In several previous posts, we have looked briefly at the women around St. Paul and his great respect for them (The Trials and Tribulations of Translating Scripture 2; Ancient Corinth II; and Paul’s Female Colleagues). Here we will examine the women of Romans 16 in more depth (the full text of verses 1-23 are copied […]
Women in early church
Celebrating Women’s History Month
In the United States, March is Women’s History Month. Here is a list of our past blog posts about women – with the caveat that women in antiquity, including women in the early church, have, for better or worse, greatly influenced the status of women worldwide. We will also include posts about goddesses, goddess worship […]
The Cult of Livia at Philippi: The State of Religion at a Pauline City in the Early Christian Centuries
As we have seen in other posts, the city of Philippi in northern Greece was significant in the growth of the so-called “Christ cult” in the first century. St. Paul wrote a letter to the Jesus followers at Philippi, which has come down to us in the New (Christian) Testament and is a major reason […]
Mary Magdalene, The First Apostle
As we saw earlier, Mary Magdalene is a figure in the New (Christian) Testament of the Bible worth considering by us moderns. She is significant, in part, because she is so prominent in the canonical Christian texts: she appears numerous times in the New Testament and in all four gospels: Mt 27.55-56, 61; 28.1; Mk […]
Ancient Corinth II: Women in St. Paul’s Time
Last week, we examined the deities worshiped in ancient Corinth and saw how influential goddesses, as well as gods, were before, during and after the time of St. Paul. Here we will look at the status and role of women at Corinth, especially how their involvement in society and local cults may have influenced Paul […]
First Anniversary!
One year ago, I posted my first blog on WisdomWordsPPF.org! I thought I would provide a review of the topics and topic areas, to give new visitors a feel for what I have been covering and to help sporadic visitors to get caught up. (Note that there are overlaps in the following selections.) Posts on […]
The Trials and Tribulations of Translating Scripture 2: Pitfalls and Challenges
In Trials and Tribulations 1, we presented an overview of the history of the Bible and the various ancient manuscripts that scholars have used over the centuries to translate Biblical texts from the original languages into other languages. We noted that translating from ancient languages and incomplete manuscripts copied centuries later present challenges to translators […]
Paul’s Female Colleagues: Not Keeping Silence in the Churches
Sixteen years into the 21st century – despite the reality of women in the workplace, women in leadership positions in business and government, and the ordination of women in many Protestant denominations and in Judaism – we can still find preachers railing against the leadership of women in Christian organizations. (We will concentrate here on […]
St. Paul and Women
Philippi, in the north of Greece, was a significant city in the history of Christianity. St. Paul visited the city and wrote a letter to the community there, which is in the New Testament of the Bible. While Paul may be seen as someone who suppressed women, based upon other letters in the New Testament […]