God's Words, Women s Voices: The Discernment of Spirits in the Writing of
Late-Medieval Women Visionaries (Rochester, N.Y.: York Medieval, 1999), 7-9, 37^10. Voaden
draws a distinction between mystics and visionaries, where mystics experience an intellectual
vision rather than the imaginative vision (via sensory or symbolic form) of the visionary. She
contends that because of cultural limitations most late-medieval women became visionaries and
prophets. See God's Words, Women's Voices, 10, 35-37.
4Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica 2a2ae XLV, 77, as quoted in Voaden, God's Words,
Women's Voices, 36. See also 37.
5For examples of an analysis of this view of "exceptionalism," see Alastair Minnis, "Religious
Roles: Public and Private" in Medieval Holy Women in the Christian Tradition, c. 1100-c. 1500,
eds. Alastair Minnis and Rosalynn Voaden (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2010), 50, 59 and John
L. Thompson, "Rules Proved by Exceptions: The Exegesis of Paul and Women in the Sixteenth
Century," in A Companion to Paul in the Reformation, ed. R. Ward Holder (Leiden: Brill,
2009), 530-532. Rosalynn Voaden devotes the majority of her book to an analysis of the late
medieval church's discourse and practice of discretio spirituum; see God's Words, Women's Voices.
6Jon Balserak has very recently provided an account of these two traditions in his opening
chapters of John Calvin as Sixteenth-Centwy Prophet (New York: Oxford University Press,
2014), 17-32.

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92 CHURCH HISTORY

supernatural knowledge th
vision or imaginative visi
form was superior).7 John
earliest proponents of the
This dual view of prophecy
Maurus (d. 856), a Germa
Mainz. He wrote, "We unde
as predicting the future bu
scholars of early modern
of the early sixteenth-ce
implemented this definitio
specific protestant needs. R
Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bu
as the interpreter of script
in Zurich and analogous
Geneva.10 Indeed, in many

7For example, Augustine argued

vision was superior, while Peter
more "pure." For a more thorou
Prophet, 18-24.
8For a more detailed account, se
Exegetical History in Illuminatin
Balserak, John Calvin as Sixteenth
'Rhabanus Maurus, Enarrationum
Latina 112:116), as cited in Balser
Aquinas, Peter Lombard, Lanfran
also expressed this view. See Balse
10There are far too many sourc
representative. Many of these so
scripture and the role prophecy p
their ministries. See Elsie McKe
Prophet-Gedanken zu Zwingiis
Prophétie dans les Eglises de la
(1977): 289-316; Robert Bast, "C
Reformation Zurich," in Frömm
European Church History, eds. G
Brill, 2005), 351-362; Peter Opitz
Bullingers Lehre vom munus pro
2, eds. Emidio Campi et al. (Zur
Petersen, "Bullinger's Prophets
Perspective: Studies in Honor of
Burrows and Paul Rorem (Gran
Spijker, The Ecclesiastical Offices
Bierma (Leiden: Brill, 1996); Ro
Images of the Reformer, 1520-
Edwards Jr., Luther and the Fa
Alexandre Ganoczy, Le Jeune
(Stuttgart: Steiner, 1966), 336-36
Church History 67 (1998): 643-66

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 93

this view of the prophet to adjudicate right interpretation of scripture in a

in which protestants had now claimed scripture as the prime, if no
sole, authority for Christian life. Moreover, Zwingli, Luther and C
specifically rejected the view of prophecy as visionary specifically contr
Anabaptists; namely, they tied prophecy very closely to scripture and
interpretation in order to reject Anabaptists' claims to "new revela
through the Holy Spirit apart from scripture.11
In the early 1520s, male protestant reformers—Zwingli and Luth
particular—not only espoused the view of the prophet as the fai
interpreter of scripture, they also proclaimed a robust theology o
priesthood of all believers, in which Zwingli and Luther powerfu
proclaimed the call for every Christian to read and interpret scrip
Historical data exhibits the intense lay response to such exhortations.
Moeller demonstrates in an essay on the early protestant moveme
German towns that it was in the regions directly influenced by Luthe
Zwingli that one sees high concentrations of lay response. Not on
reform cluster around cities, writes Moeller, but one can also disce
geographical convergence in the cities of Wittenberg, Nuremberg
Strasbourg, with particular emphasis on the latter.12 Paul Russell's book
Theology in the Reformation, also traces the surge of lay publicati
southwest Germany in the 1520s to Luther and Zwingli's teachin
concerning the priesthood of all believers, alongside a prior medieval u
prophecy for calls for reform.13 In these lay publications, one f
anticlerical themes; one also finds a notable emphasis on the summ
laypersons to read scripture. For example, Miriam Usher Chrisma
provided an in-depth depiction of laypersons' response to the Prot
Reformation in Strasbourg. Chrisman notes the confidence Strasbourg
demonstrated to speak on matters of doctrine, and their use of Script

fruchtbar: Festschrift für Willem van 't Spijker, eds. Wilhelm H. Neusner and H. J. Se
(Groen en Zoon, 1997), 111-128; Erik de Boer, The Genevan School of the Prophe
congregations of the Company of Pastors and their Influence in 16th Century Europe
Librarie Droz, 2012); and Balserak's John Calvin as Sixteenth-Century Prophet.
"See, for examples, Edwards's Luther and the False Brethren, 9, 22-26; and Balserak,
Calvin as Sixteenth-Century Prophet, 44-52. See also Klaus Depperman's descript
Anabaptism in Strasbourg in Melchior Hoffman: Social Unrest and Apocalyptic Visions
Age of Reformation, ed. Benjamin Drewery, trans. Malcolm Wren (Edinburgh: T&T
1987), 189-190.
12Bernd Moeller, "What was Preached in German Towns in the Early Reformation?"
German Reformation, ed. C. Scott Dixon (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), 41-42.
l3Paul Russell, Lay Theology in the Reformation: Popular Pamphleteers in Southwest Ge
1521-1525 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 56-79, 21-55.

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94 CHURCH HISTORY

do so. Most of her work c

article she focuses on wom
argues that German women
urban world than women
after providing accoun
Anabaptist women, and wo
there was no identifiable s
Strasbourg.15 This particu
on the view and role of ma
her treatment of prophecy
the Anabaptist women in
ecstatic gift of prophecy
fringe activity" even amon
This essay contends, on t
broader significance for p
reform, beyond some of t
prophecy primarily in it
fruitful to view several ea
lands as embracing and s
interpreter of scripture. In
Elizabeth Scott-Baumann
writings as "acts of readin
By this, she exhorts schol
"immersed in their liter
proposes by to do just this
three early modern wome
protestant male leaders, p
interpreter of scripture. T
three women—Argula vo
(1498-1562), and Marie D

'"Miriam Usher Chrisman, "Lay

1528" in Reformation Principle
(London: Scolar, 1980), 34-52; "T
Visions of Reform: German Lay
Humanities, 1996), 159-178; an
University Press, 1982).
l5Miriam U. Chrisman, "Women
Refonnationsgeschichte 63 (1
Katharina's argument on the basis
(i.e., to speak publicly), but Chr
16Chrisman, "Women and the Re
''Elizabeth Scott-Baumann, Form
(New York: Oxford University P
18Scott-Baumann, Forms of Enga

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 95

the prophet as interpreter of scripture and to suggest some of the

contributions they proffered. It will argue that prophecy was
significant lens by which Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schüt
Marie Dentière conceived of themselves and their ministries,
employed Old Testament prophecy with four common objec
parallel contemporary male uses of prophecy: to present them
speaking God's Word and not their own, to locate their ministrie
larger biblical prophetic tradition, to interpret contemporary situa
light of biblical prophecy, and to distinguish between true and fals

I. Women's Applications of Male Reformers' Teachings: The

Priesthood of All Believers

Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schütz Zell, and Marie Dentière grounded
their call and obligation to speak out publicly in the theology of the
priesthood of all believers—a theology that the leading male contemporary
reformers in their regions propounded. Argula von Grumbach explicitly
claimed that she had read all of Luther's German works at the time of her
writings.19 Katharina Schütz Zell spent her life and ministry in the town of
Strasbourg whose reform was led by Martin Bucer, and she was married to
another of the city's key reformers, Matthew Zell.20 Marie Dentière left the
convent in the early 1520s and arrived in Strasbourg soon thereafter and
remained there until 1528 and likely knew and met Katharina and Matthew
Zell.21 From 1528 to 1533, she and her first husband settled in an area
outside of Geneva in support of Guillame Farel's reform in the region. After
the death of her first husband, Marie married Antoine Froment, with whom
she settled in Geneva in 1535. Her Very Useful Epistle was published in 1539.

19A critical edition of the German texts can be found in Peter Matheson, ed., Argula von
Grumbach Schriften (Heidelberg: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2010)—hereafter cited as "AVG
Schriften." English translations of the texts are provided in Peter Matheson, ed., Argula von
Grumbach: A Woman's Voice in the Reformation (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1995), hereafter cited
as "Matheson." AVG Schriften, 72; Matheson, 86.
20Elsie McKee, Katharina Schütz Zell, vol. I, The Life and Thought of a Sixteenth-Century
Reformer and Katharina Schütz Zell, vol. II, The Writings, A Critical Edition (Leiden: Brill
1999), as well as her English translation of Katharina's writings in Church Mother: The Writings
of a Protestant Reformer in Sixteenth-Century Germany (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2006). Hereafter, the critical edition of Katharina's writings is cited as "KSZ II" and the English
translation of her writings is cited as "Church Mother." McKee's volume on Katharina's life and
thought is cited hereafter as "KSZ I." McKee notes Katharina's knowledge of male reformers'
works and Katharina's understanding of herself as a full partner in her husband's ministry. See
KSZ I: 81, 289-291, 373, 441-451; KSZ II, 73-74, 169-173; Church Mother, 106, 192, 224^-228.
21 KSZ I, 55fnl8; Mary B. McKinley, Marie Dentière: Epistle to Marguerite de Navarre and
Preface to a Sermon by John Calvin (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 4.

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96 CHURCH HISTORY

Several scholars have al

contemporary male reform
believers for Argula von
Dentière and their defen
particular, examines Ar
teachings, especially those
in Germany. Peter Mathes
disagrees with Halbach's
Nonetheless, they agree
believers was a launching
Paul Russell and Kirsi Stjer
Argula von Grumbach con
upon her identity as a bap
the duties of baptized Ch
that she was compelled a
witness to Christ and defe
contended that all Christ
scripture and should test t
scripture.26 Indeed, these
early teachings, especially
On the Misuse of the M
Christian nobility in Ge
believers precisely on the
membership in the Body o

22The goal is not to present an

teachings on the priesthood of all
demonstrate that these male ref
these early years of the 1520s.
23Matheson, 52-53. Matheson
judgments it measures Argula
influence of specific Lutheran wr
24Silke Halbach, Argula von G
(Frankfurt am Main: Peter La
Women? Sin, Grace and Gender
Theology 49 (1996): 40-41, 44;
Quarterly 22 (2008): 2, 6-7, 11
Stjerna, Women and the Reform
25AVG Schriften, 64, 88, 98, 10
103, 118, 121, 127, 132, 142, 143
26AVG Schriften, 136, 137, 138
"test everything by the Spirit, acco
asks God for a good Spirit will
responsibility to know the Word
Martin Luthers Werke, Kritisc
6:407, 408^109 [hereafter WA];
44:127, 129, 130 [hereafter LW],

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 97

Christians, as part of the priesthood of all believers, were called t

scripture and employ scripture to rebuke wrong teachings.28 Like
the Misuse of the Mass, Luther insisted that the office of preach
Word is common to all Christians.29 Hence, one finds in Lut
writings strong statements about the duty of every Christian to
scripture and reprove unbiblical teachings.
Scholars of Katharina Schütz Zell and Marie Dentière also general
importance of the concept of the priesthood of all believers to d
buttress their public ministries. Yet, few have explored in an
conceptual parallels between Katharina's writings and those of he
Matthew Zell or Martin Bucer. Likewise, few have noted th
between Marie's writings and those of her husband Antoine F
Guillame Farel. For example, Elsie McKee's landmark work on the
thought of Katharina Schütz Zell superbly depicts Katharina
concerning lay vocations, the obligation of all Christians to speak
falsehood, and the appropriate possibilities of lay preaching and
yet, except for a few general references, McKee discusses the
independent of contemporary male reformers' teachings or, for t
other contemporary women writers.30
In fact, Katharina Schütz Zell employed several of the same bib
quoted by Argula von Grumbach. For example, in her very first p
she echoed Argula's favorite text in Matt 10:32-33 to remind the
Kentzingen that whoever confesses Christ, Christ will confess, a
denies him, he will also deny.31 Katharina exhorted the
Kentzingen to speak the words of scripture to their husbands to b
comfort, and she reminded her peers that she always tested the t
measure of scripture.32 Central to Katharina's argument was
emphasis upon love of neighbor as that which compels a Christia
out publicly and not remain silent in the face of wrong te
Furthermore, Katharina emphasized the way in which God uses l
to reestablish the authority of Scripture and rebuke corrupt leader

28WA 6:411-12, 413; LW 44:133-134, 136.

29WA 8:491, 491-^92, 495; LW 36:144, 145, 149.
30See KSZ I, 390-418. McKee depicts the reception of Katharina's ideas
contemporaries (see KSZ I, 58 65-66, 80-81, 93, 101-102 146, 153), but supp
statements about Katharina's reception of contemporary male reformers' teach
289-291,373).
31Note that this is one of Argula's favorite texts. Katharina cites the Markan ve
and conflates this with Matthew 10:33. KSZ II, 7; Church Mother, 52.
32KSZ II, 7, 131; Church Mother, 52, 194.
33KSZ II, 7, 311; Church Mother, 52, 132. See also KSZ II, 22, 24; Church Moth
34KSZ II, 22-23, 127-128, 133-135, 145-146, 172-173, 173; Church Mother,
194, 196-198, 209, 228, 229-230.

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 98 CHURCH HISTORY

These emphases upon the

love of neighbor and upo
truths of Scripture were
Strasbourg—Matthew Zel
theme of Bucer's earl
assertion of the priest
Christian love: "No dist
spiritual and another se
neither birth nor individual characteristics nor even the distinction between
sexes matters . . . Whoever has a strong faith that is active in love is the
spiritual person."36 Bucer also affirmed that all believers had access to the
Holy Spirit and the call to test all teachings according to their right
adherence to scripture, as seen in his 1523 treatise Summary seiner Predig:
"Do not let yourselves be turned aside, as if you were not permitted to have
the Holy Spirit and thus could not read anything in the Holy Gospels and
other divine writings, nor test and judge the preaching and teaching carried
out for you ... If you believe in Christ, you are his, you have his Spirit, you
are spiritual, you have all things to judge and to test."37 Additionally,
Matthew Zell emphasized God's employment of laypersons to rebuke
corrupt leadership and enable the proper preaching of God's Word. He wrote
in his 1523 German treatise Christeliche Verantwortung: "What is a right
and true calling but that the Spirit of God—that is, a just zeal concerning the
dishonor of God and the leading astray of his people—drives one so that he
takes God's Word in his mouth and to God's honor fights against his
enemies? ... It could be understood from this that everyone should be
allowed to preach . . . although, strangely, we do not like it when a
layperson arises to preach, which is never prohibited, much rather
permitted."38 Hence, Katharina's emphases upon love of neighbor and God's
employment of laypersons to test the scriptural veracity of the teachings of

35William Stafford emphasizes the central role of faith in his analysis of Das Ym Selbs, but the
importance of love of neighbor is also apparent. See William Stafford, Domesticating the Clergy:
The Inception of the Reformation in Strasbourg, 1522-24 (Missoula, Mont.: Scholars, 1976), 48
65. Amy Nelson Burnett, as well, indicates the importance of love and service to the neighbor for
Bucer's theology. See "Church Discipline and Moral Reformation in the Thought of Martin Bucer,"
Sixteenth Century Journal 22 (1991): 440, 453, 454. McKee discusses Katharina's emphasis upon
love of neighbor but does not draw clear parallels to the teachings of contemporary male reformers
in Strasbourg. See KSZ I, 287-288, 318-327.
36Martin Bucer, Martin Bucers Deutsche Schriften, vol. 1, ed. Robert Stupperich (Gütersloh:
Mohn, 1960-1962), 321 (henceforth designated as "DS").
37DS 1:82, 83.
38Matthew Zell, Christeliche Verantwortung (Strasbourg, 1523), y3r-v, elr-v; henceforth cited
as "CV." The translation of this passage comes from Stafford, Domesticating the Clergy, 251-52,
fn. 85. Zell also wrote in this same treatise: "Since God does not will that his creation be wholly
ruined, he always raises up people through whom he rebukes the rulers" (CV, y2v).

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 99

corrupt leadership were concepts she appropriated and applied to

context and set of concerns.
There is likewise a seeming lack in the scholarly studies of Marie
analyzing her teachings in the light of her contemporary male re
Marie redeployed not only central teachings of Guillame Far
also echoed several of the ideas of Argula and Katharina before h
like Katharina (and Bucer and Zell), explained that in keeping
practice of love of neighbor she could not keep silent and allow he
to be seduced by false teachings.40 Marie also appealed to t
baptism of all Christians, so that the call to read and interpr
belonged equally to cleric and lay, men and women, educated and
uneducated.41 The ministry of every Christian, whether lay or ordained, was
to "follow the way of God's Word" and to resist false teachings "powerfully
with the Word of God."42 Indeed, pivotal to the teachings of Guillame Farel
was the centrality of God's Word, the access all Christians had to scripture,
and the duty of Christians to judge the veracity of teachings based upon their
adherence to scripture. For example, he wrote in his 1529 Summary and
Brief Declaration that all Christians must "prove by the holy scriptures of
God and to examine diligently all decrees, all remarks and instruction in
order to know what spirit brings them forth, either the Spirit of God or that
of the flesh"; this included even testing what their pastors taught43 Farel

39Similar to the secondary literature on Katharina Schütz Zell, studies of Marie Dentière either
compare her to the work of other women writers or address male reactions to her teachings. See
Thomas Head, "The Religion of the Femmelettes: Ideals and Experience among Women in
Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century France," in That Gentle Strength: Historical Perspectives on
Women in Christianity, eds. Lynda L. Coon, Katherine J. Haldane, and Elisabeth W. Sommer
(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990), 159-166 and "A Propagandist for the
Reform: Marie Dentière," in Women Writers of the Renaissance and Reformation, ed. Katharina
M. Wilson (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1987), 265-266. See also Jane Dempsey
Douglas, "Marie Dentière's Use of Scripture in Her Theology of History," in Biblical
Hermeneutics in Historical Perspective (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1991), 243-244 and
Mary McKinley, "The Absent Ellipsis: The Edition and Suppression of Marie Dentière in the
Sixteenth and Nineteenth Century," in Women Writers in Pre-Revolutionary France: Strategies
of Emancipation, eds. Collette H. Winn and Donna Kuizenga (New York: Garland, 1997), 85-97.
40Marie Dentière, Epistre très utile faicte et composée par une femme Chrestienne de Tornay,
Envoyée à la Royne de Navarre seur du Roy de France, Contre Les Turcz, Iuifz, Infideles, Faulx
chrestiens, Anabaptistes, et Lutheriens (Geneva: Jean Gérard, 1539), c6v-c7r. McKinley, Marie
Dentière, 76-77.
4lDentière, Epistre très utile, c8v-dlr; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 79.
42Dentière, Epistre très utile, d6v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 85. In the body of the letter, Marie
frequently exhorted everyone to defend their views from scripture. See Dentière, Epistre très utile,
blv, b2r; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 61, 62.
43Guillame Farel, Summaire et briefve declaration daucuns lieux fort necessaries a ung chascun
Chrestien pour mettre sa confiance en Dieu et ayder son prochain (Neuchâtel, 1534), Bv. See also
Zuidema and Raalte, eds., Early French Reform: The Theology and Spirituality of Guillame Farel
(Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2011), 126, 162. He wrote that every Christian should test and judge
even what their pastors teach in order to "seek diligently to know if it is of the Word of God" (162).

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 100 CHURCH HISTORY

also insisted that all Christi

hold only to the "pure Wo
scripture, and to preach the
In sum, the male reformer
which these women resided
the access of every Christia
to read scripture, to judge
defend God's truth on the
appealed to their identitie
priesthood of all believers t
publicly. To show that
surrounding male reformers
to demonstrate their skills
Moreover, not only did the
the priesthood of all believ
scripture and rebuke wrong
themselves the view of the
was also evident in these ma

IL Male Reformers' Teachings on Prophecy & Scripture

The chief male protestant reformers in the regions in which these women
resided emphasized a definition of prophecy as the gift of interpreting and
applying scripture. They also identified their own ministries with the work of
the Old Testament prophets, especially echoing the prophets' proclamations
against idolatry and false worship. Hence, these male protestant reformers
regularly applied Old Testament prophecy to interpret the events of their day
and utilized the distinction between true and false prophets to defend their
leadership and readings of scripture over and against those of Roman
Catholics or Anabaptists. For example, in his Open Letter to the Christian
Nobility and The Misuse of the Mass, Martin Luther identified the prophet as
the true interpreter of scripture. He insisted in his Open Letter that this gift
of interpreting scripture belonged to all believers (and not just the pope):
"St. Paul says in I Corinthians 14, 'If something better is revealed to anyone,
though he is already sitting and listening to another in God's Word, then the
one who is speaking shall hold his peace and give place' . . . Who would
help Christendom when the pope erred if we did not have somebody we
could trust more than him, somebody who had the Scriptures on his side?

44See Guillame Farel, The Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed (1524), trans. Theodore Van
Raalte in Zuidema and Raalte, Early French Reform, 111 and Summaire, Bvi; see also Ciii, Cv
vi, Hiv-v, Liii. Zuidema and Raalte, Early French Reform, 127; see also 131, 133, 162, 163, 179.

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 101

Therefore, their claim that only the pope may interpret Scriptu
outrageous fancied fable."45 Luther also appealed to I Corinthians 14
Misuse of the Mass to argue that the duties of preaching and interpr
God's Word were common to all Christians.46 Hence, in his writings
early 1520s, Luther explicated the gift of prophecy (as it appe
Corinthians 14) in a manner that established a clear tie between the
prophecy and the call of every Christian to interpret scripture and
scripture to judge true teachings from false.47
This tie between prophecy and the interpretation of scripture
discerned in the writings of Bucer, Zell and Farel, as well. Marti
identified prophecy as it appeared in I Corinthians 14 as the g
"preaching the Word of God and interpreting."48 Similar to Luther,
argued that God gave all Christians the ability to judge right do
through the process set forth in I Corinthians 14 of two or three be
standing up to interpret Scripture and discern God's will49 Indeed, M
Zell identified those who proclaim and interpret God's Word as proph
explicitly carved out a space for lay prophets by arguing that all Ch
must rebuke wrongdoing and not remain silent.50 A similar stance m
seen in the writings of Guillame Farel. A true pastor, wrote Fare
Summaire et briefve declaration (1529), proclaims only the pure W
God. Hence, he clarified, "Scripture clearly testifies that whateve
clearly proven by Scripture should not be received. God has not
about anything on earth that [God] has not prophesied by his servan
prophets."51 Implied in this statement is a deep tie between the cont
scripture and the content of prophecy. Perhaps even more clearly in
same treatise, when depicting the cooperation between the various g
the members of the church, Farel specifically highlighted the
prophecy: "He who speaks prophecy, exhorts or admonishes, does it
edification of others. He who interprets, puts Scripture in the c
language; he does this for others and not for himself."52

4SWA 6:411; LW 44:134. The reader should note that the central subject matter of I Cor
14 is the gift of prophecy.
46WA 8:491-92, 495-96; LW 36:145, 149-50.
47Luther again employed I Corinthians 14 in his 1523 treatise Concerning the Min
describe a process by which all Christians might discern right and true doctrine by jud
accordance with scripture. See WA 12:179-80, 187-89; LW 40:21, 31-34.
48DS 2:112. Bucer wrote, commenting on I Corinthians 14, "To prophesy in this place,
know here, is preaching the Word of God and making it clear [interpreting]."
49DS 2:127-28. See also DS 2:447, 451; 5:27.1 Corinthians 14:29 states (NRSV), "Le
three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said."
50CV, y2v, a2v, y3r-v, elr-v. a3r-v.
slFarel, Summaire, Hv; Zuidema and Raalte, Early French Reform, 163; see 162-163
52Farel, Summaire, Cv-vi; Zuidema and Raalte, Early French Reform, 132-133.

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102 CHURCH HISTORY

These male protestant reform

vocation of the Old Testamen
interpret the events of their
of God's idola Word and the
context.53 In his Open Lett
current Roman leadership to
equated the Roman priests w
false priesthood at Bethel.
Isaiah's aim to reestablish tr
similar fashion, Matthew Ze
lay prophets had no need of
argued Zell, did Elijah wait f
more broadly to the manne
pattern evident in his own
upholding God's Word failed
echoed the language and con
those of Jeremiah and Isa
applied Isaiah (e.g., Isa. 58) t
Jeremiah's image of true w
believers (Jer. 3L33-34).59 Fa
a call to true worship and th
parents how to instruct thei
to use the Old Testament s
prophets) to guide their child
Finally, male protestant
distinguished between tru
through testing correct adh
Christeliche Vertanwortun
gauged by his correct obser
identified by the adherence
Bucer stated that true pro
everything according to

54WA 6:405^06, 8:494; LW 44:12

55WA 8:555, 556, 557, 558-559,
56WA 8:561; LW 36:227.
57CV, y3r-v.
58William Stafford makes this point in Domesticating the Clergy, 35, 35—37.
59Farel, Summaire, Dvii-viii, Div,Dv; Zuidemaand Raalt s, Early French Reform, 141,138, 139.
60Farel, Summaire, Hiv; Zuidema and Raalte, Early French Reform, 162. See Joel 2:1, 15-16.
61Farel, Summaire, Ivii-viii; Zuidema and Raalte, Early French Reform, 170-71.
62CV, e2v-e3r.
63DS 2:127-28.

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 103

employed a sharp contrast between true and false prophets in order

the Roman leadership as false and protestant leaders as rightly procl
truth of scripture. Thus, in his Open Letter to the Nobility and The Mi
Mass, Luther identified Roman leaders as false prophets, false teac
false shepherds and proclaimed that scripture had already warned t
would be those such as these who attempt to lead the people astray
identified having right adherence to scripture and having a true "
that which set apart true prophets from false.64 Similarly, Guilla
instructed that false prophets could be identified by the fruits that
and their lack of adherence to scripture.65 Indeed, he dedicate
section of his Summaire et briefve declaration to the distinction be
false and the true pastor.66 Hence, from even this brief surve
discern the central role that Old Testament prophecy played in
teachings of leading male protestant reformers: they identi
ministries with the Old Testament prophets, they read contempora
in the light of Old Testament prophecy, and they utilized the dis
false versus true prophets to empower and authorize their reform ef

III. Argula, Katharina and Marie's Uses of Old Testam

Prophecy

There are striking parallels between Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schütz
Zell and Marie Dentière's uses of Old Testament prophecy and those of
these male protestant reformers. These women not only applied the teachings
concerning the priesthood of all believers to buttress their public ministries,
they also availed themselves of the male reformers' conception of prophecy
as the interpretation and application of scripture. Prophecy thus emerges as a
central lens by which to understand the self-conceptions and ministries of
these three women. Yet, the foremost studies of the lives and works of
Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schütz Zell and Marie Dentière do not
employ prophecy as a spotlight by which to shed light upon their self
conceptions and ministries. Despite the fact that the secondary literature
emphasizes Argula, Katharina and Marie's claims to the call to interpret
scripture, these claims are connected primarily—if not solely—to the idea of
the priesthood of believers. Thus, the crucial connections contemporary male

mWA 6:409, 414; WA 8:502, 504; LW 44:131, 138; LW 36:158, 160. See also Martin Luthers
Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe, Breifwechsel, 18 vols. (Weimar: H. Böhlau, 1930-1985), 2:424
425, 427, 448-449, 460.
65Farel, Summaire, Cii-iii, Ciii-v, Cvi-vii, Gv-Hi; Zuidema and Raalte, Early French Reform,
130-131, 131-132, 134, 157-160.
66Farel, Summaire, Gv-Hi; Zuidema and Raalte, Early French Reform, 157-160.

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104 CHURCH HISTORY

protestants were making betw

are overlooked. And when p
primarily as apocalyptic, visio
Russell's study of lay pam
pamphleteers that includes
Katharina Schütz Zell, wher
apocalyptic understanding: "C
are implicit in women's c
prophesy."67 More crucially,
emphasis on identifying the p
women pamphleteers' central
and their boldness to interpret
The foremost studies of Arg
and Silke Halbach also do not
Argula's writings and self-con
of the role of prophecy for A
context.69 Silke Halbach brief
but Halbach fails to connect th
interpretation of scripture.70
The chief biographer of Ka
argues against viewing Kathari
of "church mother" and the of
ministry.71 Though McKee not
the New Testament prophetes
elderly widow, rather than

67Russell, Lay Theology in the Refo

important to Argula von Grumbach 's
merely an apocalyptic concept), such i
Zell—not only because her ministr
identified her ministry in language
than "exceptional."
68See Russell, Lay Theology in the
sons and your daughters shall proph
Reformation in the Pamphlet Lite
Reformationsgeschichte 74 (1983): 1
69Peter Matheson broadly refers to A
apocalyptic expectations ("Breaking
Grace and Gender in the Writings o
discourse was "of a prophetic calling
2:28, Matheson does not mention pr
the Reformation, 39; "Breaking t
Grumbach," 9).
70Halbach, Argula von Grumbach als
71KSZ1,173-200,434-439. Other alter
"fisher of people" (440), "fellow wor

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 105

Katharina added the teaching from I Timothy 5:5 concerning the office of
widows to her understanding of Anna, which in effect down-played Anna as
a prophetess and, instead, presented her as a model for the preachin
ministry of widows.72 McKee writes, "It is important to remember th
'mainline' Protestants understood the prophets primarily as specially gifte
preachers or proclaimers of the Gospel and not foretellers." Immediate
following McKee concludes, "Thus it is not helpful to give [Katharina] the
title of 'prophetess.'"73 But this precisely misses the very point McKe
herself makes that protestants understand the prophet as a gifted preacher
the gospel (i.e., scripture) and, instead, dismisses prophecy based upon its
apocalyptic, predictive character. If, as many scholars have argued,7
protestants were operating with the conception of "prophet" as an interpret
of scripture and Katharina highlighted her own gifts as an interpreter of
scripture, then is there not a connection to be made between these? There is
no disagreement that the identifications McKee highlights as central
Katharina's self-conception (i.e., "church mother" and office of widow) are
important; however, the protestant emphasis on the "prophet" as interprete
of scripture was equally vital to her self-understanding and thereby opens th
door to prophetic aspects of Katharina's ministry.
Finally, Mary McKinley's introduction to Marie Dentière's life and work
also lacks any attention to a possible role of prophecy. Throughout he
introduction, McKinley quotes key passages from Marie Dentière's primary
source that make explicit references to prophecy and prophets; yet, in eac
instance McKinley does not attend to the prophetic aspects of her work.75
Thomas Head mentions Marie's claim to prophetic authority, but
characterizes prophecy as primarily charismatic.76 Jane Dempsey Douglass
focuses her examination upon Marie's use of scripture, but with no attention
to the role of biblical prophecy.77 More specifically, there is no recognition

72KSZ I, 435, 436-439.

73KSZ I, 474&138.
74See footnote 10.
75See McKinley, Marie Dentière, 15, 19, 20, 25.
76See Thomas Head, "The Religion of the Femmelettes," 159, 161-162. Head writes, "Having
failed in her attempt to construct some alternative to the cloister and the kitchen, Dentière found
herself forced to rely—like Anabaptist contemporaries whom she despised and Catholic nuns
whose life she had rejected—on a claim of charismatic or prophetic, rather than institutional,
authority" (161-162). On the contrary, Dentière's emphasis on her call by God to interpret
scripture publicly was her claim to authority; it was a claim to a different conception of the
prophetic office than one primarily reliant upon claims to an ecstatic experience of the Holy
Spirit. Head does not mention prophecy at all in his brief article, "A Propagandist for the
Reform: Marie Dentière," 260-270. Irena Backus makes a single reference to prophecy in her
article ("Marie Dentière: un cas de féminisme théologique à l'époque de la Réforme?" Bulletin
de la Société de l'Histoire du Protestantisme Français 137 [1991]: 187-188).
77Douglass, "Marie Dentière's Use of Scripture in Her Theology of History," 227-244. Even the
classic work by Natalie Zemon Davis, which argues that the new Reformed image of the heroine is a

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106 CHURCH HISTORY

of a larger understanding amon

faithful interpreter of Scriptur
been appropriating this concep
The crucial of pro importance
Katharina Schütz Zell, and Ma
extensive applications of Old T
figures, and images were cruc
Argula, Katharina and Marie
similar objectives to those dem
their respective contexts. Firs
the call of the biblical prophe
own so that they authorized t
Secondly, biblical prophetic
employed to depict their voca
Marie to locate their ministri
comfort, and the call to ob
applied Old Testament proph
Argula, Katharina and Marie d
their opponents in order to id
ultimately situate themselves
Word.

Argula von Grumbach, Katha

that—much like the Old Testa
and not their own words. For
University of Ingolstadt tha
applied scripture directly to t
should add anything to the Wo
Jeremiah's calls to prophesy
them from my mouth."78 In
concluded, "What I have wri
Word of God."79 Likewise, in
God's grace I can be accountab

"simple woman who knows her Bible,"

"City Women and Religious Change,"
Calif.: Stanford University Press, 19
movement in a sixteenth-century Ref
78Here she began with the passage fr
cited Matt 10:32-33, Is 3:3 and 12, Is
54:13, I Cor 12:3 and Matt 15:17. AV
Prov 30:5-6, which command not to
™AVG Schriften, 75, see also 73; Ma

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 107

word but God's."80 Her 1524 poem echoed this same sentiment, writ
earnestly God each one forbids / To tear his sacred Word to bits. / Add
on, nor take away." By arguing that she proclaimed the Word of God
could then identify her words with God's Word: "In Isaiah thirty it is w
Woe to you, who fail to note / The counsel of the mouth of God."81
Similar to Argula, Katharina insisted that the words she spoke were
own but given to her by God. She wrote in her letter to the w
Kentzingen, "Therefore, dear Christian women, consider these wor
are not mine but are from the Spirit of God."82 That these words
long string of quotations from scripture was also a key facet of h
Katharina understood her work as a continual practice of interpret
application of scripture so that she ultimately proclaimed a message
her by God in scripture.83 She appealed to the figure of Mary Mag
arguing that she, too, was charged by God to speak.84 Hence, K
expressed in her letter to Schwenckfeld, "Then God open
understanding to comprehend the Holy Scriptures ... So I have not
by own ideas, but I have let the will of God be more pleasing to me
own."85 Furthermore, she described how she had "exercised herself
Holy Scriptures" for over forty-eight years and been taught by othe
she now might make "the wine new," thereby invoking her aut
apply scripture anew for her day.86
Marie Dentière employed the language of biblical prophecy
technique of presenting her message as given of God, as well. Direc
from scripture and scriptural allusions saturated the main body of h
—so many citations and allusions that it would occupy far too muc
to recount them all. Though citations from the Gospels were t
numerous, her language and tone derived from the Old Testament
Indeed, rather than explicitly arguing that she spoke God's wor
simply proceeded to speak exactly like an Old Testament prophet:

For his enemies must be ground under his feet [see Ps 8:6], 87 so
Ethiopians and kings of the earth adore him [see Is 49:7], and his
will prostrate themselves [see Ps 72:9] before his face and will

WAVG Schriften, 92; Matheson, 110.

nAVG Schriften, 139-140; Matheson, 180.
82KSZ H, 10; Church Mother, 53.
830f course, quoting scripture is also a tool of the ministry of comfort and rebuke. She
however, we are weak in our flesh, we should always encourage each other with the W
(KSZ II, 44; Church Mother, 80).
84KSZ n, 71-72; Church Mother, 104.
85KSZ II, 145; Church Mother, 207.
86KSZ II, 133-134; Church Mother, 196.
87Hebrews 2:8 and I Corinthians 15:27 cites Psalm 8:6 as a prophecy of Christ. The
church viewed David as a prophet.

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108 CHURCH HISTORY

earth [see Mic 7:17].88 [W]e

[see Ps 52:3] and condemned
loved the lie more than the

Marie's assertion that "we did

and events of Jeremiah 42 an
they would "obey the voice
word God had given him, th
lie. The Lord God did not
interpreted the events o
prophecies. Likewise, she w
come to be. They have tur
avarice."90 In sum, these t
prophecy to authorize th
proclamations.
Secondly, Argula von Grum
employed Old Testament prop
within a biblical pattern. For
locate herself in the biblical p
letter to the University of In
Ezekiel to pronounce woes up
she closed the letter with a c
"Turn again, return to the Lor
her letter to Duke Wilhelm
Testament prophets—that
those who scorn God's Word
Isaiah and Jeremiah to war
God's Word.94 She closed he
call to repentance, "Come he
who have nothing, and buy
Explicitly invoking the Ol
comfort, Katharina Schütz
rebuke as the central activit

Dentière, Epistre très utile, a5v; M

89Dentière, Epistre très utile, a7r;
90Dentière, Epistre très utile, d8r;
91She cites Hos 13:8 and 6:5, Is 30
and Is 30:1, proclaiming, "I smote th
made your counsel without me" (A
92AVG Schriften, 75; Matheson, 90
93AVG Schriften, 88-89; Matheson
94AVG Schriften, 100; Matheson, 1
95AVG Schriften, 130; Matheson, 1

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 109

and her own ministerial office in particular.96 For example, when c

the women of Kentzingen, she employed several texts from
encourage them to believe God's promise to be with them.97 But eq
applied prophetic texts to rebuke wrong teaching and errant leader
she cast her defense of her husband and their marriage in prophe
with woes and warnings against false teachers and exhortations to s
in the face of persecution:

What have the prophets said? Read David, the great prophet in the
says, "The heathen have gnashed their teeth, and the peop
contemplated worthless things. The kings of the earth stood wi
other and the princes gathered together against their God
Anointed." Have our enemies not gathered together against God
Word now? That Word in which Christ is proclaimed. Isaiah
same thing in chapter 57: "How the righteous is here destroyed
one remembers him! But peace will come to him." And all the pr
tell how the righteous will be destroyed and the godless will
upper hand until the judgment of God is held.98

Indeed recognizing that she had boldly aligned herself with the wo
prophets in this 1524 defense, Katharina attempted to soften this i
when she wrote, "So may you also receive me in good part. I do n
be heard as if 1 were Elizabeth or John the Baptist or Nathan the
who pointed out his sin to David or as any of the prophets, but o
donkey whom the false prophet Balaam heard."99
Katharina not only found in the exhortations of biblical prophets
with a lay ministry of rebuke and comfort, but prophetic texts als
shaped her descriptions of Matthew Zell's ministry. In her sermon
husband's grave, Katharina compared Matthew Zell's ministry to th
Malachi: "His purpose was the same: to confess his faith to the peo
last ... to comfort his people, and to warn them against false teach
godless acts of all the abomination that might soon be promoted a
again, as he had always warned against and greatly opposed the po
those who wanted to follow him."100 The actions of confessing th
comforting, and warning against false teachers were all duties bel

96See especially KSZ II, 312-13; Church Mother, 132.

97She cited Is 54:4-8, 11, 10; 49:15; 43:1, 5, 14; 44:2. See KSZ U, 10-11; Church M
98KSZ II, 43—44; Church Mother, 79-80. In addition, Katharina framed her lett
against Ludwig Rabus with a quotation from Isaiah 38: "Oh how happily will I s
God has and does rebuke; therefore, I will be thankful all my life long for my affl
II, 168; Church Mother, 223).
99KSZII, 46; Church Mother, 82. All the persons named are biblical prophets of th
Testaments.
100KSZ II, 76-77; Church Mother, 109.

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110 CHURCH HISTORY

the biblical prophet. Moreove

to God that Matthew might
and apostles.101 Katharina lik
"With great zeal, like a forer
way everything that set itsel
Katharina perceived the fulf
ministry (such as the prop
Lam 3:1, Is 58:8, Is 53:9, Z
understood herself as a full p
described in prophetic terms
ministry with the biblical pr
Marie Dentière similarly loc
biblical prophetic patter
restoration. At the start of t
those who have been seduce
ready and willing to forgive
false worship and embrace
pattern of rebuke, repentanc
and false Eucharistie practic
a change of path.107 Mari
scripturally correct Eucharis
back to true worship, muc
exhort the people to true
Katharina and Marie each
rebuke, repentance, comfort,
Each of these three early-m
of their day through the lens
to the University of Ingolst

101KSZ II, 79-80; Church Mother,

102KSZ II, 76; Church Mother, 108.
the true Shepherd. KSZ II, 90, 88; C
103KSZ II, 76, 77, 80, 87, 88, 90; C
104Of course, Katharina did not sol
just as much envisioned it in apost
76, 79-80, 85; Church Mother, 108,
105KSZ II, 43, 70, 71-72, 134, 151,
106Dentière, Epistre très utile, a5v
are so blind because of our avarice
seduced and tricked the poor peopl
God is ready to take us back again,
concluded, "Now we must not ser
freedom of spirit. For our God is n
served in spirit and truth" (59).
107Dentière, Epistre très utile, a8v-
108Dentière, Epistre très utile', b3r

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 111

Seehofer's arrest to the prophecy Jeremiah received immediately

prophetic call. By doing so, Argula portended judgment agai
university and likened her call to Jeremiah's prophetic call.109 Sh
cry out with the prophet Jeremiah, 'Earth, earth, earth! Hear the W
Lord!"110 Since no man had come forward to speak against this in
because she understood herself as living in a time of corrupt male l
Argula envisioned her own calling—specifically as a woman—as a
fulfillment of Is 3:12-13's prophecy: "My people, children are their
oppressors, and women shall rule over them. O my people, your leaders
mislead you and confuse the course of your paths. The Lord rises up to
argue his case; he stands to judge the peoples." Hence, Argula contended in
her letter to the Council of Ingolstadt that even if she had not written, "a
hundred women would emerge to write against them."111
Katharina Schütz Zell also frequently depicted parallels between events of her
time and the prophecies of the Old Testament. She read biblical prophetic texts
analogically; just as these texts were fulfilled in the experience of the church of
the past, so also they continued to be true in the church's experience in every age.
Hence, she proclaimed to the women of Kentzingen that Isaiah 54 described
them perfectly, in which God promised to be their Husband, to not forsake
them, and to restore their fortunes in due time. Indeed, wrote Katharina, they
could embrace the promises set forth there as their own.112 Furthermore, as
already discussed, Katharina saw in her husband's life and ministry the
fulfillment of several biblical prophetic texts.113 In her devotional writings, as
well, she appealed to the ongoing fulfillment of scripture—the prophecies in
particular—in the experience of the faithful of every era and exhorted them to
embrace God's providential care.114

W9AVG Schriften, 65-66; Matheson, 77. The specific image she alluded to here is the image of
the rod and the boiling pot in Jeremiah 1:11-13. Argula refers again to this boiling pot in her letter to
Frederick the Wise (AVG Schriften, 113; Matheson, 134).
noAVG Schriften, 73-74; Matheson, 88.
111 AVG Schriften, 99, see also 67; Matheson, 120, see also 79. She refers to these same texts in
Isaiah 3 in her letters to Duke Wilhelm (AVG Schriften, 89; Matheson, 106) and Frederick the Wise
(AVG Schriften, 113; Matheson, 133-34). Likewise, in her 1524 poem, after recounting the feats of
such women as Judith, Jael and Deborah, she wrote, "Should God raise women up again / To punish
your too high disdain. / Awesome for you God's visitation / Plagued solely by a group of women!"
(AVG Schriften, 143; Matheson, 185).
112She wrote, "O you women, who are perfectly described in this chapter! Who would want a
better description than this? Are you not now widows, called by God? All these things have
happened to you for the sake of His Word" (KSZ II, 10-11; Church Mother, 54).
lf3Ps 116:10, Ps 69:9, Is 57:1, Ps 69:20, Lam 3:1, Is 58:8, Is 53:9, Zech 13:7, and Ps 69:6. See
KSZ II, 76, 77, 80, 87, 88, 90; Church Mother, 108, 109, 112, 118, 120. It was also not uncommon
for her to pray that a biblical prophecy not be fulfilled; for examples, she implored that Zech 13:7
might not be fulfilled upon her husband's death and that they might always honor God the Father
and not fulfill Mai 1:6, 10 or Is 1:2-3 (KSZ II, 88, 350-351; Church Mother, 118, 159).
114KSZ II, 341^13; Church Mother, 151-52.

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 112 CHURCH HISTORY

Likewise, Marie Dentière

prophets with the situat
reminder of Christ's predic
name's sake and that false t
concerning the biblical patt
followed false prophets.116
Apocalypse, as well as Micah
gave to Roman Catholicism:
fornication with that great
were the minions and satel
she be adored and served li
she were God. Just as the
Marie Dentière paralleled
blindly asked for a king:

Like idolaters, they asked fo

and extreme servitude. Th
had given them in the goo
God and not the prophet.
the great grace that our Go
Word, his holy Gospel.118

In this way, Marie not only

the biblical prophets face
biblical examples to highligh

IV. Identify False Prophets & Present Herself as a

True Prophet

Lastly, Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schütz Zell, and Marie Dentière
deployed biblical prophetic texts to identify their opponents as false prophets
and ultimately distinguish themselves as a true spokeswoman of God's
Word. Argula often alluded to the false teachers—false shepherds and
prophets—in her citations of Jeremiah 1 (the boiling pot) and Isaiah 3 (the
rule of women).1'9 She applied Ezekiel 33:32 against these false teachers:

115Dentière, Epistre très utile, a6v-a7v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 57-58.

116Dentière, Epistre très utile, b7v-b8r; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 67.
117Dentière, Epistre très utile, d2v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 81. To be clear, this article does
not deny that apocalyptic elements may very well be at play here. The point is that the apocalyptic
element is not the only aspect at play and that these women embraced a view of prophecy as
interpretation of scripture rather than its visionary form.
1 Dentière, Epistre très utile, a7r-v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 58.
n9AVG Schriften, 65-66, 67; Matheson, 77, 79.

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 113

"The warning of the Lord was like a cheerful ditty against them
punishment came, for they did not know that a prophet was amo
Argula thus used prophetic texts to describe the situation of her
own role within them. Furthermore, she warned Duke Wilhelm
the false prophets," and exhorted the Council of Ingolstadt
words of Jeremiah, "Do not listen to the words of the prea
prophets who deceive you and tell you fantasies which sprin
own hearts, not from the mouth of God."121 Similarly, in her
relative Adam von Thering, Argula applied Jeremiah's proph
false shepherds to Roman Catholic leaders broadly and teachers
specifically, echoing once again Christ's warning to bewar
prophets.122 In sum, Argula not only employed biblical prophet
read the events of her time, she also modeled her own writing
prophetic style. Like the Old Testament prophets, she insisted th
God's words and not her own; she issued rebukes and calls for r
she distinguished between true and false prophets. In thes
cumulatively established the truth of her own call as a true proph
Katharina Schütz Zell similarly warned against false teachers an
Her explanation of why she must write her 1524 defense of cleri
included an extensive account of true and false messengers. She
that evil messengers had invaded the land, and the Lord reacted
authorized messengers to warn the people and lead them to the t
the right interpretation of scripture.123 She addressed specific f
in her day, such as Johannes Cochlaeus, Congrad Treger a
Murner, and denounced them with the words of Christ: "Protec
from false prophets who enter here in sheep's clothing but
rapacious wolves" (Matt 7:15). Paramount to her attack was the c
that these false prophets taught views contrary to the tea
scripture.124 Katharina roundly defended clerical marriage base
interpretation and application of scripture. In this way, s
accomplished her objective, but also presented herself as a true
God. Furthermore, in her 1558 commentary on Psalm 51, she r
readers that the righteous did not drive God's prophets away, b

noAVG Schriften, 66; Matheson, 78. She also exclaimed, "You may imagine that
God, cast down his prophets and apostles from heaven, and banish them from the
not happen" (AVG Schriften, 66; Matheson, 77). Silke Halbach briefly notes Argu
false prophets. Halbach, Argula von Grumbach als Verfasserin reformatorischer
217.
121 AVG Schriften, 89, 100; Matheson, 106, 122.
122AVG Schriften, 120-121; Matheson, 144.
123K.SZ II, 26-27; Church Mother, 66-67.
124KSZ II, 31-37; Church Mother, 70-75.

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114 CHURCH HISTORY

listened to God's Word.125 I

insisted upon a proper ca
Spiritualists), Katharina sou
proclamation of scripture,
Holy Spirit.126 Katharina
likening her call to that
Magdalene.127 In effect, Ka
a ministry that centered up
in contrastto the false prop
In the midst of her exhorta
her opponents as false prop
prophet of God. She comme
specifically identifying th
abstinence from meat, and
her hearers that God had se
Marie specifically identified
as false prophets, but also th
her letter recounting the
prophets, she painted a portr

They must resist them with

the Word of God, just as
banishments, exiles, fire
preachers and ministers m
nothing else but that God
and that their neighbor b
Christ, donkeys must pass
people so that the prophets
truth distinguished from th

126Contemporary male leaders in S

scripture and the inseparability o
maintained the necessity of a call
letter to Schwenckfeld, she remar
claimed to "possess the whole Spir
one of the Spirit's feathers, muc
Here she is alluding to Luther's a
Prophets, when he wrote that the
on in the letter she recounted a
special revelation with you anymo
127KSZ II, 43, 70, 71-72, 134, 151
128Dentière, Epistre très utile, a6r
129Dentière, Epistre très utile, cl
l30Dentière, Epistre très utile, d6

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 115

Hence, according to Marie's depiction, the true prophet resis

condemned false teachings by promoting true worship throug
adherence to scripture for the protection of the people and the hon
This was, in fact, precisely the primary purposes of her epist
insisting upon the call of women to interpret scripture in defense of t
she proceeded to apply scripture to the circumstances of her time
false teachings, call to repentance, and exhort her audience to em
true worship of God.

V. Conclusion

Prophetic texts, figures, and portraits were central to Argula, Katharina, and
Marie's descriptions of their ministries and self-conceptions. Furthermore, all
three of these sixteenth-century women employed prophecy with very
similar objectives. Prophetic texts and images enabled them to authorize
their words as those given of God in and through scripture, rather than their
own. Prophetic texts provided the language they employed to depict their
ministries, and prophetic figures modeled the very duties to which each of
these women were called—namely, to rebuke, to call to repentance, to
comfort, and to interpret and apply scripture for their contemporary
circumstances. Moreover, prophetic language equipped each of these women
to identify her opponents as false prophets. Significantly, for all three of
these women the contemporary practice of prophecy entailed interpreting and
applying scripture for the church of her time. Indeed, the chief male
protestant leaders in the regions in which these women resided emphasized
these very same teachings and practices. Male leaders, such as Luther,
Bucer, Zell and Farel, asserted a view of prophecy as the gift of interpreting
and applying scripture. These same male leaders employed prophetic figures
to depict their own ministries and applied Old Testament prophecy to
interpret the events of their day. Furthermore, they also drew a distinction
between true and false prophets in order to authorize their message and
reject the messages of others. In sum, Argula von Grumbach, Katharina
Schütz Zell, and Marie Dentière embraced and redeployed certain
applications of prophecy already circulating in the teachings of contemporary
male reformers.

At least two more issues should be addressed in the conclusion of this essay.
First, did these women simply appropriate the views and practices of
contemporary male reformers or did they add anything distinctive? Secondly,
did these male protestant theologians actually intend to include women in
their calls for "all" to interpret scripture? Several scholars have already
explored aspects of this latter question in significant depth, so it suffices to
review some of the findings here. In brief, reformers such as Luther, Bucer,
Farel, and Calvin argued that women may interpret scripture, but should do

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116 CHURCH HISTORY

so within the private sphere

husbands. Any public min
exception to this general ru
the part of male leadership.1
For example, in the case of
male thinkers, such as Os
against the University of In
leadership in Ingolstadt to A
including threats to do her
from his ducal post.132 T
courage and piety in several
Luther did not mention Ar
Ingolstadt theologians.133 It
leaders appreciated Argula's
warranted by exceptional
Misuse of the Mass, Luth
prophesy with covered h
demand that women keep
preach, then it would be nec
his 1523 Concerning the Min
of all believers sets forth th
doctrine, "It is one thing to
a time of emergency. Public
of the whole body or of the
he deems best."135 In his la
Luther specified this even f
women's public speaking: "B
is a ministry, women are to

mFor examples, see Charmarie J

Lutheran and Calvinist Movements,
Richard L. Greaves (Westport, Co
"Women and the Continental Re
Jewish and Christian Traditions, e
1974), 292-318, which provide goo
See also Thomas Head, "The Religi
132Matheson, "Breaking the Silen
133Matheson, "Martin Luther and
134WA 8:498; LW 36:152. Just pr
should be silent (2 Tim 2:2): "Thu
men are present who are skilled in
(LW 40:152; WA 8:497).
I35WA 12:189; LW 40:34.
136WA 30/3:524; LW 40:391.

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 117

emergency and when there is a failure on the part of men, women

publicly, but this was considered to be an exception to proper pract
As for Katharina Schütz Zell and Marie Dentière, it appears t
husbands' overt support was a significant factor in their public m
Elsie McKee notes how Matthew Zell often called his wife his "assistant
minister," and on his deathbed he encouraged her to continue with her
ministry despite the opposition he knew she would face.138 The reactions to
Katharina from other male leaders in Strasbourg reveal significant ambiguity.
Wolfgang Capita wrote to a friend in Wittenberg prior to Katharina's arrival
there: "If the planned trip comes off, you will clearly hear personally that our
women are not all silent. But she is good and devout."139 Martin Bucer often
responded to Katharina both with admiration for her piety and frustration
concerning the influence she had on her husband.140 Civil authorities censored
Katharina's 1524 written defense of her marriage, but many of her devotional
writings were fairly well received, while her polemical writings much less
so.141 Such evidence indicates an appreciation for Katharina's piety, but a
strong uneasiness when she claimed certain forms of public authority.
Much less is known about Marie Dentière, but one can discern very similar
patterns. The Geneva Council sought to confiscate all copies of her Very Useful
Epistle and censored its publication. Her husband Antoine Froment defended
her letter and pled with the Geneva Council to release the confiscated
copies.142 One sees similar reactions of male reformers to Marie as toward
Katharina. Farel, for example, wrote several times to Calvin criticizing
Marie's influence on her husband, and it appears Calvin shared Farel's
generally negative estimation.143

l37John L. Thompson has studied quite extensively the protestant reformers' interpretations of
biblical texts concerning women, ministry, and prophecy. Thompson affirms that Luther allowed
that women might have a genuine prophetic calling, but only under the circumstances of an
"emergency." See John Calvin and the Daughters of Sarah: Women in Regular and Exceptional
Roles in the Exegesis of John Calvin, his Predecessors, and his Contemporaries (Geneva:
Librarie Droz, 1992); "Rules Proved by Exceptions: The Exegesis of Paul and Women in the
Sixteenth Century," in Companion to Paul in the Reformation, ed. R. Ward Holder (Leiden:
Brill, 2009), 531 ; and Reading the Bible with the Dead: What you can learn from the history of
exegesis that you can't learn from exegesis alone (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans,
2007). See especially chapter six, "Silent Prophetesses," 113-135.
138See KSZ I, 128, 123.
139Capito to Jodocus Neobolus, March 10, 1538, Quellen zur Geschichte der Täufer 15, #814,
p. 138, as quoted by McKee in KSZ I, 102.
140See KSZ I, 456-457, 93. See McKee's discussion and footnotes for primary sources.
14lSee KSZ 1,65, 58, 101,217-218. By "devotional writings," I refer specifically to her writings
of consolation, such as those to the women of Kentzingen and meditations on some Psalms to Felix
Ambruster. It appears that these were much better received than her polemical writings.
142See the discussion by McKinley, Marie Dentière, 14-15.
143See the discussions of Head, "The Religion of the Femmelettes," 161 and McKinley, Marie
Dentière, 16. See also Douglass, "Marie Dentière's Use of Scripture in Her Theology of
History," 243.

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 118 CHURCH HISTORY

Argula, Katharina and Mar

obstacles to their practices
their writings from the ob
promoting certain definiti
other current definitions
restrain women's particip
attempt to define prophec
hearing God's Word, as
purportedly reserved for
matter when he wrote ag
With the words of God, or lecture men / But to listen like the
Magdalene."145 To this, Argula directly replied in her poem, "To hear His
word is the very best choice. / Come, speak to me, my Lord and God, / My
only desire is to hear your word."146 As Argula proceeded, she made a
double-edged argument: first, that she was called to hear God's word (not
man's), and second, that such "hearing" then did not include listening to
falsehood.147 Hence, the bulk of her poem argued that women should hear
God in God's Word, and they were not exempt from God's gifts, God's
Spirit, and specifically the call to read and interpret scripture.148 Marie
Dentière directly attacked this same prohibition against women publicly
interpreting scripture when she condemned the teaching that "it is too bold
for women to write to one another about matters of Scripture."149
Addressing the applications of the biblical texts of I Corinthians 14:34 and I

144Zwingli argued that since scripture commanded that women are not to speak publicly in
church (I Cor 14:34 and I Tim 2:11), then for women "prophesy" meant simply to "hear a
sermon or attend to the exposition of Scripture in church." See Zwingli, "The Preaching Office,
June 1525," In Search of True Religion: Reformation, Pastoral and Eucharistie Writings, vol. 2,
Huldrvch Zwingli's Writings, ed. Edward J. Furcha and H. Wayne Pipkin (Allison Park, Penn.:
Pickwick, 1984), 171.
,45AVG Schriften, 153; Matheson, 168. Likewise, throughout his poem he particularly attacked
Argula's presumption of the right to interpret scripture: "That Holy Scripture you dare interpret...
For Scripture is twisted to your fancy ... So arrogant and without control / As if the Bible you'd
swallowed whole. / Though you're a child in scriptural matters / Grasping whatever the wind may
flutter" (AVG Schriften, 151, 153; Matheson, 165, 167).
,46AVG Schriften, 148; Matheson, 192; emphasis added.
147She wrote, "But how can I profit from such as you / Who force the people the truth to
eschew 1" (AVG Schriften, 148; Matheson, 192).
148Argula pointed to the teaching of Joel 2:28 to argue two key points: that women are not
excluded from this prophecy of the giving of the Spirit and the call to "read Scripture straight"
(AVG Schriften, 136-37; Matheson, 176). She then proceeded to argue from other biblical texts
(e.g., Jn 7:37-39) that the promise of the Spirit includes both peasants and women and that with
the Spirit all may test the truthfulness of a teaching. Next, she employed I Corinthians 3:16 to
argue that women are also "temples of the Holy Spirit." Finally, she insisted that all may be
taught by God, which is available to all through scripture. See AVG Schriften, 137-138;
Matheson, 178-179.
149Dentière, Epistre très utile, a4r-v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 54-55.

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 119

Timothy 2:11-12 to argue for women's silence, she exclaimed, "I ca

silent."150 Katharina Schütz Zell, as well, quite explicitly confront
teachings that women should simply hear, rather than interpret, scrip

I have exercised myself in the Holy Scriptures and godly matters

than forty-eight years now and never abandoned the grace of G
heard the old teachers and let them be my counselors and made
new since I was ten years old. I never got bogged down hearing,
and following until the day of the death of my dear and good h
could now teach others and with the elderly Anna prophesy abo
to those who are waiting for redemption and praise the Lo
considering that I must appropriately be submissive under t
office, according to the teaching of Saint Paul, I myself see
others and to be exhorted as far as they speak the truth ! But wh
not so, then I would tell you and not keep silent, but speak, point
answer your wrong preaching and insulting words about the innoc

Katharina acknowledged the necessities of being taught by others. L

and Argula, however, she contended that such a passive stance end
face of falsehood and injustice. She insisted that her years of lear
knowledge in scripture endowed her with the authority to teach
prophesy.152 Indeed in this insistence, these women were simply
for themselves prior teachings of the leading male reformers in th
that no one should remain silent in the face of falsehood. In sum, t
protestant women embraced and inhabited the definition of prop
interpretation of scripture, even as they rejected certain other def
circulation.

Lastly, these women did not simply appropriate the practi

contemporary male reformers, but also recreated and challeng
practices concerning the prophet as interpreter of scripture.153 Som
indications have already been named. For example, as argued above

150Dentière, Epistre très utile, a5r; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 56. I Corinthians
"Women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak b
subordinate." I Timothy 2:11-12 reads, "Let a woman leam in silence with full s
permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent
well as the vast majority of prior tradition and his contemporaries, read these texts v
Zwingl argued on the basis of these texts for the definition of women's prophesyin
God's Word (Zwingli, "The Preaching Office," 171).
I51KSZ II, 133-134; Church Mother, 196-197. Emphasis added.
152Interestingly, Katharina continued on in this letter to Schwenckfeld to respond
that she did not allow herself to be taught by others by arguing extensively about ho
most definitely has heard and followed the teachings of others when they have uphel
(KSZ II, 134—144; Church Mother, 197-206).
1530ne reader of this essay suggested that possibly the women were more ap
messages of comfort through the use of the Old Testament prophets than male inte
my research has not found this to be true.

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 120 CHURCH HISTORY

Katharina, and Marie each

women as only "hearing,"
emphasize her passivity. Fur
emphasis in presenting her
For the men, this was prima
teaching as true. For the wom
had for many centuries prior
the message but also the au
public ministry. This meant,
more time on these matters i
Furthermore, evidence sugge
label of "exceptionalism" ass
in order to mitigate any vie
woman. On the one hand,
rules" and make statement
operating within proper con
failed to do so (Argula), ac
(Katharina), or presenting h
these women saw very clearl
teachings of the priesthoo
women's public contributio
visionary capacities.155 On
writings is their common
women. Many of the prophe
rebuke wrong, the charge to
public witness to the truth
Marie's appeals to these w
Katharina invoked the examp
her day.156 Katharina asked
God's people in her own ef
falsehood.157 Moreover, K
preach God's word to Christ

15AAVG Schriften, 67; Matheson,

Epistre très utile, a2v; McKinley,
instruction when she wrote, "It i
reminded her audience to beware of
74; Matheson, 89).
155When one reads these women's tre
ministries of women become evident. Marie Dentière is most clear with her sustained defense of
women in ministry. See Epistre très utile, a4-a5v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 54-56.
156AVG Schriften, 141; Matheson, 183; KSZ II, 33; Church Mother, 72.
157KSZ II, 33; Church Mother, 72.

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 121

resurrection.158 Argula, Katharina, and Marie also appealed to female

prophets, such as Deborah, Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist
Anna.159 Finally, for Marie, the Samaritan woman modeled the call t
public witness of God's truth in order to exhort the people to pu
worship.160
Another distinctive contribution may be found in the shared tropes these
three women employed to describe their prophetic ministries. Two are most
evident: the contrast between wisdom and folly and the parable of the talent.
In her initial protest of Seehofer's arrest, Argula provided an extended
contrast between God's wisdom and the wisdom of the world—citing verses
such as "You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to
little ones" (Lk 10:21); "Your faith shall not be in human wisdom" (I Cor
2:5); and "all the wisdom of the world is folly to God" (I Cor 3:19).161 She
acknowledged that her male relative would view her actions as those of a
foolish woman: "Perhaps you thought it unbecoming of me as a foolish
woman, which is, of course, exactly how I see myself. However, the wisdom
needed to confess God does not derive from human reason, but is to be seen
as a gift of God." For, Argula continued, "the wisdom of the world cannot
comprehend God's Spirit."162 Similarly, Katharina began her defense of
marriage with a singular, significant biblical quotation: "What is weak before
the world, that God has chosen so that he might put to shame what is
strong" (I Cor 1:27).163 In her letter to Schwenckfeld, she reminded him and
the rest of Strasbourg that God often used "those whom we count as the
least."164 Similarly, Marie warned in her defense of true worship that the
"wisdom of men" led to idolatry.165

158KSZ II, 71-72; Church Mother, 104; Dentière, Epistre très utile, a4v; McKinley, Marie
Dentière, 55.
,59AVG Shriften, 143; Matheson, 184; KSZ II, 134, 168; Church Mother, 196, 224; Dentière,
Epistre très utile, a4-a4v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 54—55. Deborah was both a prophet and a
judge (Judges 4:4). Elizabeth prophesied the birth of the Messiah from Mary's womb (Lk 1:41—
45). Anna was a widow in the temple who prophesied about the coming redemption brought by
Christ (Lk 2:36-38).
160Dentière, Epistre très utile, a4v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 55.
161AVG Schriften, 67-68, 74; Matheson, 80, 90 and see 80-81, 89-90. She repeated several of
these same verses in her letter to the people of Regensburg, see AVG Schriften, 129; Matheson,
156-157.
162AVG Schriften, 119; Matheson, 141, 142.
163KSZ II, 21; Church Mother, 62. Later on in this treatise, Katharina speaks disparagingly of
Johannes Cochlaeus's so-called "wisdom." See KSZ II, 30; Church Mother, 69-70.
164KSZ II, 147; Church Mother, 209.
l65Dentière, Epistre très utile, b5, b7; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 64, 66. She began the
epistolary section by arguing that all true wisdom comes from Christ and not from human
powers (56). She wrote, "We must not take glory in the multitude of men, in the wisdom of
men" (66). Later she concluded with this question, "I ask you, miserable creature, is there
anyone wiser than God?" (85).

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 122 CHURCH HISTORY

Finally, these women each

ministry. Specifically, th
interpreting scripture. Argu
God's Word, "Ah, but what
gives us understanding, flit
so that I came to see the tr
bury my talent, if the Lor
parable of the talent seve
Indeed, she opened the let
express her humility and
more talents be added to hi
undeniably has been given.1
had indeed given her a gif
identified as the call to int
parable of the talent, as well, to defend women's public voice and,
specifically, the call for women to interpret Scripture. She explained the
main purpose of her epistle to Marguerite of Navarre as the following: "For
what God has given you and revealed to us women, no more than men
should we hide it and bury it in the earth . . . For until now, Scripture has
been so hidden from them. No one dared to say a word about it, and it
seemed that women should not read or hear anything in the Holy Scriptures.
That is the main reason, my Lady, that has moved me to write to you,
hoping in God that henceforth women will not be so scorned as in the
past."169 Marie concluded her letter with the assertion that God had given
grace to good women and revealed scripture to them. Hence, it would be
utter foolishness for them to hide this talent given by God.170 In sum, while

l66AVG Schriften, 72; Matheson, 86-87. Argula also commented that she would not bury her
talent in her open letter to the people of Regensburg; here it referred more to the call to speak
publicly to reprove sin. See AVG Schriften, 129; Matheson, 156.
!67KSZ II, 123; Church Mother, 187.
168KSZII, 133-34, 144-45; Church Mother, 196,206, 207. Katharina also employed the parable
of the talent to her husband's ministry. See KSZ II, 81-82, 83. Church Mother, 113, 114.
l69Dentière, Epistre très utile, a3r, a3r-v; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 53, 53-54.
170Dentière, Epistre très utile, a5; McKinley, Marie Dentière, 56. Carol Thysell explores the role
of the Parable of the Talents in validating early modern women's preaching, especially in the works
of Marie Dentière and Rachel Speght (a seventeenth-century English woman). Thysell argues that
these two women broke the mold from the tendency of early modern women to justify their
ministries by appeals to their own exceptionalism. Instead, Dentière and Speght, Thysell
contends, sought to justify a public ministry for all women. See Carol Thysell, "Unearthing the
Treasure, Unknitting the Napkin: The Parable of the Talents as a Justification for Early Modern
Women's Preaching and Prophesying," Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 15 (1999): 7-20.
I contend that Argula and Katharina should be included in this list.

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THREE EARLY FEMALE PROTESTANT REFORMERS 123

women appropriated many aspects of the male protestant teaching

priesthood of all believers and the view of prophecy as interpre
scripture, they also used such teachings to challenge the practices
day, added their own distinctive images and understandings, and s
inhabit their full potential.

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