If you haven’t had the opportunity to read Under the Influence, you should consider adding it to your reading list. It is a fascinating look at how Christianity has transformed civilization. Related to this series on women is Chapter 4 – Women Receive Freedom and Dignity.
One mistake I think we make today is not fully understanding the plight of women through history and even today in many (most?) areas around the world. Christian women in America tear each other apart over schooling methods, work choices, dress options and teaching a mixed Sunday School class. The fact that we even have the freedom to discuss these topics would be completely foreign to most women who have lived throughout history. We read about things that happened in the New Testament and we don’t fully comprehend how significant they are because we don’t understand the historical setting in which they took place.
The Low Status of Women
I’m sharing some snippets from the book to give an idea of how Jesus changed history for women.
What would be the status of women in the Western world today had Jesus Christ never entered the human arena? One way to answer this question is to look at the status of women in most present day Islamic countries. Here women are still denied many rights that are available to men, and when they appear in public, they must be veiled. (Page 97)
Schmidt goes on to give examples that women cannot drive an automobile, wear lipstick, and that men can freely beat their wives.
Many Americans and Europeans are unaware of the extremely low status that women, especially wives, had among the ancient Athenians of Greece. A respectable Athenian woman was not permitted to leave her house unless accompanied by a trustworthy male escort, commonly a slave appointed by her husband. When the husband’s male guests were present in his home, she was not permitted to eat or interact with them.
The Greek wife had virtually no freedom… The average Athenian woman had the social status of a slave… the wife could not divorce her husband, whereas he could divorce her anytime. (Page 98-99)
Schmidt continues to explain that women did not go to school at all and were never permitted to speak in public. She was deemed inferior to men and was often equated with evil. Female infanticide was very common as a male offspring was “her principal source of prestige and validation” and a female child was “an economic liability, a social burden.”
Women in Rome
Things were not much better in Rome. A Roman wife was not present at a meal with guests. A married woman was under absolute control of her husband and he had ownership of her and her possessions. He could divorce her and she could never divorce him.
The head of the family had supreme, absolute power over his wife, children and grandchildren. He possessed the power to execute his children, including a married daughter. He also had the power to execute his wife in some circumstances.
Roman women had little to no property rights. Women did not speak in public. Women were slaves to men’s sexuality in all its basest forms.
How Did Jesus Interact with Women?
This is the world into which Jesus came. And what did Jesus do? He spoke to the Samaritan woman. The rabbinic law of the time said that men were not to even greet women and to talk to a woman was to bring evil on yourself. The disciples were amazed that Jesus was talking to a woman, not that she was Samaritan.
Jesus taught Mary and commended her for sitting at his feet. This was completely contrary to the rabbinic law. Rabbis did not teach women. To think the story of Mary and Martha is only about choosing between housekeeping or reading your Bible completely misses one of the important points Jesus is making.
Jesus Chooses Women
In John 11:25-26 Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” This is the only time this is presented in the four Gospels. Who was Jesus talking to? Martha. And he asked her a question and wanted a response. This was completely contrary to the customs of the day.
In Matthew 28:10 Jesus says to the women at the tomb, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Do you see how radical that is? Jesus sent the women to tell the men! This was so countercultural at that time. Schmidt writes about this:
Why did Jesus not tell Peter and John, who also had come to the tomb, to tell the other disciples what had happened? Why did he want the women to tell the men? He often came to the defense and assistance of the deprived and neglected. Women were indeed socially and religiously neglected. His action here brings to mind the words that he spoke on another occasion: “There are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” (Luke 13:30)
Think about how those women must have felt. I mean really stop for a literal sixty seconds and think about what it would have meant to those women to have Jesus speak to them in this manner. Set aside your way of seeing life now with all your freedoms and twenty Bibles in your house and money to inherit from your parents and jeans in your closet and worship songs you sing freely and really think about what Jesus did here in the context of the time!
Think of what your life today would be like if you didn’t live under the influence of Christianity.
Schmidt goes on to discuss the many injustices and cruel things done to women where Christianity has had no influence and how things changed in cultures when Christianity was introduced. It breaks my heart to think of what women have endured through the ages.
- Women who sat under countless sermons throughout their lives being told they are evil because they are women.
- Women who were killed because they did not produce a male heir (which we now know is completely the man’s fault).
- Women who were denied any education.
- Women who were forced to stay at home and had no freedom to come and go as they pleased.
- Women who suffered in horrible marriages with no rights and no property.
Really consider what you have because of what Jesus did for women when he came.
Would Jesus Tell Women to Sit Down and Shut Up?
Do we really believe Jesus would tell women to literally sit down and shut up as some of the more conservative and extreme complementarians do? If Jesus came here to America today would He really tell a woman she couldn’t speak in church or pray in church or read Scripture in church? Would He tell her it is better that people perish than hear the Gospel preached by a woman? I just can’t see it.
Do you really think the Jesus of the New Testament would rejoice to see women not freely worshiping and serving in the church?
The Complementarian Problem With Deborah
Actually, Roman women had a lot of rights before Christ. Roman women owned lots of property. In fact, they even got to keep their dowry, in case they ever decided to divorce. It was like a prenuptial contract. And that didn’t change when Rome became Christianized.