Women in the Tapestry of Christian History

Diana Lynn Severance (Ph.D., Rice University) is an historian serving as director of the Dunham Bible Museum at Houston Baptist University. Her most recent book, Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History, exposes and celebrates the crucial role of women in the history of the Christian church. Perhaps too often we practice a kind of "chronological snobbery," as C. S. Lewis termed it, assuming that we today understand everything much more clearly than the unsophisticated people of previous centuries. On some subjects that assumption might work. On most, we might wisely practice more humility.

The subject of women's roles is a complicated one: certainly we have made much progress, but perhaps we would do well to look back more carefully to see what we can learn from those who have gone before. Severance helps us do that. Her book is full of snippets of stories and quotations that make the reader want to spend time delving into the original sources. I came away from her book and from this interview convinced that our contemporary discussion of women's roles would be much more profitable if it were better informed by a clearer historical perspective.

Your book focuses on women in church history. Why is history—and this particular history—important for all of us in the church today?

God is a God of history. The Bible itself, God's inspired revelation, is a book of history, in that much of it is a historical record of God's working with and bringing redemption to his people. The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus are events central to all of history—as seen in the commonly used dating system of B.C. and A.D. Paul in his address on Mars Hill (Acts 17) told the Athenians that the God who made us all so orders the boundaries and times of nations to bring people to himself.

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Evermyrtle

I am happy with whatever plans GOD has for me., whether Glory, or whether humble. I will serve at the best of my ability, as long as HE walks beside in my journey through life. I am very weak and a foolish sinner and make so many mistakes but with HIM I can do all things that HE ask of me, as long as HE keeps my close to HIS side.
RAL

I find women in the Bible the glue, in many situations, to hold it together. If we were truly able to see the perspective that women held in authority back then, we can see how radical Jesus was in letting them have a voice.
I know that I have gotten the perspective wrong, on many accounts, in the Bible. And I have heard that same perspective from pulpits across many pulpits.
Personally, I love the story of Mary and Martha (which I'm not sure how many know of). It is fairly short, so it can be missed, as I did, quiet easily. Read Luke 10: 38-42.
Mary and Martha were friends of Jesus. In this short story Jesus and his, at least, 12 Disciples, show up at their house. Of course both Mary and Martha go into clean up mode. This has to be seen from the perspective of no fridge/freezer and having to fix food for everyone. After a while, Mary quits helping her sister, and goes to listen to Jesus. Not only does she violate the laws of that time, but she makes her presence known by sitting at the feet of Jesus. A woman's role was to be unseen. Then we see that Martha finally realizes that she is working alone, when she sees Mary. Martha then marches, and interrupts Jesus and points out if Jesus cares about her, he'll tell Mary to get off her butt and help her sister. Now, this was 4 weeks before Jesus was to nailed to the cross, and in his words you can even feel the rebuke in Martha not understanding real importance. She was so focused on her sister, and comparing her obedience to the law, that she took her eyes off Jesus, the comparison she should have been focused on. Jesus pointed out she was troubled by the wrong things, even in a fatherly way of saying her name twice, like you do to a child not getting the point by their father.
What is really amazing is that this was given to Luke in eye witness accounts…so, who told this perspective to Luke, as he and the other disciples listened to Jesus? It was Martha herself. She understood what was so important, and needed to be addressed, as Jesus did many times. So many of us look at someone else in their short comings, as Martha was doing to her sister, that her focus wasn't on being like Jesus or listening to what He said, but even to the point she confronted Him for not doing what she said. From that perspective I can see many things I have done, or compared to others, taking my eyes of the true source of comparison, to make myself look better. We all are sinners. In just our life we are born under the property of satan, not Gods. It is only through Jesus that the bridge is re-connected, so we can be forgiven…but that is only the half way point. We have to repent and turn away from our old bodies of sin, and turn to Jesus, and the grace He gave us in taking on not only a world that hated and turned from him, but God himself turned from. The pain of that moment was so painful, Jesus even cried out, "Why have you forgotten me!"
When Jesus was arrested, the women did not leave…but the disciples scattered like lost sheep, even lied that they never knew Him. When Jesus was buried, it was a woman that the angel told Jesus had risen. God Bless.
aceituna

Does the name Deborah ring a bell. Read about her in the book of Judges. Why are there two books in the Old Testatment named after women. Do a study on why these women are importent. Learn how they influenced history. Do a study on Proverbs chapter 30. Sounds as if we are dealing with a real business person, one with a lot of influence and authority. Do a study on Priscilla in the book of Acts. You have already mentioned all the women who were friends of Jesus. Learn more about them. By the way who was Lydia? Was she in business? Sounds as if good women mentioned in the Bible came through and did what was necessary.
Evermyrtle

There were many good Christian women listed int the Bible along with the works that they did