Introduction
Women were oppressed, marginalized and dominated in a
male-centered world. In a patriarchal society, men are seen as superior,
stronger and more rational than women and that God created men to dominate. In
the same patriarchal society, women are considered deviant, incomplete,
physically crippled, emotionally dependent, unstable, naturally weaker,
unintelligent, and rationally inferior. In short, patriarchal is a system in
which women experience discrimination, subordination, and physical, mental, and
spiritual violence, as well as abuse and oppression.
We cannot deny or ignore that patriarchy exists, and from a
feminist perspective, patriarchy as a system is intrinsically evil. The Church
Fathers and their views on women were substantially and significantly
influenced by philosophical voices such as Aristotle and Plato, among others.
The uniform teaching of ancient philosophers and rhetoricians was that women
were naturally inferior to men in every respect.
1. Some views of the early church fathers on women
Tertullian of Carthage in the Roman province of Africa
(155-240 AD). Although he has been called the father of Latin Christianity, he
was the son of a centurion in the proconsular service and was a pagan until he
was 40, indulging his passions as he saw fit. He became a Christian after
witnessing the courageous martyrdom of ordinary Christians in the Roman games.
Soon after, he became a priest in a church in Carthage. At some point, he
became disenchanted with the church because of what he saw as compromise and
joined the more ascetic Montanist sect. Yet he is known for defending the
church against heresy (namely Christian Gnosticism), paganism, and persecution.
He is also credited with being the first to use the term "Trinity"
(Latin: trinity) when discussing the nature of God.
John Chrysostom (349-407 AD) was Archbishop of Constantinople in
397-403. He was one of the most prolific writers of the early Christian church,
second only to Augustine. He is the main representative of the exegetical
principles of the School of Antioch, which used a grammatical-historical method
of interpretation in contrast to the allegorical and mystical methods of
interpretation of Origen and the Alexandrian school. Interestingly, Chrysostom
here argued that the subordination of women and the restriction of women to
teach men was a direct result of Eve's sin. He was referring to the curse in
Genesis 3, which he understood to mean that the wife was subject to her
husband, but then extrapolated it to women being subject to men in general. His
statement, "She hasn't been told yet," indicated his understanding
that this was the result of the fall. In other words, he did not claim that
this hierarchical arrangement was based on a created order. He expressed this
explicitly by arguing that women are now subject to men because Eve misused her
equality with Adam.
Ambrose, bishop of Milan from 374-397 AD, is remembered for
baptizing Augustine, successfully combating Arianism (a heresy that denied the
divinity of Jesus Christ), opposing several emperors, and teaching on a wide
range of subjects, including the Old Testament, congregational singing, the
incarnation of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Christian ethics.
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) is considered one of the most
important Church Fathers of the Latin Church because his theological,
anthropological, philosophical and sociological writings influenced the
development of Western Christianity. Even those who have never read any of his
works have most likely heard the following quote from Confessions: “You made us
for yourself, Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you. I
heard it just three months ago in the introductory Sunday school lesson on
Ecclesiastes.
If it were not that woman was created to be man's helper specifically
for the production of children, then why was she created as a 'helper' (Gen
2:18)? Was it so she could work the land with him? No, because there was no
such job yet for which he needed a helper, and even if he did require such a
job, a man would be a better helper. It can also be assumed that the reason for
her creation as a helper had something to do with the company she could provide
the man if he was perhaps bored with his solitude. But for company and
conversation, how much more pleasant is it for two male friends to live
together than for a man and a woman.
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 Advertisement) is considered one of the
most noteworthy Christian masterminds and logicians in history. In his
masterpiece Summa Theological he completed the classical systematization of
Latin theology. Bible teachers say these words often and with great respect. In
the same lesson on Ecclesiastes, the Sunday school teacher who quoted Augustine
(above) also quoted from the Summa Theological: “It is impossible for any
created good to constitute human happiness... This is not to be found in any
creature but in God Himself. The Summa remains required reading for many
seminary students in the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and most
Protestant denominations. For this reason, he remains very influential.
As far as individual nature is concerned, the woman is
defective and misbegotten, for the active force in the male seed tends to
produce the perfect form in the male sex; while the production of woman arises
from a defect in the active power, or from some material indisposition, or even
from some external influence; such as the south wind, which is moist, as the
Philosopher observes. On the other hand, as regards human nature in general,
woman is not wrongly begotten, but is included in the design of nature as it
tends to the work of generation. Now the general design of nature depends upon
God, who is the universal Author of nature. Therefore, when creating nature,
God created not only man, but also woman.[1]
What role did women play in the early days of the church?
i. As leaders and evangelists in house churches, women played a
vital role in early Christianity. House churches, the early church's primary
channels of sustainability, were funded and led by women such as Lydia (Acts
16:11-40), Nympha (Col. 4:15), and Mary, the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12).
In 1 Thess. 5:12 Paul indicates that such house church leaders had significant
authority when he tells his readers to be thankful for those who "care for
you in the Lord." In both Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures, women did not
always have equal access or rights in the public sphere, so the home was the
most socially acceptable and supported place for women to speak, teach, and
take responsibility. It was in this household context that the Church was
brought up to childhood.
ii. As the Church gained legal status in Roman society, it became
increasingly subservient to the patriarchal ideology of the dominant culture.
Women who no longer nurtured the church in their homes were increasingly
marginalized—even banned from church grounds if they happened to be
menstruating (HS. 16). As the church adopted more hierarchical structures in
the 4th century, positions at the top became open only to men, as female
bishops or presbyters would have gone against Roman gender ideology.
Women are often not seen as wives (Romans 16; Philippians 4:2),
apostles (Romans 16:7), and prophets (Acts 21:9; Revelation 2:20) and are often
forced to find and fulfill other roles. . As Barbara MachHaffie notes,
"Most historians agree that women played a decisive role in the creation
of the Church, and women played a much more decisive role in the first
generation of Christianity than in subsequent centuries." The role is more
important. [2]
Women in the Age of the Church Fathers
The Church Fathers' view of women and what it means to be a woman
was influenced by the anthropology of late antiquity and the common
Judeo-Christian tradition. Despite the fact that women were considered the
weaker sex, there were women who followed their own unique path and did not
conform to the Church's ideal of womanhood.
During the period of the Church Fathers, theological writings and
influence of women were very limited. Nevertheless, women significantly
influenced the activities of priests, bishops, church teachers, brothers,
husbands, fathers and male contemporaries. The women of the ancient church had
few opportunities to make their voices heard; however, they lived the gospel
message in such a radical way that male theologians could not close their eyes
and through their theological works even the deaf were given a voice.
While the voices of these Christian women are heard today only
through the writings of male authors, they should not be overlooked or ignored.
Their significance should not be relegated to the darkness of history, but
challenge us today. Church mothers cannot be spoken of in the same sense as
church fathers. There is not and will not be a discipline called
"patristics" if patristics is understood only as a parallel to
patristics. Such discipline will appear only when our eyes are opened to those
women who have left their mark on the Church in their own way and thus deserve
the title of Mothers of the Church.[3]
Conclusion
While Tertullian in his work On the Apparel of Women (1, 1-2)
spoke of women as "the devil's gate" (1, 1-2), it is not unusual to
find many other enthusiastic expressions regarding women (Forrester, 1975: 83
-101). consists of two consubstantial forms, namely masculine and feminine.
These, in Tertullian's view, are fundamentally identical in their humanity.
Despite Tertullian's belief that women are often depraved and as narcissistic
as he describes, he is fully aware that they are nevertheless God's creation.
Gender differences are largely the result of a process of cultural conditioning
that has taken place over many centuries. When we consider what role women
should play in churches today, we cannot afford to base our decisions on past
practices that were based on incongruent evidence based on thinking that
prevailed in a very unique and different sociocultural context. Nor can we
afford to rely too much on tradition, although it is an important substratum on
which to build a building for the Lord. The debate about the role of women in
the church has not stopped. For those who see faith as a critical element of
life, this debate creates many tensions on a number of levels including
spiritual, existential and intellectual. Women cannot forever be condemned as
women of lesser value in ecclesiastical matters, although there are many
aspects against ordination as such that cannot be refuted if biblical exegesis
is true in itself. However, a preliminary examination of Tertullian's treatises
points to a conclusion that operates in a distinctly African setting, which
immediately makes it difficult for us to compare his beliefs with those of
other early church fathers. Tertullian's conclusions require closer examination
and a more extensive discursive analysis, which should consider all his texts
in much more detail.
[1]Judy Wu Dominick, How Some of the Early Church Fathers’ Views on Women Affect Us Today, hppts://lifeconsiderd.com/.Accessed on 09.08.21.
[2] Michael Wiltshire,”More than Footnotes Part 1:Women in Early Church History.”https://juniaproject.com/more-than-footnotes-part-1-women-early-church/.Accessed on 09.08.21.
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