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The Lord's Army Wants You!


GeorgeW

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I'd like to know how such Christians get around explaining why Paul had a female apostle, Junia, in his group if women's roles were limited only to supporting roles.

Rodney Stark, in The Rise of Christianity (a book I have referenced here several times) argues that high-status women were the early adopters of Christianity. They came and their husbands and servants followed. Some of this is hinted at by those who Paul greets in his letters such as Phoebe, Prisca, Mary et al.

 

George

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I'd like to know how such Christians get around explaining why Paul had a female apostle, Junia, in his group if women's roles were limited only to supporting roles.

 

Very easy Neon. The Bible makes no mention that Junias is a woman and in other early writings by the church father Origen (died A.D. 252) referred to Junias as a man (MPG 14: 1289), Now i realize there was later disagreement by others on the gender but since the Bible itself is not explicit on the issue then it seems reasonable to me that "such Christians" find no need to explain anything. There is also argument among scholars as to whether Junias was actually an apostle or just esteemed and well known to the apostles. Perhaps "such Christians" as you reference, would rather leave those unsettled arguments to the historians upon which there is still disagreements. Anyway, i think the real question of male and female is summed up nicely in the writing in Galatians 3:27-28 " For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

 

Joseph

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But as Bart D Ehrman points out in his book Misquoting Jesus, Junia is never once used a man's name in the ancient world and some translations intentionally mistranslated Junia's name to Junias to make it seem more masculine. There were other female leaders in Paul's church like Phoebe, who was a deacon, which Paul told his male disciples to do everything she commanded them to do.

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Norm,

 

I would point out that sexism, while it does still exist, is not limited to Christianity. In fact, it may be even less than in the other Abrahamic religions. I think it would be the exception to find any Christian church today in which men and women are separated. This would be the standard in Islam and not uncommon in Judaism.

 

George

 

I did not mean to indicate that religious sexism is exclusive to Christianity. I posted in the context of this thread, which until now has been focused on experiences within the Christian church. Now that you've brought other faith groups into the equation, I would say that I would agree with you to a point.

 

I think the common denominator in all religious bigotry is fundamentalism.

 

I worship primarily with Jews now, and in a Reformed community. The Rabbi is a woman from New York City and the Board President is female. It is a liberal congregation with the vast majority voting democrat.

 

I've attended services in Hasidic and Orthodox communities where men and women were segregated on either side of the room (except for the dancing around the Torah, they kept separate). Women in the ultra conservative communities were relegated to minor roles in the church.

 

My experience in conservative Christian churches is quite similar.

 

I have traveled extensively in Afghanistan and can confirm your position that Islam in general tends toward a sexist worldview. American Muslims appear to fall more in line with the liberal / conservative divide.

 

NORM

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