Christians say that God is not to be described in terms of sex, yet they use a variety of masculine terms to describe God (Pagels). The Mother Mary is recognized for being the mother of Jesus Christ. However she is not believed to be divine in her own right (Pagels). It is almost as if Mary was important because she carried the son of God, but less important than God or Jesus due to the fact that she is still a women. Orthodox Christians of the time viewed women in a primitive manner.
In the article by Rose Solari titled “In Her Own Image”, she talks about the idea that woman should be allowed to be heads, leaders, priests, or pastors of their church (Solari 19-27) . However, the bible states in many different scriptures or verses that women should not. In the Lutheran Missouri Synod denomination of Christianity, they believe that God has many places in the bible that go against the women being religious leaders above men. These examples are more popularly found in the New Testament which is odd because that is where most people look for a more realistic way of living in this generation. However, the examples are found throughout.
“It is clear that women were seen as in no way inferior to their male counterparts in the church.”[3] One woman, Phoebe, was given the responsibility of carrying his letter to Rome, was a minister in the church, and lastly Paul’s own patron. Women, in short, appeared to have played a significant role in the churches of Paul’s day. His message to the Galatians reflects Jesus’ proclamation that there would be equality of men and women in the coming kingdom (Galatians 3:27-28). Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 14 says that it is shameful for women to speak in church. Ehrman tries to make the case that the Bible is not reliable because Paul contradicts himself in the role of women in the church, and thus concludes that one of the books is not actually written by Paul but is actually a scribal addition.
“What about Mary, the mother of Jesus? Or Mary Magdala, who preached to the apostles?” (Viewpoints). The bible never says anything about women being banned from religious governance. People like, “Catholic scholars see no reason to exclude women. By all evidence available to me, I estimate that at least three-quarters of Catholic theologians disagree with the official position held out by the Vatican” (Viewpoints).
On the other hand, I disagree with her when she says that people don’t go to church to find God. To someone who doesn’t have a relationship with God, they’re going to have to come to church with an open mind and heart. If they came to church with no God in their heart, then going to church would be sort of pointless. “God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the
When speaking of the matter in an article she wrote called “Changing the Paradigms”, she explained, “ Although I had completed two advanced theological degrees summa cum laude and published a book, my Doktor-vater refused to obtain a scholarship for me, explaining that he did not want to waste the opportunity on a student who as a woman had no future in the academy” (Fiorenza 796-800). However, she did not give up her quest to have women viewed as equals with rights to serve as men do in the church as priests, deacons, and theologians. During one of many speeches Fiorenza made she stated, “The recognition of wo/men as full ekklesial citizens with all rights and duties is central to this vision of a 'kindom' of priests, a radical democratic church. It demands a new theological articulation and self-understanding of ministry and church”. She went on later in the same address, “By the f-word, feminism, I mean a theoretical perspective and world-wide radical democratic movement that is inspired by the conviction that wo/men are people, fully entitled and responsible citizens in society and religion” (Fiorenza “Catholic New Times”).
Joshua THEO 202_D26_201120 Short Essay 3 Short Essay on Ecclesiology: The Role of Women in the Church When approaching women in church ministry and leadership, the primary source for guidance on such matters is the Bible. The Scriptures declare what offices are given to the church and, it is in the context of discussing these offices that understanding can be gleaned about what women’s roles may be. Deacons were appointed and organized first in Acts 6. The role of a deacon is as a servant in the church. In Acts 6, the deacons were initially commissioned to handle the care of widows in the church.
In “Country Lovers” Thebedi’s family is salves to Paulus family. The whit children go to school and get an education and are taught they are superior to the black children that are their salves. In “the Welcome Table” the little old lady wants to go to church but is told this is not your church and is thrown out of the church. We as Americans fought in the Civil War for equal rights for all races. For example: “And finally we fight a bloody Civil War, we get these three constitutional amendments, which say the law must treat everyone equally, must be race-neutral.
Despite the previous public activity of Christian women, the majority of Christian churches in the second century went with the majority of the middle class in opposing the move toward equality, which found its support primarily in the rich or bohemian circles (Pagels, 63). Gnostic Christians correlate their description of God in both masculine and feminine terms with a complementary description of human nature. Most often they refer to the creation account of Genesis, which suggests an equal or androgynous human creation. Gnostic Christians often take the principle of equality between men and women into the social and political structures of their communities. The orthodox
John Knox, a Scottish religious reformer, explores the idea that women are utterly forbidden to occupy the place of God in religious offices. Knox even quotes scripture to reassure the fact that women shouldn’t be able to rule. In document 2, Nicholas Heath debates before the House of Lords the same argument, which is that no women should be the ruler and or be in any part of the church. This shows that they had no acceptance of the idea that women could hold any sort of power. Another church idea is from document 5, which is an excerpt from The Second Book of Homilies, which was produced by bishops of England, and it was authorized by Elizabeth I.