Role of Women in Christian Faith

Despite the fundamental Christian belief that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God, sufficient evidence exists to demonstrate that, in some instances, some translators or copyists of the original documents which comprise the Gospels, the Pauline corpus, and the other Pastoral epistles have left out material, substituted verbal variants or inappropriately modified nouns--changing masculine to feminine or the reverse, or added entire portions of text which were eventually canonized but are known to modern scholars as not likely to have been original material (such as Jesus' encounter with the adulterous woman in John 7:53-8:11). Whether the "alterations" or "modifications" were deliberate or merely accidental, the potential for misuse or abuse exists.

Is it at all possible, then, that portions of textual material which might have given rise to the greater empowerment of women in the early (or even modern) church

. . .
e wife ought to have been subject to your husband in other things, accommodating yourself to the marriage bond, particularly since both of you are members of the body of Christ (Clark, 1983, 65-66). As his wife aspired to the ascetic way of life preferred by the church Fathers, perhaps what upset the husband more, Augustine reveals, is that you ought not to have given away your clothes, or your gold or silver or any money, or any of your earthly belongings, without his decision, lest you set a stumbling block for a man who along with you vowed higher things to God and had chastely abstained from what he, by his legal power, could have required from your body . . . (Clark, 1983, 67). So much for the teaching of Jesus which requires that "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Matthew 19:21, NAS)! As even Kraemer (1992) observes, In the synoptic gospels, not only are the disciples of Jesus repeatedly admonished to renounce their families, occupations, and residence to follow him . . . but they are also depicted as forming new associations, often with such social undesirables as the taxpayers (sic: tax-gatherers) and sin
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Some common words found in the essay are:
According Heine, Apostle Paul, Scriptures Heine, Isaiah Israel's, Jesus Christ, Clark Christian, Jesus Bethany, Heine Blank's, Gal328 Christ, Schüssler Fiorenza, heine 1987, kraemer 1992, church fathers, clark 1983, historical research, christian women, history christian, according heine, christian women patristic, women jesus, standards worth, women patristic era,
Approximate Word count = 3562
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)

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