Melania the Elder was a powerful, wealthy, educated woman who influenced and shaped Christianity until her death in 410.
What does the iconography of catacomb frescoes tell us about the ecclesial role or position of Cerula and Bitalia, two fifth-century women?
Women have always played important roles in the mission of the church and they are a part of our history. I highlight some of these women here.
In this post, I quote a story from Theodoret of Cyrrhus’s Church History about Publia, a daring deaconess who lived in Antioch in the 360s, and her brave choir.
In Theodoret of Cyrrhus’s Church History there is an interesting story of a brave woman who was a teacher and deacon in Antioch in the early 360s.
In this blog post, I look at a papyrus letter, written between Christians in the early 300s AD, which plainly mentions a woman teacher (kyrian tēn didaskalon).
This is the 2nd post taken from my chapter in “Co-workers and Co-leaders.” Paul’s letters show that he ministered alongside women. Women were among his coworkers and were deacons (diakonoi).
This is the 1st of 3 blog posts taken from my chapter in the book “Co-workers and Co-leaders: Women and Men Partnering for God’s Work.” I look here at the women who followed Jesus and the women who hosted house churches.
Here are a few excerpts from a chapter written by Judith Gundry that are helpful in understanding Paul’s arguments and use of creation in 1 Cor. 11:2-16.
Paul said in 1 Cor. 11:10 that a woman should have “authority on her head.” Whose authority is it?
Here’s a complete list of women identified as prophetesses in the Bible, with a note on each. There was a recognised place for such women in Israel.
Throughout her book, Dr Barr aims to show that complementarianism isn’t the only option for those who believe the Bible is the authoritative Word of God.
Miriam is identified as a prophet and leader in the Bible, but some say her ministry was only to women. Was this the case? What does the Bible say?
Atto, bishop of Vercelli in the 900s, saw in church tradition that women had led churches and were presbyters (priests or elders). He did not think this was a bad thing.
Chrysostom (d. 407) praised Priscilla, Phoebe, Euodia, Syntyche, and Junia. He acknowledged that these women were leading ministers in their churches.
In this article, I explain why “the co-elect” woman in 1 Peter 5:13 (AKA “she who is in Babylon”) may be a woman and not a church.
Olympias renounced her aristocratic lifestyle to serve the church. She was an ordained deaconess and Chrysostom’s dear friend.
Who were the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting and what did they do? Did their service involve religious rituals?
Tabitha (AKA Dorcas) is identified as a disciple and described as a generous supporter of the poor. What was her association with the widows of Joppa?
Paul included women as ministry partners and used the same ministry terms for his male and female coworkers. He didn’t restrict the ministry of godly and gifted women.
Here’s some information about Marcella of Rome (325–410), friend of Jerome, who dedicated her considerable talents and resources to serving the church and helping the poor.
In this post, I look at Nympha, a Christian mentioned in Colossians 4:15. What was her association with Paul? What was her ministry? Where was her house church? Was she really a woman?
Here’s a look at a common Greek phrase used in Phil. 4:2 concerning Euodia and Syntyche. What did Paul want them to think? Were the women quarrelling?
Lydia of Thyatira (Acts 16:14ff), and women like her, were vital and strategic players at the forefront of the expanding Christian mission.
In this article I look at the text of 2 John, especially at the words the letter writer uses to identify the people he is writing to, including the “chosen lady.”
This is a somewhat technical look at the word presbyteroi (“elders”) in New Testament letters, including the presbyterai (“women elders”) 1 Timothy 5:2.
Priscilla, Phoebe, and Junia were Christian ministers who sometimes travelled. The NT shows that, at the very least, their paths crossed one or twice. Were they friends?
Apphia, a woman, is greeted by Paul in his letter to Philemon. What was her role or position at Colossae? Was she Philemon’s wife or another Phoebe?
Eve, Delilah, Bathsheba, Mary Magdalene, and the Samaritan woman have often been thought of as immoral. What’s with that? This article looks at the Samaritan woman without negative prejudices.
This is part 2 of a series which looks at the women in the church at Smyrna around AD. This article focuses on Gavia and the Virgin Widows.
In Christian writings known as the Apostolic Fathers, we discover that women were active in ministry in the church at Smyrna. Part 1 looks at Alke (or Alce) of Smyrna.
Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, was a tireless leader and an influential benefactor of the Methodist movement in Britain in the 1700s.
Several ancient documents show that women were prominent ministers in the early church. Two such documents mention Theonoe and Myrte, prophetesses in the church at Corinth.
What does the ministry of Priscilla and Aquila to Apollos reveal? (Acts 18:18-28). How did others feel about the couple and their ministry? (Romans 16:3-5)
More than a century ago, church historian Adolf Harnack was honest and approving in his appraisal of women ministers who are mentioned in the New Testament.
Chloe is a woman mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:11? Was she a pagan or a Christian? A concerned house church leader or the quarrelsome leader of a faction?
In Part 6 we look at more evidence that deacons in the apostolic and post-apostolic period were travelling envoys and agents, and that some were teachers.
In Part 5, I look at 1 Timothy 3:8-13, concerning male and female deacons in the Ephesian church, and at Phoebe as a prostatis (patron). I briefly compare her ministry with that of Olympias and also Stephanas (1 Cor. 16:15-18).
In part 4 I look at the deacons in the Philippian church and at the development of church offices in the apostolic and post-apostolic churches.
We have only two lines about Phoebe in the Bible, but Theodoret of Cyrrhus has more information about her. Did Phoebe travel to Spain with Paul? Did she deliver his letter to the Romans?
In Part 2, I look at what Romans 16:1–2 in the ancient Latin texts say about Phoebe. These indicate she was recognised as an official deacon (or deaconess).
Here I look at Paul’s introduction of Phoebe to the church at Rome. I also look at the ministry of certain women in the Gospels, and Tabitha’s ministry in Acts, and compare them with Phoebe’s ministry.
In this article I provide a brief overview of church life in the first century and I highlight the ministry contributions of women.
Here is a brief overview of eighteen women mentioned by the apostle Paul in his New Testament letters, as well as Lydia who is mentioned in Acts.
In this article I look at people who were apostles in the New Testament church, at their qualifications, and at what they did as apostles.
As I was making a list of Bible women who ministered to men, I saw something I had not noticed before. Almost all of these women had a prophetic gift.
This article looks at Mary Magdalene, and especially at what “Magdalene” might mean. Does it refer to Mary’s home town? Was it her nickname? Does it imply she was a prostitute?
Female martyrs in the early church, such as Blandina and Perpetua, “conformed themselves to Christ, even in death.”
Does Paul refer to wives of apostles or female coworkers of apostles in 1 Cor. 9:5? Was their role companionship or teaching Christian doctrine?
Most modern translations of the New Testament rely on the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament. One of the editors of recent editions of this Greek New Testament is scholar Barbara Aland. This article provides a brief history of the Nestle-Aland text and a brief biography of Barbara Aland.
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