Blog One : An Overview

The life and death of Jesus Christ has impacted the western world. It gave rise to a new religion,christianity which is still with us to this day. Jesus’ teaching and miracles have been told throughout the century and have laid the foundation for Christianity . As it has been carried down it values and beliefs have been permeated to modern societies.

The early Christen history will find traces of a patriarchal society. It is crucial that

people and follower understand that Jesus we have to examine the time he grew up. In ancient Greece, women were not on the same level as men. (Witherington,1988,p.5-12) Jesus was jewish and the torah is filled with patriarchal ideology that kept women subservient to men.

Despite the time period that Jesus lived., the early christens - in the first century was not filled with male power like the religion that it came from, Judaism. Paul who lived during this time saw women as equal to men. In his writings he compared marriage between men and women to the relationship that individuals have with God.(Witherington,1988,p.41) Paul’s views on women went against the society that he lived. Paul’s views might have been related to the help he received in the from of monetary and shelter that old rich women during his travels.

In the second century women’s role in the church and religion has been cut back. People like Tertullian really hated women. His reasoning behind his hate is the creation story. He argued that women had eaten from the tree of Knowledge first, all women were subservient to men. ( Thelwall, 2016, pg 1)

In the third century, women in the Christen religion stressed purity. Olympus gave a series of sermons about the value of chastity in marriage. Olympus;s work gave rise to female monasteries. The third century also gave rise to widows. In the forth century Gregory of Nyssa took Olympus’s idea of chatty further by saying that women should be virgins because it is holy. (Miller,205,p94-104 )

It is important to understand the history behind women in christianity because their beliefs are still evident today. In the Catholic church today,women can not be priest, popes , deacons, or have any leadership in the church today. Maybe in the future women will hold these positions. But only time will tell.

Bibliography

LaPorte, Jean . The Role of Women in Early Christianity. New York : The Edwin Mellen Press,1982

Miller, Patrica, Cox . Women in Early Christianity : Translations from Greek Text, America : Catholic University of America ,2005

Tertullian translated by Thelwall On the Apparel of Women citation for class.pdf, 2016

Witherington , Ben . Women in the Earliest Churches . Cambridge : University Press , 1988