Women's Role In Christianity

Women have played an important role throughout the Bible even if they were not as respected as the men were back then. I completely understand that some may want to change or interpret the Bible in their own way, however, I have to agree with the Matthew version of the Syrophoenician Woman that Kwok Pui-lan speaks about. Although women would love to think that their gender was worshiped during the time of Jesus, this simply is not the case according to the history books. I do not approve of pushing women out of society or discriminating people by their gender or race, but it did happen. In fact, it still happens today.

Throughout my selected text, Johnson focuses on the church along with the subsequent androcentric image of God, and how it impacts woman around the world. She explains that throughout history, with the help of the church’s patriarchal nature and society’s values as a whole, woman have been seen “as a ‘defective male’…that must live in obedience to her [male counterpart,]…[ and who are often also referred to as the] ‘second sex’” (Johnson 92). This

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.

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.

As early as the beginning of the Christian Church women had some important but very defined roles within the church. There were roles women could not play, of course, but that does not mean they did not have value to the Christian movement. Unfortunately, there have also been a lot of things overlooked that have been done by women, especially in the New Testament. There have also been arguments that the Christian Church is a "man's church" because men wrote the books of the bible and women did not have much say, apparently, in what happened during that time and how it was recorded. Even though not everyone was certain of the way women were treated in Christianity and whether they were accepted and applauded the way they should have and could have been, there were still many mentions of women doing great things. Scholars have begun to look into what women did during Old Testament and New Testament times, in an effort to have a better understanding of Christianity and the role women played in it in the past.

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

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

Women were not held to such a high standard as men. Men had a more prominent active duty in the church and in order to gain their membership they needed to show their commitment to a congregation of people, while women could just make their consult in private. Although men and women still had to have a testimony from a Brethren before they were fully admitted, it was clear that men and women were separated in the church as they were at home.

As there is much debate about the role of women in the church, I believe that we should, as in all circumstances, rely on the Word of God to instruct us as to God 's will. In many religious circles, this is a hot-button subject and everyone will not easily accept this teaching. Nevertheless, because it has become a church dividing issue, it demands an appropriate review.

“There are people, O Paula and Estochium, who take offense at seeing your name at the beginning of my works. These people do not know that Olda prophesied when the men were mute; that, while Barak trembled, Deborah saved Israel; that Judith and Esther delivered from supreme peril the children of God. I pass over in supreme silence Anna and Elizabeth and the other holy women of the Gospel, but humble stars when compared with the luminary, Mary. I shall add but one word more. Was it not to women that Our Lord appeared after his resurrection? Yes, and the men could then blush for not having sought what women had found.”

In today’s society the controversial subject of what positions in the church a woman can hold; has become incredibly debatable among the nation. Some people believe that women have equal rights with men and can uphold any position that a man can. Today’s society also believes that because a woman can be in political and business power, then a woman can also be in authority in the church. However, that could not be farther from the truth a women’s positions in the church are defined by God.

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.

Until recently, women were not allowed to preach or even speak in the Christian Church, but in modern times women are beginning to play a more significant. While sects of Christianity still hold the traditional teachings about women, others have given them equal status within the church, an increasingly accepted interpretation.

1 Timothy 2:11–15 states: “11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 for Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.” 1 Corinthians 14:33–35 states: “33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their

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