"The story of the suppression of women in the Church is a sorry tale that still has repercussions today. Women have been silenced, marginalised, refused entry to theological discussion and blamed for it. As we have seen throughout this book, however, there is a wealth of evidence that tells us that in the earliest period of Christianity women were highly active as disciples and teachers, prophets, missionaries and midwives of the faith. Texts could later be edited or forgotten and memorials obliterated, but the fact is that the story of Jesus began with a woman who gave birth to him and ended with a woman who witnessed him alive after his death. Jesus was not one to follow social convention, and openly challenged social norms and regional authorities. Women disciples of Jesus were a vital part of his movement, and women spearheaded the growth of the mission in the decades that followed.
Yet women were a liability as the faith spread around the world, at a time when any groups led by women would be ridiculed by (male) opponents. Stories about women in the Gospels and the letters of Paul could make certain men feel uncomfortable and leave the movement open to attack. Three centuries after Jesus, Christianity would be remade to sit comfortably with Roman imperial rule, as the religion of the rich and mighty, at home in the military. Perhaps the first step to unmasking some of the changes is by the power of memory. For this we need not only evidence, but also a firm grasp of the ancient context, and a good dose if informed imagination.
We hope we have set the women disciples of Jesus in their rightful place, close to Jesus in his mission in Galilee, and active in establishing, serving and leading Christian communities as the faith spread around the Mediterranean and the wider ancient world.
The question is: once these women are truly remembered, where will we go from here?"
Women Remembered. Jesus' Female Disciples, Joan Taylor & Helen Bond. (London: H&S, 2022) pages 183-4.
This is one of several recent books 1 which examine closely the ancient social and cultural context within which Christianity emerged. The writers are both Professors of Christian Origins, and amongst the leading scholars of the New Testament world and the first centuries of the Christian Church. They closely examine the NT texts in which women are featured in the ministry of Jesus and the life of the early church. The result is a fascinating peeling back of the layers of interpretive presuppositions, miss-steps in historical detail and analysis, and offer plausible accounts of the real and decisive role of women in the origins, growth and development of the Christian movement and its mission.
In the context of Advent, this book is more than a mere reminder that women played some part in the Gospel story! Luke tells of the annunciation, composes the Magnificat as a theological hymn of God's great reversals of power and privilege, and gives the fullest description of the birth at Bethlehem that moved heaven and earth. And yes, the chapter on Mary the mother of Jesus is a robust examination of the texts, their reception and possible interpretations.
But the point of this book, and why it matters as an Advent perspective, is to rehabilitate in our informed imaginations the active, responsive, initiating and game-changing roles played by women in the story of Jesus and beyond into the Christian mission. Matthew comments, "Mary kept and pondered these things in her heart." Perhaps, thirty years before Paul and all those other male witnesses, Mary is our first Christian theologian, working out the significance of the child she carried and bore, for the future of her people, and a new hope for the world.
1. The other I would recommend is by Nijay Gupta, Tell Her Story. How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church (IVP Academic, 2023).
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