In her reconstructive efforts, Schüssler Fiorenza challenges traditional views of biblical authority by revealing the biases of biblical authors. She asserts that the early Christian writers transmitted only a tiny portion of the possibly rich traditions of women’s contributions to the early Christian missionary movement. She suggests that this duplicitous omission was due, in part, to the bitter struggle for or against women’s leadership that occurred during the time of the canonization of the Christian scriptures.

In addition, Schüssler Fiorenza discusses the mixed impact that the apostle Paul had on women’s leadership; she reminds the reader not to oversimplify Pauline theology. On one hand, Paul’s writings inscribe a “democratic” vision of equality in the Spirit; on the other hand, he imposes patriarchal submission on women, in such areas as worship and marriage, as the “Word of God.” Here, the author advances a theory of interpretation that tries to unravel the patriarchal politics inscribed in the biblical text. Accordingly, she suggests that one ascertains theologically whether scriptural texts function to inculcate patriarchal values, or whether they must be read against—even freed from—androcentric linguistic structures. When the later occurs, these texts offer a liberating vision of Christianity.

Another significant theme in Schüssler Fiorenza’s work is her development of the theological concept of the ekklesia of women. For her, this concept stands counter to the patriarchal religious structures and formations that occurred throughout Christian history. Her usage of ekklesia emerges from an understanding of the initial egalitarian social relations of the followers of Jesus, or a “discipleship of equals.” She argues that this notion was replaced by a hierarchical, patriarchal ecclesiastical structure during the second or third century following Jesus’ life and ministry. She notes that as a term translated as “church” in the Christian scriptures, ekklesia is not so much a religious as it is a civil-political concept, indicating an assembly of free citizens coming together in order to decide their own spiritual-political affairs.

The historical import of this term for Schüssler Fiorenza is that women in a patriarchal church are denied these spiritual-political rights, individually and as a group. For the author, ekklesia is as much a symbol of hope as it is an indicator of structural realities for contemporary Christian women. With this concept, she envisions a feminist Christian spirituality that both expresses the liberating experiences of contemporary women and recovers the memory of their foresisters, whose legacy has been buried beneath patriarchal structures. Her feminist spirituality calls women to gather together as the ekklesia of women who seek freedom from the sins of sexism and other antiwoman language in biblical texts. Women should live for one another and in solidarity with all who are impoverished and marginalized. As with the early Christian communal self-understanding, the democratic nature of Schüssler Fiorenza’s contemporary vision of ekklesia is not simply a theoretical ideal; it is, rather, an active process moving toward greater equality, freedom, and responsibility—toward communal forms of human interactions that are free of domination.