Let's not forget the ladies. . .the next section in Snapshots of the Early Church

But first we must take time for the ladies. . .

          Grab your cameras and follow me into the first century.

          The day is the Sabbath and Jews are gathering. Some in Jerusalem are heading toward the temple while others here and in cities and towns around the Mediterranean are walking purposefully toward homes to worship together – to read scripture, pray, sing, feast and enjoy fellowship.

           Let’s follow this large group of men and women and watch where they go.

          Ahead of us is a huge villa in one of the affluent parts of the city. We flow with the group through the substantial double doors past an open air atrium filled with pools, plants and benches. Slaves quietly move around leading everyone toward a large meeting room.  Click your cameras quietly as you notice the luxurious mosaic floors, colorfully painted murals on all the walls, rugs, exquisite furniture and tables laden with fruit and prepared food for the group to enjoy.

          Our hostess appears. ( If you sneak up behind you may be able to take a stealth selfie with her.)

          Like so many women in the early church she is a teacher and possibly a deaconess.  She is dressed in silks from China and sparkles with golden bracelets set with emeralds from Egypt, earrings with amber beads from the northern provinces of the Roman Empire and her stola is caught at the shoulder with a carefully carved cameo. She is not here to serve cookies. She is a respected co-worker in this new Jewish sect of Jesus followers. And she is super rich and what we might label today as a ‘one percenter’.

          Other women of various backgrounds and economic strata are dressed in their finest also. Some in wool, others in linen and a few also in the finest silk.  None are shrinking violets. They participate in the worship service right up there with the men.

          These are the halcyon days for women in the early church when they are treated as equals – well sort of. The first century still had that male hierarchy thing going for it. So even though Jesus seemed to include women pretty equally while he was around, once he was no longer a walking role model habits backslid.

         (We will see this happening in many different ways as we delve more deeply into the  unfolding doctrines of the early church.)

          And so if we we peek a little further into the future we can take a few quick photos of the changing attitudes that become more and more conservative and a throwback to the ‘good old days’ of the Old Testament and male domination. Keep in mind this is a very different time from the 21^st century in our Western societies. All the countries and religions of the times believed in stoning, slavery, and the subjugation of women.

         (Although I guess we have to admit that even today these attitudes are still heavily ingrained to some extent in the West and a whole lot in the East.)

       So by the fourth century women were now expected to be virginal and once again subservient to men. But get this, because so many gals had control over vast sums of money the church wooed them by teaching that purity meant turning over all worldly affluence for the good of the church. The church needed great financial resources to expand, and yes, also for the good deeds it did for others. And so we find Olympia of Constantinople in the fourth century donating (after translating ancient money to modern) $900 million to found monasteries – a last bastion of involvement and control for women in the church.

          Fascinatingly, when we look at the famous Mary Magdalene in the first century she is described as being a repentant ‘sinner’ at the time she washes Jesus’ feet with her hair. Her repentant attitude was the important part of that story, not the never mentioned sin. We discover that it is not until we skip forward again into the fourth century that the appellation ‘prostitute’ is now added to her biography - and this occurs at the time when the idea of women are just naturally sinful because of their sexuality begins to reign supreme in Christianity. 

          Why is this all taking place around the fourth century? That’s because Constantine, influenced by his wife, made Christianity official in the early 300’s and the hardening of rules and regulations naturally clumped along. But more of that later.

          We will again take some photos of Paul’s and the early church leaders’ philosophy on women as we delve into the continuing and sometimes surprising morphing doctrines of the early church in ‘Part II – What’.

          But, lastly we need to take a look at a few more individuals and groups as we finish up Part I and the ‘Who’.

(Remember, to understand the true beginning of all this in a candid look at Jesus see Book I - Snapshots of Jesus through the Lens of History in the column to the left)