lesson 1 Flashcards
gender and sexuality debates
-Ordination of women
-Nature and status of women
-Significance and value of celibacy
-Sexuality in life
-Homosexuality
-Transgender issues
christianity beliefs - timeless
-Is it possible to express Christian beliefs in a way that is timeless, or is every expression of belief related to the social and historical setting in which it was made?
Galatians quote
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)
the role and status of women in the NT
-Jesus clearly regarded women highly.
-He taught them in the same way as he taught his disciples,
-when he ate with Martha and Mary and when he spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well.
-defended the woman who anointed him during a meal at Bethany for her action and rebuked those who criticised her.
-Throughout Jesus’ itinerant ministry, he had been accompanied by women as well as by his disciples and they assisted at his burial.
what would feminists say about Jesus and women?
-feminists would object to their role as they had cared for his needs
-they were not carrying out preaching and ministry as the twelve disciples were, and after his resurrection, Jesus did not commission them as future leaders.
one of the most important statements about human status
-found in Paul’s letter to the Galatian Christians.
-In it, he stated explicitly that because all are now ‘in Christ’, racial, social and gender distinctions do not apply; they have no meaning
- 5th century
by the fifth century women must already have been playing a significant role within the organisation of the Church.
-one which Church authorities had come to see as a threat, since a number of Church councils forbade the ordination of women as deacons.
-You don’t forbid something unless it is going on and having an impact that you regard as unwelcome.
celibacy 5th century
-celibacy offered similar opportunities for men and women.
-From the fifth century, convents offered the opportunity for women to escape the male-dominated life in society or the demands of motherhood.
-This offered the opportunity for study and the arts, and some rose to positions of great responsibility.
-Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), who was not only an important Abbess, but also wrote poetry and music and held views that were, for her day, very progressive.
before the 19th century
-men had control of their wives’ property when they married, and most men and women generally worked in or around the home or labouring for a local landowner, with women based in the home, with responsibilities for childrearing and taking on extra work for cash.
-In more wealthy households, women would often take responsibility for running a business, organising servants and managing accounts.
what was the 19th century?
-time of radical change.
-Technology was transforming the world, and new ideas were taking shape.
-Many men now travelled to work in factories and offices,
-while their wives stayed at home and single girls were often sent to work ‘in service’ in wealthy households
-Following the Enlightenment period, there was a general emphasis on reason and evidence as ways of understanding humankind and its place within the world.
what was the attitude about women?
-did not automatically lead to the idea that men and women should be treated equally.
-It was generally thought that women, being physically weaker than men, should focus on the home and the education of children, while men were sent out to perform manual or military tasks.
education in 19th century
-spread of education, and particularly the education of women.
-By 1848 Bedford College and Queen’s College in London were established in order to train women to become teachers, and the 1870 Education Act provided universal primary education for both boys and girls.
-19th century
women right saw the start of the movement for women’s rights.
-Feminist ideas spread among the educated middle classes, and gradually the law changed to take into account the aspirations of women.
-During the nineteenth century, women began to be accepted within professions such as medicine.
-However, during that century, very few had the right to vote in national elections, sue in court, or own property.
-Married women were seen as the property of their husbands, having made over to him all rights over their own bodies in matters regarding sex, children and domestic work.
At the same time, women were increasingly being employed away from the home, following the industrial revolution, and middle-class women were also very active in charitable work and social welfare.
Pauls letter about phoebe
-Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, he told them to show respect to Phoebe who was a woman deacon, and he commended a number of other women who were fellow workers with Paul and were ‘working hard in the Lord’.
pauls negative attitude toward women
-a negative attitude to women is shown in Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Corinth.
-Taken as it stands, it displays a view that would now be regarded as sexist.
