Robin M
Introduction
The role of women in early Christianity was significant. They played a variety of roles in the life of the early Church – notably as contemplatives, healthcare givers, educationalists and missionaries. Today we have many saints, theologians, missionaries, abbesses, nuns, mystics, and founders of religious institutes, military leaders, monarchs and martyrs. The Acts of the Apostles and Pauline Epistles and other sources are peppered with stories of women that would have raised eyebrows in the 1st century and might still today. These women are not seen or taught even in Sunday schools. They are real and diverse – household servants, tradeswomen, business leaders, intellectuals and they are essential to the church’s understanding of itself in any era or culture.
Paul’s friend Luke was especially concerned with the women in this wonderful kaleidoscope of the early church. Both in his Gospel and in the book of Acts, he took pains to portray them in all their diversity from maids who answered the door bells to cultural elites who moved in circles of privilege and power. These were real women of warmth and wit and intellect, who played essential roles in the spread of the Gospel that turned the world upside down. In Paul’s epistles, we can see another aspect of the women of the New Testament times. Women seem to have played much more important roles in ecclesiastical affairs together with Paul. Paul treats women as equals. In Romans 16 and other letters, he mentions many women that he worked with, in the ministry and calling some of them apostles, co-workers, deaconess, disciples, teachers, prophetess, etc.
1. A Critical Study of the Role Women Played in Early Christianity
1.0 Role of women in Acts of the Apostles
The book of Acts is peppered with stories of women that would have raised eyebrows in the 1st century and might still today. These women are not seen or taught in Sunday school. They are real and they are diverse – household servants, tradeswomen, business leaders, intellectuals and they are essential to the church’s understanding of itself in any era or culture.
1.1 Mary mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14)
The women who had followed and supported Jesus during his life time on earth, who bore witness to his resurrection, didn’t simply vanish after he ascended into heaven. They were present in the upper room with the eleven apostles, part of a larger group of about 120 disciples, the first formal gathering of the church in its history.
Among them was Mary, the mother of Jesus. This brief glimpse of her is quite distinct from the way she is often portrayed in later art and tradition. She and the other women were engaged in corporate prayer with the rest of the church as it conducts its first order gathering to choose a successor to Judas and stand with the other apostles. It is a rare, down-to-earth snapshot of Mary in later life, participating in the work of the early church along with her fellow believers.[1]
1.2 Tabitha, Dorcas- (Acts 9: 36-43)
The Churches began to spring up in the Judean countryside as the Gospel spread out from Jerusalem. In the port city of Joppa (now part of modern Tel Aviv), a disciple named Tabitha was singled out for her acts of kindness to her community. The primary focus of her ministry was to poor widows for whom she made tunics and other items of clothing.[2]
In a touching account, Luke, the author of Acts, records Tabitha’s illness and subsequent death. He draws attention to the widows, weeping and showing Peter the good things Tabitha had made for them while she was living. In response, Peter followed the example of his Lord, praying over Tabitha and raising her from the dead.
1.3 Mary the mother of John Mark (Acts 12: 6-19)
During the first few centuries there was no dedicated church buildings, local groups met in their homes. One of these early house churches was hosted by a woman named Mary the mother of John Mark. Mary was most likely a wealthy widow, originally from Cyprus and related to Barnabas, who had opened her home as a meeting place for the church. Peter was a close friend of this congregation and Mary’s son eventually became his assistant, writing the Gospel of Mark from the great apostle’s memoirs.[3]
1.4 Rhoda the servant girl (Acts 12: 6-19)
Mary’s household was marked by an atmosphere of warmth and good humour, as exemplified by her servant girl, Rhoda. Rhoda’s duties were to answer the door when visitors called, much like a maid or personal assistant might do today. After Peter was miraculously freed from prison by an angel, he came to visit his friends at Mary’s house. Rhoda rushed to the door, dropped her jaw at the sight of Peter and rushed right back without letting him in. While everyone told her she was crazy and she kept insisting that, no, no, it was really him. Meanwhile, Peter just stood outside and kept knocking, waiting to be invited in.[4]
This charming episode plays like something out of Shakespeare or modern dramas. Through these two women – a kindly rich widow and her slightly flighty servant girl – Luke preserves a slice of early church life far removed from the stern, patriarchal caricature of popular imagination.
1.5 Lydia of Thyatiro (Acts 16: 11- 40)
Lydia was a prominent wealthy woman who continued to play a vital role in support of the Gospel as it spread from Judea into the Greco-Roman world. The first Christian converts from now present Europe. Originally from Thyatira in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), Lydia was an agent of the well-paid dye and fabric industry based in that city. Lydia ran her business from Philippi in Macedonia (modern northern Greece), a Roman colony for retired politicians and military leaders. She moved among and did business with the rich and powerful of Rome. If there had been a Forbes index of top female CEOs in the empire, Lydia would’ve ranked high on the list.[5]
Like Cornelius before her, Lydia was a gentile attracted to the God of the Jewish Scriptures. Once she was converted to Christ, she placed her home and considerable resources at the disposal of Paul and his ministry team, even after they had been released from prison. In doing so, she provided a bridgehead for the apostle’s mission as it moved down into Greece and eventually across Europe.
1.6 Damaris the Areopagite (Acts 17: 16-34)
Paul arrived in Athens and began to discuss the Gospel with members of various philosophical schools in the city. They brought him to the Areopagus to present his teaching in a more formal setting. The Areopagus was a court where intellectuals and other cultural elites would meet to critique new ideas. As a result of Paul’s speech, a number of people at the meeting came to faith, including Damaris, an Athenian woman notable enough for Luke to mention by name. In a strict sense, Damaris would not have been an Areopagite because women were generally not allowed to participate. The primary exception was for hetaerae, essentially courtesans or mistresses, well-educated women who provided company and intellectual conversation for prominent men. Damaris may well have been such a hetaera before her conversion.[6]
In any event, just as Lydia moved in the lofty circles of Roman commerce and industry, Damaris held her own in the rarefied air of Greek academia and high culture. These two women, leading lights of Greco-Roman society, ensured that the Gospel reached beyond the poor and reached to everyone, regardless of gender or social class.
1.7 Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18: 1-28)
Compared to Damaris or Lydia, Priscilla occupied a relatively modest niche in 1st-century Roman society. Together with her husband Aquila, she ran a small business in Corinth making tents. In modern terms, Priscilla and Aquila could be called trades people. They were also a cross-cultural couple; unlike her husband, Priscilla likely wasn’t Jewish but a Roman woman from an upper-class family. After meeting and working with Paul, the well-travelled duo became valued members of the apostle’s missionary team. Unusual for the time, Priscilla and Aquila are always mentioned together, suggesting they were equal partners in life, business and ministry. Even more unusual, Priscilla is almost always named first, indicating hers was perhaps the higher-profile role within the church.[7]
In Ephesus, the couple met an educated Alexandrian Jew named Apollos. Priscilla and Aquila then took Apollos aside and explained the Gospel to him fully. It is hard to imagine this scene as Priscilla standing off to the side while the men chatted. Given the description, it’s evident that she took an active role in training Apollos, preparing him to be a powerful advocate for the Gospel in Ephesus, Achaia and beyond.[8]
2. Roles played by Women in the Pauline Epistles
2.1 Women Laborers and Co-workers (Rom 16:3), (Phil 4:3)
Paul calls three women “co-workers,” Prisca (Rom 16:3) Euodia and Syntyche (Phil 4:3). One of the most striking texts is Philippians 4:2-3, where Euodia and Syntyche are exhorted to harmony in the Lord. Paul says that they “labored together with him in the gospel” and goes on to call them “co-workers”. Probably they labored with Paul in spreading the gospel, functioning as missionaries by proclaiming the word.[9]
Paul clearly believed women played a crucial role in the ministry of the Church. They functioned both as laborers and co-workers, fulfilling significant roles in the early Christian movement. Once again, however we cannot establish that women functioned as overseer-elders from the term co-worker alone.[10] The term broadly designates ministry in general, but it cannot be used to determine whether women filled every ministry position.
Some of the women are designated as “labourers”: Mary (Romans 16:6), Tryphaena, Tryphosa and Persis (Rom 16:12). We know nothing about these women apart from these all-too- brief descriptions. Women served significantly in the ministries and labored with intensity for the spread of word of God.
2.2 Women Apostles (Romans 16:7)
A Text that continued to be debated is Romans 16:7, where Andronicus and Junia or Junias are saluted as distinguished in the eyes of the apostles. The debate centres on whether Paul compliments with Andronicus is male, then the name is contracted from Junia. Most scholars however, now agree that the person in question was female.
Moreover, the name Junia for a woman was quite common at that time. Finally, until the thirteenth century virtually all writers understood this person to be a woman. Many scholars believe that Andronicus and Junia were husband and wife, and this is indeed probable.
What is striking here is that Paul says Andronicus and Junia are “distinguished among the apostles.” The Greek phrase could also be translated “outstanding in the eyes of the apostles,” but most agree that this is an unlikely way of rendering the phrase.[11] The Term apostle (apostolo) is not always a technical term (2 Cor 8:23; Phil 2:25) and Andronicus and Junia were likely traveling missionaries if they are called apostles here.
2.3 Deaconess (Rom 16:1-2)
Romans 16 is a surprising source of information on the contribution of women in the ministry of the early Church. We begin with Phoebe (Rom 16:1-2) who is designated as a “deacon” (diakono) of the church in Cenchrea.“I recommend you to our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchera, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you. She has been a benefactor of many and of me as well.”(Romans16:1-2). Some have suggested that Phoebe was a leader of the Church. (Romans 16:2).[12]
The roots of women ministry in the early church unquestionably go back to the apostolic church, although it is difficult to define their particular job or its nature in the first few centuries of the Christian era. This is not surprising because all the ministers of the church at that time were fluid and not distinctly defined. The early references to women deacons are found in the writings of St Paul.[13]
Many commentators have referred women as deacons in different manuscripts and interpretations but not all the commentators or translations recognize it as a reference to women deacons in this passage but on the other hand the early Christian commentators including Clement of Alexandria and St John Chrysostom saw them as deaconesses.[14]
2.3.1 The assigned duties of a deaconess
The following were some of the assigned duties of deaconess in the early church.
- For the ministrations towards women
- For visiting women in their homes when it is not possible to send a man.
- To keep the doors on the women’s side of the church.
- To accompany women who wants to speak with bishop or deacon.
- To distribute charity to the widows.[15]
2.3.2 The Activities of Deaconess in the Early Church
- They assisted women who were in need and who were ill.
- They verified the corporal integrity of the virgins.
- They gave private instructions to catechumens when necessary.
- They guarded the door by which women entered the assembly and ensured that the younger women gave way to the older women in the place reserved for them.
- They served as an intermediary between the women and the male clergy.
- They bore message and travelled to other congregation on business.
- They assisted the bishops in the baptism, especially of women.
- Within Syrian Christianity, these deaconesses gave the Eucharist to women who were ill, to nuns and young children and to their sisters (apparently other deaconesses) when a priest was not available.[16]
2.5 Widows (1Timothy 5:3–6)
The role of the widows in the early church was to perform charity and they were also appointed for prayer. According to Tertullian (c.162- 228), the widows were an order and they were assigned a place of honour within the assembled congregation.
By the 3rd century, these widows were promoted in the responsibilities that were assigned to them. During that period, they performed charity especially to women and also they gave teachings. These widows were an active class during the New Testament and early Christian periods. Women without their husbands was excluded in many a community. The condition of widow was worse as they had to face social rejection and poverty because there were no organized structures for widows and orphans. In the midst of these critical situations that prevailed during the early church, the church took the responsibility and came forward to protect them and provided charity for them. Not only they played a major role in ancient Christian community but their role was also to accept donations from others and also they themselves participated in the charity and welfare.[17]
Another major role they played was in prayer and fasting (I Timothy 5:5). These widows therefore were rightly called the intercessors of the church. They were designated as the altar of God. They gave advice to Christian women, they prayed for them, fasted for them and participated in the sacramental life of the church.[18] They were to remain celibate. The additional role the widows played were in the communities’ economic support.
2.5 Virgins (During the 1st and 2nd centuries)
The information about the virgins has been provided by the church father Hippolytus. This recognized class of virgins came into existence during the first two centuries of the church. They were not ordained or appointed. They did not have any public ministry as such, but were acknowledged for their voluntary separation from other lay men and women.[19]
The origin of the virgins within the church is unknown but they have been associated with the widows who are expected to be celibate once upon a time. By the end of the 3rd century, Methodius of Olympus in his work ‘Symposium on Virgins Concerning Charity’ praises charity as it is presented by women themselves and in the way they experience it.[20]
A virgin is dedicated to the church which according to the Apocalypse is ‘Our Mother and the Temple and Tabernacle of God’ (Rev.12: 1 – 6). By 3rd century, the Christians in the Mediterranean Basin considered charity as a supreme gift from heaven and an angelic quality on earth. The ministry of the widows was largely that of prayer, fasting, and laying of hands on the sick, while the deaconess, usually a considerably younger woman, undertook the more physically hard tasks. Ancient documents show that deaconesses were ordained. The Council of Chalcedon set down requirements for the ordination of deaconesses, and the Apostolic Constitutions includes their ordination prayer.[21]
3. References of Women in Other Sources in Early Christianity
3.1 St. Thecla (2nd Century)
Thecla was the most popular female saint after Mary in early Christianity. Thecla was widely remembered as a disciple of Apostle Paul in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The original source for the Thecla legend was the second-century Acts of Paul and Thecla.
According to the 2nd century text of The Acts of Paul and Thecla, a noble woman, was converted while listening to the preaching of the apostle. Forsaking her old life, she followed Paul and endured persecution, tribulation and great peril. Thecla was born to a rich family in Iconium, a town in Asia Minor. She was expected to marry. In fact, her mother had a young man picked out for her. He had an excellent position and could offer Thecla a secure life. This was important in Thecla’s day because an unmarried woman could find herself with no support and no money. Marriage assured a stable place in society, with children to carry on the family name.[22]
Today you can visit Thecla’s cave, and see in it the still-running spring that provided for her. This saint, “Equal to the Apostles”, left the world and joined her Lord in the Kingdom. Thecla was one of the earliest popular figures of the Church who did not personally know Jesus of Nazareth. At some point before or during the Byzantine era, she began to be venerated as a saint. The site of her cave was identified in Syria near the modern-day city of Maloula. A church was built in the mouth of the cave in very early times and later the site became home to a large monastery, the Mar Taqla. The local Christian community, though small, is one of the world’s oldest and is the only one to speak Aramaic, the language probably spoken by Jesus of Nazareth. This makes a visit to Maloula an even more authentic experience for pilgrims.[23]
3.2 Perpetua (181-203 CE)
Perpetua was a famous early Christian martyr who along with her slave Felicitas, refused to renounce her faith and was executed for it. I. M. Plant notes that “in nearly every case, stories of Christian martyrs are fictional…the martyrdom of Perpetua, however, is generally taken to be an exception to this rule”.[24]
A citizen of Carthage, Perpetua was arrested during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Septimius Severus c. 202-203 CE. She was 22 at the time and nursing her new-born when she was taken to prison. Her father, a pagan in good standing with authorities, begged her to renounce her faith but she refused and was executed along with Felicitas.[25] Based on details of the original narrative concerning motherhood, scholars believe the account was written by a woman – the early part, perhaps, by Perpetua herself.
3.3 Amma Syncletica of Alexandria (270 – c. 350 CE)
She is the one of the best-known Desert Mothers and an early founder of the monastic tradition. Syncletica was the daughter of wealthy parents in Alexandria, Egypt. Her beauty attracted many around her. She refused them all, however, due to her devotion to Christ. After her parents’ death, she cut her hair, gave her inheritance to the poor and left the city with her younger sister (who was blind) to live a life of chastity, poverty, and solitude near the crypt of a relative.[26]
In solitude, she is said to have wrestled with demons who tried to convince her to resume her previous life of wealth and pleasure but she remained true to her faith. Having attained the enlightenment and closeness to God she sought, she taught others who sought her out and provided guidelines for this early monastic order of women. These rules, recorded by her biographer (possibly the bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, 296-373 CE), would later influence European monasticism.[27]
3.4 St. Marcella (325-410 CE)
She was a wealthy Roman Christian woman who after her husband’s death, devoted herself to her faith through a life of chastity and service to others. She opened her lavish home on the Aventine Hill of Rome to others seeking a life of self-denial, prayer, fasting, and mortification of the flesh. She was a friend of the future Saint Paula and correspondent with Saint Jerome. Marcella, formerly one of the wealthiest women in the city, gave away or sold her worldly goods, including all her clothes, jewellery, and expensive cosmetics to benefit the poor and to live free of possessions in communion with Christ.[28]
Like many early Christian women, Marcella reclaimed her identity through chastity, refusing to remarry even though the law dictated she should, and dedicated herself to her improvised monastic order which would inspire other women to follow her. She died in the Visigoth sack of Rome of 410 CE.[29]
3.5 Macrina the Younger (330-379 CE)
She was a Christian ascetic whose devotion to God inspired the work and life of her far more famous younger brothers, Saint Basil the Great (l. c. 329-379 CE) and Saint Gregory of Nyssa (l. c. 335 – c. 395 CE). Macrina, was born to wealthy parents in Anatolia (modern day Turkey) and arranged to marry well. When her husband died, she refused to marry anyone else and chose a life of chastity and prayer, claiming (as many other mystics did) that Christ was her bridegroom. Macrina practiced a rigid asceticism and devoted herself to the education of others, especially her younger brothers. After her father’s death, she and her mother moved to an estate on the River Iris in Pontus where she established a Christian community devoted to perfecting their relationship with God and was frequently consulted by pilgrims who came to seek her counsel.[30]
3.6 Proba (322-370 CE)
She holds the distinction as the first female Christian writer solidly attested by documentation. She is known for the genre of literary work called a cento (‘patchwork’) in which an author used lines from established poetic works, woven with their own, to create a completely new work of art. Proba came from a wealthy Roman family and was most likely raised in Roman pagan tradition before converting to Christianity sometime before embarking on her literary career. She combined the poetry of Virgil with biblical themes to emphasize the eternal and heroic aspects of Christianity. Her works were later used in Roman classrooms to teach upper-class children as they delicately combined the pagan history of the past with Christian ideals.[31]
3.7 St. Paula (347-404 CE)
She was the close associate of Saint Jerome who encouraged him to translate the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. Thus, the Vulgate Translation which continued in use for the next 1,500 years as the authoritative scripture of Christianity. Paula was another wealthy Roman aristocrat who, after the death of her husband, was drawn to the monastic community of women established by Marcella on the Aventine Hill. She became familiar with Saint Jerome through Marcella and travelled widely with him, establishing a religious centre in Bethlehem and practicing strict asceticism including abstinence. She helped Jerome translate the Bible, read his work and edited it for publication. When she died, her passing was deeply mourned by the Christian community and she was made a saint within a year.[32]
3.8 Melania the Elder (350-410 CE)
She was a Desert Mother honoured for her devotion to God and support of Christian orders. She was a member of one of the wealthiest families in Roman Hispania who moved with her proconsul husband and family back to Rome only to watch all but one son die of the plague. After losing her family, she converted to Christianity and renounced the world, travelling to Egypt to live in a monastery.[33]
Unlike other Christian converts, Melania did not give away her worldly goods and used her substantial wealth to support Christian communities and initiatives. When the monks of her order were exiled to Palestine, she went with them and supported them until they could return. She founded two monastic orders in Jerusalem, which she administrated and is regarded as a Desert Mother for her strict asceticism and devotion to solitary prayer.[34]
3.9 Aelia Eudocia (400-460 CE)
She was one of the most creative writers of her time who created numerous works on Christian themes drew on pre-Christian literature. She was born in Athens and named Athenais before converting to Christianity around the age of 20 and taking the name Aelia Eudocia following her baptism.
Her works were quite popular and ranged from a cento drawing on homer to poetry about her husband’s life and military victories, to saints’ lives and Church history. She is probably best known for her work The Martyrdom of St. Cyprian which tells the story of the chaste Christian Justa, the attempts by the pagan sage Cyprian to seduce her, his conversion to Christianity and martyrdom for his faith.[35]
3.10 Egeria known as Etheria, (380’s CE)
She was a Christian traveller and writer known only from her work Itinerarium (also known as the Itinerarium Egeriae = Travels of Egeria). Based on the text, she was a woman of the upper class who went on pilgrimage to significant sites mentioned in the Bible.
She travelled through the regions of modern-day Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and back to the region of Anatolia. Her work was popular enough to be copied and is recognized in the modern-day as completely unique for its time as it is a deeply personal account of Egeria’s travels while also providing insight into the condition of the sites she visited, travel at the time, and – since it is written in Latin – how that language was written at the time.[36]
Conclusion
The women played a great role from early Christianity till now. We saw this in the Acts of the Apostles, Pauline Epistles and went ahead in other sources. They played roles such as apostles, deaconess, labourers and co-workers, disciples, teachers and prophetess, contemplatives, health care givers, educationalists and missionaries. Women seemed to have taken a lead in conversion to the new religion and had an impact on the conversion of their men, families and societies during the early period and even now. The conversion of Constantine the Great – the first Roman emperor, to have converted to Christianity in the fourth century – was mainly due to the influence of his mother and wife. In the context of Khrist Bhakta Movement in Varanasi, I can confidently say it is true that women play a great role in the spread of Christianity all over the region. I have experienced in the villages, how women work for the Kingdom of God in their day today difficulties and perils from their own families and outside forces.
We can see in the beginning stages the contribution of women was recognized by their male contemporaries who included accounts of their lives in their works on male saints. Amma Syncletica was so highly regarded; she was given her own biography. St. Jerome praised Paula in his works. The works of Proba and Eudocia seem to have been widely read, judging from copies and even though Egeria’s work was not discovered until the 19th century CE, it was recognized then as appearing in excerpt form in other works from shortly after her time. The Scholar Laura Swan says, Women’s history has often been relegated to the shadow world. Many of our Church fathers became prominent because of women. Many of these fathers were educated and supported by strong women and some are even credited with founding movements that were actually begun by the women in their lives.
In Matthew 23:11 Says, “The greatest among you will be your servant”. The human definition of a leader often associates with pride, fame, prestige. In God’s eyes, the definition of leadership is equivalent to that being a servant, who can serve earnestly and altruistically. Regardless of whether the women in the New Testament assumed great authority or not, they had important roles in their lives and it was through every one of them, whom God used, who contributed to the spread of Christianity. Paul commended those women who have struggled beside him in the work of the gospel. Many of them were not specifically named or not given clear account of their profound works. Nevertheless, they helped spread Christianity and just as the apostle Paul reminded some of their names in his Epistles.
Notes:
[1]Subhash Anand. “Women in the New Testament,’’ in Vidhyajyoti Journal of Theological reflection, Vol 78, No.7 (July, 2014): 40.
[2]The History of Early Christianity. Accessed 24 October 2021.Available FromHttps://Www.Uwgb.Edu/Uwgbcms/Media/Lifelong-Learning-Institute/Files/The-Role-Of-Women-In-Christianity.Pdf
[3] M. A SpencerJ. A. The Women of Early Christianity A Series of Portraits (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1851), 145.
[4]Ibid., 152.
[5]Famous Women of Early Christianity.Accessed 27 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Worldhistory.Org/Article/1409/Ten-Should-Be-Famous-Women-Of-Early-Christianity/
[6]Ibid.
[7]M. A Spencer J. A. The Women of Early Christianity A Series of Portraits, 188.
[8]Ibid., 189.
[9]The History of Early Christianity.Accessed 24 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Uwgb.Edu/Uwgbcms/Media/Lifelong-Learning-Institute/Files/The-Role-Of-Women-In-Christianity.Pdf
[10]BijoPanachamuttil, The Role Women in Pauline Corpus. Accessed 29 October 2021. Available from https://ocymonline.org/articles/ROLE%20OF%20WOMEN%20IN%20THE%20PAULINE%20CORPUS%20BY%20FR%20BIJO%20PANACHAMUTTIL.pdf
[11]Ibid.
[12]Bijo Panachamuttil, The Role Women in Pauline Corpus. Accessed 29 October 2021. Available from https://ocymonline.org/articles/ROLE%20OF%20WOMEN%20IN%20THE%20PAULINE%20CORPUS%20BY%20FR%20BIJO%20PANACHAMUTTIL.pdf
[13]Ibid.
[14]Ibid.
[15]Bijo Panachamuttil, The Role Women in Pauline Corpus. Accessed 29 October 2021. Available from https://ocymonline.org/articles/ROLE%20OF%20WOMEN%20IN%20THE%20PAULINE%20CORPUS%20BY%20FR%20BIJO%20PANACHAMUTTIL.pdf
[16]Ibid.
[17]Patricia Cox Miller, Women in Early Christianity (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2005), 49.
[18]Ibid.
[19]Ibid., 53.
[20]Ibid.,55.
[21]Patricia Cox Miller, Women in Early Christianity, 62.
[22]The Acts of Paul and Thecla. Accessed 20 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Pbs.Org/Wgbh/Pages/Frontline/Shows/Religion/Maps/Primary/Thecla.Html
[23]The Acts of Paul and Thecla.Accessed 20 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Pbs.Org/Wgbh/Pages/Frontline/Shows/Religion/Maps/Primary/Thecla.Html
[24]Famous Women of Early Christianity.Accessed 27 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Worldhistory.Org/Article/1409/Ten-Should-Be-Famous-Women-Of-Early-Christianity/
[25]Ibid.
[26]Ibid.
[27]Famous Women of Early Christianity.Accessed 27 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Worldhistory.Org/Article/1409/Ten-Should-Be-Famous-Women-Of-Early-Christianity/
[28]Women in Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries. Accessed 17 September 2021. Available from
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/women.html
[29]Ibid.
[30]Famous Women of Early Christianity.Accessed 27 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Worldhistory.Org/Article/1409/Ten-Should-Be-Famous-Women-Of-Early-Christianity/
[31]Ibid.
[32]Ibid.
[33]Women in Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries.Accessed 17 September 2021. Available from
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/women.html
[34]Ibid.
[35]Famous Women of Early Christianity.Accessed 27 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Worldhistory.Org/Article/1409/Ten-Should-Be-Famous-Women-Of-Early-Christianity/
[36] Women in Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries. Accessed 17 September 2021. Available from
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/women.html
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- A. Spencer, M. A. The Women of Early Christianity A Series of Portraits.New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1851.
- Miller,Patricia Cox. Women in Early Christianity. Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2005.
- Anand, Subhash. “Women in the New Testament,’’ In Vidhyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, Vol 78, and No.7 (July, 2014): 33 – 52.
- Siddiqui, KaziZulkader, Women in the Early Christian Church, Thesis for Bachelor of Divinity, Mcgill University, (June, 1957): 31- 37.
- Famous Women of Early Christianity. Accessed 25 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Worldhistory.Org/Article/1409/Ten-Should-Be-Famous-Women-Of-Early-Christianity/
- Panachamuttil, Bijo. The Role Women in Pauline Corpus. Accessed 29 October 2021. Available from https://ocymonline.org/articles/ROLE%20OF%20WOMEN%20IN%20THE%20PAULINE%20CORPUS%20BY%20FR%20BIJO%20PANACHAMUTTIL.pdf
- The Acts of Paul and Thecla. Accessed 20 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Pbs.Org/Wgbh/Pages/Frontline/Shows/Religion/Maps/Primary/Thecla.Html
- The History of Early Christianity. Accessed 24 October 2021. Available From Https://Www.Uwgb.Edu/Uwgbcms/Media/Lifelong-Learning-Institute/Files/The-Role-Of-Women-In-Christianity.Pdf
- Women in Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries. Accessed 17 September 2021. Available from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/women.html
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