Women in Christianity

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Women in Christianity

Early Christianity faced a raging debate concerning the role of women in the church. Among the most critical issues that faced the Early Church involved the questions regarding the part women could play in Christian assemblies. Much of the controversy resulted from the interpretations of Paul’s Epistles. Therefore, arguments concerning the teachings of Apostle Paul highlighted questions on the expectation for women in different life stages, their influence on leadership and role in the Early Church.

An understanding of Pastoral Epistles underlined the expected women’s role in the Early Church; as such, they could not teach the word of God before men or implement important leadership. In his teachings, Paul supported this context by stating that women should "keep silence" in Christian assemblies (1 Tim. 2:8-15 New International Version). Despite the early church restricting women from teaching it did not have control over them exercising other gifts such as prophecy because of the association with a prevailing attitude. Consequently, women’s role was restricted but these constraints did not limit their participation in the Early Church.

At different stages of life, early Christianity expected that women were to associate themselves with good works because Apostle Paul had issued instructions that guided the public conduct of women believers. For example, Paul instructed women in Christian assemblies to dress decently as opposed to a flashy manner. On the other hand, in her writing, Perpetua emphasized that the character of a woman superseded her clothing (Shewring, 1931). Thus, Paul did not write his Epistles to act as a manual for women, but with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote these letters to stipulate Biblical principles that guided the conduct of women in different life stages.

During the early church, women served their communities by acting as teachers to other women since Pastoral Epistles had instructed the church to correct all wrongs by ordaining leaders. As a result, within the church Apostle Paul, emphasized that older woman in Christian assemblies could teach other women (1. Tim. 5:1-16). The Early Church stipulated that older women could serve the community by showing young women on how to be good mothers and wives. Thus, the church emphasized the importance of leadership roles of older women because they helped in fostering...