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Author Rogers offers a well-researched portrait of eunuchs in a historical context and particularly as they are depicted in the Holy Bible. She introduces three categories of these distinctive individuals: eunuchs from birth, those physically created by castration, and those who choose a celibate, spiritual life path. History records the prevalence of eunuchs in Greek, Roman, and Christian eras, in China, and among Buddhists and Hindus, meant to supply women and royalty with servants and advisors whose condition allowed protection, obedience, and allegiance. Castration of various types was utilized as punishment for lawbreakers and enemies captured in warfare, and could be self-inflicted for men wishing to pursue a religious life.
In later biblical times, eunuchs were known as sâris, or "officers," and Rogers provides details regarding their religious and worldly status and duties. Daniel—raised, trained, and possibly castrated by eunuchs—survived the lion's den to become a leader of his people. From the third century, Christian monasticism spread, and with it the necessity of celibacy and the possibility of castration as a means to that end. Roman leaders and Jesus himself had a place for eunuchs in their works. Thus, as Rogers so vividly reveals throughout her dynamic treatise, "The Eunuch is an example of someone who chooses to follow God and receives his promise."
Rogers is a professor of finance who purposefully and zestfully shares biblical lore with others. She accomplishes this through group discussions and her writings, offering a fresh look at the need and the rewards of significant exploration into, and understanding of, biblical happenings. This volume contains several exercises, posing questions and proffering facts to stimulate the reader's grasp of historical and spiritual materials based on her diligently accumulated wisdom. Rogers' latest work will doubtless provide a finely honed focus for group and individual contemplation.