Women and Christianity

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that Christianity developed, around the 1st century AD as a sect of Judaism, a faith that set women apart through the development of strict laws about gender roles. The writer maintains that these gender roles determined a subset of standards that were in many ways exclusionary of women. Though the faith spoke of the equality of men and women the woman's vocation as the mother limited in many ways her involvement in the faith and separated her from her male partner to some degree as women have inextricable different religious duties and life roles. The writer concludes that history gives proof to the idea that Christianity and the exclusion of women was an act of man, not of true doctrine or even the nature of the faith.

From the Paper:

"The value of this stand is eternal, as it is clear that in a patriarchal society, and in a patriarchal faith, such as Christianity the foundations could still be solid but must be weeded out from the traditional values that deem women inferior and even moronic through the lack of her voice at their inception.
"Christianity, today has answered this call to varying degrees in different schools of the faith and in at least some areas has asked that women be allowed to give to the faith a perception that is more reflective of the modern role of women. Though there are still many "Christian" faiths that exclude women from the most revered roles of the tradition, such as the priesthood there are many more that have challenged this stricture either through allowance of women into the priesthood or by the establishment of an "equal" role through practical rather than dogmatic demonstrations. Rodgers points out that the allowance of women into the priesthood is still an exception rather than a rule, and the that the Roman Catholic faith has been particularly resistant to the move to allow women into their priesthood, change is still occurring and in meaningful ways in large mainline Christian faiths."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Conn, Marie A. Noble Daughters: Unheralded Women in Western Christianity, 13th to 18th Centuries. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000.
• Ratcliffe, Krista. Anglo-American Feminist Challenges to the Rhetorical Traditions: Virginia Woolf, Mary Daly, Adrienne Rich. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1996.
• Rogers, Wyatt M. Christianity and Womanhood: Evolving Roles and Responsibilities. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002.
• Schottroff, Luise. Lydia's Impatient Sisters: A Feminist Social History of Early Christianity. Trans. Barbara Rumscheidt and Martin Rumscheidt. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995.
• Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. The Woman's Bible. Ann Arbor, Michigan; Northeastern University Press. 1993.

More papers on Women and Christianity:

• Comparison Essay # 115263 : "Women and Religion"
• Essay # 87715 : "Women in Christianity and Hinduism"
• Analytical Essay # 136639 : "Role of Women in Christianity"

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