Cwiekowski: Women's Role In Religion

The essence of the contribution made by Pope John XXIII was his calling together of the Second Vatican Council that aimed to address modernisation of the Catholic Church,

"Suddenly Jesus met them and said, `Greetings!' And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him." (Matthew 28:9)# Near the end of each of the four Christian gospels, it is women who first discovered that the body of Jesus was missing and who were the first to report seeing him after his death. Certainly then, this is a major indication of the high involvement of women in early Christianity. With such high status undoubtedly must have come power, influence, and important positions in the early Church. But by approximately 750 C.E women had lost these major roles in the Church, and the power and influence they once had. This essay will examine the decline of women's roles

Being in this course the History of Ecclesiology and Polity, it has taught me many things about the difference in denominations of the church. In the Pauline letters Paul who was a minister of Christ Jesus wanted us to know what were the structures and order of the Gentile churches of his day.

Paul begins by addressing the divisiveness in the church (1:10-4:21). The divisiveness was a result of loyalty to a person and the influence of their own distinct

When we explore Christianity it is one of the more broadminded and gradually developing religions, especially concerning gender roles. However this can mainly be seen within western cultures as recently women within the church of England are able to become bishops whereas many other socities still remain in past ideologies as stated by Hans King that “negative attitude to contraception, abortion and divorce”(Hans King, 1995, page 1) are still noticeable opinions and judgements which exist in both the east ans west. This inequality which exists within the church is often debated as within the following of the bible and Jesus’s own belief that all people are equal. Thus begging the question as to how this patriarchal system was created. There is the belief that if god is male then this provides a right of status for a hierarchy structure. This may continue into Catholisism where contraception is highly frowned upon and abortion is rejecting gods gift of life which once again results in an awkwards and uncomfortable situation for women of this faith.

In conclusion, there are significant similarities and differences in the role of women in the Judaism, Catholicism and Islam religions. These roles include the position they hold in their religion, the ability to bear witness, the ability to own property and the perspective of each religion on vows as well as the major duties of a wife in a family. However, despite the differences, these religions belief that God is the creator of the universe and humanity.

For the Lord laid down His life to “give new life to the...human race and unify it” so “that they all may be one” even as He is one with the Father. Based on the next sentence in the same article it is clear that the unity spoken of is a sharing in the divine nature via the Eucharist. It is this unity that the baptized are born into, for there is one Body, and one Spirit dwelling within. The power for humanity to share in the Divine Nature was entrusted, by Christ, to the “College of the Twelve”, with Peter, the rock on whom the Church is built, who possesses the keys of the Kingdom, whom Christ entrusted the sheep to be “confirmed in faith and sheppard in perfect unity.” The Lord entrusted the one Church to them to teach, govern, and sanctify the “family of God” in “fraternal harmony.” The Decree expressly makes clear that the Church is “God’s only flock.” For it is only in full communion with teh CHurch that one can have full communion with the Trinity, the source of the

As I thought about all the topics we have read and studied in this class there was one topic that I really did enjoy and changed the way I thought about the topic and gave me a whole new perspective on how I look at religion now. I chose the topic of feminism and Christianity and how the authority of the women gender role in religion has been a struggle for many years. I think Lynn Japinga did a very good job in writing about this topic in her book, “Feminism and Christianity: An Essential Guide”. Japinga includes in her book the use of the male dominated language in the Bible, the blame for the original sin, and the lack of women gender clerical role authority within the religion world.

The Catholic Church believes that since the New Testament priesthood is of Christ Himself, that only men are to be ordained so they have the complete ability to act in the person of Christ (Richert, 2016). All men, who have become priests through the sacrament of Holy Orders, participate in Christ’s priesthood; they act in “persona Christi Capitis” (Richert, 2016), as the Head of His body and of the Church. If a woman was to be ordained in addition to men, it is believed that they would lack the same ability to pursue the spiritual role of representing Him. Moreover, Christ and His apostles only chose men to become priests, enforcing that the role belongs exclusively to the men within the human race.

Christianity had large and broad effects on those who chose to follow it. For example, a wife was a husband’s property, and a wife ranked in between a free man and, a slave (“The Impact of Christianity”). When Jesus and Christianity came around, women did not have to remarry within two years of her husband’s death, and women were granted equality amongst men (“The Impact of Christianity). Christianity also gave the lower social classes, including women and children, something to worship and believe in, without being oppressed by the higher classes or those with more power (“The Impact of Christianity”). Christianity has not reinforced social hierarchy through the dominance of men over women and the oppression of the lower classes.

Despite all the exceptional services and great humanitarian works, the Catholic Church is still one of the most dominant and unshakable patriarchies with doctrines that don’t support equality in the ordainment of priests. The question of women ordination in the Christian churches is a very controversial topic that mostly divides the church into oppositions. In the Roman Catholic churches, women are not allowed to be priests because of male religious dominance that doesn’t allow women in leadership positions. On the other hand, most women are nowadays ordained in most Protestant churches. For instance, in the 19th century,

to operate (Lewis 2002:47). Women, as a result of their role in religion, became known as the

The idea of woman as followers is rather embraced rather than being rejected. Throughout various religions, women are not viewed in a positive light. In the early times of

As the first mark states the Church is one. She remains one because of the belief in one God, and also that Jesus instituted the one Church. since the Church is known as one we acknowledge "the unity and solidarity of the Church." (The Church: Sacrament of Salvation) With the catholic faith spread around the world many different customs arise but the Church still remain in unity. This is because the church's unity does not come from her members but from God, her divine source. The many members of the Church are united with

The reasoning that a woman is someone who needs to hold up under the basic subtleties of religion, needs to change. For this change to come, a great religion or law in its most genuine sense is one which is sufficiently suitable to acclimate to the requests of our advancing society. In the first place,