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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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).
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
In this article, I present summaries of a range of interpretations of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 proposed by well-known New Testament scholars. How do these verses apply today?
Read More
Women and men ministered together in the Philippian church. Who were these ministers?
Read More
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?
Read More