An excerpt from Women Officeholders in the Early Church
Women’s Apostolic Succession
How did some of these early women leaders view themselves as preachers
and proclaimers of the Gospel? Dorothy Irvin’s analysis of
early catacomb frescos and mosaics provides compelling historical
evidence that early women leaders saw themselves in apostolic succession
to prominent first century women disciples such as Mary the mother
of Jesus, Phoebe, Mary of Magdala and others.
Theodora, Episcopa
Perhaps the most accessible example of female apostolic succession
is an ancient mosaic still visible in the Church of St. Praxedis
in Rome. This ninth century portrait honors four women leaders
who pastored the community, beginning with Mary of Nazareth who
was often venerated by early Christians as the first apostolic
woman leader. St. Praxedis and St. Pudentiana (on whose ancestral
land the Church is thought to have been built) were endangered
female leaders of house churches before Christianity was legalized
in 313 AD. While these two and Mary have round halos in the mosaic,
the fourth woman, Theodora, has a square halo showing that she
was alive when the portrait was made. Inscribed above Theodora
is the word Episcopa, with the feminine ending, meaning a bishop
who is a woman. Just as contemporary churches, cathedral offices
and seminaries frequently display photographs of previous pastors,
bishops and rectors; the mosaic at St. Praxedis reveals the succession
of female pastors and bishops from Mary of Nazareth though Praxedis
and Pudentiana to Theodora. Like her predecessor, St. Praxidis
700 years earlier, Theodora wears an episcopal cross attesting
to her service as bishop of the titular church of St. Praxedis.
In addition to Theodora and Praxedis, Ute Eisen believes: “Other
Latin inscriptions from Italy and Dalmatia make it probable that
women were active there as bishops in the fifth and sixth centuries.
This is supported by the epigraphically attested women presbyters
of the fourth to sixth centuries in the West, as well as by literary
evidence from a later period that attacks, and thereby confirms,
the sacerdotal activity of women. [Eisen p. 208]
Sofia, the Deacon.
In 1903 bible scholars found a fourth century tombstone on the
mount of Olives with a Greek inscription which read: “Here
lies the minister and bride of Christ, Sofia the deacon, a second
Phoebe. She fell asleep in peace on the 21st of month of March...” The
Christian community in Jerusalem understood Sofia’s ministry
to be part of a three hundred year old tradition dating back
to the Phoebe of Romans 16 which was validated by none other
than the apostle Paul who said: “I commend to you our sister
Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae” Notable is
the fact that for both Phoebe and Sofia, the Greek word diaconos
is used a masculine ending with the feminine article. Diaconos
is the same word Paul used to describe his own ministry. Clearly,
the Jerusalem community saw Sofia’s ministry in apostolic
succession to that of Phoebe. There is ample evidence of other
female deacons who ministered from the first to the sixth centuries
in Palestine, Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia, Rome and France.
About Evidence for Women Priests
Formerly, archeologists and scholars took references to female
priests, deacons and bishops to be honorary titles for the wives
of these officeholders, rather than a female title for the office.
Recent scholarship rejects this interpretation. In the ancient
world, titles were legal identification since no system of family
surnames yet existed. If a woman is described by a title such as
presbytera (woman priest) it means that she held that office herself.
If her husband had the office, the title is attached to his name
(not hers) and she is named as his wife without a title. As Dorothy
Irvin points out: “The word presbytera is not the word that
was used for a woman priest of any Greek or Roman religious cult.
Presbyter, a Greek word meaning “elder” was one of
the New Testament designations of ministry that became normative,
together with deacon and bishop. In the Latin -speaking areas of
the early church, a feminine ending was added to form the title
of women holding this office.” In English the word was shortened
to “prester” and eventually to “priest” [Irvin
calendar 2003 (July-Aug)].
Ute Eisen’s careful study of tombstone inscriptions and
literary attestations reveals widespread evidence for women priests
and presiders (presbytera, presbytides, presbiterissa) who functioned
in both the eastern and western churches from the third to the
ninth centuries.
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Includes 43 images from catacomb frescos, newly available sarcophagi friezes, original art, paintings and mosaics of early Christian women leaders from the first to the 9th centuries. A sixteen-page presenter’s guide includes carefully researched summaries of what experts can tell us about these artifacts. Ideal for personal or group study as well as high school or college religious studies courses. CD includes Powerpoint and PDF formats
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