Reply #17: It's all because of some of the writings of Paul, or Pseudo-paul, [View All]

[LibertyLover]

that made it into the New Testament. The writer, usually identified as Paul, but who may actually be a later writer claiming legitimacy for his beliefs by saying he is Paul, states that it is not given for a woman to be in a position of power over a man, that women should cover their heads and keep silent in church and that it is not permissible for a woman to teach a man or to preach. Strict fundamentalist churches such as the Southern Baptist Convention that believe the Bible to be the literal, inerrant word of God, use those statements to prohibit female ministers and prevent as much as possible situations that would place women in any sort of position of authority over men, such as teaching adult Bible school classes or being a minister.

The interesting thing is that in the early Christian church, because services were held in private homes, women had a fair amount of authority. Women priests and even a bishop or two are attested in the records in the first 2 or 3 centuries of the Christian church's existence. This is partly because in the Greco-Roman world, women had authority over the house or the "oikos", while men were concerned with the world beyond the house. It is not for nothing that the first public churches built were in the shape of the basilica or law court found in every Roman city. By building churches in the shape of one of the premier places of male authority and responsibility, the Christian church was saying it had outgrown the early house churches and female input and was now a masculine entity, worthy of respect by the Roman authorities.

There are several books about this, but an easy read and introduction to the topic is one called "When Women Were Priests".