I really hate this topic. I do! But, I'll give my opinion so it can be bounced around and such.
There is no doubt that women played a big role in the Bible. At times, even keeping the man of God straight. I can give examples but let me skip them to get to my point.
Women aren't meant to be preachers. That's the bottom line. They can't be Apostles.... Those sent to lead a Church. God said it, not me. And Apostle is one sent by God, and he ain't ever sent a woman to be an Apostle. He never sent one to preach either.
He sent plenty of women to read letters to Churches from Apostles and preachers. He even had some be judges, teachers and helps. But they aren't to be in leadership.
All of what Paul talked about when he discussed the roll of a husband and wife was about the Church. Jesus is the Husband, and we, the Church are the wife. We do what he wants, not the other way around!
I honestly can't say they aren't talented enough. But that is the way it is.
I disagree.
Here is a list taken from the internet over the years of of the common male attitude toward women over the millennia. It's sad to say that a lot of these came from the so called "Church fathers."
"Whoever teaches his daughter the Torah is
like one who teaches her obscenity. Rather
should the words of the Torah be burned than
entrusted to a woman."
Ancient Rabbi
"It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard
among men." Ancient Rabbi
"The woman is in all things inferior to the man.
Let her be accordingly submissive."
Josephus - Historian
"All females, both animal and human, are inferior
to males. We should look upon the female as a
deformity in nature." Aristotle - Philosopher
"Woman is defective and misbegotten. For
the active power in the male seed produces
a perfect male likeness. A female comes from a
defect in the male seed or from some indisposition
such as the south wind being too moist."
Thomas Aquinas - Church father
"God's sentence hangs over the female sex,
and His punishment weighs down upon you.
You are the devil's gateway. You first violated
the forbidden tree and broke God's law. You
shattered God's image in man, and because
you merited death, you had to die."
Tertullian - Church Father
"It brings man shame even to reflect on
woman's nature. By no means shall
women exhibit any part of their person
lest men become excited and look and fall."
Clement - Church Father
"It is part of her punishment and a part
from which even God's mercy will
not exempt her. Subjection to the will of her
husband is part of her curse."
Clement - Church Father
"Take women from their housewifery and they
are good for nothing."
Martin Luther
"Women have narrow shoulders and broad hips
to sit upon, so they ought to stay home,
keep the house, bear and raise children. The
woman differs from the man; she is weaker in
body, in honor, in intellect and in dignity."
Martin Luther
"If a woman take upon her any office which
God assigned to man, she shall not escape being
cursed. Women are weak, they are frail, they are
impatient and feeble and foolish. They are
inconstant. They are changeable, they are cruel.
They lack spirit and counsel. Woman in her
greatest perfection was made to serve and
only obey men."
John Knox
"One hundred women are not worth a single
testicle." Confucius (551-479 BCE)
"The five worst infirmities that afflict the female are
indocility, discontent, slander, jealousy, and silliness...
Such is the stupidity of woman's character, that it is
incumbent upon her, in every particular, to distrust
herself and to obey her husband."
The Confucian Marriage Manual
"A proper wife should be as obedient as a slave."
and "The female is a female by virtue of a certain
lack of qualities - a natural defectiveness."
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
"In childhood a woman must be subject to her father;
in youth to her husband; when her husband is dead,
to her sons. A woman must never be free of subjugation."
The Hindu Code of Manu (c. 100 CE)
"Among all savage beasts, none is found so harmful as woman."
St. John Chrysostom (345-407 CE)
"Men are superior to women."
The Koran (c. 650)
"Any woman who acts in such a way that she cannot
give birth to as many children as she is capable of,
makes herself guilty of that many murders."
St. Augustine (354-430 CE)
"Do you know that each of your women is an Eve?
The sentence of God - on this sex of yours - lives
in this age; the guilt must necessarily live, too. You
are the gate of Hell, you are the temptress of the
forbidden tree; you are the first deserter of the
divine law."
Tertullian in 22 CE
"Woman in her greatest perfection was made to
serve and obey man, not rule and command him."
John Knox (1505-1572)
"The souls of women are so small that some
believe they've none at all."
Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
"What a misfortune to be a woman! And yet,
the worst misfortune is not to understand
what a misfortune it is".
Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
"It seems to me that nearly every woman I know
wants a man who knows how to love with authority.
Women are simple souls who like simple things, and
one of the simplest is one of the simplest to give...
Our family Airedale will come clear across the yard
for one pat on the head. The average wife is like that.
She will come across town, across the house, across
to your point of view, and across almost anything to
give you her love if you offer her yours with some
honest approval."
Episcopal Bishop James Pike in a letter to his son (1968)
"Let us set our women folk on the road to goodness
by teaching them to display submissiveness." "Every
woman should be overwhelmed with shame at the
thought that she is a woman."
St. Clement of Alexandria in 96 CE
In the year 584 CE, in Lyons, France, forty-three
Catholic bishops and twenty men representing other
bishops, held a most peculiar debate: "Are Women
Human?" After many lengthy arguments, a vote was
taken. The results were: thirty-two, yes; thirty-one,
no. Women were declared human by one vote!
Council of Macon
"Blessed art thou, O Lord our God and King of the
Universe, that thou didst not create me a woman."
Daily prayer, still in use, of the orthodox Jewish male
"Woman should remain at home, sit still, keep house,
and bear and bring up children." and "If a woman grows
weary and, at last, dies from child bearing, it matters not.
Let her die from bearing; she is there to do it."
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
With this kind of really negative attitude among the male population over the Millennia Is it really difficult to believe that the historical record of women's participation in the leadership of the Church has mostly been expunged by the "Selective memory," of the male scribes of that day. Jesus and Paul lived in a culture of male domination. This practice followed into the Church after Pentecost although some women were leaders in the synagogues in that day. A lot of Christian women were poor, but some were also wealthy: like Lydia. Women were managing their own households, which often had a lot going on like maintenance of property, running a business, managing a family along with its many responsibilities and supervision of slaves in some cases. The early Church was basically run by women as they simply extended their homes in order to host the Church, which met in homes during the first and second centuries.
During the third and forth centuries as the church slowly became institutionalized, the women were displaced and the leadership became masculine dominated. This is also the mentality who eradicated almost all traces of women in leadership from the written records. There were women in leadership before the purge took place. The best example extant is Junia mentioned by St. Paul as an Apostle. Translators “Corrected” the female name to that of Junias - the male form. There is no historical male name “Junias.“ The evidence of early Female leadership remains mostly in the fraises, mosaics, and grave markings in places like the catacombs.
Another example: There is a mosaic in a Basilica that depicts four women, Mary the mother of Jesus, Prudentiana, Praxedis, and a forth woman whose name was Theodora Episcopa - Bishop Theodora. Episcopus is the male form and episcopa is the female. It is also noteworthy that the ending letter of the word episcopa in the mosaic was partially defaced - I wonder why? As a side note, the image of Theodora had a square halo instead of a round one like the other three women, which symbolically indicated that she was still alive when the mosaic was made.
This spirit still remains alive today but somewhat muted from the time of the quotes. Who is it that benefits when half of the body of Christ (women) is suppressed?
