What impact has the spread of Christianity had on
the position of women in society over the last two
thousand years? A big question to ponder, and of
course any answer (or answers) we might arrive at will
be multi-faceted. In general terms, much will depend
upon the particular era and the particular society we
are considering, and it may be problematic to
attempt to attribute particular social changes to the
Christian faith per se rather than to the actions of
those professing to be Christians. On an individual
level, sweeping through the ages since the rise of the early church,
women have been elevated to high office and martyred for
their faith alike, and everything in between.
Christian feminism is an academic discipline in itself,
encompassing both theological and historical
studies. The terms ‘Christian’ and ‘feminist’ have come to
mean many things to many people. The former has been
around since the first century AD, the latter only it
seems since the late nineteenth century. But if a
Christian is simply someone (man or woman) who seeks to
follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and a feminist someone (again, man or
woman) who believes in the fundamental equality of
the sexes, then I would suggest that the two appear
to sit well together.
Jesus was a radical. First century Jewish religiosity
largely excluded women from public life. Jesus
repeatedly affirmed the value of women in a society
that was very far from equal. The Jesus we see in the
gospels regularly spoke to women in public, ate with
them, stayed in their homes, healed them,
confronted them with their sin, called them to
repentance and ministered forgiveness to them. He
clearly treated them as individuals (regardless of their
marital status) who were able to take responsibility
for their own state before God. Perhaps that doesn’t
sound like a big deal to our modern ears, but in first
century Jewish culture it was revolutionary.
Furthermore, it has often been pointed out that it
was the women followers of Jesus who were last at
the cross, first at the tomb to see the risen Lord, and
the first witnesses to be entrusted with the gospel- extraordinary in a
society where the testimony of a woman would not be accepted
as evidence in a court of law. Is Christianity then ‘good
news’ for women? Has it altered our position in
society for better or worse? A good deal of ink could be
spilled on each of these questions by those much better qualified
than me. Many things have been done in
the name of Christianity (and in the name of
feminism) that have been nothing but the
actions of flawed and sinful human beings.
We need to confront the more troubling
aspects of our western Christian history more
than ever today, in an age where class systems,
deference, and statues tumble from
significance. Powerful professing Christians
have clearly not always been good news for
those less powerful than themselves in society,
women or not. The gospel, however, is good news for
all people for all time. The church needs to grapple
honestly with the issues of the day, with the
compassion and humility of Christ, to spread that
good news.
Sarah Hill is a mental health lawyer and
(occasionally) an ecclesiastical lawyer.
Sarah’s note: “Neither a theologian nor a
historian- all views expressed my own!”