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Women in the Early Christian Church
They played a pivotal role
In the Christian book of Acts, early believers are said to have met in peoples’ homes. When the home of the married couple hosting the gathering is mentioned, the wife’s name is always mentioned first.
This hearkens back to early Jewish tradition.
The wife’s main function is to take care of her family and home. However, the flip side of this is that she is the person who runs the home and the person in charge of the home. Thus the respect that she is given by visitors to her home.
Others sometimes emphasize women in their roles outside the home to point out the equality among early Christians. After all, Lydia was a wealthy merchant and there were other women who financially supported the early church. In Proverbs, the ideal wife is also someone who buys and sells land for profit and who effectively manages the business of her home. When the Holy Spirit infuses believers during Pentecost, women as well as men speak in tongues and prophesize. Both men and women travel and make disciples.
Yet most women probably remained at home after they became Christians. They had families to care for. This did not mean they were powerless.
This goes back to Jewish culture. Most new Christians in that period were converts from…
