THE MONDAY BIBLE STUDY

The History of Christian Women

Part 1: Women of the Bible

For over 2000 years, the history of the Christian church — as of most institutions — has been penned chiefly by men. In fact, the bible itself consists of texts written by men and although I do not dispute the happenings described, every author writes from a cultural framework and bias.

Yes, even you.

Intentional or not, this has led to a perception that women did not fulfil important roles in the early church and that this was by divine design. I would like to challenge that point of view.

In the ancient Jewish faith, women were given a culturally subservient role. The Torah was taught to boys to produce each generation of rabbis (teachers). Occasionally, a rabbi would teach it to his daughter, but this was the exception, rather than the rule.

Most writings on church history have assumed that, in the early Christian church, the power structures of Jewish society would have remained the norm and the scant reference to women in contemporary writings (again, mostly by men), has conjured a mythology that promotes male dominance in the church, therefore creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Men have always been the church leaders, therefore only men can be leaders.