I thought that title would get your attention – let me explain! In February, Ms. Hardy, a woman barrister, bemoaned the ‘stag do’ behaviour of her colleagues in a Times article. March celebrates the lifting of a prohibition on married women working as teachers. A law only repealed in 1944! It’s also the 25th anniversary of the first ordination of female priests in the Anglican Church. So maybe now is a very appropriate time for the release of “On the basis of Sex”, a film exploring legal discrimination against women in the USA in the early 70’s. Our world still seems to have a problem celebrating difference and granting equal rights.
I know what you’re thinking, “Pot calling the kettle black!” The church (whom I represent) hasn’t had a particularly stellar track record on this one. Dan Brown’s 2003 fictional novel ‘The Davinchi Code” seized on the church’s poor showing by creating a plot in which the early church actively suppressed women. But the early church didn’t actually look like that at all!
Against a first century rabbinical backdrop that taught “It’s better for the Torah to be burned than to be taught by a woman”, Jesus was a revolutionary! As a Rabbi, Jesus did something no other Rabbi would consider. He taught and conducted ministry with women (Luke 8). It led to a new community, called the church, which stated, “There is now neither Jew nor Greek, neither slaves nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ” (Gal 3:28). This community recaptured a concept of equality inherent in God’s creation as both male and female ‘made in his image’ (Gen 1:26-27).
Because of this new attitude, women flocked to the early church.
Archeological remains from an early church in the town of Serta turned up 16 male tunics, but 82 women’s tunics, (and six copies of ‘Hello” magazine – sorry, I made that last bit up!).
Some became deaconesses, like Phoebe in Rome, others became leaders like Priscilla in Ephesus and Paul referred to Junia as a fellow apostle. It appears that the early church was a haven from the pagan and Jewish oppression of women prevalent in that era.
Now I know that Christians disagree theologically on issues of gender and priesthood, and I respect differing opinions held in good conscience, but I think we can all agree on one thing. In a world still struggling to treat one gender with the same respect it treats another, today’s church, like the early church, should be a beacon of hope.
– Phil.
