What Role Did Women Play In Jesus Ministry?

Professor of religious studies Karen Armstrong finds in the early Christian Church examples of hostility toward women and fear of their sexual power, which she contends led to the eventual exclusion of women from full participation in a male-dominated church.

The status of women in Palestine during the time of Jesus was very decidedly that of inferiors. The women is, ‘in all things inferior to the man,’ as stated by first century

Since the Christian religion was a large and prominent force in the everyday life in the average person in the 17th and 18th century, the Bible was a large influence in how the woman was seen in society as it says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church…” (Ephesians 5:22-23, 33). The Bible is that the woman was ruled by her husband, that she didn’t even have her own head, and cannot think for herself because it was expected by the very faith that she must submit to her husband. The Holy Book also says that the woman was created from the rib of the man, which it is known now as completely preposterous, so it implies that the woman is inferior to man because she was created from man, because heaven forbid that any evidence point towards that it is man that came from a woman.

In the earliest of Christian texts, there is talk about what women did in the Church and the important roles they played (Fiddes, 1990; Fontaine, 1996). Many women were activists during that time, and they spent time focusing on their studies and duties to their households and to their God. In Corinth, for example, it was believed that a Jewish missionary woman who came from Rome helped to found 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.

When one thinks about the leaders of early Christianity, an orthodox vision of Jesus’ male apostles and disciples fills their head. While there is no doubt these men were important, their influential women counterparts are often overlooked and underrated. For years, historians were perplexed at the rapid spread of early Christianity, until they considered women. Women had a major role in the rise and spread of early Christianity because they were not only numerous, but also influential in leadership positions and converting others.

Women have always been looked at as weaker, less intelligent, and considered to be under men. Women have even been blamed for the “original sin”. Meaning, women are morally weaker and likely to tempt men to sin” (Bovey). Implying this is like saying women are the cause of all sin, and are responsible for man’s sins and that it’s the woman's fault if a man does bad things. “The place of a women was dictated by the biblical text. The apostle Paul emphasizes men’s authority over women, forbidding women to teach, and instructed women to remain silent, but Mary [of the bible] was seen as the most powerful of all saints and she changed it for the women” (Bovey). This shows women didn’t have authority over men and so they were considered “under

When discussing the Bible’s New Testament, there are several individuals aside from Jesus that gander a lot of attention. It is not uncommon to hear pastors and priest preaching about the disciples that walked with the messiah during his time of great works during a Sunday service. There are many lessons to be learned from the experiences of and trails faced by the men that knew best. However, even though the Bible is considerable a masculine text, there are many notable women sprinkled throughout it. Most notable, of course, would be the mother of Jesus, Mary. She made several appearances throughout the Gospel from the moment the angel came to her and said “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28) to let her know that she was going to be the mother of the “Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32) to the moment she stood witness to the crucifixion of that Son. Today, after Jesus, Mary – sometimes also called The Virgin Mary – is among those most revered in the Bible. However, she is not the only Mary to have close ties to the Biblical savior. There are actually at least three other Marys to walk along side with Jesus at some point, but none more conversational than Mary Magdalene.

| Through ethical conduct, Jesus was able to use Women to justify Gods actions and show us how to share Gods never failing love.

The Pharisees, scribes, priests and Sadducees were all classified as religious leaders in the bible. None of them had any faith in Jesus, they believed he was a fake of who he said he was on this earth. During this time in the bible, no one really knew who Jesus really was

In the Gospel of Mary, circa 120-180 AD, Mary Magdalene displays that women exercised agency by being a vessel of God and finding favor with the Lord. Beginning in the first paragraph of the work, it states, “Andrew and Peter question her veracity and ask why a woman should become a favorite disciple” (The Gospel of Mary 53). This demonstrates that men did not understand why a woman would be seen as a greater or more trustworthy being themselves as Christ’s inoculator. However, Mary remains humble, and she uses her agency to teach the men. Mary shows her willingness to enlighten the men when it is stated, “Mary answered, ‘What’s concealed from you I’ll tell; I saw him in a vision and I told him’” (The Gospel of Mary 57). This demonstrates Mary’s power over the males. In this situation, she holds knowledge that only she can give to them. This allows for her to become the individual in

The only thing a woman could do to escape this harsh judgment was to either enter a nunnery or marry and serve a man. By doing this, she was serving two lords: God and her husband. To not serve a husband through consummation and not serve God by entering a nunnery, would be viewed as a complete rejection of God. Thus, women were not only restrained by the political standards enforced men, but also the consciousness of the Church that

Gender roles, and the mere existence of a gender binary, has been a recent topic of conversation for many churches, theologians, and individual believers. As the cultural pressure to remove gender-specific limitations builds, many of those aforementioned have turned to scripture for answers. Seldom are women’s roles in the Old Testament characterized by decision making or personal merits. Rather, a woman’s capacity to produce an heir for their husband complements his dominance and responsible faithfulness and allows God’s plan to be fulfilled through their combined efforts. In the New Testament, through the transformative power of Christ, prominent women became less of an anomaly, but were still held to a different set of standards and expectations than men and were usually still praised according to their actions and their faith. The Pauline epistles, written in the context in which the Church still exists today: the age to come, provide a basis for today’s understanding of women’s roles in marriage and in church leadership. Although there are many instances of women fulfilling God’s plans and proving their worth among the community of Christians, the biblically normative role of women is to avoid authoritative church leadership positions and remain submissive in situations of teaching and interpreting the Word.

The Bible is controversial on the matter of gender equality. There are numerous contradictions about the status of women in Christian society. Historically, the most prominent interpretation has been rather negative toward women. The Christian Church, with principally male authority, emphasizes the idea that women are inferior to man. They focus on Eve’s sin leading to a punishment that “her husband will have authority over her.” (Drury, 34)

The rigidity of gender norms and gender roles is analogous to those in the New Testament and provides insight on how the society present in the story uses religion to present women as a monolith. Due to biblical expectations, women are constrained from making autonomous decisions, thus forcing them to follow a moral code. In the bible, women are groomed to become child bearers and “pure” wives (Titus 2:4-5), an idea shared in the book. This promotes them as having no sense of self-ownership, which objectifies them as characteristics, not humans with nuanced emotions nor ideals. An example of this is Purisima del Carmen. After she got married, Purisima’s teaching career ended quickly because of