Impact of women in the early Christian church

Help in the spread of Early Christianity

At the start of Christianity, Judaism was one of the main religions. However, Judaism did not offer many opportunities to women. It could be seen as an oppressive religion. Judaism had many regulations that took away women's rights, one being the mistreatment of unmarried virgins. Philo of Alexandria wrote, "Women are best suited to the indoor life which never strays from the house, within which the middle door is taken by the maidens as their boundary, and the outer door by those who have reached full womanhood." Before reaching this full womanhood, women were to stay hidden. During the Hellenistic period, women belonged to their fathers or their husbands. There were dowries on women for their marriage. These dowries were given from the father to the husband. They were a problems because fathers were anxious to marry their daughters off, they would offer dowries beyond their means. Also, when dealing with headstrong women, men squandered their rights. “See that there is no lattice in her room, on spot that overlooks the approaches to the house" (Sirach 42.11b). Restraining the thought and education of women showed an unjust environment to live in. Biblical law at the time states that the regular menstrual flow results in woman being unclean for seven days (Lev 15. 19-29). Women would be secluded for a week and taken away from their homes. Another part of the reproductive cycle was the deep desire to be the parent of a male baby. The shame of having a female baby was very strong. There was a “passionate desire to be the parent of a male baby… disappointment associated with the birth of a female” in the Israelite society. If a woman gave birth to a son she was deemed unclean as she would be at the time of her menstruation and would have 33 days of separation. This again separates women from social life for many days on end. Finally, if women were to have premarital sex, they would be stoned to death, while the men would not. All of these mistreatments of women showed inequality through social and religious life. On the flip side, in early Christianity, Women were allowed to have the same education and physical activities as men. An appealing aspect of Christian religion was the focus around forgiveness of sin and erasing past transgressions. With this, while having sex before marriage was still looked down upon, women could be forgiven in Christianity and not outcast for life. Another religious piece of Christianity was the way that Jesus treated women in the gospels. He showed them the utmost respect and even had many women followers. He talked to women, healed them, and accepted widows, prostitutes, and other outcast women in society. Jesus was also seen as an outcast in Jewish society, like women, which lead to a closeness and understanding. Luke is explicit when saying that Jesus traveled around accompanied with women such as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. Politically, women had more options in the ministry during the early spread of Christianity. In the personal life of women, there were many benefits to convert to Christianity. Infanticide and abortion was illegal. At this time abortion was extremely dangerous and most likely lead to death of the mother. Also if a baby was to be born a female, it was sometimes killed because of the strong desire to have a male baby. Christianity's sanction of marriage and opposition of divorce gave women more security, making it harder to be shrugged off by their husbands. It also encouraged better treatment of wives by their husbands. All of these positive traits of Christianity converted women and convinced many to actively convert others from the popular Judaism to the new and upcoming Christian church. As more women of the house started converting, so would their workers and husbands. The strong push of Christianity started with the appeal to women.

Roles of Women in the Early Christian Religion

In Christianity, women had a presence in many aspects of the Church. In the initial stages of the religion there was relatively public activity by women. These roles were deaconesses, martyrs, and ascetics. As a deaconess, women visited other sick women and assisted in the baptismal anointing of women. With all of these responsibilities, there were also restrictions such as being forbidden to baptize alone. There is also no early record of deaconesses being ordained in the same manner as male deacons. Women performed other missionary work and Paul depicts women as having an active role in the spread of the church movement. Women provided hospitality and performed good deeds, such as caring for the poor and washing feet,in the church. However, some people, author of acts, did not see women as true missionaries or leaders in their own right even though they did perform good acts in the community. Widows for example were recognized as a group in society but were not admitted into the clerical rank, taking away some leadership roles. Other than their roles in politics and social life, women in Christianity made up a major portion of the martyrs. In fact, five of the twelve scillitan martyrs were women. Other famous martyrs include Felicitas, Caecilia, Felicity and Perpetua, and Dionysia (among many others). These women showed their true devotion to the Christian church and were role models to other women joining and converting to Christianity. Another path that women could take in the Christian religion was the monastic life. While being included in this sect of Christianity, women were given an alternative path away from marriage so that they could practice religion without being completely devoted to their husband. Many religious women at this time were able to focus on their studies and connecting to God by taking this way of life. Monastic life also gave women a way out of becoming absorbed into a life of abusive husbands. A downside of the disapproval of divorce in the Christian church was the inability to get out of abusive marriages (consent of husbands was required), Monastery life gave women an option and way out of problem. While women did have roles in early Christianity, as Christianity became formalized with sacraments and hierarchization or church office, women’s earlier public roles were restricted and regulated. Characteristic of enthusiastic new sects, their roles were increasingly regulated and curtailed through history, diminishing women’s voices in prescribing women’s lives.

Debatably Equal Partnership Between Men and Women

and women in marriage have an equal partnership in the early church. In the bible, there are many quotes that explore this equality. One authentic Christian tradition is "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord" while "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it". Not only are women supposed to love and put forth effort in a marriage, men are too. This equality gives a supportive base to marriage. Another quote from the bible is that “we are all one in Jesus Christ”. In the time of early Christianity it was a new concept that was being practiced and preached. The oneness of humankind between male and female was a defining feature of this new religion. As stated before, women were given equality by adding the presence of deaconess. This tradition went until the 15th century, and still persists in some women’s monasteries among the eastern churches. In Christian orthodoxy, the function of the two sexes is genuine (have equal roles) and seen as a mutual fellowship. Both men and women are to offer love and sacrifice, according to Jesus Christ. An orthodox text states that an Orthodox woman should not feel inferior to men simply because she cannot stand in front of the holy altar, for everything in the church is a result of cooperation. The equality between the sexes in the Christian church gives women more power and does not limit their potential. While some positions were not allowed for women, they still were able to get involved with the church. The equal partnership between men and women is not only seen in the religious aspect of Christianity but also in the social and home life.

Christianity in the Home

In the early church, scholars have shown that women had a big role as pastors who lead “house churches”. Pastors were spiritual leaders that nurtured others and helped them grow. Almost all Christian meetings in the early church were held in the private homes of men and women. Among these women, the most well known were Mary, Chloe, Lydia, and Nympha. Mary was the mother of John Mark who opened her house to Peter in Acts. Many assembled at her house to pray for the release of Peter; their prayers were then answered. Chloe, a church leader, solved problems among the Corinthian Christians who were members of her own house church. These believers were under Chloe’s spiritual guidance and protection. She was also a leader who passed along information to the apostle Paul. Lydia offered Paul her home and her whole household converted and was baptized. Her home was also the first meeting place for the European Christians. Lydia also worked as the head of a dye-making guild; because most of the business was also done in the home, many of her workers were also among her converts. Lastly, Nympha was mentioned in the New Testament when Paul sent greeting to her and her house church.