Early Christian Women

Jesus’ teaching must have seemed very radical. How Jesus treated women was dramatically different from how they were treated among the Jewish society. He consistently treated men and women as equals. Which in today’s society is the definition of a Feminist. According to Dictionary.com, Feminist means “advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.” Jesus violated many of the Old Testament regulations, which specified gender inequality. He refused to follow the rules that were established by the three main religious groups of the day. Those three religious groups consisted of the Essenes, Pharisees and Sadducees. There are many examples on the Jesus radical treatment of women, one would include how he taught women students. Jewish tradition at the time was to not allow women to be taught. In Luke 10:38-42, he taught Mary, sister of Martha. Jesus also used terminology which treated women as equal to men. For example, in Luke 13:16 it describes how Jesus cured a women from a Satanic Spirit. He called her a daughter of Abraham, therefore implying that she had equal status with sons of Abraham. Another example of Jesus’ use of terminology can be described in Luke 7:35 to 8:50 where it is described how Jesus forgave a woman’s sins. He refers to women and men as children of

In the four Gospels, there are many accounts of women that are exceptionally important in the Church. Mary Magdalene is one of the most prominent figures in the Gospels. She is one of the women who are present in every Gospel. Therefore, one can say with certainty that Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus’ true followers. Although the disciples were known as Jesus’ main followers, it was the women who in reality stayed with Jesus from his arrest to his resurrection. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 8 says that Mary was cured of seven demons that she possessed by Jesus (Lk 8:2). After the cleansing of her soul, she began to follow Jesus and preach the Good News. Mary Magdalene is one of the most well-known figures in the New Testament because of her loyalty to Jesus. In contrast to the disciples, she stayed by Jesus’ side. In fact, it was to Mary, to whom the angel appeared to in the tomb after the resurrection. On the third day, Mary Magdalene and a few other women went to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body. Once they arrived, they were surprised that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb. In that moment, two angels appeared to the women to remind them that Jesus was to be crucified, but then resurrect. The women were astonished, yet they told the

The stories told about women in the bible illustrate the importance of their role and contribution to society. Although the Bible does not explain God’s relationship with women as with Moses and other prophets, it illustrates love and devotion women had for Him. The stories of the bible describe brave, nurturing, and God fearing women whose decisions impacted the existence of the Israelites.

Widows were not the only women able to take advantage of the new leadership opportunities, though. Many Christian women opened their homes to followers. Paul’s letters help to paint a clearer picture of what Christianity started as. Christians met in homes, not churches. Women played a vital role in the making of a Christian household, so it was only natural that they would be important in meetings in their own homes. Women were responsible for raising children in a way that was consistent with the Church’s teachings and earned more respect from members of the Church because of this role (Fernández-Armesto 292). Paul speaks of women such as Lydia of Thyatira and Nympha of Laodicea who both led churches in their homes and aided other women in worship. When Paul met a deacon named Phoebe, he assumed that women were prophesying while worshiping; prophets were influential and spoke publicly about the religion, taught, led prayer, and preached

Greetings and thanks for the post! Greetings and thank you for the post! I admire your quotations and the way you correlated the methods and practices that were demontrated in the Old Testament vice the new. Your example in paragraph 5 was spot on with regards to numerous examples of women in positions of leadership such as Phoebe the deacon/minister, Pricilla and Aquila, coworkers with Paul, and perhaps Junia as an apostle” I support women and thier dedicated service to the ministry. As Christians , we are all called to serve the Almighty God.

It is difficult to address the topic of women in the early church because culturally, Women were not accepted. Generally, it has not been acceptable for women to have a teaching role within the church. More conservative denominations may even limit that more. Aside from a general lack of woman’s rights throughout time within many cultures, Christians cite the idea that women cannot have positions of authority within the Church from passages like 1 Corinthians 14:34 where Paul says, “The women should keep silent in the

First, a woman’s position in the church as a teacher has many standards set by God. The Lord sets some standards of who a woman is to teach in the church. Gilbert Bilezikian in his book Beyond Sex Roles, states, “According to the Epistle, women were

Firstly, women helped Jesus in his search for the nature of the divine, and his teachings. In the early development of Christianity, disciples were persecuted by the Roman Empire (Strayer, 174). Therefore,

Women’s social status was lower than that of men’s, and they weren’t allowed to teach or preach on scripture, especially not publically. The ability to have visions raised your status to that of a prophet, but women were still seen as dangerous and the cause of temptation. It was normal for women to experience interpretations of God through the body, rather than through scripture. The men who held positions in the church, like the Epistles of Paul and Archbishop, did not approve of women being audible or visible in church, and went as far as banning them from teaching on scripture. Margery was arrested multiple times and put on trial because of her refusal to comply with this law.

The book of Acts includes a letter from Paul, a very influential apostle, to the Christians in Philippian, stating how Christian women should be like. He divided Christian women into three categories. Overall, they were all to be submissive to the men of the community. Wives were to love their husbands and educate their children

The specific roles of men and women in the church are just as debated now as they were when the church first began in the time of Christ. Reconciling God’s design in creation with practicality in a body politic can be trying. While looking to Scripture can shed light on this topic, some find its revelations all the more confounding. The apostle Paul offers ample advice to the church in his many letters, and there is reason to believe his insight is still applicable today. Men and women have separate, complimentary roles that were established in creation, and they are confirmed in their behavior within the church. This is seen by the immediate context of Paul’s instruction to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2, the implications of the letter, the purpose of these roles, and how they can be applied to the modern church.

Matthew 20:25-26 states, “But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant…” This exert implies the idea that within everyday people there is not one person or people who are greater than others. In contrast to this Corinthians 14:34-35 states, “Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says. And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.” From this passage we can see a sort of lowered view of women during this time, having fewer rights than others within a church, giving the inherent impression that they are valued less than men. As for the role of women in society, Timothy 5:10 states, “having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work”. Women traditionally raised children and maintained the

The hatred and slander of women continued over this period of time. Women were considered to be unclean, created by defect, only to service men, witches, and whores. They were not allowed in the sanctuaries because they were considered unclean especially during there monthly cycle. Even today women receive less pay for jobs that are not suited for their skills, they are not always the first choice in any areas of political or social positions.

Proponents argue that the attitude of Jesus toward women in the four canonical Gospels is different from that of his contemporaries, whether Greek or Jewish. The wisdom of the ancients about women is totally absent from the traditions about Jesus. Jesus was perfectly at ease in the company of women since from him equality between sexes was not so much a distant legislative goal as a rather self-evident fact. Jesus had women followers who learned from him, traveled with him at all times, and supported him financially (Luke 8:2-3; and Mark 14:41). He frequently ministered to women: he healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31); he exercised a demon from the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30; Matthew 15:21-30); he raised Jarius’

Ever the since the creation of the Bible, woman in the Christian church have been highly neglected as many passages of the holy text suggest that woman are inferior to men and serve a lesser purpose. The problem is, in many points of bible, there a situation where it contradicts itself regarding the status of woman in the Christian church. A notable example of such contradiction can be seen in the passage John 8:1-11 were it states that we have all sinned and to accuse someone of crime is to accuse yourself. Jesus in the passage uses a woman as an example but in the passage 1 Timothy 2: 8-14 it states that woman are inferior to men. But the question is how and woman be inferior to men if we are in fact equal.