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.
Who was Damaris? What was her social status? What does her name mean? What was her role in the church? Evidence from ancient inscriptions help to answer some of these questions.
Paul honours Lois and Eunice and acknowledges they had been Timothy’s teachers. These women enabled Timothy to face challenges in Ephesus.
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?
Lydia of Thyatira (Acts 16:14ff), and women like her, were vital and strategic players at the forefront of the expanding Christian mission.
Not all first-century women fit the stereotype of being hidden and housebound. Some were influential and prominent in society and in the church.
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)
The examples of Adam & Eve (Gen. 3) and Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5) challenge the idea that husbands are responsible for the actions of their wives.
In his Church History, Eusebius wrote, “Ethiopia even to the present day is ruled, according to ancestral custom, by a woman” (cf. Acts 8:27). Is there any truth in his statement? As it turns out, there is.
Early church writers, such as Eusebius, acknowledged that Philip’s four daughters were well-respected famous prophets and they associated the women with apostles and bishops.
This article looks at Priscilla and Aquila and explores Luke’s use of the Greek verb ektithēmi (“explain”) in Acts. Did Priscilla teach a man?
Would you like to support my ministry of encouraging mutuality and equality between men and women in the church and in marriage?
© 2022 Marg Mowczko