What Feminism is about for me (6) Women in the Early Church

Jesus’ early followers continued to follow in his footsteps, including women in their gatherings. The Bible mentions female followers during Christ’s lifetime and the early church. None of the twelve disciples of Jesus was a woman, but he had a larger circle of followers who accompanied him from the beginning to the end. The women mentioned in Luke 8:1-3 were probably among these 70 followers, the wider circle of disciples. After Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the disciples shared fellowship with these women disciples: "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14).

In his sermon at Pentecost, Peter quoted the prophet Joel: "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28+29). The disciples were convinced that this prophecy was being fulfilled at that moment.

The Bible says: “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers“ (Acts 1:14). The early church gathered together for prayer, and the Holy Spirit came down upon all who were in the room. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place…. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them“ (Acts 2:1+3+4).

We often forget that the Bible says this and only think of the apostles speaking in tongues. But Peter explained why even the women were speaking/preaching by quoting the prophet  Joel in the  Old Testament, saying „Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.“

Isn’t it the Holy Spirit who empowers and „ordains“ his followers for ministry? The idea had not yet come up that women should not be involved in the fledgling church. Now this experience of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all must have confirmed their calling.

Then there were the house churches. Breaking bread in the homes certainly involved the women. Many of these house churches were led by women like Lydia and Priscilla.

The apostle Paul also shows his appreciation of his co-workers in the cause in his greetings to the church in Rome, where in Romans 16 he mentions several women by name: Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae; Priscilla; Mary; Junia the apostle; Tryphena and Tryphosa; Persis; the mother of Rufus; Julia; the sister of Nereus.

Numerous manuscripts were not included in the Biblical canon, but they show that women served in leadership roles in the early church. Many Christians today do not know much about the extra-canonical gospels because in the 4th century they usually were not included in the lists of books that became the modern Bible. Around the Mediterranean, however, many followers of Jesus considered these gospels sacred and translated them into the same languages that they translated the canonical gospels, eg. Protevangelium of James (2nd Century) and the Gospel of Bartholomew.

Other early Christian writers described Jesus’s mother as a defender of women. In the oldest texts Mary, the mother of Jesus, is portrayed as having liturgical authority, offering incense, raising her hands to bless people, baptizing, teaching, preaching, and sending out evangelists.

Roman and Greek writers indicated that women leaders were in the majority in the Jesus movement.  Pliny the Younger interrogated two women whom he called ministrae. The Greek philosopher Celsus listed founders of various Christian groups – and five of the seven mentioned were women – Helen, Marcellina, Salome, Mariamne, and Martha. Some full narratives depict holy women preaching, teaching, healing, exorcising, and baptizing people, just like the male apostles.

Artifacts from earliest times show women performing liturgical ceremonies, with hands lifted up in blessing or carrying the censer. In AD 494, in response to reports that women were serving at the altar in the south of Italy, Pope Gelasius I wrote a letter condemning female participation in the celebration of the Eucharist, arguing that those roles were exclusively reserved for men. The 5th-century image of a woman named Cerula, found in the catacomb of San Gennaro, Naples, in 1971 shows her surrounded by open, flaming Gospel books, which are symbolic of the role of a bishop.

So when did the women start losing their voice and role in leadership? Many Church Fathers did not take up the question. But Clement of Rome taught that the apostles chose only men as successors. The Council of Laodicea (363–364 AD) prohibited ordaining women to the Presbyterate. One of the reasons why the Catholic Church persecuted the group of Christians called the Poor of Lyon or Waldenses in the 12th Century seems to have been the fact that men and women were both equally active in the proclamation of the Gospel. They challenged the authority of the church as the sole interpreter of Bible truth.

We may have got the impression that the priesthood was always reserved for men only, as practiced in the Catholic Church today. History proves the contrary. The early church was egalitarian and open for both men and women in leadership.

In my next blog I will look at the Apostle Paul and what he wrote about women.

 

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