So far we've looked at two of the passages that are commonly used to oppress and hold women back, only to find that they were actually written to liberate women, and that context informs us of the true meaning behind the scripture.
While that's what we see written, what was the actual practice of the early Church? It's not enough to just say that they empowered women - standing alone those are simply empty words. We have to look in practice at what was actually done, so the question now becomes, did the early Church allow women to lead?
The answer is, unequivocally, yes.
Luke 24 (and the other Gospels) record that the first people to see and testify of the Risen Christ was not Peter, James, John, or any other of the disciples, but rather women. This is an important note to consider, because according to Jewish law, the testimony of women was considered entirely invalid. Additionally, in Roman society we see that, "The woman is incapable of being a witness in any form of jurisprudence where witnesses are required." While there are some writings that lend themselves to the idea that women could, at times, be compelled to testify, it doesn't seem to bear out the idea that women's testimony was afforded equal status to that of a man.
This begs the question, why on earth would women be entrusted with the first Gospel message, seeing as how their testimony was not thought of as reliable, trustworthy, or even admissible? Quite frankly, this is a pattern we see in the New Testament of women being elevated and empowered to a place in society equal to that of men.
Acts tells us of Priscilla and Aquila. They are noteworthy not only due to them being a husband and wife powerhouse, but due to the fact that we see a husband and wife referred as Paul's "fellow workers" in Christ (Romans 16:3). Breaking cultural norms in fact, we see that Priscilla's name is mentioned prior to her husband's four of the six times we meet them in scripture.
At the very least, such a prominent naming and breaking of cultural norms lends credence to the idea that Priscilla and Aquila were at least equals, while some scholars actually note that she may have been the more prominent teacher and disciple, who may have been the anonymous author of the Book of Hebrews. The fact that this is the only book of the New Testament who has a claim of anonymous authorship lends credence to this idea, with some speculating that this was done either to suppress its true origins or to protect the letter from the suppression that would have come from the Hebrew people had they known it was written by a woman.
They pastored a church in their home, and were the ones who accurately taught Apollos the way of God more accurately than he had known before. (1 Corinthians 16:19 and Acts 18:26).
Catherine and Richard Kroeger write, "The fact is that women did indeed teach men, that women served as leaders, and that in doing so they enjoyed God’s blessing and won the praise of other believers. Priscilla instructed the learned Apollos, Lois and Eunice taught Timothy, and Phoebe is named as an overseer and a deacon in the church at Cenchrea. Furthermore, believers are enjoined to teach and to learn from one another, without reference to gender."
We see Junia in Romans, who Paul notes as, "Outstanding among the apostles...in Christ before I was," (Romans 16:7).
What we see here is that Paul lists Junia, a woman, as an apostle. Early Christian commentators such as Origen of Alexandria all note that this was a woman, although some manuscripts in the 12th century replaced her name with the masculine form of Junias.
Not only was she an apostle, she is regarded as outstanding among the Apostles or of note among the apostles, meaning her stature and position as an Apostle would have been both well known AND well received among the Church.
Paul also tells us of Phoebe, his emissary to the Roman church. She is of note In Romans 16 as a Deacon of the Church in Cenchreae, and likely hosted the house church in her home, and some scholars argue that her being known as deacon in the early church extends her ministry beyond the charitable works ascribed to a deacon to include both preaching and evangelism.
There is far more detail that we could go into here if time and space were to permit, but I would be doing a disservice to these wonderful women who helped build the foundation of the Church if I were to expound beyond the baseline of knowledge that I have regarding them.
However, given what we have noted the last two weeks and what we see in this blog, I think it is more than fair to state a few things.
The passages that have been used to keep women out of the pulpit and preaching ministry have been used erroneously and without the necessary context.
We have long done the Body of Christ a disservice by limiting what women can and cannot do in the Body.
We see that women were foundational in the early church, in the establishing of the Church and in teaching and preaching.
In conclusion, The New Testament, when properly interpreted, is really a progressive document when it comes to how we treat each other. It goes beyond advocating for mere basics for the women, but steps into the fact that women are not only permitted to lead men, but are called, qualified, and should be leading, just as the men should. We are all in this together as the body of Christ. You need to hear Shellby's teaching and preaching gifts as much as you need mine.
It's time to stop relegating women to the sidelines. It's time for men to stop dominating and domineering, and for all of us to take our place as co-heirs of Christ.
By Grace,
Dave