Olympias was a determined woman who renounced her aristocratic lifestyle in order to devote herself to the church. She was an ordained deaconess and she founded and led a monastery. Olympias and her friend Chrysostom supported each other through difficult times.
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1 Corinthians 11:7 (“man . . . is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man”) is a baffling Bible verse and there are different ways of understanding it. In this post, I quote interpretations from 5 past scholars and 10 recent scholars.
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In Part 5 of my series on Phoebe, I look at the passage concerning deacons in the church at Ephesus (1 Tim. 3:8-13). I also look at Phoebe as a prostatis (patron), and briefly compare her ministry with that of Olympias (one of Chrysostom’s patrons) and with that of Stephanas (1 Cor. 16:15-18).
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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 church.
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Here are some misogynistic quotations from well-known church fathers, theologians & reformers that do not in any way reflect what the Bible says about women.
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Who were Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3)? Were they leaders of the Philippian church? Early Church Father John Chrysostom seemed to think so.
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In this article, I present summaries of a range of interpretations of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 proposed by respected NT scholars. How do these verses apply today?
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Women and men ministered together in the Philippian church. Who were these ministers?
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This article is about Junia—a minister mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:7—using and critiquing the ESV as a reference. Was Junia really a female apostle?
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