Women's Role In Early Christianity

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.

Throughout the ancient world, the aspects to which a successful society thrive under have been skewed, except for that of religion. Although a universal religion has never been adopted, most empires tend to follow a basic outline similar to one another. In relation to Greeks and Romans, this ideology still holds true. Religion between these two societies have had their differences, but for the most part they have kept the same values held high. Women and their impact on Greek and Roman religion is what shaped these regions to flourish and is what held the empires together through all war and turmoil that came their way.

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.

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.

Without the religious influence of the noble women during the 6th century, Christianity would not have spread so quickly throughout the Germanic world. Their independent lifestyle allowed for the ability to influence noble men and subjects towards Christianity while overseeing the construction of religious buildings.

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.

Traditionally in ancient studies of various civilizations, women assume a submissive role as caretaker of the house and family. Generally, this trend continues throughout early organized society until around the time of sixty four A.D. with the rapid spread and judgment of the new religious dynamic of Christianity. The novel faith becomes notorious for the strong ties and companionship between members of the community as well as the appealing views of a compassionate deity and rewarding afterlife. These characteristics attracted women and impoverished peoples of Rome in particular. As the belief system caught on in the Empire many pagans and Emperors such as Nero rejected the faith and began to persecute these people for their beliefs. The

The third standard set by God is that women can be teachers unto other women in the church. In the Bible God says, “The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” (Titus 2:3-5). The older women are to teach the younger women how treat their husbands and how to raise their children in a way that pleases God. The privilege of being teachers to other women and children is an ability God has given women to have in the church.

The account of Saint Thecla, as found in the literary piece, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, reveal the fervid passion of a woman in her pursuit of the monotheistic God, risking life and limb on her quest to make His gospel known. While the woman herself remains in question, her legacy continues as a strong representation of the role of women in the early Church – a position often denied to many women by the patriarchal nature of the institution. Thecla defied the early leaders, pushing herself into a realm where only men had dared to enter, and succeeded in bringing an entire region under the wing of her Christian religion. Thecla was a leader, a visionary – but, first and foremost, she was a woman.

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

Now I want you to realise that the head of every man is Christ, and

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