By COGwriter
While some have suggested that the New Testament writers were unkind to women, the simple fact is that for that time in history, the New Testament stories involving women tended to elevate them to a higher level than the non-Jewish society of that time did.
Women were highly involved in Christ’s ministry as well as the ministry of the early church. One writer wrote this about women in the New Testament:
...that women travelled (sic) with and helped support Jesus and the disciples, that women, not men, were the last at Jesus’ cross and the first at his tomb, that Paul in various letters greeted women as co-workers. Women who wholeheartedly dedicated their lives to such religious activities received extravagant accolades from the post-New Testament writers (Clark, Elizabeth. Women in the Early Church. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville (MN), 1983, p. 17).
This brief paper will not cover everything about women and the New Testament Church. It is intended to show how the New Testament writers recorded that women were not to be treated according to rabbinical traditions, and to show that many women were praised and encouraged for their contributions to Christianity.
In ancient Israel, one of the three routine declarations Jewish men made in the synagogue or their morning prayers was, “Thank God I am not a woman.”
Furthermore, in a rabbinic exposition of Jewish law, there were written these words:
A man should ever avoid women; thus he should never make any gestures at them, either with his hands or his feet, nor wink at them, nor jest with them…
A man must not greet a woman under any circumstances, and he is forbidden to send his regards to her even through her husband” (Ganzfried S. Translated by Hyman Goldin. Code of Jewish Law. Volume IV, Chapter 152, Verses 8,9, Hebrew Publishing Company, NY, 2004, p. 20).
But these “laws” were not found in the Bible, but were often generally understood traditions of men at the time of Christ.
And while the Bible says that Jesus was without sin, it often showed that He refused to take part in various added laws of tradition (Mark 7:5-13). And this frequently did seem to involve the role of women.
Notice John 4:7-10:
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
Here Jesus violates two traditions at the same time: he greets a woman and has interactions with a foreigner. And even this foreign woman knew that this was not the usual practice of the Jews.
Jesus even went a step further and started to talk with her about issues relating to religion and salvation. Hence, He considered that women were as deserving and capable as men in the area. And while that may seem to be self-evident, this does not seem to have been the usual practice amongst Jewish religious leaders of His day.
Actually, when the Sadducees tried to get Him to decide who would be a woman’s husband after the resurrection (from Matthew 22:23-32), He corrected their poor doctrinal understanding:
The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
Thus many people were surprised that Jesus not NOT relegate a resurrected woman to be inferior to any man. This was a radical departure from traditions that they held.
The Book of Luke starts off by discussing two encounters with the angel Gabriel.
The first was with a man who was also a priest:
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. 8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 18 And Zacharias said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years." 19 And the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time." (Luke 1:5-21).
Notice that even though he and his wife Elizabeth were both righteous before God, he was made mute for a time because he did not believe the angel Gabriel.
On the other hand, Gabriel also visited someone else. A young woman named Mary:
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." 34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible." 38 Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her (Luke 1:26-38).
Notice that even though this could cause Mary to become a social outcast, that she, unlike the male priest Zacharias, believed what the angel Gabriel said.
Furthermore, immediately after this, Mary met with the wife of Zacharias:
3 9 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord" (Luke 1:39-45).
Notice that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and said that Mary was blessed because she believed.
Mary, by the way, did not just believe at that time. According to traditions, she believed until she died in Ephesus many decades after the visit from Gabriel (you can access photos of what is claimed to have been the site of Mary's last house at Photos of Ephesus).
(It should be understood, however, that devotion to Mary is NOT part of the Bible, and according to The Catholic Encyclopedia, "we do not meet with any clear traces of the cultus of the Blessed Virgin in the first Christian centuries". In other words the devotion to Mary now seen in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches was not an original belief or practice of the Christian church. More on Mary can be found in the article Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions.)
Shortly after Jesus was born, His family visited the Temple that contained a very important woman. Notice:
Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; And this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36-38).
Perhaps it should be mentioned that Jesus' ministry, in fact, was highly financed by women. Notice this account from Luke:
1 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, 2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance (Luke 8:1-3).
Women played many critical roles in the New Testament church.
Who were the first people to see Jesus after His resurrection?
Was it His disciples?
No, it was a woman. Mary Magdalene.
John records:
Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' " Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her (John 20:11-18).
So not only was it a woman who first saw Jesus after His resurrection, it was a woman who had to tell the disciples Jesus was risen. It was a woman who had the bravery needed at this time.
Women who professed Christ were also often persecuted in New Testament times:
As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison (Acts 8:3).
Being a Christian woman was no protection, as Christian women along, with Christian men, were subject to imprisonment and other punishments (see also Acts 9:2).
Women were encouraged to be part of the Christian Church as much as men were. They were taught about the kingdom of God and were baptized upon conversion as the Book of Acts shows:
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized (Acts 8:12).
Some women in the New Testament Church were apparently ordained as deaconesses, but this is not always clear in various translations of Greek into English. For example, Romans 16:1-2 states:
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.
The word translated as servant means deaconess. Notice:
NT:1249
diakonos (dee-ak'-on-os); probably from an obsolete diako (to run on errands; compare NT:1377); an attendant, i.e. (genitive case) a waiter (at table or in other menial duties); specially, a Christian teacher and pastor (technically, a deacon or deaconess):KJV - deacon, minister, servant. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.).
The same word is most frequently translated as minister in the New Testament and tends to mean one ordained to serve.
Hence, this was position of deaconess was apparently a role for some women in the New Testament church.
Peter reported that both men and women in the early New Testament church were to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit including prophecy. Luke reports:
Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,Your young men shall see visions,Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days;And they shall prophesy…” (Acts 2:14-18).
And notice that the evangelist Philip's daughters did receive this gift:
On the next day we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:8-9).
But it should be noted that there is no scriptural indication that women were to be presbyters/priests, elders, or bishops (see 1 Timothy 3:1-13). But those that were prophetesses must have provided major assistance to the New Testament Church.
Perhaps around the early-middle of Paul’s ministry, he encountered the married couple of Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth (Acts 18:1-3). They were tent-makers from Rome. Priscilla was Aquila’s wife.
They were also apparently quite brave and also had church services in their home in Rome:
Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house (Romans 16:3-5).
Notice that Paul included Priscilla as a fellow worker in Christ.
When Paul was imprisoned in Rome, they still had church services in their home, and they apparently continued to support Paul, as he wrote:
The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19).
Later, they apparently moved again. In his letter to Timothy, who was then in Ephesus, Paul wrote:
Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 4:19).
The Catholic Encyclopedia states, "It is not known why Scripture several times names Priscilla before Aquila". But the simple fact is that it does.
These verses show that Priscilla, and not just her husband Aquila, made major contributions to the ministry of Paul as well as to the New Testament church (additional information can be found in the article Priscilla and Aquila).
Lydia was a wealthy woman who lived in the town of Thyatira. The story of Lydia shows that in the New Testament church, a woman did not need to be married in order to serve:
Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." So she persuaded us (Acts 16:14-15).
Notice that Lydia was so respected, that her entire household was baptized. Also, it appears that she probably had Christian church services in her home, as the following verse suggests concerning Paul and his colleagues:
So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed (Acts 16:40).
The fact that Paul and those imprisoned with him found the brethren (not just Lydia’s household) at Lydia’s house, suggests that church services met there.
Paul wrote this about an apparently single woman named Phoebe:
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, 2 that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also (Romans 16:1-2).
Hence, it appears clear that single women also provided helpful services to the New Testament Church.
The Apostle Paul seems to suggest that Timothy’s mother and grandmother properly passed their faith to him:
I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also (2 Timothy 1:3-5).
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:14-15).
Hence, women are acknowledged for their faith, being proper mothers, as well as apparently for helping to pass their faith to one of the leading evangelists in the New Testament.
Paul also makes it clear that there were many faithful women in the Bible. A passage where he demonstrates that would be Hebrews 11:31-38:
By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented-- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
Notice that Paul also taught:
I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:2-3).
So although he did not allow them to preach, Paul considered that women labored with him in the gospel and had their names listed in the Book of Life.
Furthermore, various duties were encouraged for, and rights provided for, women in the New Testament Church. Including being a proper Christian example.
Paul wrote:
But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed (Titus 2:1-5).
Paul has this to say to women who are married to unbelievers:
And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? (1 Corinthians 7:13-16).
Hence, there is a suggestion of evangelical involvement for women in both of these passages.
And, according to various passages in other parts of the New Testament, Christian women realized that they could and should support the church.
Notice how Paul instructed men to treat women:
Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them (Colossians 3:19).
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church (Ephesians 5:25-29).
Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger as sisters, with all purity (1 Timothy 5:1-2).
Note that women are to be loved by their husbands, and never hated by them. And unmarried older women are to be honored (that is how one treats one as their mother) and younger women are to be respected in purity. These are specific rights of women in the New Testament Church.
There were several roles, however, that women did not have. The Apostle Paul wrote:
Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).
Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. (1 Timothy 2:11-12).
The New Testament also shows:
3:1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach (1 Timothy 3:1-2).
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you-- 6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination (Titus 1:5-6).
Thus, the New Testament does not support the concept of women being elders/bishops over a church as only males are shown to be in those specific roles.
But as this article shows, the Bible does not prevent women from having important roles in the church.
While many understand the concept that the New Testament supports the idea that a woman is an analogy of the New Testament Church (Ephesians 5:22-32), some do not understand that this was realized right after the New Testament was finished.
Second Clement (which Clement did not write) is called "the oldest complete Christian sermon that has survived" (Holmes M.W. The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, 2nd ed. Baker Books, Grand Rapids, 2004, p. 102). While there are one or two unusual statements in this document, it does give clues to beliefs held in the early 2nd century (100-140 A.D.) among those who professed Christ.
It has this point to make about the New Testament Church:
14:2 And I do not suppose you are ignorant that the living Church is the body of Christ: for the scripture says, "God made man, male and female." The male is Christ and the female is the Church.
This passage shows that many in the early Church understood the Apostle Paul’s analogy of a woman representing the church. This strongly shows the importance that Paul and others give to women. An importance that simply does not seem to have an equivalent in the Jewish customs of the time.
Also in the second century, Polycarp wrote: