Mollenkott, Virginia R.

Biography / Administrative History

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott was born in Philadelphia on January 28, 1932. She attended the Plymouth Brethren Assembly, a conservative evangelical organization. After her parents divorced, her mother sent her to a fundamentalist Christian boarding school in Florida. She received her B.A. in English from Bob Jones University (1953). There she met and married Fred Mollenkott, a marriage that lasted 19 years. She received her M.A. in English from Temple University (1955) and a Ph.D. in English from New York University (1964). A well-respected Milton scholar, she taught English literature and writing at William Paterson University of New Jersey for 44 years.

As an English professor with a fundamentalist Christian background, she served as stylistic consultant for the New International Version of the Bible and as a member of the National Council of Churches' Inclusive Language Lectionary Committee. She became active in Christian feminist organizations during the 1970s. In 1975, she joined the Evangelical Women's Caucus (renamed the Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus in 1990) and CLOUT (Christian Lesbians OUT). She co-authored with Letha D. Scanzoni, Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? (1978). This work contributed to her popularity as a speaker in theological schools and conferences across the country. Along with numerous articles, she has published 13 books on Christianity, feminism and gay/lesbian topics. She is one of the most influential Christian feminists to emerge in the 20th century, especially in addressing gay, lesbian and transgender issues.

See her chapter in Ann Braude (ed), Transforming the Faiths of Our Fathers: Women Who Changed American Religion (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) for more biographical information.