Jesus' attitude towards women and their relevance today

Priscilla Papers, 2002

Author: Douglas Groothuis Publisher: CBE International World religions have been charged with not only permitting, but also with perpetuating ingrained patterns of sexism, patriarchy, and misogyny. These religions, it seems, must either change or be left behind by all who believe that women and men are equal in their rights, abilities, and potential. Some charge that Christianity demeans and marginalizes women, that it is a male religion in which men are given the preponderance of power, prestige, and influence. But what did the founder of Christianity teach about women?

Women played a vital role in the spread of Christianity in the first and second century CE. This paper will assess their contribution by examining the various functions and responsibilities held by women as described in the New Testament and Canonical Gospels. The assessment will commence with a brief description of the lives of women in the Greco-Roman world. This description of the cultural setting will serve as an introduction to Jesus’ attitude towards and interaction with women, who were among his first followers. Women continued to function in the early church in a variety of roles such as apostles, evangelists, prophets, teachers and house church leaders, using their skills to spread the message and further the impact of the fledgling religion. A close examination of these multifarious roles, drawing on the Canonical Gospels as primary source, will demonstrate the integral part women played in the dissemination of Christianity.

Scottish Journal of Theology, 1999

Priscilla Papers, 2004

Author: John E. Phelan, Jr. Publisher: CBE International By the time Jesus came into Galilee preaching and healing, the Israelites had been in exile over six hundred years. Jeremiah had promised that it would only be seventy years. Seventy years away from the land. Seventy years without the temple. Seventy years to contemplate their sins and bemoan their losses. Seventy years to reconnect with their God. And they had gotten back to the land. They had rebuilt the temple. They made sacrifices. They celebrated holidays once again. But it wasn’t what they expected. The glorious prophecies of Isaiah concerning the return from exile seemed to mock their present reality. It seemed to many people in Israel that the exile had been extended from seventy to nearly seven hundred years. Some Jews had begun to wonder if it would ever end!

Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, 2013

S.J., for his insightful comments on this essay as it was in preparation. Any errors to be found are, of course, entirely my own.

Priscilla Papers, 1990

Author: Roberta Hestenes Publisher: CBE International "Then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?' They came out of the town and made their way toward him... Many of the Samaritans from the town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me everything I ever did'." (John 4:28-30, 39, NIV) There are many models of ministry. Women are as diverse as men in the patterns of ministry they follow. But let's look at the response of this one woman to Jesus to learn more about the place of women in ministry.

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 2011

The article, from a gender-sensitive perspective, is critical of patriarchal values that are harmful to women and other non-dominant groups. When the focus on women and women’s roles is usurped by male control, the androcentric self-interest of interpreters and authors becomes apparent. This is still the case in present-day theological studies, but is especially prevalent in premodern biblical writings, of which the Gospel of Matthew is an example. Recent mainstream Jesus studies demonstrate that women were welcomed in an ‘egalitarian’ way in the community of the first followers of Jesus. Women’s contribution to the first Christian faith community is highlighted. This stands in stark contrast to the silencing and invisibility of women in the surrounding patriarchal world of the ancient Middle East. Although Matthew does view women and other formerly excluded people as part of the faith community and equal recipients of God’s love, they are never treated as equal participants. The ar...

The social stratification of a marginalised woman, (single parent ) at that, demon possessed daughter, a triple liability, this woman vanquish herself at Jesus , gets her request for her daughter. Jesus repose she (Mk 7:27) is rather conglomerate, reflecting as it does on Jewish contempt for gentiles-ethnê. Besides, some scholars sort to soften Jesus’ response. The Markan tradition probably preserved the story as part of his interest in Gentile church missions. Note withstanding this does not lesson the impetus of this sharp-witted Gentile woman. One who is altruistic, persistent and inventive, who does not hesitate to approach Jesus, in this lesson Jesus learns from a woman, who transcends the racist and sexist boundaries of his culture, who recognises insights from outside the pile and acknowledge s that faith can be found too.

This Master's thesis explores Wisdom Christology, the association of Jesus Christ and the mysterious and neglected biblical figure of Woman Wisdom. Because the descriptions of her bear a striking resemblance to the portrayal of Jesus Christ, I argue that they can be seen as two names for the same figure: Christ-Wisdom. This link between Jesus Christ and Woman Wisdom has some interesting repercussions in Christology. Firstly, it emphasizes the mysteriousness of Jesus Christ, preventing the illusion that Jesus Christ can be fully understood. In fact, the incarnation is a deepening of the mystery of God, meaning that theological language must rely on paradox and metaphor to describe the indescribable. I argue that the name Jesus Christ is inclusive, wide enough to hold many names, including that of Woman Wisdom, which he sanctifies so they become appropriate names for the divine. Secondly, the association of Jesus Christ with Woman Wisdom affects the gender of Jesus Christ. Throughout Christian history, there has been a gender fluidity in depictions of Jesus Christ, something legitimated by his full divinity. This does not mean his historical life as a male human being can be ignored, but although he was of the male sex, he arguably did not strictly adhere to socio-cultural gender expectations. Likewise, in Woman Wisdom, Jesus Christ provides an alternative, atypical way of being female. This relativizes the gender of Christ-Wisdom, pointing beyond it to the radical solidarity of the divine with all humanity in the incarnation. Thirdly, to view Christ as Wisdom changes the way gender is understood within the Church, the Body of Christ. If the Church is the representative of Christ-Wisdom, it is therefore a multi-gendered body in which Jesus Christ takes on male and female embodiment. In contrast to gendered ethical models, the Church thus has one ethical example in Christ-Wisdom, which all follow. Because of the various gifts of the Spirit, diversity remains, but is transformed so that differences, including gender, do not limit or determine the roles of believers in the Church, but remain part of the richness of the one Body under its one Head, Christ-Wisdom.

Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology

Some reading the canonical Gospels, namely, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are inclined to think that the disciples Jesus called were all men or males because whether it is the names of the apostles or a pronoun used about them, it is either a man’s name or masculine gender. It is a situation that tends to lead some Christian churches to prefer having only male ministers or pastors. The author of this paper argues that the notion or idea is a presentation of the first three Gospels but not the Fourth. The Fourth Gospel presents not only men but also women as disciples of Jesus.

This essay will look at the place accorded to women in the life and witness of the early church, by comparing the gospel writings as well as archaeological evidence and other noncanonical writings, especially those that show attitudes to women. 1 Although it can be documented that women were active in many roles in the early church, particular reference will be made to the leadership roles of apostle, prophet and bishop, recognising that most of the surviving written history has been done by men, many of whom diminished the "significance of women's leadership roles." 2 Some of the historical evidence I will present, suggests that the liberating effects of Jesus' words, resurrection and Pentecost, and the effects of meeting in private houses, considered the sphere of women, opened the door for gender equality in the life and witness of the early church. 3 However with the change in meeting place from house church to public buildings, a loss of liberty, especially for women, whose proper sphere of activity was often considered to be in the home, can be documented. 4 Some parts of the early church accepted the prevailing cultural, social norms and attitudes and limited or prohibited women's leadership roles and others didn't. 5 The standardisation of worship, canonization of scripture and creeds, anti-feminist rules made in various councils, and control being given to the bishops, meant that the bishop and tradition became the leader in many churches, rather than apostles, prophets, and possibly even the Holy Spirit. 6 The fear of heresy and a fight for 1 The early church "consisted of distinctive, competing groups" and the groups also associated themselves with "different foundational figures and various theologies"(Andern Graham Brock, Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle: The Struggle for Authority, ed. Francis Schussler Fiorenza FranciosBovo, Peter B. Machinist (Cambridge: Harvard Theological Studies, 2003), 15.). When referring to the early church, I will mean the time period from when women like Mary Magdalene became Jesus' disciples until around 500 AD. 2 Women were active in roles other than the three I will cover in this essay. They were especially active in helping the poor, sick and other women, some as "consecrated widows, deaconesses and 'respectable women", but this is beyond the scope of this essay (Philip Francis Esler, ed.

Religion and Gender, 2020

This special issue of Religion and Gender explores gendered presentations and constructions of Jesus from antiquity to the present. Sharing a broadly intersectional approach to gender analysis, the authors in this issue offer new insights into the dynamics of religion and gender, particularly as these dynamics concern central religious figures such as Jesus. The issue sheds new light on a diverse religious tradition by analyzing the gendering of one of its key protagonists in multiple receptions within the tradition. Scholars from various disciplines and fields will benefit from engaging this issue-long case study of several varieties of religious genderings of Jesus. The remainder of this introduction brings forward the historic question of Jesus’ identity, surveys the topic of the gendered reception of Jesus, and introduces the issue articles within the context of the wider field.