Some Christians claim that submission is always to a person in authority. In this article, I quote four prominent early Christian authors who speak positively about mutual submission among Jesus followers.
John Chrysostom (d. 407) praised Priscilla, Phoebe, Euodia, Syntyche, and Junia, and acknowledged that these five women were leading ministers in their churches.
Olympias was a determined woman who renounced her aristocratic lifestyle to serve the church. She was an ordained deaconess and Chrysostom’s dear friend.
Here are interpretations of 1 Corinthians 11:7 (man … is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man) from past & present scholars.
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.
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.
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.
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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© 2021 Marg Mowczko