The Role of Women in the Early Church \\u2013 Part 3<\\/strong><\\/h2>\\n Four Women in \"Mosaic with lamb in Santa Prassede\" in Rome.<\\/a> Wikimedia: Livioandronico2013 \[2015\] \\u2013 (left to right) Theodora, the Virgin Mary, St Praxedes and St Pudentiana<\\/figcaption><\\/figure>After seeing how Jesus welcomed women into His ministry, we now turn to the Apostle Paul. Was Paul against women in leadership? A close look might surprise you. Paul was a controversial figure in the primitive church. He says that he did not receive his gospel from men \\u2013 specifically not<\\/strong> from the apostles in Jerusalem. \[Galatians<\\/em> 1:1; 1:11-12<\\/a>\]\\n** *\* **Did Paul welcome women into his orbit?<\\/p>\\n \\u2013 Women in the Book of Acts \\u2013<\\/em><\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n**** *\* ****My first thought is to look at Luke\\u2019s account of Paul in the Book of Acts<\\/em>. This is a quick listing of the women (some are named, others not) shown to be in Paul\\u2019s orbit according to the book of Acts<\\/em>:<\\/p>\\n \\na group of women in Philippi \\u2013 16:13<\\/li>\\nLydia, a new convert, invited Paul to stay in her home \\u2013 16:14,15<\\/li>\\nthe \\u201cchurch\\u201d met at Lydia\\u2019s house \\u2013 16:40<\\/li>\\n\\u201cquite a few\\u201d leading women responded in Thessalonica \\u2013 17:4<\\/li>\\nin Berea \\u201cprominent Greek women\\u201d believed \\u2013 17:12\\u00a0 \[-1-<\\/a>\]<\\/li>\\nDamaris, a Greek woman in Athens who believed \\u2013 17:34<\\/li>\\n\\u201cand a number of others,\\u201d in 17:34 NIV seems to point to women<\\/li>\\nPriscilla (wife of Aquila) is introduced \\u2013 18:2<\\/li>\\nthe four daughters of Philip \\u2013 21:9<\\/li>\\n<\\/ul>\\n***** *\* *****So we see in Acts <\\/em>that Luke presents many women in Paul\\u2019s orbit.<\\/p>\\n \\u2013 The Letters of Paul \\u2013<\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n Philip Payne, \"Man and Woman, One in Christ\" Amazon: \\u201cMan and Woman\\u201d<\\/figcaption><\\/figure>\\n Now we need to look at the women listed as leaders of some kind in the letters of Paul. Rather than comb through the Pauline letters on my own, I have used Philip Payne\\u2019s excellent work, Man and Woman, One in Christ.<\\/em> \[-2-<\\/a>\]\\n<\\/p> \\nPriscilla, wife of Aquila, is most often mentioned first \\u2013 Acts <\\/em>18 (4x);******* *******\\nRom <\\/em>16:3; 1 Cor <\\/em>16:9; 2 Tim <\\/em>4:19 \[-3-<\\/a>\]<\\/li>\\n<\\/ul>\\n******* *\* *******In Romans <\\/em>16 Paul greets over 20 people, 12 of which are cited with certain terms that distinguish them as leaders. Seven of the 12 are women.<\\/p>\\n \\nPhoebe is listed as a \\u201cdeacon\\u201d \\u2013 Rom <\\/em>16:1<\\/li>\\nJunia, mentioned as an apostle \\u2013 Rom <\\/em>16:7<\\/li>\\n<\\/ul>\\n******* *\* *******\\u00a0<\\/p>\\n There is good scholarship showing that Paul refers to Junia as an \\u201capostle.\\u201d\\u00a0\[-4-<\\/a>\]\\n Eldon Epp, \"Junia: The First Woman Apostle\" \[2005\] Amazon: Epp, \\u201cJunia\\u201d<\\/figcaption><\\/figure>\\n<\\/p>\\nMary, Rom <\\/em>16:6; Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis, Rom <\\/em>16:12 \\u2013 all four are cited by Paul as women who \\u201cworked hard\\u201d for the gospel.******* \\nThis Greek term \[kopiao\] is used several times by Paul describing his own labor: \\n1 Cor <\\/em>4:12; Gal <\\/em>4:11; and especially 1 Thess <\\/em>5:12-13. \[Payne, p.67\]<\\/li>\\n<\\/ul>\\n *\* *******This list from the other Pauline letters continues:<\\/p>\\n \\nEuodia and Syntyche who \\u201ccontended at \[Paul\\u2019s\] side in the cause of the gospel,\\u201d Phil <\\/em>4:1-2<\\/li>\\nNympha \[Col<\\/em> 4:15\] who hosted the church in her house.<\\/li>\\n<\\/ul>\\n******* *\* *******This is a list of ten women in Paul\\u2019s orbit. Add the three named women in Acts <\\/em>along with the references to \\u201cquite a few\\u201d and \\u201ca number of others\\u201d that are not named. Like we see with Jesus, Paul had many important women in his orbit.<\\/p>\\n \\u2013 Paul\\u2019s Gospel Principles \\u2013<\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n********* *\* The historical problem with Paul\\u2019s witness is found in 3-4 thorny passages that seem to be \\u201canti-women\\u201d in their presentation. These passages have been used through Christian history to support a negative (or at least \\u201climited\\u201d) view of women\\u2019s involvement in church leadership.<\\/p>\\n *\* *********Dealing with these specific passages is beyond the scope of this series. In the next section I will offer brief explanation for these difficult Pauline passages.\\u00a0 Philip Payne, Man and Woman<\\/em> deals with all of these thorny Pauline passages. \\u00a0Payne\\u2019s work is a good place to start. <\\/em>His text is 506 pages filled with excellent scholarly sources and footnotes.<\\/p>\\n All are One in Christ Jesus<\\/strong><\\/h4>\\n*********** *\* ***********Perhaps the most revolutionary principle taught by Paul (and implied by Jesus) is that \\u201call are one in Christ.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female<\\/strong>, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.\\u00a0\\u00a0Galatians <\\/em>3:28<\\/a><\\/div>\\n <\\/div>\\n*********** *\* \\u00a0<\\/p>\\n *\* ***********Although the \\u201cmale and female\\u201d phrase is only found one time, it is implied in several other Pauline passages. Consider the first part of this saying: \\u201cneither Jew nor Gentile.\\u201d This, of course, is what first brought Paul into conflict with some of the other apostolic leadership \\u2013 he would not bend on the Jew\\/Gentile stance before God. He stood his ground in the face of persecution. Gentiles should not be circumcised, nor made to follow the food laws laid out at the Jerusalem Council \[Acts <\\/em>15\]. Paul did not think Gentiles should be required to follow the Law of Moses:<\\/p>\\n You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.\\u00a0 Galatians <\\/em>5:4<\\/a><\\/div>\\n <\\/div>\\n*********** *\* ***********Paul\\u2019s clear statement <\\/strong>in Galatians <\\/em>3:28 lays the foundation of equality \\u2013\\u00a0 first with religion, next with social status (slave\\/free), then with respect to gender (male\\/female).<\\/p>\\n More Examples of Equality<\\/strong><\\/h4>\\n************* *\* *************Here are a few other texts worth looking at:<\\/p>\\n In the thorny passage on headship Paul makes it clear that \\u201cwoman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.\\u201d \\u00a01 Corinthians <\\/em>11:8-12<\\/a><\\/p>\\n In the passage on marriage where Paul states \\u201cWives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord\\u201d \[Ephesians<\\/em> 5:22<\\/a>\], the preceding verse states, \\u201cSubmit to one another<\\/em> out of reverence for Christ.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n This is one example of around 20 uses by Paul of the Greek term allelous<\\/em> (\\u201cone another\\u201d) in various forms:\\u00a0 \\u201clove one another<\\/em>,\\u201d \\u201cforgive one another<\\/em>,\\u201d \\u201chonor one another<\\/em>.\\u201d All of these \\u201cone another\\u201d admonitions are addressed to ALL Christians, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, men and women.<\\/p>\\n To illustrate the statement above, 1 Corinthians <\\/em>12:12-30 Paul urges that the body of Christ is \\u201cone\\u201d even though made up of \\u201cmany parts,\\u201d v12. He uses Jew\\/Gentile, slave\\/free in v13. While Paul does NOT use \\u201cmale\\/female\\u201d it is clear that this is implied. Allelous <\\/em>is also implied in this passage, yet is not found.<\\/p>\\n The Logic of Equality*************** \\n<\\/strong><\\/h4>\\n *\* Typically Christianity does not support a theology that demands women must do something different or extra to come into faith. I am sure there have been some examples of departing from this stance, but I have never heard anyone suggest that women must do something different in order to be baptized, or to attend church.<\\/p>\\n *\* I have never heard anyone say or imply that God loves men more or differently, or that women should not be taught to read and study the scriptures (which was a first century Jewish practice). Can women be filled with the Holy Spirit? Can they share their testimony with a male or can they only share their faith with other women and children? The priesthood of believers? Is this only for men?<\\/p>\\n *\* ***************We assume equality with respect to salvation, baptism and participation of all other aspects of \\u201ccommunity.\\u201d Why would we then assume that women MUST be excluded from various roles in leadership?<\\/p>\\n There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female<\\/strong>, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.\\u00a0\\u00a0Galatians <\\/em>3:28<\\/div>\\nAll are One in Christ Jesus.<\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n***************** *\* \\u00a0<\\/strong><\\/p>\\n *\* *****************\\u00a0<\\/strong><\\/p>\\n**** NOTES:<\\/strong><\\/p>\\n\[<\\/a>-1-\]\\u00a0\\u201cThat the high-status women are mentioned first probably suggests that there were more of them that converted than men.\\u201d The Acts of the Apostles<\\/em>: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary<\\/em>, Witherington, Ben \[Eerdmans 1998\], p.509n171. In this footnote (continued on p.510) Witherington states, \\u201cThe antifeminist tendency in D is seen here\\u2026\\u201d This \\u201cantifeminist tendency\\u201d of the Western \\u201cD\\u201d manuscript tradition (this \\u201cwestern\\u201d text family is considered to be one of the oldest manuscript families) has been clearly shown by several scholars and is going to come up again in this whole discussion. See Witherington, Ben, \\u201cThe Anti-Feminist Tendencies of the \\u2018Western\\u2019 Text in Acts.\\u201d Journal of Biblical Literature<\\/em>, Vol. 103, No.1 (1984), pp.82\\u201384. Also online: JSTOR<\\/em>, https:\\/\\/doi.org\\/10.2307\\/3260315<\\/a>. \[Look up other articles on the western text\]\\n \\u00a0<\\/p>\\n\[<\\/a>-2-\] Payne, Philip, Man and Woman, One in Christ<\\/em>, (Zondervan 2009), pp.61-68. This is an excellent text that can be used to research many aspects of Pauline literature, especially the thorny texts that deal with women.\\n \\u00a0<\\/p>\\n\[<\\/a>-3-\] It is not easy to pass by Priscilla. She is a very important player in Paul\\u2019s ministry. There will be more on Priscilla in the remainder of this series. See Payne, Man and Woman<\\/em>, p. 64. Also, Bauckham, Richard, Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels<\\/em> (Eerdmans 2002), p.213.\\n \\u00a0<\\/p>\\n\[<\\/a>-4-\] See Payne, pp.65-67 especially p.65n17 where he cites Eldon J. Epp\\u2019s \\u201cmasterful study\\u201d Junia: The First Woman Apostle <\\/em>(Fortress 2005). Epp shows that for the first thousand years it was not doubted that Junia was indeed a woman (Epp,\\u00a0Junia<\\/em>, p.34).\\u00a0 Also see Bauckham, Gospel Women<\\/em>, pp.165-186. On the diminishment of Prisca see, \\u201cIs There an \\u2018Anti-Priscan\\u2019 Tendency in the Manuscripts? Some Textual Problems with Prisca and Aquila,\\u201d Kurek-Chomycz, Dominika A., JBL Vol. 125, No. 1 (Spring, 2006), pp. 107-128. Kurek-Chomycz also points out the Western \\u201cD\\u201d MSS problems cited above.\\n<\\/body><\\/html>\\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Role of Women in the Early Church \\u2013 Part 3 After seeing how Jesus welcomed women into His ministry, we now turn to the Apostle Paul. Was Paul against women in leadership? A close look might surprise you. Paul was a controversial figure in the primitive church. 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{"id":1067,"date":"2023-11-08T10:03:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T16:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/?p=1067"},"modified":"2023-11-23T07:48:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T13:48:49","slug":"the-women-in-the-orbit-of-the-apostle-paul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/2023\/11\/the-women-in-the-orbit-of-the-apostle-paul\/","title":{"rendered":"The Women in the Orbit of the Apostle Paul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Role of Women in the Early Church \u2013 Part 3<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/a> Wikimedia: Livioandronico2013 [2015] \u2013 (left to right) Theodora, the Virgin Mary, St Praxedes and St Pudentiana<\/figcaption><\/figure>After seeing how Jesus welcomed women into His ministry, we now turn to the Apostle Paul. Was Paul against women in leadership? A close look might surprise you. Paul was a controversial figure in the primitive church. He says that he did not receive his gospel from men \u2013 specifically not<\/strong> from the apostles in Jerusalem. [Galatians<\/em> 1:1; 1:11-12<\/a>]\n ***Did Paul welcome women into his orbit?<\/p>\n* \u2013 Women in the Book of Acts \u2013<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n My first thought is to look at Luke\u2019s account of Paul in the Book of Acts<\/em>. This is a quick listing of the women (some are named, others not) shown to be in Paul\u2019s orbit according to the book of Acts<\/em>:<\/p>\n \na group of women in Philippi \u2013 16:13<\/li>\nLydia, a new convert, invited Paul to stay in her home \u2013 16:14,15<\/li>\nthe \u201cchurch\u201d met at Lydia\u2019s house \u2013 16:40<\/li>\n\u201cquite a few\u201d leading women responded in Thessalonica \u2013 17:4<\/li>\nin Berea \u201cprominent Greek women\u201d believed \u2013 17:12\u00a0 [-1-<\/a>]<\/li>\nDamaris, a Greek woman in Athens who believed \u2013 17:34<\/li>\n\u201cand a number of others,\u201d in 17:34 NIV seems to point to women<\/li>\nPriscilla (wife of Aquila) is introduced \u2013 18:2<\/li>\nthe four daughters of Philip \u2013 21:9<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n* So we see in Acts <\/em>that Luke presents many women in Paul\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Letters of Paul \u2013<\/strong><\/h3>\n Amazon: \u201cMan and Woman\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Now we need to look at the women listed as leaders of some kind in the letters of Paul. Rather than comb through the Pauline letters on my own, I have used Philip Payne\u2019s excellent work, Man and Woman, One in Christ.<\/em> [-2-<\/a>]\n<\/p> \nPriscilla, wife of Aquila, is most often mentioned first \u2013 Acts <\/em>18 (4x); \nRom <\/em>16:3; 1 Cor <\/em>16:9; 2 Tim <\/em>4:19 [-3-<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n ***In Romans <\/em>16 Paul greets over 20 people, 12 of which are cited with certain terms that distinguish them as leaders. Seven of the 12 are women.<\/p>\n \nPhoebe is listed as a \u201cdeacon\u201d \u2013 Rom <\/em>16:1<\/li>\nJunia, mentioned as an apostle \u2013 Rom <\/em>16:7<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n* \u00a0<\/p>\n There is good scholarship showing that Paul refers to Junia as an \u201capostle.\u201d\u00a0[-4-<\/a>]\n Amazon: Epp, \u201cJunia\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\nMary, Rom <\/em>16:6; Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis, Rom <\/em>16:12 \u2013 all four are cited by Paul as women who \u201cworked hard\u201d for the gospel. \nThis Greek term [kopiao] is used several times by Paul describing his own labor: \n1 Cor <\/em>4:12; Gal <\/em>4:11; and especially 1 Thess <\/em>5:12-13. [Payne, p.67]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n This list from the other Pauline letters continues:<\/p>\n \nEuodia and Syntyche who \u201ccontended at [Paul\u2019s] side in the cause of the gospel,\u201d Phil <\/em>4:1-2<\/li>\nNympha [Col<\/em> 4:15] who hosted the church in her house.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n ***This is a list of ten women in Paul\u2019s orbit. Add the three named women in Acts <\/em>along with the references to \u201cquite a few\u201d and \u201ca number of others\u201d that are not named. Like we see with Jesus, Paul had many important women in his orbit.<\/p>\n \u2013 Paul\u2019s Gospel Principles \u2013<\/strong><\/h3>\n* The historical problem with Paul\u2019s witness is found in 3-4 thorny passages that seem to be \u201canti-women\u201d in their presentation. These passages have been used through Christian history to support a negative (or at least \u201climited\u201d) view of women\u2019s involvement in church leadership.<\/p>\n *Dealing with these specific passages is beyond the scope of this series. In the next section I will offer brief explanation for these difficult Pauline passages.\u00a0 Philip Payne, Man and Woman<\/em> deals with all of these thorny Pauline passages. \u00a0Payne\u2019s work is a good place to start. <\/em>His text is 506 pages filled with excellent scholarly sources and footnotes.<\/p>\n All are One in Christ Jesus<\/strong><\/h4>\n*** Perhaps the most revolutionary principle taught by Paul (and implied by Jesus) is that \u201call are one in Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female<\/strong>, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Galatians <\/em>3:28<\/a><\/div>\n <\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Although the \u201cmale and female\u201d phrase is only found one time, it is implied in several other Pauline passages. Consider the first part of this saying: \u201cneither Jew nor Gentile.\u201d This, of course, is what first brought Paul into conflict with some of the other apostolic leadership \u2013 he would not bend on the Jew\/Gentile stance before God. He stood his ground in the face of persecution. Gentiles should not be circumcised, nor made to follow the food laws laid out at the Jerusalem Council [Acts <\/em>15]. Paul did not think Gentiles should be required to follow the Law of Moses:<\/p>\n You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.\u00a0 Galatians <\/em>5:4<\/a><\/div>\n <\/div>\n Paul\u2019s clear statement <\/strong>in Galatians <\/em>3:28 lays the foundation of equality \u2013\u00a0 first with religion, next with social status (slave\/free), then with respect to gender (male\/female).<\/p>\n More Examples of Equality<\/strong><\/h4>\n *Here are a few other texts worth looking at:<\/p>\n In the thorny passage on headship Paul makes it clear that \u201cwoman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.\u201d \u00a01 Corinthians <\/em>11:8-12<\/a><\/p>\n In the passage on marriage where Paul states \u201cWives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord\u201d [Ephesians<\/em> 5:22<\/a>], the preceding verse states, \u201cSubmit to one another<\/em> out of reverence for Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n This is one example of around 20 uses by Paul of the Greek term allelous<\/em> (\u201cone another\u201d) in various forms:\u00a0 \u201clove one another<\/em>,\u201d \u201cforgive one another<\/em>,\u201d \u201chonor one another<\/em>.\u201d All of these \u201cone another\u201d admonitions are addressed to ALL Christians, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, men and women.<\/p>\n To illustrate the statement above, 1 Corinthians <\/em>12:12-30 Paul urges that the body of Christ is \u201cone\u201d even though made up of \u201cmany parts,\u201d v12. He uses Jew\/Gentile, slave\/free in v13. While Paul does NOT use \u201cmale\/female\u201d it is clear that this is implied. Allelous <\/em>is also implied in this passage, yet is not found.<\/p>\n The Logic of Equality*** \n<\/strong><\/h4>\n Typically Christianity does not support a theology that demands women must do something different or extra to come into faith. I am sure there have been some examples of departing from this stance, but I have never heard anyone suggest that women must do something different in order to be baptized, or to attend church.<\/p>\n I have never heard anyone say or imply that God loves men more or differently, or that women should not be taught to read and study the scriptures (which was a first century Jewish practice). Can women be filled with the Holy Spirit? Can they share their testimony with a male or can they only share their faith with other women and children? The priesthood of believers? Is this only for men?<\/p>\n We assume equality with respect to salvation, baptism and participation of all other aspects of \u201ccommunity.\u201d Why would we then assume that women MUST be excluded from various roles in leadership?<\/p>\n There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female<\/strong>, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Galatians <\/em>3:28<\/div>\nAll are One in Christ Jesus.<\/strong><\/h3>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n *****\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n NOTES:<\/strong><\/p>\n[<\/a>-1-]\u00a0\u201cThat the high-status women are mentioned first probably suggests that there were more of them that converted than men.\u201d The Acts of the Apostles<\/em>: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary<\/em>, Witherington, Ben [Eerdmans 1998], p.509n171. In this footnote (continued on p.510) Witherington states, \u201cThe antifeminist tendency in D is seen here\u2026\u201d This \u201cantifeminist tendency\u201d of the Western \u201cD\u201d manuscript tradition (this \u201cwestern\u201d text family is considered to be one of the oldest manuscript families) has been clearly shown by several scholars and is going to come up again in this whole discussion. See Witherington, Ben, \u201cThe Anti-Feminist Tendencies of the \u2018Western\u2019 Text in Acts.\u201d Journal of Biblical Literature<\/em>, Vol. 103, No.1 (1984), pp.82\u201384. Also online: JSTOR<\/em>, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/3260315<\/a>. [Look up other articles on the western text]\n \u00a0<\/p>\n[<\/a>-2-] Payne, Philip, Man and Woman, One in Christ<\/em>, (Zondervan 2009), pp.61-68. This is an excellent text that can be used to research many aspects of Pauline literature, especially the thorny texts that deal with women.\n \u00a0<\/p>\n[<\/a>-3-] It is not easy to pass by Priscilla. She is a very important player in Paul\u2019s ministry. There will be more on Priscilla in the remainder of this series. See Payne, Man and Woman<\/em>, p. 64. Also, Bauckham, Richard, Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels<\/em> (Eerdmans 2002), p.213.\n \u00a0<\/p>\n[<\/a>-4-] See Payne, pp.65-67 especially p.65n17 where he cites Eldon J. Epp\u2019s \u201cmasterful study\u201d Junia: The First Woman Apostle <\/em>(Fortress 2005). Epp shows that for the first thousand years it was not doubted that Junia was indeed a woman (Epp,\u00a0Junia<\/em>, p.34).\u00a0 Also see Bauckham, Gospel Women<\/em>, pp.165-186. On the diminishment of Prisca see, \u201cIs There an \u2018Anti-Priscan\u2019 Tendency in the Manuscripts? Some Textual Problems with Prisca and Aquila,\u201d Kurek-Chomycz, Dominika A., JBL Vol. 125, No. 1 (Spring, 2006), pp. 107-128. Kurek-Chomycz also points out the Western \u201cD\u201d MSS problems cited above.\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Role of Women in the Early Church \u2013 Part 3 After seeing how Jesus welcomed women into His ministry, we now turn to the Apostle Paul. Was Paul against women in leadership? A close look might surprise you. Paul was a controversial figure in the primitive church. 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How Christian faith was practiced in the first three centuries can sometimes help us understand the NT.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/#\/schema\/person\/1a8ecd509fbfcb5375b8d15a31854b9a","name":"Al Baker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/046a2fecc7116cc7adaedc54d1567b92?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/046a2fecc7116cc7adaedc54d1567b92?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Al Baker"},"description":"Al Baker has served on multiple short-term missions to South America, served 20+ years as a pastor (university and local church) and was an associate professor of Philosophy and Religion at Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh NC. In 2005 he started churchhistory101.com, surpassing 1 million unique visitors in 2016. On that site are several articles on different aspects of early Christianity and two eBooks: \"A Concise History of the Christian Church: From the Apostles to the Council of Nicea 325 A.D.\" and \"Christians, War and Military Service: From the New Testament to Emperor Constantine.\"","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Church-History-101\/100063657422939\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCffo841XoWj6SDNf4-MJVLA"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/author\/albaker\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4968"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/earlychristianhistorymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}