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Jesus and the Rights Of Women
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Jason001001

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June 9, 2024 - 6:11 pm

I wanted to pose another question again. Thank you for hearing a dumbell like me out. Did Jesus intend to raise the status of women?

His treatment of women is not brought up as a point of contention by his enemies in the gospels as far as I’m aware. Also, women’s place within the Roman empire and perhaps Second Temple Judaism had changed considerably for the better.

While reading a Seventh Day Adventist website debunking the myth that Jews and Samaritans were enemies it casually mentioned that improvements in the rights of women had more to do with societal changes than any revolutionary attitude on Jesus’ part.

So, it got me thinking. Jesus doesn’t mention improving women’s rights to inheritance or dowry, though perhaps Paul does. When it comes to divorce, in limited circumstances first century Jewish women were able to divorce their husbands according to the archaeological record.
Yet in this, perhaps the one instance in which Jesus specifically mentions women’s legal rights he denied women the ability to not only divorce their husbands but even to separate from them.

He had several close women followers but it was common for the wealthy widow matronesses to support famous rabbis. In a few instances women are spoken of as the presidents of synagogues perhaps similar to Paul mentioning women leaders of house churches.

So, I’m curious. What do you think? Did he just have a genuinely positive attitude toward women, or was he also a revolutionary of sorts with respect to gendered roles?

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Robert
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June 9, 2024 - 7:45 pm
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Jason001001

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June 9, 2024 - 8:02 pm

Thanks. As I understand it men and women were not considered separate sexes in that sense but part of a whole person. Maybe when Paul speaks of ‘nor is there male and female’ he was referring either to this absence of marriage or to a lack of people existing as separate individuals within the church. I think you’re right. No one would have spoken of women’s rights per se.

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