Danielle Harden
WGS 3463 Women
and Religion
February 28th,
2014
Essay/Blog 4
Women and the Development of Early
Christianity
In understanding the matter in which
authority is envisioned in the post-Pauline work, Ephesians, it is clear that,
“the author of Ephesians has moved a significant step away from his honored
predecessor” (Johnson 580). In his work, Paul had declared that “the new
creation in Christ judges and reorients human social structures— including
particularly marriage and slavery…” (Johnson 580). Paul clearly recognized that women had
authority, however in Ephesians; we see a return to traditional patriarchal
structures. Ephesians 5:21-6:9 tells us that in the development of early
Christianity, women were characterized as needing to be subordinate to men.
The Christian household code found
in this passage of Ephesians, addresses marriage and how husband and wife
should regard each other. The writer uses Christ’s relationship with the church
as a metaphor for such (Eph 5:22-28). The author explains that wives should be
subject to their husbands “just as the church is subject to Christ” (Eph 5:24).
Thus a clear hierarchy of authority is envisioned (similar to the one in 1
Corinthians 11:2-16) starting with Christ, then men, and ending with women.
However, New Testament scholar E. Elizabeth Johnson explains the problematic
nature of this metaphor stating, “It holds up a divine standard for human
behavior when human beings do not—because they cannot—live up to the divine
standard” (579). In fact, she maintains that the entire
Christ/church/Husband/Wife logic is faulty.
However faulty the logic, it is
clear that the passage in regard to early Christianity, calls for women to be
subordinate to men. Many scholars seem to point out that this may have been due
to the pressure for Christian communities to fit in to the larger, patriarchal,
Greco-Roman society for fear of prosecution (MacDonald 242). If this is true,
then in the words of Johnson, “the author apparently operates more from fear
than from faith” (580).
Great essay. Perhaps you could have paraphrased more rather than put direct quotations, and given some more examples from the primary sources, but overall good job!
ReplyDeleteI found your writing clear and your essay enjoyable to read. I found this the most difficult of all we have studied so far.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that this passage excuses subordination in marriages of wives towards husbands. It seems like there is so much conversation going on to this day using the Bible as an excuse for women to still have to be submissive to men, now in the twenty-first century! Women are having to fight for their own reproductive rights all over again and Roe vs. Wade has a chance of being overturned. I realize this is a digression, but I feel passages like these are being used for this war against women these days.
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