Essay Blog 4 - Rachel Robinson

Rachel Robinson

                In the post-Pauline reading of Eph 5:21–6:9, authority is viewed in a different light than what Paul himself had actually witnessed.  Paul actually mentioned in his actually writing that there were women that were the head of their households, women like Chloe for example.  In the post-Pauline reading it states that the husband is the master of the wife and the wife should not rule over the husband (Eph 5: 22-24).  The post-Pauline reading though does give insight on women in early Christianity.   Due to the post-Pauline reading stressing the fact that women should not be in power, the writers most likely witnessed women that were in powerful positions in the home and church, just like what Paul claims to have witnessed.  According to Paul there were women like Phoebe who was a deaconess, which is a high status position in a normal church.  There were women like Junia and Prisca who worked alongside their husbands and were probably thought of as equals.  It also went against the post-Pauline writings that state that women should be pure since, Junia, according to Paul, was put into prison (Romans 16:7) which goes against the post-Pauline’s rule of purity without blemish (Eph 5: 25 -28).  All of these women mentioned by Paul do not match the post-Pauline’s requirement of purity since someone cannot be completely pure while having positions of power which comes with responsibilities and it is doubtful that one can be completely innocent and subservient while wielding a high position of power.  One with more power or equal power to men will mostly experience the same things as men and makes it impossible to follow the purity tenet that the Post-Pauline reading sets out.