Christian views about women

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Christian views about women Christian Egalitarianism Complementarianism Women in the Bible Image of God

Politics

Ordination of women Roman Catholic Womenpriests Christian feminism Homosexuality and Christianity

Organizations

Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Christians for Biblical Equality Evangelical and Ecumenical Women’s Caucus

Theologians and authors

Feminist: Letha Dawson Scanzoni · Anne Eggebroten · Virginia Ramey Mollenkott Egalitarian: William J. Webb · Kenneth E. Hagin • Gordon Fee · Frank Stagg · Paul Jewett · Stanley Grenz · Roger Nicole Complementarian: Wayne Grudem · John Piper

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Christian views (attitudes and beliefs) about women vary considerably today as they have throughout the last two millennia, evolving along with or counter to the societies in which Christians have lived. The Bible and Christianity historically have been interpreted as prescribing distinct gender roles, with women often being excluded from church leadership. Until the second half of the twentieth century, institutionalized Christianity was unfavorable to women in pastoral or ecclesiastical office. This traditional stance continues largely unchanged in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as among "complementarian" Protestants.

Some contemporary writers describe the role of women in the life of the church as having been downplayed, overlooked, or denied throughout much of Christian history. Male leadership was assumed in many spheres of life, not only in the church, but also within government, society, and the family.^[1]

As gender roles have shifted in society and in many churches, some Christians have re-evaluated their historic positions.^[2] Over the last 50 years Christian egalitarians have increasingly argued for equal roles for men and women in marriage, as well as for the ordination of women to the clergy.

Contents 1 Modern views 1.1 Terminology 1.2 Christian feminist view 1.3 Egalitarian view 1.4 Complementarian view 1.5 Position statements of main organizations 2 Theological issues 2.1 Biblical authority 2.2 Biblical hermeneutics 2.3 Trinity 2.4 Gender and the Image of God 2.5 Relationship between ontology and roles 3 Women's roles in the New Testament Church 4 Women in church history 4.1 Patristic age 4.2 Middle ages 4.3 Post Reformation 5 Current church views of women's roles 6 Prayer to Mary and the Saints 7 References and notes 7.1 Catholic Church references 7.2 Literature on the history of women in the early Christian Church 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Modern views

Some 19th century Christian authors^[3] began codifying challenges to the centuries-old traditional views toward women both in the church and in society. Only since the 1970s have more diverse views become formalized. Recent generations have experienced the rise of what has been labeled by some as "Christian feminism" — a movement that has had a profound impact on all of life, challenging some traditional basic Christian interpretations of Scripture with respect to roles for women.^[4]

There are three major viewpoints in the modern debate. They are known respectively as Christian feminism, Christian Egalitarianism and Complementarianism.

• Christian Feminists take an actively feminist position from a Christian perspective.^[5]
• Christian Egalitarians advocate ability-based, rather than gender-based, ministry of Christians of all ages, ethnicities and socio-economic classes^[6]. Egalitarians support the ordination of women and equal roles in marriage, but are theologically and morally more conservative than Christian feminists and prefer to avoid the label "feminist" (see below). A limited notion of gender complementarity is held, known as "complementarity without hierarchy".^[2]
• Complementarians support both equality and beneficial differences between men and women.^[7] They believe the Bible teaches that men and women have distinct and complementary roles in marriage and in the church, where men have a responsibility to lead and women have a responsibility to submit to the leadership of men.

[edit] Terminology

Although much of the contemporary literature settles on the terms Complementarianism and Christian Egalitarianism, a number of other more pejorative terms are frequently encountered. In complementarian literature, the term "Christian feminism" is sometimes used synonymously with "egalitarianism".^[8] In egalitarian literature, the terms "gender traditionalist", "patriarchalist" and "hierarchicalist" are sometimes used with reference to complementarians.^[9]

Christian egalitarians generally object to being labeled "feminist" or "evangelical feminist", primarily because the term "feminist" is most often associated with secular Feminism, and therefore becomes ambiguous. A representative reaction against the "feminist" term being used in this context appears on the God's Word to Women website (which has an emphasis on "spirit filled" women):^[10]

We do not identify ourselves as feminists. Placing the word Biblical before feminist, or saying Christian feminist does not solve the problem. The word feminist has come to be identified with a radical posture that maintains that women have few differences from men, or denies the need for men, or at best presents men as lesser beings like some of the TV sitcoms. We believe man and woman offer a completion and strength to each other. Woman was created as a help (counterpart, partner) to man – not inferior in any way

– God's Word to Women

In addition, some egalitarians object to the term "Complementarianism" being used to describe "a milder form of the historical hierarchical view."^[11] William J. Webb describes himself as a "complementary egalitarian." He defines this as "full interdependence and 'mutual submission' within marriage, and the only differences in roles are 'based upon biological differences between men and women'."^[11] The book Discovering Biblical Equality uses the phrase "complementarity without hierarchy" to refer to the egalitarian position.^[12]

Wayne A. Grudem objects to Webb's use of "complementary" and "egalitarian" together to describe a thoroughly egalitarian position. Calling the terminology "offensive and confusing," he reasons that doing so simply confuses the issues by using the term "complementary" for a position totally antithetical to what complementarians hold. Grudem finds Webb's use of the term "patriarchy" to be especially pejorative because of its connotations in modern society. He also rejects the term "hierarchicalist" because he says it overemphasizes structured authority while giving no suggestion of equality or the beauty of mutual interdependence.^[7]

[edit] Christian feminist view

Main article: Christian Feminism

Christian feminism represents the views of the more theologically liberal end of the spectrum within Christianity. In contrast to the more socially conservative Christian egalitarians, Christian feminists tend to support homosexual rights and a pro-choice stance on abortion.^[13] The Evangelical and Ecumenical Women’s Caucus, a major international Christian feminist organization, values "inclusive images and language for God".^[14]

[edit] Egalitarian view

Main article: Christian Egalitarianism

Christian Egalitarians' interpretation of Scripture bring them to the conclusion that the manner and teachings of Jesus, affirmed by the Apostle Paul, abolished gender-specific roles in both the church and in marriage. One of the scripture passages they interpret as advocating full equality of responsibility and authority for both women and men is the following:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

– Galatians 3:28

Christian Egalitarians interpret Galatians 3:28 as expressing that the overarching teaching of the New Testament is that all are "one in Christ." They understand it to mean that a Christian distinctive is any restrictive distinctions of race, national origin, slavery, or gender. Contrary to what some critics have alleged, there is no evidence that any contemporary Christian views blur the natural biological uniqueness of each gender.

David Scholer, prominent New Testament scholar at Fuller Theological Seminary, affirms this view. He believes that Galatians 3:28 is “the fundamental Pauline theological basis for the inclusion of women and men as equal and mutual partners in all of the ministries of the church.”^[15] Galatians 3:28 represents "the summation of Paul's theological vision," according to Pamela Eisenbaum, a modern, feminist American Jew and New Testament scholar.^[16]

Christian Egalitarianism holds that the submission of the woman in marriage and womanly restrictions in Christian ministry are inconsistent with the true picture of biblical equality. The equal-yet-different doctrine taught by complementarians is considered by them to be a contradiction in terms.^[17]

A Baptist theologian, without agreeing with the view, has correctly explained the biblical Egalitarian view this way:^[18]

God created men and women equally to bear the divine image. Therefore, in Christ there not only is equality as to one’s status before God, but a declaration of equality in all matters, including undifferentiated roles in both the home and the church. Because males and females are equal in Christ, they are both “equal to serve” without any gender-based scriptural qualifications.

– Peter Schemm, 2003

Alexander Strauch, also a Complementarian author not affirming the Christian Egalitarian position, summarizes the Christian Egalitarian view this way:^[17]

According to the evangelical [egalitarian] view, true biblical equality assures that both men and women are full and equal partners in life. The concept of mutual submission and responsibility determines the relationship between men and women in both marriage and the church. Women and men are free to exercise in the church any and all gifts they possess. Men hold no unique, leadership-authority role solely because of their gender. Leadership and teaching in the church is to be determined by spiritual gift and ability, not gender.

– Alexander Strauch

Conservative theologian Roger Nicole, a Baptist considered an expert in Calvinism and regarded as one of the preeminent theologians in America, is a Christian Egalitarian and also a Biblical Inerrantist. He recognizes that biblical egalitarianism is still viewed by many as inconsistent with biblical inerrancy, although he disagrees. He writes that "the matter of the place of women in the home, in society, and in the church is not an issue that can be conclusively determined by a few apparently restrictive passages that are often advanced by those who think that subordination represents God’s will for women."^[19]

I believe that most, if not all, of the restrictions on women in society have no basis in Scripture, and that those maintained in the Church are based on an inadequate interpretation of a few restrictive passages, which put them in contradiction with the manifest special concern and love of God for women articulated from Genesis to Revelation.

– Roger Nicole, 2006

[edit] Complementarian view

Main article: Complementarianism

The Complementarian position differs theologically and philosophically from Christian egalitarianism in its understanding of the proper roles for men and women. In a 1991 book Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, leading complementarian theologians outlined what they consider to be biblically sanctioned definitions of masculinity and femininity:

"At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to a man's differing relationships.

"At the heart of mature femininity is a freeing disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman's differing relationships."^[4]

The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood,^[20] a position statement adopted in 1988, cites a set of concerns that complementarians have with contemporary philosophies about gender. Among the concerns they express are:

• cultural uncertainty and confusion over complementary differences between masculinity and femininity
• unraveling marriages
• increasing attention given what they termed to be feminist egalitarianism
• ambivalence about motherhood and homemaking
• claims of legitimacy for illicit sexual relationships and pornography
• upsurge of physical and emotional abuse in the family
• emergence of roles for men and women in church leadership seen as nonconforming to Biblical teaching
• nontraditional reinterpretation of apparently plain meanings of Biblical texts
• a growing threat to Biblical authority.

They attribute these ills to the "apparent accommodation of some within the church to the spirit of the age at the expense of winsome, radical Biblical authenticity which…may reform rather than reflect our ailing culture."^[20]

In contrast to how Christian Egalitarians interpret Galatians 3:28, Complementarians believe that the verse refers only to equal availability of all to salvation. They hold that the writer, the Apostle Paul, is saying that all believers, no matter what their racial, social, or gender status, share the same spiritual status in their union with Christ. They do not believe that Galatians 3:28 or any other scriptures put an end to existing – or forbid any further – privileges or restrictions based on race, class, or gender, as a matter of Christian principle. Their understanding is that both Old and New Testaments prescribe a male-priority based hierarchy and gender roles in the church, in marriage, and in secular society. These prescribed gender roles only recently have come to be modified by some Complementarians as being "different but equal." Complementarians now describe men and women as having "complementary non-overlapping" roles in the church and home.

American evangelical writer and minister writer John MacArthur Jr. has this to say about what he terms the modern shift with regard to secular feminism affecting the church:^[21]

One of the most devastating, and debilitating, and destructive movements in our day is the "Feminist Movement." It is changing not only the world but sadly it is changing the church, and as a result the Word of God is being dishonored; opponents are having plenty bad to say about us and God our Savior is being dishonored and shamed. Radical feminism has brainwashed our culture. It has brainwashed our culture to the degree that even the church has fallen victim to this.

– John MacArthur Jr.

[edit] Position statements of main organizations

The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood^[20] was prepared by several evangelical leaders at a Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood meeting in Danvers, Massachusetts, in December of 1987. It was first published in final form by the CBMW in Wheaton, Illinois, in November of 1988.

Men, Women and Biblical Equality[1]^[22] was prepared in 1989 by several evangelical leaders to become the official statement of Christians for Biblical Equality. The statement lays out CBE's biblical rationale for equality as well as its application in the community of believers and the family.

[edit] Theological issues

[edit] Biblical authority

In general, all evangelicals involved in the gender debate claim to adhere to the authority of the Bible. Egalitarians typically argue that the dispute has arisen because of differences in interpretation of specific passages.^[23] Nevertheless, Wayne Grudem and other complementarians have accused egalitarians of adopting positions which deny the authority, sufficiency and inerrancy of scripture.^[24][25]

... I believe that ultimately the effective authority of Scripture to govern our lives is at stake in this controversy. The issue is not whether we say we believe the Bible is the Word of God or that we believe it is without error, but the issue is whether we actually obey it when its teachings are unpopular and conflict with the dominant viewpoints in our culture. If we do not obey it, then the effective authority of God to govern His people and His church through His Word has been eroded.

– Wayne Grudem (emphases original), Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth^[24]

[edit] Biblical hermeneutics

Main article: Biblical hermeneutics

The egalitarian and complementarian positions differ significantly in their approach to hermeneutics, and specifically in their view of biblical history. Egalitarians believe that male and female were created in Genesis 1-2 without a hierarchy of roles, and that male leadership only began at the Fall when God decreed to Eve that her husband would "rule over" her (Genesis 3:16).^[26][27] Throughout the Old Testament era, men continued to rule over women in a "patriarchal" system, which constituted a "compromise" or "accommodation" between sinful reality and the divine ideal.^[26] The New Testament moves forward from Old Testament patriarchy, re-instituting full equality of gender roles, principally in Galatians 3:28.^[26][28] New Testament passages such as Ephesians 5:22-24 which teach submission of wives to husbands are usually understood by egalitarians as a temporary accommodation to first century culture.

The Christian egalitarian hermeneutic has received its most systematic treatment by William J. Webb, professor of New Testament at Heritage Theological Seminary, Ontario, Canada. Webb argues that our main difficulty is knowing which biblical commands are "transcultural" and therefore applicable today, versus those which are "cultural" and therefore only applicable to the original (first century) recipients of the text.^[11] His "redemptive movement" hermeneutic is justified using the example of slavery, which Webb sees as analogous to the subordination of women. Christians today largely perceive that slavery was "cultural" in biblical times and not something that should be re-introduced or justified, although slavery was (a) found in the Bible and (b) not explicitly banned there.^[11] Webb recommends that biblical commands be examined in light of the cultural context in which they were originally written. According to the "redemptive approach", slavery and women's subordination are found in the Bible; however the same Scriptures also contain ideas and principles which, if developed and taken to their logical conclusion, would bring about the abolition of these institutions. The result is that egalitarianism will replace biblical "patriarchy".^[11]

In contrast to egalitarian teaching, complementarians teach that male leadership was instituted prior to the Fall in Genesis 1-2, and that the decree in Genesis 3:16 merely distorted this leadership by introducing "ungodly domination".^[4] The male leadership throughout the Old Testament (i.e. the patriarchs, priesthood and monarchy) was an expression of the creation ideal, as was Jesus' selection of 12 male apostles and New Testament restrictions on church leadership to men only (1 Timothy 2:11-14).^[4]

Complementarians criticize Webb's hermeneutic. Grudem argues that Webb expects Christians to pursue a "superior ethic" to that found in the New Testament, therefore undermining the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. According to Grudem, Webb and some other evangelicals misconstrue the biblical teaching about both slavery and women, and inappropriately confuse the two. He writes that slavery is tolerated in Scripture but never commanded, and in some cases is criticized, whereas wives are explicitly commanded to submit to their husbands, and male leadership is never criticized. Additionally, Grudem believes that Webb's "redemptive-movement" hermeneutic (itself a variation of the "trajectory" hermeneutic commonly employed by egalitarians) ultimately relies on subjective judgments that are incapable of producing certainty about ethical views.^[24]

[edit] Trinity

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity has become a major focus of the contemporary gender debate, specifically in relation to 1 Corinthians 11:3. In 1977, George W. Knight III argued in a book about gender roles that the subordination of women to men is theologically analogous to the subordination of the Son to the Father in the Trinity.^[29] Australian theologian Kevin Giles has more recently responded that complementarians have "reinvented" the doctrine of the Trinity to support their views of men and women, suggesting that some complementarians have adopted a heretical view of the Trinity similar to Arianism.^[30] A vigorous debate has ensued, with some egalitarians moving towards the idea that there is "mutual dependence" within the Trinity, including "subordination of the Father to the Son", which must be reflected in gender role relations.^[31] Wayne Grudem has countered this by asserting that mutual submission in the Trinity cannot be supported by scripture and church history.^[24]

[edit] Gender and the Image of God

See also: Imago Dei

Complementarians have traditionally held that Christian ministers ought to be men, because of the need to represent God "the Father" and Jesus Christ, who was the "Son" of God, and incarnate as a male human being.^[32][33] A related position is that while men are made directly in the image of God, women share in the divine image by being made in the image of man (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:7).^[34]

Christian egalitarians respond by arguing that God is not gendered, and that males and females image God equally and without any differences.^[35] In addition, terms such as "Father" and "Son", used in reference to God, should be understood as analogies or metaphors used by the biblical authors to communicate attributes about God in a culture where men had social privilege.^[35][31][36] Similarly, Christ became a male not because it was theologically necessary, but because first century Jewish culture would not have accepted a female Messiah.^[35][36][31] Wayne Grudem takes exception to these egalitarian arguments, insisting that Christ's maleness was theologically necessary; he also alleges that egalitarians are increasingly advocating that God should be thought of as "Mother" as well as "Father", a move which he sees as theologically liberal.^[24]

[edit] Relationship between ontology and roles

Modern complementarians argue that Genesis 1:26-28 and Galatians 3:28 establish the full equality of males and females in terms of status, worth and dignity.^[4] Complementary roles in marriage and church leadership, including the primary authority of men and the submission of wives, are not thought to contradict this principle of ontological equality. The equation of role or functional subordination and ontological inferiority is considered to be a category confusion.^[24]

Egalitarian author Rebecca Merrill Groothuis has objected to this position. She argues that "woman’s spiritual and ontological equality with man rules out the sort of subordination prescribed by gender traditionalists... It is not logically possible for woman to be essentially equal to man, yet universally subordinate to man on the basis of an essential attribute (i.e., femaleness)".^[37]

[edit] Women's roles in the New Testament Church

Main article: Women in the Bible

From the beginning of the early Christian church, women were important members of the movement. As time went on, groups of Christians organized within the homes of believers. Those who could offer their home for meetings were considered important within the movement and assumed leadership roles.^[38] The New Testament Gospels acknowledge that women were among Jesus' earliest followers. Jewish women disciples, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, had accompanied Jesus during his ministry and supported him out of their private means (Luke 8:1-3). Although the details of these gospel stories may be questioned, in general they reflect the prominent historical roles women played in Jesus' ministry as disciples.^[1] There were women disciples present at Jesus' crucifixion. Women were reported to be the first witnesses to the resurrection, chief among them again Mary Magdalene. She was not only "witness," but also called a "messenger" of the risen Christ.^[39]

The letters of Paul—dated to the middle of the first century CE—and his casual greetings to acquaintances offer information about Jewish and Gentile women who were prominent in the movement. His letters provide clues about the kind of activities in which women engaged more generally.^[40]

• He greets Priscilla (Prisca), Junia, Julia, and Nereus' sister, who worked and traveled as missionaries (Romans 16:3,7,15).
• Paul writes that Priscilla and her husband risked their lives to save his life.
• He praises Junia (or Junias) as "prominent among the apostles" (NRSV) or "well known to the apostles" (ESV), who had been imprisoned for their labor. Some theologians understand the name to be that of a woman, suggesting that Paul recognised female apostles in the Church.^[41][42]
• Mary and Persis are commended for their hard work (Romans 16:6,12).
• Euodia and Syntyche are called his fellow-workers in the gospel (Philippians 4:2-3).

Some theologians believe that these biblical reports provide evidence of women leaders active in the earliest work of spreading the Christian message,^[43][44] while others reject that understanding.^[24]

[edit] Women in church history

[edit] Patristic age

From the early patristic age, the offices of teacher and sacramental minister were reserved for men throughout most of the church in the East and West.^[45] Tertullian, the second century Latin father, wrote that "It is not permitted to a woman to speak in church. Neither may she teach, baptize, offer, nor claim for herself any function proper to a man, least of all the sacerdotal office" (On the Veiling of Virgins). The Alexandrian father Origen argued in his commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35 that female prophets never spoke publicly in the assembly.^[45] Similarly, Epiphanius of Salamis claimed that "Never from the beginning of the world has a woman served God as priest" (Against the heresies).

John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople at the beginning of the fifth century, said of biblical women that they "were great characters, great women and admirable... Yet did they in no case outstrip the men, but occupied the second rank" (Epistle to the Ephesians, Homily 13). Commenting on 1 Timothy 2:11-15, Chrysostom said that "the male sex enjoyed the higher honor. Man was first formed; and elsewhere he shows their superiority... He wishes the man to have the preeminence in every way". Of women he said that "The woman taught once, and ruined all. On this account therefore he saith, let her not teach. But what is it to other women, that she suffered this? It certainly concerns them; for the sex is weak and fickle, and he is speaking of the sex collectively." (1 Timothy, Homily 9).

In early centuries, the Eastern church allowed women to participate to a limited extent in ecclesiastical office by ordaining deaconesses, whereas in the West the diaconate (as with higher offices) was reserved only for men.^[45]

A number of minority movements, deemed heretical by the wider church, gave a more prominent place to the ministry of women and in some cases allowed them to participate in the priestly ministry. These include Montanism in the second and third century, the Quintillians and Collyridians in the fourth century, and Priscillianism in the fourth century. These heretical sects provided occasion for the institutional church to condemn the ecclesiastical ministry of women.^[45]

[edit] Middle ages

The Roman Catholic Church was the major unifying cultural influence of the Middle Ages with its selection from Latin learning, preservation of the art of writing, and a centralized administration through its network of bishops.

Historically in the Catholic and other ancient churches, including the Coptic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the priesthood and the ministries dependent upon it such as Bishop, Patriarch and Pope, were restricted to men. This was ostensibly because the priest when performing the Eucharist stands in representation of Jesus, and because Jesus himself scripturally selected only male Apostles to lead the Church. Notably, Pope Innocent III stated: "No matter whether the most blessed Virgin Mary stands higher, and is also more illustrious, than all the apostles together, it was still not to her, but to them, that the Lord entrusted the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven" (Epistle, 11 December 1210).^[45]

Women were allowed to be Deaconesses in the early church. However, the first Council of Orange (441) forbade the ordination of women to the diaconate, a ruling that was repeated by the Council of Epaon (517) and second Council of Orléans (533).^[46][45] These councils are seen by some as evidence that the ministry of women was actively suppressed during the early middle ages.^[47]

With the establishment of Christian monasticism, other influential roles became available to women. From the 5th century onward, Christian convents provided opportunities for some women to escape the path of marriage and child-rearing, acquire literacy and learning, and play a more active religious role. Abbesses could become important figures in their own right, often ruling over monasteries of both men and women, and holding significant lands and power. Figures such as Hilda of Whitby and Hildegard of Bingen became influential figures on a national and even international scale. In the later Middle Ages women such as Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa of Avila, played significant roles in the development of theological ideas and discussion within the church, and were later declared Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church.

A major spokesman for the Church in the High Middle Ages (11th through 13th centuries) was Thomas Aquinas,^[48] one of the 33 Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church and renowned thirteenth-century theologian. Writings of Thomas Aquinas about women were an opposing influence upon church and philosophical attitudes towards women for centuries.^[49] He began his argument of women and their involvement in the creation story by quoting Aristotle's misogynist view of a woman as being "a misbegotten man." Aquinas reasoned that anything misbegotten or defective should not have existed in the creation story, therefore women should not exist.^[48] He viewed women as having been created for man simply to make procreation possible. Men can gain help and support from other men, but the act of procreation requires a woman, he wrote. By arguing that women were created simply to allow continuation of the human race, he attempted to shut down the argument that God made a mistake in creating women. However, according to Aquinas, the female sex cannot represent Christ because women are incomplete human beings.^[50]

[edit] Post Reformation

The Protestant Reformation, by shutting down female convents within the movement, effectively closed off the option of a full-time religious role for Protestant women.^{[citation needed]} Martin Luther himself taught that "the wife should stay at home and look after the affairs of the household as one who has been deprived of the ability of administering those affairs that are outside and concern the state...."^[51] John Calvin agreed that "the woman's place is in the home."^[52]

[edit] Current church views of women's roles

In general, the issues have been what the proper role of women is (a) in marriage; (b) in the church; (c) in society at large. Among the denominations, movements, and organizations that express or have previously expressed a view, there are four main views:

1. Full equality of roles and rights:
   • American Baptist Churches USA
   • Assemblies of God
   • Baptist Union of Great Britain
   • Christians for Biblical Equality
   • Church of the Brethren
   • Episcopal Church USA
   • Evangelical Covenant Church
   • Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
   • The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church(LEPC)(GCEPC)in the USA
   • Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland
   • Free Methodist Church
   • Presbyterian Church USA
   • Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) — Quakers have always believed in the legitimacy of women's ministry, with only a few exceptions in the early years. In 1848 at a conference in Seneca Falls, New York, 100 men and women signed a declaration that "all men and women are created equally." Early leaders of the movement were Quaker, including Lucretia Mott.
   • United Church of Canada
   • United Church of Christ
   • United Methodist Church
   • Uniting Church in Australia
   • Many others
2. Full secular equality but restricted ecclesiastical roles and privileges:
   • Eastern Orthodox Church
   • Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
   • Lutheran Church-Wisconsin Synod
   • Orthodox Presbyterian Church
   • Presbyterian Church in America
   • Presbyterian Church of Australia
   • Roman Catholic Church
   • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
   • Many others
3. Restricted roles or rights in both secular and ecclesiastical life:
   • Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
   • Jehovah's Witnesses
4. Forced restricted roles or rights
   • Christian Reconstructionism
   • Dominion theology
5. Mixed
   • Southern Baptist Convention's official position^[53] is to prohibit females from becoming clergy, and to insist that a wife "graciously submit" to the leadership of her husband. Members of an individual ("local") Southern Baptist church are allowed to vote on matters of business of the church that include the hiring of a pastor. However, many churches that have chosen female clergy as their pastor have been disenfranchised by either local or state Baptist associations.

The above lists are examples and are obviously not exhaustive. It is not always clear which category a church or movement falls into.

The Wesleyan tradition and the Holiness and Pentecostal movements, as well as a growing number of contemporary Charismatic churches which draw from them, have increasingly accepted women as leaders on an equal footing with men.

Roman Catholicism, addresses the issue from the highest levels, including the Papal Office. For instance, Pope John Paul II has addressed this issue in his 1995,^[54] his 1996,^[55] and the 1988 Apostolic Letter,^[56] for examples.

[edit] Prayer to Mary and the Saints

This section does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008) Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The custom of directing prayers of intercession to the Virgin Mary and the Saints is one that plays a major part in Christian practice in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Church and the Coptic Churches. The custom dates back to the early church. Prayers were directed to those dead Christians who were believed to be in the direct presence of God in heaven. This was done in the hope that the intercession of these "heavenly saints" would join with the prayers of those on earth. Many of the Christian Saints prayed to in this manner are female. The Virgin Mary, because of her motherhood of Jesus, is considered the most effective intercessor and dispenser of Graces. This practice has led to the honouring and devotion to female Saints in those branches of Christianity that recommend such devotions.

[edit] References and notes

• Bechtel, Lyn M. (1996), "A Symbolic Level of Meaning: John 2.1-11 (The Marriage in Cana)", written at Sheffield, U.K., in Athalya Brenner, A Feminist Companion to The Hebrew Bible in the New Testament (1st ed.), Sheffield Academic Press

• Fontaine, Carole R. (1996), "Disabilities and Illness in the Bible: A Feminist Perspective", written at Sheffield, U.K., in Athalya Brenner, A Feminist Companion to The Hebrew Bible in the New Testament (1st ed.), Sheffield Academic Press

• Kripal, Jeffrey John. (2007), written at Chicago, The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion, The University of Chicago Press

[edit] Catholic Church references

• "Declaration Inter Insigniores on the question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood." Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, October 15, 1976.
• Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (On Ordination to the Priesthood)." Pope John Paul II, May 22, 1994.
• "Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity of Women)." Pope John Paul II, August 15, 1988.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church. Many Christians also see Mary as the prototypical Christian, as in the Bible she was the first to hear the Good News of Jesus' coming. She is one of the few of Jesus' followers reported to be present at his crucifixion. Thus she is a woman who is most imitated among Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saints.

[edit] Literature on the history of women in the early Christian Church

• Torjesen, Karen Jo. When Women were Priests: Women's Leadership in the Early Church & The Scandal of their Subordination in the Rise of Christianity. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publisher, 1995.
• Wiley,Tatha. Paul and the Gentile Women: Reframing Galatians New York: Continuum, 2005.
• MacDonald, Margaret. "Reading Real Women Through Undisputed Letters of Paul." In Women and Christian Origins edited by Ross Sheppard Kraemer and Mary Rose D'Angelo. Oxford: University Press, 1999.
• Witherington, Ben III. Women in the Earliest Churches. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

[edit] See also

• Christian egalitarianism
• Christian feminism
• Christians for Biblical Equality an egalitarian organization
• Christianity
• Complementarianism
• Female disciples of Jesus
• Feminism
• Feminist theology
• Katharine Bushnell Pioneer Christian feminist
• Old Testament views on women
• Quaker views of women
• Women as theological figures

[edit] External links

• Christians for Biblical Equality, principal egalitarian organization
• The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, principal complementarian organization
• Apostolic Letter MULIERIS DIGNITATEM, Pope John Paul II (1988), on the dignity and vocation of women (statement of Roman Catholic position)