Deck 24: From Pauls Female Colleagues to the Pastors Intimidated Women: the Oppression of Women in Early Christianity

Question 1

Describe in detail the role of women within Paul's early assemblies. What were Paul's attitudes toward women in the Church? the evidence for women holding leadership positions in Christianity from the time of Jesus to the time of the Pastoral epistles. In what ways did women's leadership roles change over time? Why do you think this happened?

Answer 1

Paul's letters give somewhat mixed messages regarding his stance on women in the church. On one hand, his undisputed letters indicate that women played a role in the foundation of the earliest churches. Women served as deacons, patrons, and even apostles in early Pauline communities. He cites ancient material which promotes a sort of ancient egalitarianism (e.g. Gal 3:27-28: there was "no longer male and female…in Jesus Christ"). On the other hand, in some parts of his undisputed letters, Paul appears to believe that certain "natural" gender norms ought to be maintained. Women, for instance, need to wear head coverings when they pray and prophesy in churches, 1 Cor 11:3-16). It appears that Paul believes that women are equal in Christ, but that this equality will not be fully realized socially in this age. Women are naturally subordinate to men, just as men are subordinate to Christ (who is subordinate to God) (1 Cor 11:3).

Question 2

Appealing specifically to historical criteria, what was the role of women in Jesus' ministry?

Answer 2

Early Gospel traditions independently attest that there were many women associated with Jesus. Some women provided financial support. Others accompanied him in his public ministry. Various independent traditions depict Jesus as conversing and interacting with women. All four Gospels depict women as present at the crucifixion, as well as the first ones to believe that Jesus was resurrected. Jesus' association with women may be contextually credible, in part because of his apocalyptic views. Since part of his message was the reversal of fortunes, it is possible that Jesus' association with women-a part of society generally perceived to be inferior-was an enactment of his apocalyptic message. The criterion of dissimilarity is not an effective tool for determining Jesus' involvement with women.

Question 3

Compare later Pauline Christian perceptions of women's roles in Christian assemblies. How do each of these groups appeal to Paul in their respective positions?

Answer 3

Since Paul's views of women could be interpreted as inconsistent-claiming that women could serve in the church, but that they must retain their social status as women-it is not surprising that Christian groups subsequently used Paul to advance their own, very different views. One group took the side that women were equal to men in every way (see, e.g., the Acts of Paul and Thecla). Other Christians, however, took the opposite stance and argued that women should marry and occupy a traditional, submissive role (see, e.g., the Pastoral epistles). As long as Christians met within the confines of the private home, women were able to hold positions of authority and prominence. As the movement grew and Christianity became more public, however, it became problematic for women to retain their leadership positions.

Question 4

How do surviving manuscripts of the New Testament give us insight into the ways in which Christian scribes were concerned about gender roles in antiquity?

Question 5

Describe how men and women of the Roman world largely understood gender difference. How did these ancient ideologies of gender come to affect the way proto-orthodox Christians came to organize themselves?

Question 6

Women were an important part of Jesus' ministry.

Question 7

The Gospels depict Mary Magdalene as a (former) prostitute.

Question 8

Women appear to have lacked a major role in Paul's churches.

Question 9

The Pastoral epistles and the Acts of Paul and Thecla take starkly opposite views of women and family.

Question 10

Most Greco-Roman people thought of men and women as essentially equal.

Question 11

In Paul's letter to the Romans, he calls Phoebe:

A) Foremost among the apostles
B) A deacon
C) A bishop
D) An elder

Question 12

According to Gospel traditions, all of the following were followers of Jesus except:

A) Mary
B) Martha
C) Phoebe
D) Salome

Question 13

Jesus might have associated with women because:

A) He was rejecting the Jewish Law.
B) He was enacting his apocalyptic belief in the reversal of fortunes.
C) He believed women were more capable than men of understanding his message.
D) He was a Pharisee.

Question 14

In antiquity men were believed to be:

A) More fully developed than women
B) The same as women
C) Incomplete without women
D) Inherently evil

Question 15

The most important virtue for men in antiquity was:

A) Love
B) Knowledge
C) Honor
D) Fairness

Question 16

Women in the Greco-Roman world exercised authority in:

A) The Senate
B) The workplace
C) The courts of law
D) The home

Question 17

Which of the following duties were not traditionally expected of women in Greco-Roman antiquity?

A) Public engagement
B) Preparing food
C) Managing household finances
D) Educating children

Question 18

According to the earliest traditions of Mark, who were the only people to remain faithful to Jesus to the end when all others had fled?

A) Peter, Luke, and John
B) The women
C) The Pharisees
D) The apostles

Question 19

When did Mary Magdalene's portrayal as a "sinful woman" emerge in the literature?

A) During Jesus' ministry
B) In the earliest tradition of the Gospel of Luke
C) One hundred years after the crucifixion
D) Five hundred years after the New Testament

Question 20

The message of "the last will be first and the first last," is best associated with:

A) Ancient ideologies of gender
B) Caesar Augustus
C) The Pastoral Epistles
D) Apocalypticism

Question 21

Why didn't Jesus preach social reform and teach people how to build a new society, a community of equals?

A) Because he believed society was doomed for destruction with the coming of the Son of Man and that its re-creation would be done by God
B) Because he believed it was too late; Satan had control of society
C) Because he didn't have to: people were taking his words to heart and reforming things on their own
D) Jesus did insist on radical social reform

Question 22

Being _________________ made people into "new creations," and new creations implied a new social order.

A) anointed in Christ
B) baptized in Christ
C) taught in Sunday school
D) celibate

Question 23

Even though the master-slave relationship was allowed to continue outside of church, within the church slaves were to be treated _________________ than their masters.

A) better
B) with more respect
C) no differently
D) worse

Question 24

The harsh words found in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 may have been:

A) Part of an ancient baptismal formula
B) Inserted by a scribe at a later date
C) Intentionally altered while Paul was dictating to his scribe
D) Actually written by Luke

Question 25

How did people in antiquity view men and women?

A) As two different kinds of human beings
B) As the same kind of human but different in degree (with men being more fully developed than women)
C) As two parts of a greater whole
D) As equal in substance, but separate in responsibilities

Question 26

With what arena(s) were men's virtues associated?

A) The public arena of power relations
B) The domestic arena of home
C) Both the public and the private arena
D) The gladiatorial arena

Question 27

With what arena(s) were women's virtues associated?

A) The public arena of power relations
B) The domestic arena of home
C) Both the public and the private arena
D) Women were not deemed virtuous in antiquity

Question 28

Women's roles in the church may have become curtailed as churches:

A) Became more private, meeting in people's homes
B) Became more secular
C) Stopped worshiping Jesus
D) Grew in size and became more public

Question 29

In order to remain free from oppressive public and private restrictions, many women:

A) Rioted
B) Organized a political party
C) Appealed to the Roman Senate for legal intervention
D) Remained unmarried or left their marriages

Question 30

Prisca and Maximillia were the female colleagues of which prophet?

A) John of Patmos
B) The apostle John
C) Montanus
D) Mark

Question 31

Some Gnostic groups were known to have had women serve as:

A) Maids
B) Leaders
C) Human sacrifices
D) Scribes

Question 32

In Paul's day, "widows" were not only women whose husbands had died and who never remarried, but also:

A) Women who had no overlord in the role of husband (whether or not they had ever been married)
B) Women who had never been married
C) Women who remarried repeatedly
D) Any elderly woman

Question 33

Although Paul allowed women to take leadership roles and participate fully in the church, 1 Corinthians 14:35-36 indicates that women were to remain silent and submissive. This discrepancy can be explained by the discovery that these verses were actually:

A) Inserted by a scribe
B) Written by Paul before his conversion
C) Paul's original words; the stories of Paul's equal treatment of women were inserted by ancient feminists
D) Inserted by patriarchal church leaders in the twentieth century

Question 34

According to the original text of Romans 16:7, how was Paul related to Andronicus and Junia?

A) They were his blood brother and sister.
B) They were fellow apostles.
C) They were his jailers.
D) They were his enemies.

Question 35

Besides the disciples of Jesus, which other early Jewish group seems to have benefited from the support of women?

A) The Pharisees
B) The Essenes
C) The Zealots
D) The Cynics

Question 36

Which of the following historical criteria can be used to argue that the historical Jesus had female disciples:

A) Criterion of Independent Attestation
B) Criterion of Dissimilarity
C) Criterion of Contextual Credibility
D) All of the above criteria can be used to argue that the historical Jesus had female disciples

Question 37

During Jesus' ministry, women seem to have done all the following except:

A) Anoint him with oil
B) Provide him with financial support
C) Participate in the Last Supper
D) Travel with him from Galilee to Jerusalem