Origins of Christianity the History

Origins of Christianity

The history of religions throughout the world represents an endless source of controversies. During the early civilizations there were several aspects that have been interpreted and adapted differently and have catered for different needs of the societies. In this sense, the religious teachings have stood as an entire system of guiding principles which served at the development of the social life altogether.

From the point-of-view of the religious perspective, it can be said that there are several differences between the major issues that the main religions take into consideration. More precisely, the status of women in the major religions of the world is an essential aspect with differentiates Judaism, Islam, or Christianity. The present paper however focuses on the role of women in the Judaic belief and society in the early centuries of the Christian world. This assessment is important for proving the differences between the Jewish people and the Christian one. Therefore, it will be argued that religion and the religious beliefs determine the way in which women act inside the family and in the society. Despite the fact that the arguments will not focus on the Talmudic teachings in particular, they will try to point out both similarities and differences between the Jewish and the Christian woman, as well as their particular development in time.

The structure of the paper will take into account in the first part a presentation of the Jewish woman in her two environments. Thus, on the one hand, she is a mother, therefore a part of the Jewish family. On the other hand, she is part of the society, of the Jewish community. Despite the fact that the roles she has in these two environments differ in intensity, they are very important as means of comparison between Judaism and other religions. The second part of the paper therefore, will focus on the Christian faith, but not discussing the same aspects as in the case of the analysis of the Jewish woman, but rather through a compare and contrast action. This represents one of the best means for pointing out especially the differences lying between the two elements of comparison, which is in the end the role of this paper.

The woman is an important presence in the society of the Jewish people. However, it must be pointed out from the very beginning the fact that since the early days of Christianity, there is a certain discrepancy between the number of the women present in the society and their actual influence. In this sense, "historians, and specifically church-historians, have long noted that women have participated in large numbers in religious movements, as far back as early Christianity. Female participation in religious movements is striking when compared to their relative absence in political movements until the 20th century" (Furseth, 2001). Therefore, it can be pointed out the fact that the perspective of the analysis will be one related to men in particular. This is largely due to the fact that the behavior of women in Judaism as well as the Christian faith is related to the presence of the man, be it her husband or her idolatry. Therefore it is only natural to consider her position depending on the history of the man.

The first instance in which the Jewish woman is portrayed is as part of the family environment. First and foremost, the sacred union is that of the marriage. In this sense, Rela Geffen notes that "Jewish tradition claimed that a relationship with God, a Being no human being can fully grasp, could be better appreciated by seeking to create a parallel human model -- a relationship between two human beings." (91). Thus, the marriage and the family in this way is a means of achieving divinity because it is only through the union with a woman, can God be reached. In ancient times, this idea of the connection with the divinity through the union with a woman was much more visible in the sense that in the early days of Judaism the society was in itself patriarchal.

The act of marriage was in itself, at least in the early years of the Christian life a sort of a trade. This was obvious given the fact that in order to create the status of marriage the husband had to offer a certain amount of money or other kind of pays (Keller, 1975). Therefore in the beginning the woman was mostly considered to be a means of achieving a goal, but most importantly an item that can be bought, traded, and exchanged. This last idea is obvious in the practice of the time when the husband was entitled to posses more than one wife and in which they could be changed without the previous notice of the repudiated wife.

The patriarchal nature of the society allowed the husband to act in such a way. However, this behavior was not limited exclusively to the wife; it also included the daughters whom the father could sell as slaves if they disobeyed him. However, the father did not have absolute power over his children, as he was unable to sell his sons, regardless of their deeds (Keller, 1975). Even so, it can be said that the transition from the matriarchal society which dominated the early years of Judaism is in the first centuries of Christianity one dominated by a certain sense of inferiority in the status of women.

There are sources nonetheless which suggest the contrary. In this sense, it is argued that, despite the fact that the position of the woman was somewhat submissive, it did have certain advantages. More precisely, "in traditional Judaism, women are for the most part seen as separate but equal. Women's obligations and responsibilities are different from men's, but no less important" (Judaism 101, 2002). Therefore, it can be said that from this perspective women are not seen as an object which completes the man's life, but rather as a distinct individual, with needs and expectations, with duties and rewards.

Despite this status of so called equality, women in ancient Jewish societies had a different status in the marital relation. In this sense, in Israel, the act of adultery includes only the women; thus, only a woman can be adulterous if she engages in extramarital relations, whereas the man can easily be with another woman without him being punished for adultery. Therefore, this double standard points out precisely the fact that the equal status of men and women in ancient Jewish times was seen merely at the spiritual level, and not necessarily at the legal one. (Azeem, 2007) Moreover, should a child result from the forbidden relation, he is not considered to be legitimate, nor is he allowed to benefit from the privileges of his religion until the sin of his conception is absolved.

The aspect of the woman in the Jewish family is seen from a different point-of-view in the moment when she is no longer a wife. In this sense, her fate is regarded as an important aspect especially in the situation in which her husband passes away. More precisely, although she is not the first in line for the inheritance of her husband, she is looked after by the brother of her defunct husband. In this way, the honor of the family was protected and a decent way of life was insured to the wife.

This tradition was called levirate. In this sense, "among the Hebrews (...) when a married man died, leaving no male offspring, his brother or nearest relative must marry his widow and the phrase was: raise up children to the dead man. The firs male child of this union would be enrolled in the registry of the tribe, as the son of the defunct" (Dickerman, 1894, 499) From the perspective of this tradition it appears that the fate of the wife was not left to her own choice, nor was she consulted in this matter. Moreover, there were situations in which the wife was even forced to marry the brother of the husband. In this sense "under heavy penalties the widow must marry her husband's brother, willing or not" (Dickerman, 1894, 500).

The situation of Jewish women however was restricted in the first instance to the family life and to the interpretation as a tool to reach the absolute identification with God. This perspective is largely due to the fact that at least from the Talmud's teachings, the woman was not entitled, nor did she deserve to be part of the public life. Still, "if a woman performed her duties as wife and mother, she was honored, as men's and women's roles were still viewed as complementary" (Joy, n.d.). Nonetheless, their possible role in the life of the community was not regarded as needed. In this sense, the Jewish woman was not allowed to be part of the life of the temple or of the religious one. Indeed, "in the early Judaism of Biblical times, there was an ideology of equality in the sense that there was no essential hierarchical division between men as sacred and women as profane, and that both male and female were made in God's image and thus were spiritually of equal dignity and worth in the eyes of God. Their respective roles were regarded as complementary, and both were necessary for the maintenance of society" (Joy, n.d.).

There is a sense of evolution in the position of the Jewish woman in the sense that in time they came to be given certain rights to be part of the society and not only as part of the family environment. However, even so "as the roles of women came to be socially constructed, women's human contributions appeared to be of less significance" (Joy, n.d.). Therefore, it is rather hard to consider the Jewish woman as being equal to the man, particularly because the nature of their relation was one based on environments of manifestations which could not be compared.

Nonetheless, although women were considered to be of limited use in the traditional way of perceiving life and they were seen as equal only through the perspective of the role they played in the establishment of the connection with God, there are many heroines in ancient Jewish times who have been credited for saving the Jewish people in different situations.

On the one hand, there were the feminine presences which are representative for the Bible and for the Old Testament. In this sense, "Jewish women disciples, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, had accompanied Jesus during his ministry and supported him out of their private means" (King, 2008) However, they are often seen in a negative light as some critics have questioned the morality of these feminine persons. Thus, an example in this sense is "Mary Magdalene, a woman infamous in Western Christianity as an adulterous and repentant whore. Discoveries of new texts from the dry sands of Egypt, along with sharpened critical insight, have now proven that this portrait of Mary is entirely inaccurate. She was indeed an influential figure, but as a prominent disciple and leader of one wings of the early Christian movement that promoted women's leadership" (King, 2008) Her existence can be seen in any way as being representative for the Jewish religion due to her origins, as well as for the Christian faith, as a result of her actions during her life.

Aside from the religious figures which are representatives especially for the early period of Christianity, there are also stories about certain figures which are legendary for the history of women in the Jewish culture. One of the most significant figures in this sense is Miriam, the sister of Moses. According to biblical sources, during the Egyptian slavery, the Jewish people were held in despair as they struggled to face up to the cruelty of the regime. Although men came to be reluctant to procreate due to the fact that the Egyptian soldiers were constantly killing Jewish children, Miriam supported the mission of survival of the people and called for the people to keep their families and the ritual of birth intact in order to reach the Promise Land. Moreover, "According to tradition, because of Miriam's righteousness, a well followed the people through the desert throughout their wanderings, and that well remained with them until the day of Miriam's death" (Judaism 101, 2002). Although the discussions on the role she had in directing the People towards the Promise Land are not based on practical evidence, it is important to consider even such accounts as they point out the fact that, indeed, women were regarded in the early Jewish tradition as having a spiritual contribution rather than a practical one.

Despite this view, it is rather hard to ascertain whether these legendary aspects of the capabilities of women can be accounted as proof of the possibility of women to be leaders. In this sense, taking into account the fact that they were not given the chance to take part in the public life, there was no environment for them to act as leaders. Moreover, the social order did not allow them to exercise such a position as their roles were confined to the family life and to the enrichment of the life of her husband and fulfilling the perfect union in front of God. Therefore, there can be little talk of a possible emancipation of the Jewish woman in the early times of the Christian faith.

By comparison, the issue of the woman in early Christian faith is somewhat different. Nonetheless, there are mixed opinions as well. On the issue of the family life, the marriage was one of the most important aspects. In this sense, it was considered to be the fulfillment of a biblical assignment as written in the Book of Genesis. Thus, "for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2: 24) This command must be seen from the perspective offered by the previous ideas of the creation of the man and woman. Therefore, it can be argued that in a way, the issue of marriage resembles to a certain extent to the Jewish consideration. More precisely, the union between a man and a woman is seen as the divine command from God and as the only spiritual environment in which the Earth can be ruled by man. Therefore, from this perspective as well, the woman is seen as a complementary item in the relationship with God.

Unlike the Jewish women however, the role of Christian women in the society existed to a much greater extent and to a much larger success. Indeed, the role as family members and caterers for the education of children and the well being of the household was a prerequisite for the early Christianity woman; nonetheless, they had the possibility to develop other means of expression as well. In this sense "there is strong evidence that during the first century and a half of Christianity women were active in various ministries of the early community though not on the same scale as men. (...) Women taught, preached, presided at the table ministry, and supervised the house churches where these latter services took place. (...) in Acts 2:17, Luke remarks that both sons and daughters will prophesy, and he also mentions the four prophetess daughters of Philip (Acts 21:9). In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul's statement on the gift of prophecy can be assumed to address both men and women" (Joy, n.d.)