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.‬

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 the Primitive Baptist community? Some clues to this puzzle may be found in her writings and those of her male Primitive Baptist contemporaries.