Women and Christianity

Researched by Laura Frank

I. Jesus and Women: 

Passages in the New Testament attributed to Jesus,
portray Jesus as consistently treating women equal to men
and violating numerous Old Testament Laws. 
According to these passages Jesus:

             http://www.religioustolerance.org/fem_bibl.htm

Women in the Canonical Gospels: 

A central theme in the teachings of Jesus
was the empowerment of the weaker sections of society, especially women. 
All four canonical gospels contain information
about the involvement of women in his life and ministry.  
The author of each gospel contains and represents women differently. 
What was each one's intention?

Matthew: 

The author of the gospel of Matthew wrote in Greek
for a mixed Jewish and Greco-Roman audience . 
At first look, women are background information, but
there are key passages emphasizing women and women’s issues,
which are only included in the gospel of Matthew:

Luke: 

The author of the gospel of Luke provides more information
about and concerning women than any other gospel. 
The following passages featuring women
are only included in the gospel of Luke.

John: 

The author of the gospel of John portrays in particular:

Both the Samaritan woman and Mary Magdalene are proclaimers of Jesus.

Mark:

The gospel of Mark has the least amount of information about women. 
Since Matthew and Luke used Mark and Q as sources,
the remaining verses about women in the synoptic gospels
are attributed to Mark and the Q source.

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2448

Women in the New Testament Epistles: 

There are conflicting views on gender equality. 
This web site has listing of verses showing both
gender equality and female inferiority in the Epistles.

http://religioustolerance.org/nfe_bibl.htm  

II. Paul and Women:  Zervos PAR 236

       http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?341

III. The Church Fathers and the Oppression of Women: 

Any gain in equality women gained through the teachings of Jesus,
were quickly reversed in the writings of the early church fathers.

St. Clement of Alexandria 150-215

wrote in his book Paedagogus that:

  • in women “the consciousness of their own nature evokes feelings of shame.”

  • women are the “weaker sex”

  • “women should also fetch from the pantry things that we need.”

Origen 185-254

Hated sex and women and castrated himself to achieve Christian perfection.

Tertullian:

Is known to be the most offensive to women.
He writes in “On Baptism” chapter 17
as a response to the widely read “Acts of Paul and Thecla,”
which affirms women as teachers and with the authority to baptize.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/thecla.html.  

“To round off our slight treatment of this subject it remains for me to advise you of the rules to be observed in giving and receiving baptism. The supreme right of giving it belongs to the high priest, which is the bishop: after him, to the presbyters and deacons, yet not without commission from the bishop, on account of the Church’s dignity. . . Except for that, even laymen have the right. . . But the impudence of that woman who assumed the right to teach is evidently not going to arrogate to her the right to baptize as well - unless perhaps some new serpent appears, like that original one, so that as that woman abolished baptism, some other should of her own authority confer it. But if certain Acts of Paul, which are falsely so named, claim the example of Thecla for allowing women to teach and to baptize, let men know that in Asia the presbyter who compiled that document, thinking to add of his own to Paul’s reputation, was found out, and though he professed he had done it for love of Paul, was deposed from his position. How could we believe that Paul should give a female power to teach and to baptize, when he did not allow a woman even to learn by her own right? Let them keep silence, he says, and ask their husbands at home.’”
(trans. by Ernest Evans, Tertullian’s Homily on Baptism [London: SPCK, 1964].
Online source: The Tertullian Project).

For more writings by Tertullian on women: Tertullian on Women and Fallen Angels

IV. Women Leaders and their Roles in the New Testament: 

Women held many of the same roles as men:
apostles, prophets, evangelists and ministers.

A. Apostles

Romans 16:7 “Greet Andronicus and Junia, (Junias?)
my relatives who have been in prison with me. 
They are outstanding among the apostles,
and they were in Christ before I was.”

B. Prophets

Lk 2:36 Anna was a prophetess
Acts 21:8-9 Women praying and prophesying
Acts 2:18 “…both men and women….shall prophesy”

C. Evangelists

Phil 4:2-3 Euodia and Syntyche evangelized publicly with Paul
Acts 18:18-26 Priscilla evangelized and also
Rom 16:3-5 with Augila started a church in Rome

D. Pastors or Ministers

Phoebe in Romans 16:1-2

More information on:   Women in Ancient Christianity

V. Women in Christian Gnostic and Montanist Movements: 

As the church became institutionalized,
women lost many of the freedoms they had gained
in the early Jesus movement. 
Many women were attracted to Gnosticism and Montanism
because of the leadership roles available within them.  
Many of their writings have been destroyed
because they were deemed heretical.    

Bishop Irenaeus (ca. 140 - 203 AD) noted that
women especially were attracted to Gnostic groups.

‘Even in our own district of the Rhone valley,’ he said, the Gnostic teacher Marcus had attracted ‘many foolish women’ from his own congregation, including the wife of one of Irenaeus’ own deacons. Professing himself to be at a loss to account for the attraction that Marcus’ group held, he offered only one explanation: that Marcus himself was a diabolically clever seducer, a magician who compounded special aphrodisiacs to ‘deceive, victimize, and defile’ his prey. Whether his accusations have any factual basis no one knows. But when he describes Marcus’ techniques of seduction, Irenaeus indicates that he is speaking metaphorically. For, he says, Marcus ‘addresses them in such seductive words’ as his prayers to Grace, ‘She who is before all things ‘, and to Wisdom and Silence, the feminine element of the divine being. Second, he says, Marcus seduced women ‘by telling them to prophesy’ - which they were strictly forbidden to do in the Orthodox Church. When he initiated a woman, Marcus concluded the initiation prayer with the words ‘Behold, Grace has come upon you; open your mouth, and prophesy.’ Then, as the bishop indignantly describes it, Marcus’ ‘deluded victim ... impudently utters some nonsense’, and ‘henceforth considers herself to be a prophet!’ Worst of all, from Irenaeus’ viewpoint, Marcus invited women to act as priests in celebrating the eucharist with him: he ‘hands the cups to women’ . to offer up the eucharistic prayer, and to pronounce the words of consecration.
Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, Book I, ch. 13, § 1 - 7;
Hippolytus, Refutationis Omnium Haeresium, 6.35

Second Century Gnostic Communities that attracted women:

Marcionism: Women were equal to men.

From Danny Mahar, The Marcionite Research Center, 2004

  • “A legend was reported by St. Jerome that
    a woman envoy was sent to Rome from the Marcionite Church
    to announce and prepare for the arrival of     Marcion to that city (ca. 144).
    'As Paul sent Phoebe to Rome,
    so Marcion sent a woman beforehand
    to prepare a welcome (Jerome, Ep., 131)’.
  • Charles B. Waite in
    History of the Christian Religion to the Year Two Hundred
    also alludes from Jerome (adv. Ctesiph., t.4, p.477)
    ‘that Marcion had sent before him to Rome, a woman,
    to prepare the minds of the people for his doctrines    .’
  • Marcion's critics, particularly Epiphanius,
    railed on him with especial indignation
    over the fact that women in the Marcionite churches
    were permitted to conduct the rituals of baptisms    .
    (Epiphanius, Panarion sect 42 (4,5), trans. Frank Williams (p.275):
    ‘They even permit women to give baptism!
    For, seeing that they even celebrate the mysteries
    in front of the catechumens,
    everything they do is simply ridiculous.’

I don't know if it's possible to determine what percentage of women the Marcionites attracted, but from what I gather with these reports, women enjoyed a bit more freedom and prominence in the Marcionite churches than apparently those movements in competition with Marcion, if their mockery toward Marcion permitting such freedoms for women is any indication.”

Valentinianism: Women occupied a prominent position

Women were prophetesses and held positions of leadership.
They are described as “strong by the perception which is in them”
    (1 Apocalypse of James 38:20-23).
Mary Magdalene is one of the most important apostles in the Gospel of Philip.
The Orthodox Church fathers aggressively attacked Valentinus on this point.
 Valentinian Ethics
Church Fathers against the Gnostics

Montanism:

An apocalyptic movement of the 2nd century.  It arose in Phrygia under the leadership of a certain Montanus and two female prophets, Priscilla and Maximilla.

Montanus and Montanism