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The Office of Woman in the New Testament

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The Office of Woman in the New Testament The Office of Woman in the New Testament GEORG GUNTER BLUM 1 Indications of services rendered by women in the life of Jesus THERE are no direct statements by either the earthly or the Risen Christ on the position of women in the Christian community. In spite of this, the question as to the attitude of Jesus to women is both justified and significant. Although there is no answer either in developed teaching or in single statements, yet certain conclusions can be drawn from particular situations in the life of Jesus. The influence of Jesus, by word and deed, was exercised on both men and women without distinction. The Gospels depict for us a series of encounters of our Lord with women, and we are shown emphatically that it was precisely the women who were honoured by his miracles and his revealing teaching. 1 But of greater importance is the fact that a small group of women lived constantly in the society of Jesus and followed him, just as did the disciples. Luke the Evangelist emphasises this fact, and refers to it in one of his summarised reports of Jesus's activity: 'And the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others which minis­ tered unto him of their substance' (Luke 8:1-3). This report is not exclusive to Luke, nor is it according to a specially Lukan construction. Mark also speaks of several women who were witnesses of the Cruci­ fixion, 'Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him and ministered unto him' (Mark 15:40ff).• In the same way as Luke, he mentions a particular service which these women rendered in the company of Jesus. They regarded it as their duty to minister to Jesus and to his disciples of their substance (ta intapzovtu). What is significant is that various women are mentioned by name, an indication of their high reputation and the historical authenticity of their mention. • Thus it is unlikely that this is a case of reading back into the life of Jesus a 17S THE OFFICE oF WoMAN IN THE NEw TEsTAMENT 176 primitive Christian occurrence, but rather a note which completely corresponds to historical facts. It is hardly possible to regard this ministering by women as a preliminary stage of the early Christian office of deaconess. It would be better to speak of typological reference to this office. It is conspicuous that Luke, otherwise so pro-feminine, expressly avoids the feminine form of the term 'disciple', probably of set purpose, as he wishes to restrict the number of disciples to the inner circle of the Twelve and the wider circle of the Seventy.' The women who ministered to Jesus and his disciples of their substance were not called and commissioned specially, as were the disciples. The reason for their ministry lies entirely in their experience of healing from the power of evil spirits and of infirmities. 5 As during his earthly life, women play a significant part after his Resurrection. In the synoptic Gospels and in John the women near Jesus are not only concerned with his burial, 6 but are also the first to discover the empty tomb;' it is they who encounter the Risen Lord and his angels• respectively, and who bring the news of the Resurrection to the disciples. • Although this fulfils a fundamental condition of the apostolate, namely the meeting with the Risen Lord, and although Mary Magdalene is vouchsafed a special appearance, 10 there were no women-Apostles, just as there were no women-disciples. Important as was the part played by women in the earthly life of Jesus, and as witnesses of the Resurrection, we cannot overlook the fact that our Lord did not call any women into the circle of disciples and Apostles. The relation of women to Jesus and to his disciples and Apostles lies, on the contrary, in a ministering function of peculiar significance and dignity. 2 Women distinguished by special activities in the Acts and in the Pauline Epistles WHAT function have women in the Christian communities of the Apostolic Age? Apart from the discussions of St. Paul in 1 Cor. 11 and 14, on the fundamentals, we depend on conclusions deduced from occasional references to women in the Pauline Epistles and in the Acts. The greetings in the Epistle to the Romans are preceded .by a com­ mendation of Phoebe, who is called aosl..cpl) ft~.Uf)V and OUlKOVOc; (Rom. 16:1,2). 11 Whilst the expression aosl..cpl) f!J.l&V can refer to all women members of the community, ou1Kovoc;; is a designation of office. 11 What the duties of Phoebe's office of deaconess were can only be a matter of conjecture. Perhaps one clue may be the designation xpoma't't<;. u The succour which Phoebe gives to the Apostle and to others is probably a matter of material and administrative assistance. 177 THE OFFICE OF WOMAN IN THE NEW TEsTAMENT It is also quite possible that Phoebe gave her services to the poor and the sick of the community. We do not know exactly what her special duty in Rome was. 14 In spite of its lack of clarity, the mention of Phoebe in Romans is sufficient proof of the existence of the office of deaconess in the Apostolic Age, even though no details can be deduced as to the dissemination of the office. 11 The list of greetings in Romans begins with the names of the Jewish­ Christian couple, Prisca11 and Aquila. That the woman's name is put first gives us the idea that Prisca was more active than her husband, and therefore of more importance. u We know of this couple that they had collected around them in Rome a house-church, as they also did in Corinth, when they fled there after the edict of Claudius (Acts 18: 1-8).11 St. Paul owed them especial gratitude, because they 'laid down their own necks' for his life. u He calls them ouvspyoi JlOU tv Xptmt'{l •lfJO'OO as well, a description which he used for those who helped him in spreading the Gospel. ao It is not clear of what this help consisted, whether in active participation in preaching or in an indirect way. It is recorded in Acts 18 :26 that Priscilla and Aquila 'expounded the way of God more perfectly' to the Alexandrian Jew Apollos in Ephesus. In the preceding verse it is expressly stated that Apollos was 'instructed in the way of the Lord', and correctly taught about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. The activity of Priscilla and Aquila probably consisted in supplementing and deepening the Christian teaching (686<;), possibly with special reference to Baptism. It would be an exaggeration to call Priscilla a woman-apostle in this respect.11 In the expounding to Apollos it is not a question of public proclamation, nor does Priscilla play an official part. The gift of Christian teaching, the power to win members to a house-church, and the help given to the Apostle in his missionary work are to be regarded more as spontaneous expressions of their Christian personality. Priscilla's activity is therefore fundamentally different from Phoebe's office of deaconess, and is exceptional in its individual and unofficial character. This remark is also valid for the four daughters of Philip the evan­ gelist, 'virgins which did prophesy' (Acts 21 :9). The verses following, about the 'prophet named Agabus' who foretold St. Paul's imprison­ ment at Jerusalem, shows clearly that 'prophesying' here cannot be, as for St. Paul, confined to a speaking by inspiration in church (cf. Acts 13:1), but refers to a foretelling of the future (cf. Acts 11 :27). Here it is a foretelling of the future rather than a preaching of the word of God. The mention of the four daughters of Philip is designed to prepare the reader of Acts for the prophecy of Agabus. So there can be no essential difference between the activity of the prophet and that of the prophesying virgins. The prophesying here spoken of is neither a general charismatic phenomenon nor an office based on a special commission, but rather, an individual vocation and gift, having THE OFFICE oF WoMAN IN THE NEw TEsTAMENT 178 no direct connection with preaching the word in church, and it can thus be bestowed on both men and women. The greeting in Romans contains other women's names. Mary bestowed much labour on the community (16:6: tKo1tiaasv). The same expression for corporal or intellectual and spiritual endeavours is used in v. 12 for the work or Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis, with the addition tv Kupiq>, which better describes the work ofthesewomen. This cannot refer to an active participation in missionary preaching, for Komliv is a general expression which always requires a special qualification.•• Finally St. Paul, in Phil. 4 :2,3, refers to Euodias and Syntyche 'which laboured with me in the Gospel'. As in Rom. 16:6,12, there can be no reference to an official position, or to a participation in preaching. tv 'tl{) soayysA.{q> auva9A.stv refers to suffering for faith (cf. Phil. 1 :27), and is to be understood as the possibility of martyrdom which persists throughout the Epistle to the Philippians. The examination of all the references in the Pauline Epistles and in Acts therefore shows that women definitely played an active part in the life of the community, without, however, exercising a missionary or teaching office of any kind.
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