Statue_of_Saint_Thecla%2C_Maaloula%2C_Syria.jpg

The Church and Women’s Leadership

 

Photograph: A statue of Saint Thecla in the gorge of Saint Thecla, Ma'loula, Syria. Photo credit: Bernard Gagnon | CC3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

 

Introduction

Starting in the mid to late second century, a Christian work called The Acts of Paul and Thecla circulated very broadly and enthusiastically in the Mediterranean region.  It is probably a mix of fact and pious fiction.  In it, Thecla, a disciple of Paul who was blessed by him, preached and ministered to both men and women in the region of Asia Minor.  Tertullian of Carthage complained that some Christians were using the story of Thecla to advocate for women baptizing and preaching.  This is one data point suggesting that women had considerable authority in ministry and in the church in the earlier period of the church (see this book). In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Thecla is honored as a saint, protomartyr, and equal to the apostles.

The Anástasis Center takes the egalitarian position on women in both marriage and church leadership. We do this because of our conviction that God’s justice is restorative: Jesus restores and resumes in his new creation what God started in His original garden creation. In the original creation, God made Eve equal to Adam, and even greater in her life-bearing capacity. So, in Jesus’ new creation, we are to honor men and woman as equals.

The resources below interpret both Scripture and church history as an argument for women at all levels of church leadership. First come materials on Scripture. Second come materials on church history. Third come materials addressing the mistaken claim that the Trinity is a hierarchy of power, which is what some Protestant evangelicals argue in favor of patriarchy. Fourth come examples of the status of women in Christian-influenced cultures, both positive and negative.

 

Messages and Resources on the Church and Women’s Leadership in Scripture

It’s a Man’s World: The Genesis 3:16 Effect

Join Hayley Rose (M.A. NCC LPC) and Rachel Darnall (M.A. Theological Studies) as we explore the causes, effects and cure for gender hierarchy in eight video episodes covering areas including: Moral responsibility; work and compensation; reproduction and parenthood; civic life; education; marriage; sexual agency.

Participants will learn the surprising truth about why patriarchy happens, how it’s developed and mutated throughout history, and how Christians can honor God’s original plan for gender equality and co-rule while living in “a man’s world.”

 
 

The Theme of Women in Judges, and the Portrayal of Deborah as Leader

Notes on how Deborah is portrayed as a prophet like Moses, and the significance of her portrayal for the entire Book of Judges and the rest of the biblical canon.

 

Women Speaking Authoritatively in the Worship Service in 1 Corinthians 11

This passage indicates that women and men preaching and praying was a standard practice in the earliest congregations.  It was established before Paul.  This means that the embodied practice of headship including women preaching authoritatively.  I argue that this unique Christian worship context controlled the meaning of the word head (Greek kephale).  It is therefore a mistake for Protestants to claim 'sola Scriptura' in such a way that scholars look for the meaning of kephale from the Septuagint Old Testament of the Greek usage outside the New Testament.  That method does not account for the hermeneutical priority of 1 Corinthians 11.

 

Women and Speech in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14 

This is a comparison of all the possible combinations of how two major passages about women speaking can and must be interpreted together.

 

The Implications of the Chiastic Structure of 1 Timothy on the Question of Women in Church Leadership

This argument for the entirety of 1 Timothy being a chiasm means that the "widows" of ch.5 correspond to the "elders" of ch.3.  The paper also discusses the meaning of the Greek word authentein in 2:12 versus the standard Greek word for legitimate and proper authority, exousia.  The entirety of 1 Timothy is shown to support women in church leadership and preaching-teaching authority.

 

Paul's View of Headship in Marriage: How 1 Corinthians Interprets Ephesians and Colossians

The word "head" (Greek kephale) was normatively defined by 1 Corinthians 11, where women preached, representing the head to the body.  Therefore, people who have not had the experience of sitting under the authority of a female preacher-teacher have an incomplete understanding of headship, and probably an exclusively male understanding, which is defective.  Also, the ethics of marriage taught in 1 Corinthians can be shown to take logical priority (not hermeneutical priority, except in a simplistic sense) over the ethics of marriage taught in Ephesians and Colossians.

 

Women Restored, Women Restoring

A thematic study of Luke - Acts, which uses a literary methodology to argue that women had authority in creation, because they have authority in Jesus' new creation. 

 

A presentation given May 7, 2022 to the 2022 Reconstruction class, accompanying the video. Greek and Roman views of the inferiority of women began with Plato and Aristotle (4th century BC). But Pulcheria was a Christian woman who became Roman augusta in 414 AD and presided over the Third and Fourth Ecumenical Councils. Empress Theodora was very influential in the 500s. And Irene became Emperor of the Romans by 800 AD. How did this happen? This presentation explores vocation as the main category by which Christians empowered women in roles distinct from family, examining the Catacombs of Priscilla, Irenaeus of Lyons, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, Montanism and the orthodox reaction to it, Melania the Elder, Paula of Rome, Nino of Georgia, Brigit of Ireland. The presentation also discusses the disagreements between Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen about how to interpret women in 1 Corinthians 11. This presentation and the video are the second of the 2022 Reconstruction class topics on the early church. See also our YouTube channel Reconstruction playlist for all the videos.

 

Women in Church Leadership part 1 and part 2

Slides of a presentation examining the key biblical passages.

 

Women in Church Leadership and Biblical Translation

A short letter response to a friend who asked about issues present in Bible translation

 

The Rights of Women in the Bible

An exploration of women's rights — both protections and opportunities — in the various roles they found themselves in throughout the biblical narrative.  Mako presented a shorter version of this to the International Christian Alliance on Prostitution Conference in 2019. This file is large, so it can also be found in two smaller parts: part 1 and part 2.

 

Christian Ethics of Organization:  The Church, Organizations, and Organizational Authority 

A long essay exploring authority in the church, and Christian ethics for any and all organizations 

 
 
 
 
 

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