Women and Religion
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08ChristianityA.docx08 Christianity A
GENERAL FACTS
Origins
As with Buddhism, Christianity can be traced back to the life of its founder. In this case that is Jesus of Nazareth (c. 5BCE – 30CE). It may seem strange that historians estimate that Jesus was born several years “before Christ” but that is the result of a small error when the Roman system was converted to the new BC/AD Christian system in the 6th Century. Jesus was born into a Jewish family and was thoroughly Jewish in background and worldview. Thus, many consider Judaism as the mother religion of Christianity in the same way that Hinduism is the mother religion of Buddhism. We know very little of his early years except for stories about his conception and birth at the start of the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Both writers agree that he was born in Bethlehem but grew up in Nazareth; and that his biological mother was Mary but that he had no human father. Otherwise they provide very different perspectives on the Christmas story. For example, Luke focuses on Mary and mentions angelic appearances to her as well as the shepherds in the fields. In contrast, Matthew focuses on her husband, Joseph, his dreams, as well as the star, the wise men and King Herod’s attempts to kill the child.
Jesus was probably a tradesman like his ‘father’, Joseph, but something happened in his early thirties that changed the direction of his life, much like the four sights that Gautama experienced. All gospels agree that it occurred at the Jordan River where a prophet-like character named John was inviting his fellow Jews to immerse themselves in the waters and renew their Jewish faith. Jesus was among the crowds but, unlike the others, we are told that he experienced an epiphany when he was baptised by John. The voice of God declared him to be “my beloved Son” and a dovelike image hovered above him, representing God’s Spirit. It is one of the rare occasions in the gospels that the three ‘persons’ of the Trinity are mentioned together (Father, Son and Spirit). As a result, Jesus relinquished his trade and took up an itinerant lifestyle as a religious teacher and healer, moving from town to town throughout Israel (and rarely beyond). He taught in synagogues and in public places, attracting crowds, not only because of his message but also because of his reputation as a miraculous healer. The gospels mention cures of all types of illnesses as well as control over natural forces. In this respect he was not unique in Jewish history. For instance, Moses was said to have worked miracles in Egypt and in the desert; and the 9th century BCE prophets Elijah and Elisha also had wondrous powers. Indeed, many of Jesus’ miracles resemble those of Elijah and Elisha.
Scholars generally agree that the key theme linking his teaching and healings is the ‘Kingdom of God’, which is not so much a place or territory but a new relationship between Jewish people and their God. According to Jesus, God is a gracious and loving father in whose Kingdom repentant sinners are very welcome, but where the self-righteous and arrogant have no place. Many of his parables make this point and he began to attract followers as a result. He invited some of these to join him on the road, while others remained in their homes and offered hospitality and support in a more general way. He also began to create enemies, especially among the religious and political leadership who saw him as a potential threat, especially given that talk about a Kingdom suggested that Jesus thought of himself as a sort of King (messiah in Hebrew; christos in Greek). Sadly, after just two or three years in the public eye, he was betrayed by a member of his inner circle, arrested and put on trial. The gospels claim that there was initially a religious hearing by the Jewish Sanhedrin (the principal court of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem) who condemned Jesus as a false messiah. He was then taken to the Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate, who sentenced him to death by crucifixion. The gospels suggest that Pilate’s hand was forced by the Jewish leadership but history remembers Pilate as a brutal ruler who readily put down any form of insurrection or threat to the civil order.
Jesus was crucified on a Friday and hurriedly buried before sunset to avoid breaking the Sabbath laws. In contrast to the calm death of Buddha Gautama at a ripe old age surrounded by his disciples, Jesus’ demise was bloody, premature and lonely, as most of his followers deserted him in fear. That might have been the end of the story since his movement was in profound crisis as a result, but the gospels claim that two events occurred within days of his burial. First, some of his female followers found his tomb open and empty on the Sunday morning (the “first day of the week”). Second, his followers began to report that Jesus had appeared to them in a glorious, yet bodily, form although he was not recognisable at first, except for the marks of crucifixion. These two elements combined to generate the kernel of a new faith that eventually became Christianity: namely that Jesus had been “raised from the dead”. Resurrection was not a Christian invention as it was already part of the Jewish tradition (the Pharisee party believed that it would happen at the end of the world). What was unique was that one man had been raised and the world did not end. This set Jesus apart from all other figures of Israel’s past and eventually led to the Christian claim that, not only was he the long-awaited messiah (christos) - hence his title Jesus “Christ” – but, more importantly, that he was somehow divine as well as human: an incarnation of the one God.
Jesus’ baptism Jesus teaching Jesus’ death
Main Subdivisions
Two thousand years later Christianity is the largest religion in the world with about 2.3 billion members. Like most religions, it has not remained unified and homogeneous in that time. Basically, it can be subdivided into three main branches, which are the results of two splits: the first occurred in 1054 when Eastern Christianity (centred on Constantinople) and Western Christianity (centred on Rome) separated. The second split occurred in Western Christianity in the 16th Century when the Protestant Reformers broke from the Catholic Church.
a. Eastern Orthodox Churches
Eastern Christianity (sometimes called Greek Christianity) consists of many national/linguistic based churches such as the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church, and so on. Most Orthodox Christians live in Eastern Europe and the Middle East (e.g. Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Armenia etc.) and many of them look to the Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul) as their symbolic leader or figurehead (he has no jurisdictional power). The current Patriarch, Bartholomew I, has been in that role since 1991. Orthodox Christianity is probably the most conservative form and, thus, loyalty to tradition is paramount and change comes slowly.
Bartholomew I
Patriarch of Constantinople
b. Catholic Church
The Catholic Church is the largest denomination of Christians and is very much centred on the bishop of Rome (the pope) who has real and extensive jurisdictional power. Most Catholics live in southern Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy, France plus other countries such as Poland and Ireland) and Latin America (from Mexico to Argentina). The current pope, Francis, is from Argentina and is the first non-European pope for 1300 years. Needless to say, papal teachings (past and present) are very important in Catholicism.
Pope Francis
c. Protestant Churches
The 16th Century saw many groups separate from Rome “in protest”, hence the umbrella term “Protestant” is often used to contrast them to “Catholic”. Many prefer to call themselves “Reform” since the intention was to clean up the church and return to the original ideals of New Testament period. Martin Luther is considered to be the first to break formally with Rome and those who follow his brand of Christianity are known as Lutherans. But other Protestant leaders shaped their own versions of Christianity such as Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists, Evangelicals and so on. There are over 20,000 different Protestant churches and, thus, there is quite a bit of diversity: from churches with bishops (eg. Anglicans) to churches with no clergy at all (eg. Quakers). Most Protestant Christians live in Northern Europe (Britain, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia) and in former British colonies such as the USA, Canada and Australia. One common element among them is their emphasis on scripture (the bible) as the ultimate source of authority, rather than “tradition” (usually meaning the teachings of popes and councils of bishops).
Key Texts
The Christian Bible consists of two main sections: Old Testament and New Testament. The former is actually the Tanach (the Hebrew bible) but with the books arranged in a slightly different order. This is a remarkable overlap between two world religions. It means that the same texts are being read in a synagogue on Saturday and a church on Sunday – but each congregation is reading them through the lens of their own Jewish or Christian faith. Christians call it the “Old Testament” because they believe it is a preamble or preparation for what comes in the New Testament. Thus, Old Testament (Tanach) passages still carry great weight in Christianity since they are “scriptural”, even though Christianity does not think that all Old Testament laws still apply (only some).
The New Testament is a collection of 27 books all authored by various Christians (not Jesus) in the first century CE. Most of those books are either gospels or letters. The term ‘gospel’ literally means “good news” but essentially it is a short (partial) biography of Jesus, written to demonstrate his importance to the believer. Many gospels were written but only four were included in the canon: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The first three are very similar in terms of content and order of events. As a result, they are called the Synoptic Gospels. Most scholars believe that Mark was the first gospel to be written (around 60CE) since his version is the shortest. It seems that Matthew and Luke copied Mark and added material from a hypothetical collection of Jesus’ teachings known as the “Q Source” (from the German word “quelle” which means source), shaping their own versions a few decades later. Incidentally, Luke also wrote a “second volume” called Acts of the Apostles, which narrates the story of the early Christian community, focussing mainly on Peter and Paul.
The fourth gospel, John, is the ‘odd man out’ not only in terms of the contents and order of events, but also in regard to the portrait of Jesus that it presents. Whereas the Synoptics paint a very human Jesus who speaks mainly about the Kingdom of God, John presents a distinctly divine Jesus who speaks mainly about his true identity and his special relationship to the Father.
The Four Gospel writers
symbolised by a man, lion, ox and eagle
Apart from the gospels, there are also 21 letters (“epistles”) in the New Testament. Thirteen of these are ascribed to Paul: a zealous Jew and enemy of Christianity who experienced a radical conversion and became one of the great ambassadors of the new faith. He never met Jesus during his life and, indeed, Paul’s letters say little about Jesus’ public ministry, concentrating mainly on his death and resurrection. The inclusion of so many of Paul’s letters means that his influence is profound and some historians argue that you really have to say that Christianity was founded by both Jesus and Paul. Many biblical scholars think that Paul only wrote some of the letters ascribed to him in the New Testament; the others were possibly written in his name by his disciples or associates. There are other letters included in the canon which bear the names of members of the Twelve (Jesus’ closest associates): John, Peter, James and Jude. Again, it is debated whether the Aramaic speaking disciples of Jesus actually wrote these Greek texts or whether they were written later in their name and with the stamp of their authority in the communities in which they lived.
Key Periods
There are many ways to divide up the two thousand years of Christian history but for the purposes of this course we will use five major periods. In particular we will be looking for prevalent attitudes and practices concerning the role of women in each period.
a. New Testament (30-130CE)
The earliest period of Christianity corresponds to that time during which the books of the New Testament were being composed. For convenience sake we are taking the first hundred years after the death of Jesus, which covers most of the 1st Century and the early 2nd Century CE. At this early stage, Christianity was still being worked out in practice and the situation was very fluid and diverse. Christians were a tiny minority in the Empire and those of Jewish background still prayed in synagogues on the Sabbath (Saturday). There were no public churches yet and Christians gathered in private homes (often owned by wealthy women) for their services. There were also no set guides for ritual, and worship services tended to be spontaneous and charismatic, with Spirit inspired activities such as “prophesying” and “speaking in tongues.” Today’s Pentecostal and Charismatic movements are attempts to return to that form of prayer meeting. Church authority was also very inchoate; the roles of bishop, priest and deacon were not yet defined and other roles existed as well. We will need to investigate what the New Testament authors actually say about women in general, their appropriate roles at home and in the church, and whether the picture that we gain is consistent or not.
St Paul: was he really a misogynist?
b. The Patristic Period (130-800CE)
This refers to the long period extending from the end of New Testament times to the beginning of the Middle Ages. The term “Patristic” can be translated as “Fathers” and it reflects the fact that the most influential thinkers and writers in Christianity were men: male bishops to be exact. They either wrote on an individual basis or they gathered in “councils” and issued statements and decrees. Many of them have been canonised as saints in mainstream Christianity (both East and West). For example, one of the most famous and influential Fathers of Western Christianity was Saint Augustine, who developed key ideas about God as a Trinity as well as the “original sin” of Adam and Eve and the way it affects all humans. What is interesting is that Augustine and many of his fellow Fathers were quite happy to use the ideas of the ‘in vogue’ Greek philosopher, Plato, to shape their views of Christianity. We will need to examine why there are no Mothers of the Church, and what the Fathers say about the first woman, women in general, and the roles that women should play in the emerging organizational structures of Christianity.
Augustine: What did he say about Eve and women in general?
c. The Medieval Period (800-1500CE)
This also covers a long period from the end of the Patristic times to the break-up of the Western Church in the 16th Century. The key difference between the Patristic and medieval periods is that the key theologians who were thinking and writing about Christianity were no longer bishops but academic professors. They taught theology in schools and colleges and, hence, their style of theology was called “scholastic”. This was the age in which theology was “queen of the sciences” and one of the most famous theologians was Thomas Aquinas who lived in the 13th Century. Just as Augustine had used Plato for his theology, Aquinas turned to the recently rediscovered works of that other great ancient Greek thinker, Aristotle. It was also the time when the Eastern and Western churches separated and the authority of the Pope (both religious and political) increased dramatically in the West. One of the key developments in this period was the establishment of large, influential orders of nuns out of which emerged some outstanding individual women.
Thomas Aquinas: How did Aristotle influence his thinking on women?
d. The Protestant Reformation (1500-1800CE)
As stated above, Western Christianity suffered major fragmentation in the 16th Century, when groups of Christians began to break away from the authority of the Pope and establish their own versions of the faith. The first figure to do so was the German monk and professor, Martin Luther, after whom the Lutheran branch of Christianity is named. He was quickly followed by others: John Calvin who established the Reformed Churches; the theological advisors of Henry VIII who established the Anglican tradition; as well as Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses and so on. With so many different forms of Christianity appearing, it is no wonder that there is a corresponding variety of structures. Some Protestant churches kept bishops and priests as roles of authority (e.g. Lutherans and Anglicans); others preferred a body of elected elders (Reformed or Presbyterian); others preferred complete autonomy for local churches that were run by their own congregations. We will need to investigate whether or not these new forms of church organization gave women greater access to positions of authority.
Martin Luther:
Did he and his fellow Reformers rethink women’s roles in the church?
e. The Modern Period (1800-now)
The fifth phase in the story of Christianity is marked by the massive impact felt by the Scientific Revolution, otherwise known as “The Enlightenment”. It is often called the Age of Reason in contrast to the preceding Age of Faith; the transition from an essentially religious view of reality to a scientific view. As the famous poem by Alexander Pope stated:
Nature and Nature’s laws lay hidden by night
God said “Let Newton be”; and all was light.
The new scientific knowledge often sat uneasily with, or even flatly contradicted, traditional religious interpretations, and names such as Galileo and Darwin immediately spring to mind. Many of these issues have been worked out as theology and biblical studies adapted the insights of science to redefine Christian belief, although there are still smouldering fires such as the issue of Creationism.
One of the key principles of the Enlightenment was the idea of human equality: an idea famously enshrined in the second sentence of the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Looking back now, we might ask: what did it mean by “men”?
· Did it mean “(white) men”?
· Did it mean “men (not women)”?
· Did it mean “(heterosexual) men”?
· Did it mean “(adult) men”? and so on....
Indeed, despite the noble Enlightenment principle of human equality, history shows that its full implications are still being worked out today in many contexts. But the principle of equality did start social movements that sought to overcome discrimination based on race, sex, sexual preference and age. This is the context for the rise of Christian feminism: when Christians (women and men) began to examine the Christian tradition and measure it against the ideal that men and women are “created equal”. We will need to see how that played out in the 19th and 20th Centuries, and into today’s world.
Feminist theologian: Rosemary Reuther
How do she and her fellow theologians argue for women’s equality?
THE GENDER OF GOD
Because Christianity incorporated the entire Jewish bible into its own canon, renaming it the Old Testament, it inherited much from its mother religion regarding the nature of God. Thus, on one hand, it agreed with Judaism that there is only one Creator God and that this Creator God is a transcendent being, beyond anything in creation itself. Thus, it shares with Judaism the idea that God has no physical body and, hence, no biological sex. In terms of God’s “gender” (namely whether God has masculine or feminine traits), it also inherited the dominant images of the Old Testament, which were masculine, although it also accepts as valid the (fewer) feminine images of God found there as well.
Father
On the other hand, it also developed its own distinctive ideas about God as a result of Jesus and the New Testament writings. A critical ingredient in the ‘new’ Christian thinking about God was Jesus’ own preferred metaphor: “Father”. The Greek word “pater” appears over 20 times in the Q Source (the teachings of Jesus found in Matthew and Luke) and over 100 times in the gospel of John. The original Aramaic term (the language actually spoken by Jesus) was probably “abba”, which is less formal and more endearing – probably best translated as “dad”. Most of the time, Jesus distinguished himself from his audience by using the phrases “my heavenly Father” and “your heavenly Father”. On the one occasion he used the plural “our Father” it was given as an example for his followers to use when they pray as a group.
The teachings of Jesus overwhelmingly portray God as a kind, forgiving father who is willing to welcome back his stray children with open arms. So, the question arises whether the gospels contain any feminine imagery for God, as the Old Testament does; and the answer is: “very little”. In fact, there is only one explicit occasion in Luke where Jesus compares God seeking a sinner to a thrifty housewife frantically seeking a lost coin.
What woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost”. Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Lk 15:8-10)
This story sits between similar stories of a shepherd seeking a lost sheep and the famous parable of the “Prodigal Son”, which tells of a father waiting for the return of his wayward boy.
Commentators sometimes add another saying that refers to a mother hen gathering in her chicks:
However, Jesus is speaking of himself here rather than his Father.
In John’s gospel most of the references are to both the Father and the Son (identified as Jesus). The addition of the Holy Spirit led to the distinctively Christian idea that God is one and three at the same time: a “tri-unity” or “Trinity” consisting of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The heavily masculine language used in the gospels has influenced Christian art. Although the Orthodox and Protestant churches avoid images of God the Father, the Catholic tradition has allowed artists to paint the first person of the Trinity in the shape of an older human male, typically with a white beard (a sort of grandfatherly figure).
A Catholic painting of the Trinity
Moreover, Christian language follows the usual grammar rules and, thus, the noun “Father” naturally demands masculine pronouns (he, him, his) for God, further emphasising the masculine, rather than the feminine. While accepting the reality that “Father” is the dominant metaphor for God in Jesus’ teaching, nevertheless Christian feminists call for greater balance and usually request inclusive language, i.e. using the word “God” instead of “he”, “him” or “his” whenever possible.
Incarnate Son
It is not only the dominant “Father” metaphor that profoundly influences the way Christians think of and speak about God. A second, central element of Christian faith further reinforces the sense that divinity is masculine. This is the notion that Jesus of Nazareth is an incarnation of God. We met this idea in Hinduism where it is believed that Vishnu comes down to earth in animal or human form on a number of occasions to save the world. These are the avatars of Vishnu and the traditional list has 10 names, including Rama and Krishna (7th and 8th). Christianity also believes that God has “descended” to earth in worldly form in order to save humanity, but the key difference is that, for Christians, this occurs only once in all of history. So, Jesus is the one unique incarnation of God in human form for all time. Moreover, Christianity professes that this incarnation was not temporary. Jesus did not rise from the dead and shed his humanity, returning to his former purely divine status as eternal Son. Mainstream Christianity claims that the incarnation is a permanent state. God has taken on a human form forever, thus linking divinity and humanity in a most profound sense. Needless to say, this raises some real difficulties for the Christian feminist. The fact that there is only one divine incarnation, but that there are two human sexes, means that God had to choose one sex and the choice was male. The traditional explanation is that God became “human/male” in order to save all persons: men and women. Moreover, it is argued that God had to become a man given the cultural and social norms of the day. In other words, if he had become a woman in first century Palestine no-one would have taken him seriously. Of course, that raises the next question “why that particular time in history”?
Byzantine icon of the male Christ
For some thinkers, the fact that God has a resurrected male body and has experienced human life in male form, implies that he is “closer” or more intimately linked to maleness than femaleness, forever. Paul called Jesus “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15) and that image is a human, male face. The implications for Christian language and art are less ambiguous than the Father (who is not incarnate). Jesus is naturally referred to as “he” and is naturally depicted as a human male, usually with long hair and beard (especially since the Byzantine era where beards symbolised masculine strength).
The Holy Spirit
So, the dominant “Father” image in Jesus’ teaching and the Christian belief that (the male) Jesus is the unique incarnation of God in history, reinforce the masculinity of God to a degree greater than in Hinduism, Judaism and (as we shall see) Islam. But what about the third ‘person’ of the Christian Trinity: the Holy Spirit?
The fact that the Spirit is usually depicted in Christian art as a dove is based on the gospel episode of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. All four gospels state that the Spirit descended on Jesus “like a dove” (Mark 1:11; Luke adds “in bodily form” - Luke 3:22). This is somewhat reminiscent of the animal avatars of Vishnu, but Christianity makes no claim that the Spirit is incarnate, least of all as a small bird. In fact, the dominant images of the Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments are more ethereal: wind, breath, fire. In other words, there is less connection with human masculinity and more with neuter, natural forces.
Images of the Holy Spirit: dove and fire-wind
Indeed, the gender of the nouns used for Spirit in different languages is interesting. In Latin “spiritus” is a masculine noun and it is not uncommon for Christians to refer to the Spirit as a “he”. In Greek the word is “pneuma” (from which we derive pneumonia and pneumatic tyres – suggesting air) and it is a neuter noun. Thus, Christians also use the pronoun “it” when speaking of the Spirit. However, in the original Hebrew, as we noted earlier, the word is “ruah” and this is a feminine noun. Thus, feminists argue that there is as much justification to refer to the Spirit as “she” as there is to use “he” or “it”.
It is worth noting that in Gnostic Christianity (an early form of Christianity that was rejected as heretical) the Spirit was depicted as Mother alongside the Father and Son, creating a sort of divine family. Some also point out that the “we” used by God in the Genesis 1 creation account can be interpreted as the masculine-feminine balance within God (Father-Mother) who creates humankind “male and female, in OUR likeness” (Genesis 1:26).
The Cult of Mary
Some think that the dominance of masculine imagery for the Christian God (Father, Son and Spirit) was the reason that Christians looked elsewhere within their religion for feminine forms of divinity, much like the ancient Israelites turned to Astarte and Hindus turn to the Mother Goddess. Given that Jesus had no wife or daughters, the person in whom they found divine maternity, to balance the divine paternity, was naturally his mother: Mary (Miriam in the original Aramaic).
The portrait of Mary varies quite significantly across the four gospels. In Mark and Matthew, she plays only a very minor role and is possibly included among his relatives who thought Jesus was “out of his mind” and needed to be restrained in some way. In response Jesus seems to disown his own kin, calling his disciples his ‘true’ family (Mark 3:21, 31-35). In contrast, Luke depicts Mary as a key person in God’s plan. The angel Gabriel greets her as “highly favoured” (traditionally “full of grace”); she ponders carefully what God is doing in her life; and she is mentioned with the Twelve in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection. Similarly, John gives Mary two key appearances at the start and end of his gospel. The first is when Jesus works his first public miracle (turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana), precisely as a result of her request. The second is at the foot of the cross where a dying Jesus gives her to his favourite (unnamed) disciple to be in a mother-son relationship.
Gabriel appears to Mary (Luke) Mary at the foot of the cross (John)
Her apotheosis continued after the New Testament period, especially in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions (Protestants have always been worried about elevating saints to the same level as Christ). At the Council of Ephesus in 431CE, Mary was officially proclaimed “Mother of God” (literally “Theotokos” or God-bearer). Although this was actually a way of confirming that her son was both divine and human, the effect was to elevate her to a quasi-divine status in popular thinking.
Prayers and devotion to Mary grew over the centuries as Christians preferred her feminine compassion to the masculine sternness of Christ and the mysterious remoteness of the Father. She was considered a mediatrix and intercessor alongside her son. Indeed, Michelangelo’s Last Judgment aptly captures these sentiments; Christ stands in the centre as dispenser of divine justice while Mary pleads with him for clemency upon the world’s sinners.
Mary as Theotokos Michelangelo’s Last Judgment
The Catholic rosary was one of the most popular prayer forms and its main unit was the “Hail Mary” (“Ave Maria” in Latin). There were feast days for her on the calendar and claims of apparitions of Mary to children in Lourdes (1858), Fatima (1917) and Medjurgorie (1980s). A famous hymn sung for centuries reflects this need for a maternal celestial being:
19
Hail, Queen of heaven, the ocean star,
Guide of the wanderer here below, Thrown on life's surge, we claim thy care, Save us from peril and from woe. Mother of Christ, Star of the sea Pray for the wanderer, pray for me. O gentle, chaste, and spotless Maid, We sinners make our prayers through thee; Remind thy Son that He has paid The price of our iniquity. Virgin most pure, Star of the sea, Pray for the sinner, pray for me.
Orthodox and Catholic Christians believe that her body was taken to heaven in a way similar to her son, although it is called her Assumption rather than her Ascension. This was declared a dogma of the Catholic Church in 1950. A century earlier, in 1854, the Catholic Church also declared that she was conceived without original sin and given the title “Immaculate Conception”. This term is often erroneously used to refer to the claim that Jesus was conceived without a human father; technically that is called the “virginal conception” of Jesus.
Today, feminists appreciate the need for Christians to rediscover the softer, maternal side of God, but they recommend that these need to be traits of the Christian God who is not just Father but also Mother. Moreover, elevated ideas about Mary need to be toned down and the historical, human Miriam of Nazareth needs to be rediscovered as a down-to-earth realistic model for women.
JESUS AND WOMEN
Given the importance of the founder in any religious tradition, we now need to look at Jesus’ teachings and practice in terms of women. We have already seen how Buddha Gautama admitted women into the monastic life despite his initial reluctance. So, what were Jesus’ attitudes to women and how did he relate to the actual women in his life?
A celibate Jesus
The first thing we need to note is that the Christian tradition believes that Jesus never married. There have been claims down through the ages that Jesus did have a wife, and possibly children, the most recent example being Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code. The most common hypothesis (adopted by Brown also) is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene or at least had a special affection for her (see also the musical Jesus Christ Superstar). This idea is based on a few verses in later Gnostic gospels, where Mary Magdalene is portrayed as the foremost of Christ’s disciples, even greater than Peter. In particular, one verse from the Gospel of Philip states:
And the companion of [the saviour was Mar]y Ma[gda]lene. [Christ loved] M[ary] more than [all] the disci[ples, and used to] kiss her [often] on her [mouth].
The text is badly fragmented with many missing characters [see brackets] and goes on to portray Mary Magdalene as “barren” and “angelic”. So, it is difficult to know whether these later writings, which elevate Mary Magdalene as the premier disciple in a rather Platonic sense, point to an actual historical relationship with Jesus before his death.
Apart from these verses, there is no reference anywhere else that Jesus had a wife. If the mainstream tradition is correct and Jesus was celibate, then it would have been a rather unusual state for a man of his age, especially one who was a religious leader or rabbi. There were Jewish groups that practised celibacy, the best known of which was the Qumran community that lived on the shores of the Dead Sea. Their writings were rediscovered in the 1940s and are famously known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Their celibacy seems to have been a deliberate choice based on their belief that the world was coming to an end. Many early Christians, including St Paul, also chose a celibate lifestyle since they were convinced that the end was nigh. This may also have been a major factor in Jesus’ decision and he gives a hint of this in one of his sayings:
For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can. (Matthew 19:12)
In other words, for Jesus it seems that the imminent, yet mysterious, Kingdom took priority over all things, including spouse and children. This echoes the decision of Gautama to leave his family for the higher spiritual road of celibacy and indeed for much of Christian history the life of a celibate monk, nun or priest was seen as a more powerful imitation of the founder and an anticipation of heaven. However, unlike Buddhism, Christian marriage was still seen as a holy institution. In the Catholic and Orthodox churches, marriage is listed as one of the seven sacraments (special rituals that allegedly were established by Jesus). St Paul even adapted Hosea’s analogy of marriage from Israel as God’s bride to the Church as Christ’s bride (see Ephesians 5). Moreover, Christianity sees children – sons and daughters - as a blessing from God, not a shackle holding one back from heaven. In fact, for many churches today, a Christian couple must declare that they are at least open to having children for the marriage to be valid.
Jesus’ teachings
Perhaps not surprisingly, we do not find an explicit policy on women’s rights in the teachings of Jesus, but scholars note that his key idea of the Kingdom had certain implications for women. The Kingdom of God, as described by Jesus, is a state in which a merciful God welcomes home those who are marginalized by society. The God of Jesus does not keep a strict account of wrongdoings but, rather, forgives and forgets, perhaps too easily for some. One of Jesus’ sayings, addressed precisely to the self-righteous religious leaders, captures this dangerous, unsettling idea: “Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering before you.” (Matt 21:31). Feminist Christians often note that not only prostitutes but women in general would have welcomed such a message since most women would have found themselves marginalized and victimized by the socio-religious culture of the day.
A specific issue brings out the point more clearly. When asked for his opinion on divorce, Jesus took a surprisingly firm position. Quoting both Genesis creation stories, he stated:
Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning “made them male and female”, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?’ He said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery. (Mark 10:2-12).
Jesus’ answer seems unusually strict given his liberal attitude to many traditional laws and regulations. However, scholars point out that such a stance would have favoured the wife since, according to the Law of Moses, she had no right to initiate divorce, whereas her husband could dispense with her by simply writing up a divorce notice for which no grounds were required. He also seems to be revising the one-sided Torah definition of adultery by stating that it applies to the husband as much as the wife.
Despite Jesus’ firm teaching, most churches today accept the reality of marriage breakdown and allow divorce and remarriage for pastoral reasons. In general, either party may initiate the proceedings and, thus, it is not really a gender issue in Christianity. The Orthodox tradition permits remarriage a second and even a third time, but it is no longer considered a sacrament and the ceremony is more restrained. The Protestant tradition likewise stresses the ideal of permanence but allows for divorce and remarriage within the Church. Even the Catholic Church, which is strictest in its interpretation of the permanence of marriage, has developed a process of “annulment” whereby a Catholic may remarry within the Church if it can be established that an element was lacking in the original marriage that prevented it from being considered a sacrament: for example, psychological maturity or the willingness to have children. Otherwise, Catholics who remarry “outside the Church” may not participate in Holy Communion until the situation is rectified.
Jesus’ actions
If Jesus’ attitude and teachings were favourable to women in theory, how did he treat them in practice? The common response to this question is to cite four episodes in the gospels that seem to indicate that Jesus did practice what he preached. The first incident is related in John 4, where Jesus has a long conversation with a woman at a well. There are three taboos that he disregards: he was alone with a strange woman in public; she was a Samaritan (a neighbouring people greatly despised by Jews); and she was living in an adulterous relationship. Despite the triple taboo, Jesus spends considerable time speaking to her about spiritual matters and what constitutes true “water” (the setting is a well).
The second episode concerns a woman who has suffered from a chronic haemorrhage (presumably menstrual) for 12 years. She has heard about Jesus’ reputation as healer and so, despite the jostling crowd, she reaches out and touches his cloak. As a result, she finds herself cured but Jesus notices something has happened and asks: “who touched me?” Petrified that she would be reprimanded, she nevertheless comes forward and owns up, but Jesus simply replies: ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.’ (Mark 5:34). Again, Jesus does not seem to be concerned about the menstrual taboo and the spiritual contamination that would have occurred when she touched him. As a result, most Christian churches do not view menstruation as a time of impurity requiring separation and a spiritual bath. This is also reflected in the very non-Jewish understanding of the Christian communion service where the wine, which is consumed by participants, is believed to be the blood of Christ. Nevertheless, a degree of fear about menstrual impurity persisted in Christian theology and law until modern times and even today some Orthodox churches instruct female members to avoid receiving communion during their menstrual cycles (see http://www.womenpriests.org/traditio/unclean.asp).
The woman at the well. The woman with the haemorrhage.
The third incident is when a woman, accused of adultery, is brought to Jesus. Commentators note that the gospel writer gives no explanation as to where her male partner is, even though we are told that she was “caught in the act”. According to the Torah, the woman (and the missing man) faces death by stoning (Deut 22:22) but Jesus utters his famous reply: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” and the crowd sheepishly disperses. Jesus then sends her home, effectively saving her life.
The fourth incident is when Jesus is guest at a dinner and a woman enters the room and anoints his head and feet with expensive oil. She also washes his feet with her tears and dries them with her hair. Despite the inappropriateness of a woman touching him in this way and the apparent “waste” of expensive ointment (both of which prompt protests from others present), Jesus supports her actions. The woman’s identity is unclear and has led to much confusion over the centuries. In Mark she is unnamed but the gospel writer says that the story will always be told “in her memory”. In Luke, she is also unnamed but he adds that she is a “sinner”, presumably a prostitute; later tradition erroneously identifies her as Mary Magdalene. In John’s gospel she is named as Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha, and a very close friend and disciple of Jesus (see below).
The woman caught in adultery A woman anoints Jesus
Female Disciples
Mention of Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany raises the question of female disciples. What was the status of the women who followed Jesus and were they subordinate or equal to the men?
The first point we should note is that there were two types of disciple: those who stayed at home and those who travelled with Jesus on the road. The first type was the majority, since most people who recognised Jesus as a prophet or rabbi or miracle worker (or possibly even ‘messiah’) did not abandon their families and careers. There were men and women in the crowds that listened to Jesus preach in public and in the synagogue. There were men and women who came to Jesus seeking healing for themselves or loved ones. Some of these persons are named and among the most significant were the three siblings who lived in Bethany: Lazarus, Martha and Mary. These were not only disciples but close friends of Jesus, whom “he loved” (John 11:5). The sisters Martha and Mary feature in the third and fourth gospels. In Luke, there is a scene where Jesus visits their home.
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so, she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’ (Luke 10:38-42)
Mary and Martha
Martha’s frustration and jealousy are understandable given that she is endeavouring to show hospitality to the guests. However, Jesus’ reply is significant, not just for the two sisters, but women in general. Basically, he is saying that the “better part”, or proper place for a woman, is not in the kitchen but in the sitting room with the men who are discussing Torah.
In John’s gospel both Mary and Martha appear in critical scenes. We have seen above how, according to John, it was Mary who anointed Jesus’ feet. The same gospel has Martha make the inspired proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah (John 11:27). In the Synoptic gospels, this breakthrough recognition and announcement is made by Simon, which prompts Jesus to rename him Peter (from the Greek petros meaning “rock”) and appoint him to a position of leadership within the group (Matthew 16:13-19) – this is a key basis for the Pope’s authority in Catholicism. So, in one sense, the “Peter” of John’s gospel is really Martha. In fact, in John’s gospel it is usually the women, rather than the men, who truly understand who Jesus is and what he is about.
There were also disciples who travelled with Jesus from town to town, joining him in the mission of preaching and healing. Some of these were women and names are provided by the gospel writers.
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources (Luke 8:1-3)
Clearly the itinerant group were a mix of men and women, which would have created a degree of scandal since they, apparently, were not married couples. Moreover, the women seemed to have organized the much-needed material assistance such as food, clothing and accommodation. Some are named - Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna – but there were apparently “many others” who must have been women of means to be able to provide such logistical support.
Later in the gospel, several of these very women are identified as the ones who witness the execution and burial of Jesus (the male disciples fled in fear) and who, on the Sunday morning (the day after Sabbath), found the tomb empty and encountered the risen Jesus. In other words, according to the gospels, the eye-witnesses to the key events at the end of the founder’s life were women. For this reason, the Christian tradition has described Mary Magdalene and her colleagues as “apostola apostolorum” – apostle to the apostles. It was women who narrated the first stories to the men and, in this sense, Mary Magdalene and her female friends are aptly called the “first Christians”. Moreover, the fact that Jewish law did not recognise a woman as an official witness in court leads some scholars to posit that these stories were not fabricated (otherwise male characters would have been chosen).
Christ appears to Mary Magdalene
Despite the stories of Mary Magdalene and the other women being first witnesses to the founder’s resurrection, the tradition eventually left them out of the official list, which Paul provides in his first letter to the Corinthians:
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Cor 15:3-8)
So, who are “the Twelve” that are mentioned here by Paul and were there any women in that group? According to the gospels, Jesus created an inner circle of twelve persons personally selected from his larger group of followers. We are told that the Twelve were given authority to preach and power to heal. We are also given the list of the membership:
So, he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. (Mark 3:16)
The exclusion of women from the Twelve is one of the main arguments still used today by the Catholic Church for not allowing women to be ordained as priests. The reasoning is that if Jesus had wanted women to be priests he would have included women among the Twelve, who are seen as the first “priests” of his new religion. Allegedly only the Twelve were present at his last supper when he commanded them to remember him in the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine. Biblical scholars tend to take a different line, suggesting that the numeral “12” is the key to the meaning of this group. Israel consisted of twelve tribes which can be traced back to the twelve sons of Jacob (with a minor adjustment). So, the number twelve symbolises “all of Israel”, and the establishment of the Twelve by Jesus is a symbol of his aim to establish a new Israel. More importantly, it is pointed out that he could not have included a woman in the group without breaking the symbolism (the twelve sons of Jacob). It is also interesting that the institution of Twelve male leaders disappeared from early Christianity within a couple of decades of Jesus’ death.
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci The Twelve Tribes of Israel
In conclusion, it seems fair to say that, like Buddha Gautama, Jesus was not a 21st Century feminist thinker. He was a man of his time but, within that context, he comes across as one who is sensitive to women’s concerns. He interpreted the Torah in favour of women; he advocated that women should study it along with men; he was not concerned about socio-religious taboos that pertained to women; women were among his closest friends and even among his itinerant band of disciples providing much needed support; and it is quite likely that the title of the “first Christian” properly belongs to a woman.
Video : Handmaids of the Lord (Bettany Hughes)
https://unsw.kanopy.com/video/handmaids-gods
(available via Kanopy in UNSW Library)
Watch from 25:00 until end.
Listen for
· Paul and Thecla
· Role of women in the early spread of Christianity
· Fr Scott Brodeur’s comments about Phoebe
· Augustine’s influence
· Council of Nicea
