One of the key questions in the whole men/women in leadership debate is the role of women in the early church. Here's a good summary of the role of women in hosting churches in Acts. I suspect if I chased this by examining the role of synagogue hosts and so on, it might come to some interesting conclusions.
That is where they meet, the Upper Room, scene of the Last Supper, scene of the Resurrection appearances when the doors were shut, scene now of their waiting for the Spirit. Whose is it? The clue lies in Acts 12, where St. Peter, strangely freed from Herod's prison, knows at whose house they will be gathered for prayer. He knocks, startles the gate-girl Rhoda. It was "the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark"-- the young man who was to write the earliest of the gospels. The first meeting place of any Christian congregation was the home of a woman in Jerusalem.
Something of the sort happens everywhere. The church in Caesarea centres upon Philip the Evangelist. "Now this man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." ... Joppa church depends on Tabitha, "a woman full of good works and almsdeeds which she did." Follow St. Paul about the Mediterranean. He crosses to Europe because he dreams of a man from Macedonia who cries, "Come over and help us." But when he lands at Philippi it is not a man, but a woman. "Lydia was baptized and her household"--his first convert in Europe, a woman.
Everywhere women are the most notable of the converts, often the only ones who believe. In Thessalonica there are "of the chief women not a few;" Beroea, "Greek women of honourable estate;" Athens, only two names, one of them, Damaris, a woman. At Corinth Priscilla and Aquila come into the story, the pair always mentioned together, and four times out of the six with the wife's name first, a thing undreamed of in the first century. Why? Because she counted for more in church affairs--hostess of the church in her houses in Corinth, Ephesus and Rome, chief instructress of Apollos the missionary, intimate of the greatest missionary of all, St. Paul. Six times in the Epistles greetings are sent to a house-church, and in five cases the church is linked with a woman's name.
John Foster (1898-1973), Five Minutes a Saint, Richmond: John Knox Press, 1963, p. 39
Hat tip to CQOD
9 comments:
Could you explain (briefly) what a synagogue host is Custard and its significance in this context?
I thought I remembered that there was a role known as "synagogue host" where the Jewish community didn't own its own building, and that they had some kind of leadership role.
However, I can't now find anything on it, so I might have been making it up.
Interesting post, Custard, but surely it doesn't follow from someone's having a hosting role that the person has a role of spiritual leadership as well. In my church, one can host a homegroup without being its leader . . . .
That's true Daniel, but it's interesting to ask the question of why if there was a male spiritual leader of each of these churches, he isn't named while the woman is in each case - if, as one might have thought, he was the one with overall responsibility for the wellbeing of that particular church. Also, it's clear that Priscilla's role in the church goes far beyond making the tea and passing the biscuits (vital a ministry as that is!). I don't think there is a strong case to be made for exclusive female leadership from the arguments in this quotation - but it strikes me that there is a clear demonstration of women heavily involved in church leadership, working alongside the men as equal partners.
In the NT, it seems that the normal (but not universal) pattern for local church leadership is that it should be plural. So Titus is in overall charge of the church in Crete (for example), but has the job of appointing elders (plural) in every town church.
The debate about women in ministry often centres on whether women were allowed to be elders - I think that once you recognise that leadership is normally plural, it's pretty clear that Priscilla was at least equivalent to an elder (whether or not she was formally described as such), and that a female host (like Lydia 1) would have had some kind of "authority" within the church.
Should a woman be overall leader of a church? - different question.
Thanks for the comments, Lydia2 and Custard.
I certainly agree that Priscilla's role in the church goes far beyond making the tea and passing the biscuits, but I don't see the evidence that she was an elder of equal authority to an elder. And surely the evidence on the other side (1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:33-35) is decisive?d
Hmmm...
1 Cor 14 is a very odd place for an instruction about women leadership, and the use of "laleo" rather than suggests it's either a speaking in tongues (as v27) reference or a "nattering" one (which fits with v35). I've certainly been to churches where women need to be told not to natter during the services...
In any case, it clearly doesn't mean "speak" because of 1 Cor 11:5. Fee also makes a strong case that 14:33-35 is a non-original textual insertion.
On 1 Tim 2 - Daniel, you did classics at Oxford IIRC. What does authentein mean in koine? Or in Attic for that matter?
I tend to weigh everything up there and conclude that to be on the safe side I'd prefer it if a woman wasn't the senior leader of a church, but I'd rather it was a woman who loved Jesus and had the foggiest about how to lead a church than a man who didn't.
I actually don't think I've changed my position much since writing this piece.
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