Women in the History of Christianity

Women in the Early Church

By: Joel Ashirwadam J.W.

M.Th. Communication

Having seen Christianity in India itself for more than two thousand years, there is always
a role women had in the growth of the Church. There was even more so in the Ancient West
Asia (AWA) when Christianity was at its infancy, the time we call today as the Early Church.
Women had a significant contribution to the Early Church community, but they were airbrushed
out of history due to the patriarchal structure of the society. Today with enough hermeneutical
(Interpretation) tools and understanding we have slowly started to uncover the truth about the
care that Early Church Community got for its mothers. Let us look closer, at the Women in Early
Church Community.

1. Women in Judaism and in the Roman Society

a. Women in Judaism
The position of women in Judaism is predominantly structured and guided by the Hebrew
Bible. But when we look closer the Oral Law, Rabbinic literature, Customs and other non-
religious cultural factors too have a determining factor towards women.1

Women are held with respect in their own accord from the biblical point of view out of
the fifty five prophets, seven are women and many other women in Judaism have acted as a
turning point for the history of Judaism such as Miriam, Deborah and Esther. Still then Women
are positioned as the keeper of the household. According to Judaism, Jewishness is passed over
to the child through women and not men. In regard to that if a child born to a non-Jewish mother
is not a child born as Jew. As in the case of divorce women needs to take consent from the
husband to get a divorce, which is not the case for the husband.2

The Synagogue is an important part of a Jewish community and it is not just a place for
worship and prayer, but also a place of governing themselves. 3 During the prayer obligations
such as Minyan (the 10 people necessary to recite certain prayers) the participation of women are
not counted and women’s prayer on behalf of the group is also not counted thus women cannot
lead the services/worship. In this light of the situation we can understand that the Jewish
understanding of Women is that they are less privileged group.4

According to John Bowker (theologian), traditionally, Jewish "men and women pray
separately. This goes back to ancient times when women could go only as far as the second court
of the Temple."5 In most Synagogues women are given separate building or offered balcony.
1
Judaism and women, "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Women_in_Judaism&oldid=615112581"
11/07/2014 9:16 PM.
2
Judaism 101: The Role of Women , “http://www.jewfaq.org/women.htm” 11/07/2014 9:19 PM
3
Steinberg, Theodore L. Jews and Judaism in the Middle Ages. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2008), 139.
1

4
Judaism 101: The Role of Women , Op.cit.
Page

5
Bowker, John. World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored & Explained. (London: Dorling Kindersley Limited,
1997), 119.
Other than praying, one of the main jobs of women is to beautify the building and arrangements
in the building.6

b. Women in the Roman Society

The legacy (contribution) of the Roman Civilization is the foundation of the Western
Civilization even to this date. The ancient Rome changed monarchy to republic; as a result an
empire and this also resulted in the gradual change in the status of women.7

It is clear that the Greek women were kept in seclusion; the Jewish women were not as
restricted in the public as the Greek women but did not have the freedom of the first century
Roman Women. Macedonian women had greater independence and importance in public affair.
This coincides with the greater prominence that women held in the Macedonian Churches
(women associated with the Philippian Churches – Acts 16:14-15, Phil. 4:2-3). 8 Roman history
supplies us the portrayal of gradual increase in the position and liberty to a higher status and
finally greater power and influence.9

Romans offered prayers and sacrifices to the many deities for every conceivable
opportunity. Priests and priestesses officiated at these rituals. Some of the goddesses especially
worshiped by girls and women were Fortuna Virginalis or Virgo, Venus, Vesta, Juno, Cybele,
Isis, and Minerva. Virgo was the patroness of young girls as they came of age. These adolescent
girls would dedicate their girlhood Togas10 to this goddess, and then don a Stola 11, the dress of a
woman.12

Women were found in wide variety of offices. In addition to the role as such as wives,
mothers, commercial sex workers, midwives and also as physicians, musicians, artists, winners
of athletic events and all sorts of activities.13

2. Prominent Roles of Women in Early Church

Early Christianity is the period of Christianity from the time of Ascension till the First
Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E.14 In the recent times, the history of women in the Early
Christianity is revised, as feminist historians try to uncover the presence of women in neglected
texts and stumbled upon new findings. If fact the stories that we thought we know about some
know women are changing dramatically.15
6
Judaism and women, Op.cit.
7
Anita L. Fisher, Anciant Rome, “http://web.clark.edu/afisher/HIST251/lecture_texts/ancient_rome.doc”
09/07/2014 8:19 PM
8
Ferguson, Everett. Backgrounds of Early Christianity. (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
2003), 77-79.
9
C. T. Seltman, Women in Antiquity. (New York, 1956), 174.
10
The Toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, it is made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of
linen. It was a garment worn exclusively by men, and only Roman citizens were allowed to wear the toga. Women
were expected to wear the Stola; to distinguish prostitutes from respectable women, prostitutes were required to
wear the toga.
11
The Stola was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga, or the pallium, that was worn
by men. The stola was made of linen.
12
Anita L. Fisher, Op.cit.
13
Ferguson, Everett. Op.cit.
2

14
Early Christianity, “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity” 07/07/2014 7:15 PM.
Page

15
King, Karen L. Women In Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries,
“http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/women.html” 09/07/2014 11:46 PM
 Women have been airbrushed out of early Christianity despite having been crucial to its
spread. Professor Kate Cooper of the University of Manchester has identified dozens of
forgotten Christian women who were influential in the first and second centuries, during a period
when Christianity was - in some respects - more progressive towards women than today. She
believes that women played a central role in spreading the new Christian faith through informal
friendship and family networks. Their authority within Christian communities was earned
through their role as parents, community organisers, and small business owners.16

One, Lydia the Purple-seller of Philippi, remembered in the Bible’s Book of Acts, was
the first person to sponsor St Paul. Another woman, Perpetua, who lived in Carthage at the end
of the second century, was famous at the time for refusing to denounce her faith, choosing
martyrdom against her father’s wishes. Her diary, written while she awaited execution in prison,
was a radical document which would be seen in today’s world as extreme and very unlike the
official Christian views of what the Christian woman should be.17

One of the most important is Thecla of Iconium, believed by second century Christians to
have been one of St Paul’s disciples. Referring to the ‘Acts of Paul and Thecla’, an anonymous
second century text shows how Thekla rebelled against her family to refuse marriage - an
unthinkable act at the time. Though there is no certain evidence that Thecla existed, her story
was hugely influential in the first few hundred years of early Christianity. The influence of her
story was far-reaching, in that it became the root of the Catholic theology of chastity and
virginity. Women, says Professor Cooper, regularly preached the gospel in the first two centuries
of Christianity and in some communities women carried out baptisms. It wasn’t until the Roman
Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, in around 313 AD, the religion became
institutionalised: male bishops were now Government officials and women came to be seen as
players in the background rather than public figures.18

The ancient sources mention the women, but over time less and less attention was given
to their role. Women were the last disciples at the cross and the first at the empty tomb; they
remained integral to the work of the church in its early centuries. One of the best-kept secrets in
Christianity is the enormous role that women played in the early church. There was a number of
upper-class women in the Church who were privileged to study Bible under Jerome and they
showed such scholarship that in the early 400C.E. Augustine wrote, “any old Christian woman
was better educated in spiritual matters than many a philosopher”.19

a. Women as Witness of Jesus

The Earlier Christian apostles usually spoke about “Bearing Witness” to Jesus Christ.20
From the very beginning, women had a role in the Birth, Ministry, Death and Resurrection of
Jesus Christ. The major witnesses of the Crucifixion of the Christ and the Resurrection were the
women. The traditional four Gospels indicate of a group of Galilean women, who followed Jesus
16
Reilly, Rachel. “http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2390252/Women-airbrushed-early-Christianity-
despite-having-crucial-spread-claims-leading-historian.html?printingPage=true” 10/07/2014 12:17 AM
17
Ibid.
18
Cooper, Kate. Band of Angels: The Forgotten World of Early Christian Women, (London: Atlantic Books, 2013),
95-100.
3

19
Kroeger, Catherine. The Neglected History of Women in the Early Church,
Page

“https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/women-in-the-early-church/” 09/07/2014 11:40 PM

20
Cadoux, Cecil John. The Early Church and the World. (Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark, 1955), 80-81.
and were also present during His Crucifixion when the “Chosen” apostles were absent. Then the
burial events that followed and John alone writes about the Garden Interview between Risen
Christ and Mary Magdalene. Jesus’ resurrection in the Gospel is given witness to even till this
day to us by the women and they can be rightfully called as “Apostle to the apostles”. Luke’s
Gospel clearly portrays that it is heavily based on the testimony of women, which is also in the
case of Acts.21

Narrated by both Biblical and non-biblical sources, state that there were numerous
women leaders such as Priscilla, Chloe, Lydia, Apphia, Nympha, the mother of John Mark, and
possibly the “elect lady” of John’s second epistle who made the home churches to flourish up in
the Roman Empire. In the 2nd century, Clement of Alexandria wrote that the apostles were
accompanied on their missionary journeys by women, who were not marriage partners, but
colleagues,

“that they might be their fellow ministers in dealing with housewives. It was
through them that the Lord’s teaching penetrated also the women’s quarters without any
scandal being aroused. We also know the directions about women deacons which are
given by the noble Paul in his letter to Timothy."

Junia was mentioned by Paul in Romans 16 as “of note among the apostles.” Some have
debated the meaning of this verse, but early tradition holds that Junia was a woman and was
considered an apostle. Until the Middle Ages, the identity of Junia as a female apostle was
unquestioned. Later translators attempted to change the gender by changing the name to the
masculine Junias. But such a name is unknown in antiquity; and there is absolutely no literary,
epigraphical22 or papyrological23 evidence for it.24

Paul also mentions Phoebe in Romans 16, “a deacon of the church at Cenchreae.” He
calls her a prostatis or overseer25. This term in its masculine form, prostates, was used later by
the Apostolic Fathers to designate the one presiding over the Eucharist. The four daughters of
Philip appear in Acts 21:9 as prophetesses. Eusebius viewed these daughters as “belonging to the
first stage of apostolic succession.”26

b. The Other Christian Women

Other women appear in later literature as well. One of the most famous woman apostles
was Thecla, a virgin-martyr converted by Paul. She cut her hair, donned men's clothing, and took
up the duties of a missionary apostle. Threatened with rape, prostitution, and twice put in the
ring as a martyr, she persevered in her faith and her chastity. Her lively and somewhat fabulous
story is recorded in the second century Acts of Thecla. From very early, an order of women who
were widows served formal roles of ministry in some churches (Timothy 5:9-10). The most
numerous clear cases of women's leadership, however, are offered by prophets: Mary
Magdalene, the Corinthian women, Philip's daughters, Ammia of Philadelphia, Philumene, the

21
Ibid.
22
A quotation at the beginning of a book, chapter, or section of a book, usually related to its theme.
23
The study of ancient papyrus manuscripts.
4

24
Kroeger, Catherine. Op.cit.
Page

25
Somebody who supervises work done by somebody else.
26
Kroeger, Catherine. Op.cit.
visionary martyr Perpetua, Maximilla, Priscilla (Prisca), and Quintilla. There were many others
whose names are lost to us.

Women were also prominent as martyrs and suffered violently from torture and painful
execution by wild animals and paid gladiators. In fact, the earliest writing definitely by a woman
is the prison diary of Perpetua, a relatively wealthy matron 27 and nursing mother who was put to
death in Carthage at the beginning of the third century on the charge of being a Christian. In it,
she records her testimony before the local Roman ruler and her defiance of her father's pleas that
she recants28. She tells of the support and fellowship among the confessors in prison, including
other women. But above all, she records her prophetic visions. Through them, she was not
merely reconciled passively29 to her fate, but claimed the power to define the meaning of her
own death. In a situation where Romans sought to use their violence against her body as a
witness to their power and justice, and where the Christian editor of her story sought to turn her
death into a witness to the truth of Christianity, her own writing lets us see the human being
caught up in these political struggles. She actively relinquishes 30 her female roles as mother,
daughter, and sister in favour of defining her identity solely in spiritual terms. However
horrifying or heroic her behaviour may seem, her brief diary offers an intimate look at one early
Christian woman's spiritual journey.31

c. Undermining Women's Prominence

Women's prominence did not, however, go unchallenged. Every variety of ancient

Christianity that advocated the legitimacy of women's leadership was eventually declared
heretical, and evidence of women's early leadership roles was erased or suppressed. This erasure
has taken many forms. Collections of prophetic oracles were destroyed. Texts were changed. For
example, at least one woman's place in history was obscured by turning her into a man!32

In Romans 16:7, the apostle Paul sends greetings to a woman named Junia. He says of
her and her male partner Andronicus that they are "my kin and my fellow prisoners, prominent
among the apostles and they were in Christ before me." Concluding that women could not be
apostles, textual editors and translators transformed Junia into Junias, a man.33

Or women's stories could be rewritten and alternative traditions could be invented. In the
case of Mary Magdalene, starting in the fourth century, Christian theologians in the Latin West
associated Mary Magdalene with the unnamed sinner who anointed Jesus' feet in Luke 7:36-50.
The confusion began by conflating the account in John 12:1-8, in which Mary (of Bethany)
anoints Jesus, with the anointing by the unnamed woman sinner in the accounts of Luke. Once
this initial, erroneous identification was secured, Mary Magdalene could be associated with
every unnamed sinful woman in the gospels, including the adulteress in John 8:1-11.34

27
A woman who is head of the nursing staff in a hospital, nursing home.
28
To deny believing in something or withdraw something previously said.
29
Tending to submit or obey without arguing or resisting
30
To renounce.
31
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/women.html” 09/07/2014 11:46 PM
5

32
Ibid.
Page

33
Ibid.
34
Ibid.
 The Gospel of Mary, for example, argued that leadership should be based on spiritual
maturity, regardless of whether one is male or female. This Gospel lets us hear an alternative
voice to the one dominant in canonized works like I Timothy, which tried to silence women and
insist that their salvation lies in bearing children.35

3. Women in Ministry

Apart from the outstanding ministry by individual women, there are notable women in
specialized orders. Notably ecclesial widows, virgins, presbytresses and deaconesses sometimes
these women are ordained and sat among the clergy in front of the congregation. Mary McKenna
suggests that the disadvantaged women who accompanied Jesus in his Galilean ministry.
Tertullian complained of a virgin who was admitted to the order of widows at the age of
nineteen! These widows were supported by the gifts of the congregation, and in turn were
expected to pray for their benefactors as well as for all other members of the church. Their duties
and qualifications were developed from the instructions in 1 Timothy 5.36

The walls of the Roman catacombs bear pictures showing women in authoritative
stances, with their hands raised in the posture of a bishop. The Ecclesiastical Canons of the
Apostles specifically forbade women to stand in prayer, But here we see them standing in
prayer, exercising a ministry of intercession and benediction, and dominating the scene.37

Conclusion

Women had various important functions in the early church. Some taught, some
prophesied, some provided financial support, and many worked in the gospel and some
witnessed. It is quite sad that a religion which began with a mother and her Baby should still
have so much difficulty honour the contribution of its women. It needs to be emphasized that the
formal elimination of women from official roles of institutional leadership did not eliminate
women's actual presence and importance to the Christian tradition, although it certainly seriously
damaged their capacity to contribute fully. What is remarkable is how much evidence has
survived systematic attempts to erase women from history, and with them the warrants and
models for women's leadership. The evidence presented here is but the tip of an iceberg.

Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary

Facilitated by: Rev. Dr. Rayappan Isaac

6

35
Ibid.
Page

36
The Neglected History of Women in the Early Church, Op.cit.
37
Kroeger, Catherine. Op.cit.