Category Archives: Women in Christianity

Why the NT Doesn’t Teach Male “Authority” in Marriage: Jon Zens

The following is written by Jon Zens, a prolific Reformed writer and authority on New Covenant Theology: The Only Time the Bible Uses the Word “Authority” (exousia) in the Context of Marriage Should Lead Couples to Cherish Unity: First, 1 Cor.7:1-5 is the only place in the NT where the word “authority” (Greek, exousia) is

Couple of thoughts on Women in Early Christianty

Patriarchal Early Church Fathers There is definitely a record of activity and leadership within (though veiled) our canon and in the witness of the early Christians. Despite this strong egalitarian strain, there was a fierce patriarchal strain as well. We see this in the canon in places (mainly the later letters) and in the writings

Epitaphs of Early Christian Leaders (Who were Female)

This is my second post on early Christian sources for women’s leadership.  Today we are going to look at inscriptions.  They are a great source for attitudes in Antiquity.  Today I want to look at some epitaphs, or burial inscriptions. [1] A note about sources: If you notice, most of these are from later antiquity

Voice(s) in the Canon

Such a reading as proposed in my post series presents challenges to modern interpreters of the text. Those wishing to do a historical study of Paul and early Christian movements are need not be troubled by this. We see a Paul that is consistently egalitarian in the sense that women were on par with men

Early Women Leaders

One of the topics that is very dear to me is the role and function of women in early Christianity (both canon and post-canon).  A few days ago, I came across a post by the warm and fussy Jim West who linked to Gary Macy’s podcast on women being ordained until the 12th Century.  Edgar

Who Wrote 1 Cor 11:2-16?

Question: If we are to accept the insertion of 1st Corinthians 11:3-16, then who did the inserting? Hypothesis: It was most likely the Weak faction in the Corinthian Church because it most closely identifies with their worldview, both metaphysical and ideological. Reasoning: If we are to accept the interpolation of 1st Corinthians 11:3-16; then who

The Interpolation in 1 Corintians 11

Synopsis: Paul did not write 1 Cor 11: 3-16.  Read on for my reasons why.  I’ll post who I think wrote it and what we should do with it later this week.  I know this is not a popular interpretation around these parts.  I resisted it at first, thinking it was a cop out.  But

The Body Balance

A few days ago, we looked briefly at some characteristics of Paul’s Jewish/Christian appocalypticism. Today we will turn to an in-depth analysis of how the Strong in Corinth would have constructed their genders and bodies. This will be of great importance for our understanding of 1 Cor 11. We are still exploring Martin’s reading of

The Parousia Paradigm

In the last post in this series we were introduced to Dale Martin’s interpretation of 1 Corinthians. He thinks there are two keys to understanding the letter, the differing constructions of the body in antiquity, and the parousia of Christ. We took a few paragraphs to familiarize ourselves with the first key, though we will

Antique Bodies, Antique Classes

The first few posts in this series laid the groundwork for exploring the problems surrounding interpreting 1 Corinthians 11.  We dealt with both textual and ideological problems that one must be aware of when giving a reading of the text.  Today I will move on to building some background to the Corinthian church which will

Ephesus, Amazons, and Paul

A while ago Tom wrote about the connection between the bizarre dictums [1] found within the Pauline letter to the Ephesians and the Artemis cult in Ephesos.  While I remain unconvinced about the genuine Pauline authorship of the letter [2] and therefore am more open to early Christian patriarchal forms seeping into the canon than

Ideological Considerations

My last post in this series added to the problem that modern interpreters encounter whenever they seek to interpret 1 Corinthians 11.  This one will briefly address ideological considerations and the salvation of Paul. This undertaking has both current and historical value. A great many people, for better or worse, appeal to Paul to justify

Because of the Angels

In the first post in this series, I started to talk about the problems that modern day interpreters have no matter how they approach the 11th chapter of 1st Corinthians.  Today, I want to highlight another few problems and start talking about the characteristics of a satisfactory interpretation.  In addition to my earlier points, Paul

Who Would Jesus Smack Down?

I’d like to direct you all to this article from the New York Times Magazine about Mark Driscoll and the “new Calvinism.” It’s really interesting, and definitely highlights some important issues surrounding both Driscoll and the (relatively) recent Calvinism resurgence. I find this quote, from the final page of the article, especially interesting: Nowhere is

Problems and Significance of Interpretations of 1st Corinthians 11 – Part 1

Paul of Tarsus vexes his interpreters with respect to women. At times he is the champion of modern feminist, at others he locks women back into their cages from which they had been liberated by Jesus. [1]   On the whole, his genuine letters appear to be radically egalitarian compared to the temporally and geographically