WOMEN AND CHRISTIANITY

WOMEN AND CHRISTIANITY

IOANNIS PETROU

Abstract: Women issues in the field of society and the Church afford many multidimensional aspects. Those issues were perceived on a broader basis over the last century. Within this century, efforts were made to address their various dimensions. This paper will first examine how these issues were brought forward in society, what the role of the feminist movement was and what other factors led to their awareness. Moreover, reference will be made with regard to the reasons that paved the way during the 70s for a clear change in historical research regarding the issue of women’s participation in culture production. Questions related to Christianity, Churches, feminist theology and theological research of women will also be explored. Additionally, it will be examined whether Christianity and the Churches have contributed, and whether they can actually contribute, to the liberation of women. Some basic questions are examined within this frame. What is the position of women in Church? Could historical research of ecclesiastical conceptions help to understand the place and role of women and gender? What are the necessary presuppositions in our time to approach this topic from an ecclesiastical standpoint? Finally, the question of women’s priesthood will also be addressed.

The issues of women in society

          The issues related to the position and role of women in society are actually issues of discrimination against women. The usual way of approaching such issues is to research the stereotypes associated with them, which contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of perceptions and practices that were formerly dominant. As is the case with any social problem, regarding women's issues as well, it is necessary to have awareness of their negative aspects and accept that those are not valid. The procedure for the recognition of these problems started very late in the history of civilization. It was in the late 19th century that the first considerations emerged in Europe and North America. But had it not been for the efforts of modern times for human liberation from the shackles of traditional society, there could not have been any discussion about women's issues. As it has already happened in other cases, with thinkers who judged rigorously the imperfections of modernity, disregarding the importance of the changes it made in relation to the traditional society, the same thing happened in the field of the feminist movement. It was especially critical towards modernity, expressing various reproaches, and in particular that it has not contributed to the liberation of women.

          Yet those reproaches point to the fact that it has not been understood that without the modern conceptions about society and human beings there could be no change in anything, the case of women included, and there could be no feminist movement either. For changes to take place in society in general, it was necessary to question its traditional structure and realize that society is not a given thing but something that constantly changes. This means that the human being can intervene and alter the existing social situations. In addition, without accepting the release of the individual from his community, and recognizing that every person has value and can act according to his/her free will, it would be possible to even conceive any intervention or change. All this shows that the following factors play an important role for making meaningful social changes: first, how relationships among people are understood; second, the relationship between people and society; third, how their social roles are formed, whether they are given or shaped according to their own will; or more simply, are their roles biological or social constructs? Nevertheless, those issues require a lengthy process of elaboration and are not formed from one day to another. It was not only women who suffered discrimination, but other parts of the population as well. That is why it was necessary to realize that everyone has the right to claim a place in society and that it is not justified to have various kinds of discrimination within it. Such issues have claimed our concern till modern times as we are constantly becoming aware of their new dimensions.

Initially, therefore, it was necessary to accept that equality applies to all and not just some people. Secondly, it was vital to show that the dominant language represents a situation full of discriminations against women and is influenced by them. Thirdly, there had to be proved that the past cannot constitute a tool for supporting social change, because it contains and reflects the marginalization of women. The cases of some women, who, because of their special position in traditional society, had bigger freedom of movement, do not constitute evidence for the role of women in general, since most of them were marginalized. Fourthly, stereotypes ascribed their social degradation, but at the same time contributed to the reproduction of the discrimination regime. Women's research was mainly targeted to these issues and it was many times expressed acutely. It goes without saying that if one does not present an existing negative situation in dark colours, one will not be able to succeed in bringing awareness about its negativity.

The reversal of this reality required long-term and arduous struggles. Of course, it could be argued that it was only these struggles that brought about the change of perceptions and realities. Other factors, which contributed to the constant change in society and the great rearrangements in the 20th century, were those that together with women's struggles helped change the broader cultural context. As such factors, one might mention the movement of populations, the urbanization, the need for more members to work in each family, broadening the scope of education in combination with the cultivation of critical thinking, claiming equal participation in politics and so on. It might not be wrong for one to argue that it was the combination of all the above that acted as a catalyst in the issue of women. It is important to mention here that when the book The Second Sex is written by Simone de Beauvoir (1949), women's claims are expressed particularly strongly. Of course, it could not even cross one’s mind, in the early post-war period, to refer to history or to use any arguments for the participation of women in the production of culture. The situation, though, will change later on, as we shall see below.

It should also be noted that the research on the language codes turned initially and towards the investigation of the language of the Bible. For this reason, there appeared quite early a Bible of women containing language interventions. It is unacceptable that basic texts, written at times of male dominance which is actually reflected in them, remain unchanged. The research was mainly directed towards the disapproval of patriarchy and sexism, which were a given fact (predominant?) in the traditional society. This situation was not only a problem of the West and the East. There were no differences on these issues between the East and the West. The thorough historical research in the West confirmed the problems women were facing in traditional society. Particularly enlightening is the research of Olwen Hufton. But other research projects, which are belatedly carried out at present in the East, confirm that there was no difference in women's issues in comparison to the West. This will also be shown in what will be mentioned about the perceptions of the East below.

 

The changes in women’s historiography

The decades of 70s and especially the 80s brought about a diversification in women's research on the subject of history and culture. What exactly happened that caused this change in their attitude? What is more, there appears an elaboration of relevant terminology and new terms are created about the issue of the role of gender in history and culture. As is generally the case with the history and its recording , the same applies for the case of women's history. Older histories referred to the rulers and their war exploits and ignored the activities of ordinary people. It took a great deal of deliberation as well as challenging this data for historiography to start approaching culture as a creation of all people and not just a few. But this change necessitated several centuries of dispute. In the case of women, it was necessary to first challenge the previous situation, to realize that it was demeaning to them and to make more widely accepted, at least in theory, the request for gender equality. Only when it is broadly understood that a request is fair, may the effort for the deconstruction of stereotypes and situations that contradict it begin. Then simply starts the painstaking endeavor of implementation of new concepts in practice. That seems, at least theoretically, to be a given fact in the 70s. This is the main reason for the launch of a different kind of approach, which is reflected both in the research objectives and the theoretical negotiation that develops from that decade onwards. Of course, we cannot present here the reflection on those issues in detail. We will just make mention of the basic data and its essential outcomes.

The concept of gender becomes the centerpiece of research. A distinction is made between biological and social sex. In this case, what really matters is how gender is shaped. Simone de Beauvoir had already argued that one is not born a woman, but becomes one. One may assume that there is here a denial of biological dimension. But this is not really the case. At the same time, the 60s, there is a broader discussion about the humanization of man. This is an equivalent to the issue of gender. Nobody claims that man is not biologically a man, and that now he will become one. What is meant is the constitution and the building of his personality in such a way that it captures the essence of human existence. This dimension can be particularly noticed in human freedom, the refusal of violence and the acceptance of the other. The same applies, initially in a negative way, with respect to women. The particular social role assigned to women was not in all its dimensions resulting from biology, but from a set of concepts that are reproduced through stereotypes and want the woman closed in the house, dealing only with the birth and upbringing of children, without rights and opportunities to shape her personality and develop her creative abilities. The background of this kind of thinking about gender, after the questioning of its content in the past, altered to positive content in the sense that now women have the ability and the right to freely shape their role and participate in the social, political, economic and cultural life in whatever way they deem most appropriate to their own personality. As it has already been said above, the principle of equality has been accepted as a fact and it is now processed and consolidated. Its consolidation is directed at reversing the negative situations and behaviors in the space of ​​the modern world. Simultaneously, these ideas are spread to other areas despite the opposition encountered.

This new situation allows for a change in the field of women's historiography. While previously the idea of ​​researching the past was rejected, because it could not provide arguments for the liberation of women, it is now turning towards this direction using the criterion of gender. Historians, who were usually men, omitted many details concerning women and recorded only what referred to the activities of men. The patterns of this way of thinking are similar to those reported previously about the passage of historiography from recording hegemonic activities only to recording the activities of ordinary people as well. Despite the unfavourable situation of women, those were not absent from the production of culture. These dimensions of culture must now be investigated and recorded. Thus, the criterion of gender is now used in a fresh way. This does not mean that the modern demands of women are put aside and that the past is suddenly considered to be positive for them. The two forms of research run parallel ways.

Feminist theology

The course of the broader female research and thought can also be traced in the field of feminist theology, as well as in the research of women theologians. So, as it has already been said, there was at a very early stage criticism of the traditional language that enunciated the patriarchal and male-centered structures. The 60s initially witness a continuation of criticism and research, as well as growing concern about the place and role of women not only in society but also in the Church. The shift that occurs in women's thought and reflection from the 70s also appears in the field of feminist theology and women's theological research. Hence, the presence of women in the history of the Church is also explored and particularly the behavior of Jesus towards women which was different from the one that later gradually appears in the Church. Typical is the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, which made his students admire the fact that "he spoke with a woman." (Jn. 4.27). His broader circle of students comprised women as well, and those were the first to bring the message of the Resurrection. It is true that the general attitude of the Church changed later and got adjusted to the requirements of the society of that time. In other words, instead of having the Church influence society, the opposite happened. Nevertheless, in the social work that was developed in the Church, particularly from the fourth century onwards, many women were involved. These activities are recorded by female theological research and constitute a very powerful argument. If at a time when women were degraded in society, they participated in church, then the responsibility on this issue in the modern times is much bigger. Now that society has recognized the equality of men and women and makes a serious effort to deconstruct the negative situations for women, the Church is no longer justified to maintain stereotypes and situations that reflect the attitudes of an era that was highly negative for women. In other words, it is not justified to preserve social data long overcome by society itself.

To all this must be added a very important dimension of women's issues that derives from the theology of liberation. This theology that developed mainly in Latin America, but also in other parts of the world, is more interested in action. In the 90s there is an adjustment to new global cultural context. Women theologians who deal, within the frame of this theology, with the problems of the poor, found out that women actually face many more problems than men, such as violence against them, sexist attacks and female discrimination. Thus, they stressed the need to consider those problems in a special way, taking into account not only the dimension of poverty, but also that of  gender which puts an extra burden on women’s shoulders.

Women’s Issues and the tradition of the Church

After what has been generally said about the issues of women in modern society, to which we will return at the end of the chapter, it is necessary to take a quick look at the status of women in the tradition of the Church and the gradual evolution of the relevant perceptions. We will limit ourselves here mainly to the tradition of the East. As it has already been mentioned, Jesus attitude towards women was radical for that time, in the sense that it surpassed the stereotypes that did not allow for any public activity on the part of women and considered impermissible for men to socialize with them. However, still there women's activities at that time that are presented in the Old Testament, as well as in the early Church. It should not be forgotten that in the New Testament there is specific mention of the deaconesses Phoebe, Priscilla and Lydia (student of Ap. Paul). This means that women were not only active in the early Church, but they also had a special place.

Yet Paul has certain attitudes and perceptions that can be judged as rather contradictory. More specifically, in Galatians he talks about the equality of man and woman "in Christ" (3:28). By this it is understood that the early Church could, to a limited extent and only within its communities, talk about new relationships and perceptions. Of course, much later the historical course of events led to the general acceptance of this perception without the conditions set by Paul with the reference "in Christ". This means that the modern Church ought to recognize this dimension as a fact of our time. Equality is a general perception accepted by modern society, without considering necessary the conditions set by the Christian community for its acceptance.

But while Paul talks in Galatians about equality between men and women, even “in Christ”, in I Corinthians he refers to the hierarchy of men and women and subdues the latter to the former (1 Cor 11:3-12). He certainly mentions respect and love between men and women, but this cannot refute his basic position, which contradicts what he says in Galatians. The best interpretation, based on the present time reality, postulates the acceptance of what is said in Galatians as a basic principle, considering what is said in I Corinthians to be an adaptation to the cultural conditions of his time. This interpretation should be considered to be more appropriate, putting paid to the efforts made on the basis of improbable claims to prove correct the position of I Corinthians as well. It is preferable to approach the understanding and regulation of relations from the perspective of equality and intellectual cultivation of men and women that can help achieve a balance between them. Paul repeats what has been said in Genesis and with those views that were suited to the cultural context of his time he had a bigger influence than by what he said in Galatians.

So, one can see relatively quickly that in the frame of Church there has been concern about what the woman is. Clement of Alexandria mentions that the woman as well should be called "human". This means that this dimension was challenged. She is called woman, because, as it has been noted, she was taken out of man. This makes evident the fact that the relative narrative of the Old Testament influenced their perceptions. So, the man has a name, while the woman is simply called wife. Throughout the ecclesiastical tradition, the Old Testament narrative, which has actually got a symbolic character, was considered to be a "historical fact." It was only in modern times that this has been challenged by modern theology which maintains that the narrative is symbolic and should not be construed as a historical fact.

At the beginning of the fourth century, St. Athanasius the Great, speaking disparagingly about the goddesses of the pagan religion, stated that we (meaning Christians) do not take into account women even for simple advice, while the Pagans  have turned them into goddesses (Athanasius, Contra Gentes 10, PG 25,21C). This clearly shows how pejoratively women were treated. Only at the end of the fourth century, St. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa claim that women as well are in the image of God (Basilius, Homilia in 1 Psalmum, PG 29, 216D-217A; Homilia in Martyrem Julittam PG 31,241A. Gregor of Nyssa, De hominis opificio 16, PG 44, 182 A-C). On the contrary, St. John Chrysostom maintains that it is indirectly, through man, that women acquire this dimension (Hom. 26,2 in 1 Cor PG 61,214; Hom. 2 in Gen PG 54,589). These are some indicative views that show how controversial the perceptions about women were, even among prominent church representatives.

It is not possible to describe here in detail how the relevant perceptions evolve. For this reason, we will mention them briefly. The woman is considered to be the cause of all evil, she can attract men, so her body should be covered and she should not try to beautify herself. This is apparently a negative attitude towards the body and the beauty. These perceptions were generally prevalent in the East. In our days, they can still be observed in the Muslim communities and in some cases in the working classes that live in the countryside. It is argued, though, that the woman was raised in the face of the Virgin. However, in traditional texts of the 6th century about Virgin Mary, especially in the homilies on Theotokos, falsely attributed to St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, there coexist on the one hand these special honors to the Virgin, and on the other the devaluation of the other women who are considered to be the cause of all evil. In those texts one can find the famous saying: “it is through woman that all evil has come to us, but also all good” (Pseudo-Gregory Thaumatourgos, Annunt 3, Pg 10,1177A). The second part refers to the Virgin Mary and the first to the woman in general. Of course, it can be easily understood that such views, which strongly influenced the position of women in ecclesiastical tradition, can be neither accepted in our time, nor justified. They should simply remain in the past and be considered valid proof that the past and the tradition cannot be used in order to draw arguments about the position of women in our time. They are nothing but historical data of the past.

According to traditional ecclesiastical and social perceptions women we thought to be only fit for home; they had to do the housekeeping and be occupied with the birth and upbringing of children. Especially the young were obliged to serve others and dependent on the will of their husband or, before him, their father or guardian. In traditional society, women had very limited opportunities for training and education. Such opportunities were mainly available only for the young women of aristocratic families. But such was the extent of the connection between the prevailing social perceptions and church practices, that the basic demands of society for the reproduction of social situations were interwoven in religious rules. In case of any deviation in the frame of marriage the woman was punished very severely. For this reason, some Fathers, Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa, stigmatized this practice of discrimination against women. In the West, discussions about the woman being an accomplished human being or not continued in later times until the Middle Ages. Thus, the question whether a woman also has a soul or not was raised. This question is a clear indication of the cultural level at the time. Oftentimes, young women were sent to monasteries, instead of being allowed to have a family. This was mostly done to preserve the family property. Moreover, the brutal treatment of women and the derogatory treatment of female children was a common practice until later periods. This very practice forced St. Cosmas the Aetolian to react and try, by using soteriological arguments, to persuade men to behave better towards their wives. These are some characteristic examples of the way women were treated in the traditional "Christian" society. Additionally, there may be mentioned some ecclesiastical texts which approach women as unclean. Those are perceptions that derive from the Jewish tradition. Obviously, those cannot be supported in our time. But still, the Orthodox Church avoids discussing this issue and does not cease using these texts in the worship.

 The order of deaconesses

Nevertheless, it should be noted here that, for the traditional period, the fact that women participated in the social work of the Church should be considered real progress. In this context, the institution of deaconesses played an important role. This was an institution that was originally created to provide assistance in the church, particularly with the practice of adult baptism. The deaconesses assisted in the baptism of women. We will not be concerned here whether the deaconesses were ordained (χειροτονία) or followed another procedure (χειροθεσία). The important thing is that there were specific blessings for their participation in this institution and a standard procedure as in the other ordinations. After the introduction of infant baptism, deaconesses devoted themselves to the social work of the Church. As it can be easily understood, the creation of such an institution in a period of severe degradation of women brings a lot more responsibility to the Church in our time, when the role of women in society has been clearly upgraded. The Church can no longer simply be prevaricating with arguments from tradition interpreting unilaterally various texts. This, of course, was the reason that forced the Inter-Orthodox Conference of Rhodes (1988) to discuss the necessity to at least restore in the Orthodox Church the institution of deaconesses.

 

The Church and the social emancipation of women

The Church, influenced by the traditional social perceptions about women, understandably did not conduce to their liberation in modern times. It may, indeed, be said that even now it supports the traditional views contrary to contemporary perceptions about women and their position in society. Referring specifically to the Greek case, the liberation of women from the shackles of traditional society came gradually with the acceptance of certain basic facts. As such may be mentioned: the wider acceptance of views about gender equality and equal participation of women in political and social life, ensuring their right to education and teaching, the urbanization of the population, the need for more working members in modern family and the principle of freedom for shaping the personality and the role of women in society. The most essential of all those, though, was the acceptance that the social roles, and therefore the content of the gender, are formulated on the basis of freedom and nothing is predefined in advance in a way that it cannot be changed. Such perceptions should be admitted by the Church, which particularly in recent decades speaks of personal freedom as a basic principle. Individual freedom also means freedom of person to shape social roles. These things are considered self-evident in contemporary society and no one can ignore them. The disregard of these views by the Church simply deteriorates its position, as women have already accepted them and claim their realization. This is the reason why there are no roles defined by tradition. Everyone is free to choose how they will shape their personality and role. Any choice is respected. All these are essential presuppositions that must be accepted by the Church

According to polls, women keep relations with the Church to a greater extent than men do. The percentage is almost double compared to men. How can one explain the fact that women keep relations with the Church despite the disparaging attitudes it maintains for women? More specifically, how do they perceive blessings about their uncleanness and texts that speak of their subordination to men? Of course, one would be naive to argue that they accept any of these perceptions. What seems most plausible to assume is that either quite a few of them do not understand these texts, which are expressed in a language not easily understood by the average woman of our time, or that they choose to ignore these perceptions of the Church, because they have separated their social practice from religious traditions and customs. The second explanation seems to be more likely. But, whatever the explanation is, the Church should at some point understand that it cannot continue reproducing the traditional perceptions about women in our time. Since it particularly values life, it cannot connect the cycle of life with perceptions that refer to uncleanness. This is just a natural (bodily) function of women and nothing more than that.

Another key element should be mentioned here. The egalitarian ideas do not have the potential by themselves to change the negative attitudes and especially the practices of abuse and exploitation of women. To overcome those coordinated and targeted efforts in the social field are absolutely necessary. But whoever wants to denounce these practices, should initially take action in their own field for the rehabilitation of women. This is particularly applies to the Orthodox Church. It cannot escape our attention that very little has been done towards this direction. Apologetic attitudes through recruiting several women cannot cover the imperfections.

Over the past two decades women have achieved a high participation in education as well. This, indeed, remains at high levels regarding the course of religious education in public secondary schools, but also in Theological Schools of a university level. The percentage of women attending courses in Theological Schools is very high. Life goes on without paying attention to the backward perceptions held by some. Those perceptions cannot stop the progress of society. This development, as it usually happens, may help forget the kind of perceptions held for women in traditional society. But it is not right to use this "forgetfulness" in order to idealize the past. It is necessary for the young men and women to know what existed previously and how, through struggles and laborious efforts, the current situation was reached. Moreover, whatever is painstakingly achieved must be protected against those who always see positively former realities or try in any way to reproduce silly and unintelligent stereotypes. There are positive and negative aspects in every period. Humans should make an effort to overcome what is negative but also by all means protect what is positive.

 

The position of women in the Church

Despite the fact that the change in Greece has become obvious even in the theological space, it is worthy of particular attention that feminist theology and women's research has not developed in the field of theology. What are the reasons behind this situation? It should probably be attributed to the fact that society ensures the free choices and free development of women’s personality. Yet, it is still necessary for women to develop a particular vision of society, the Church and theology based on their own perspective. An effort is made for this particular vision to be expressed by people who will reproduce traditional apologetic attitudes and not by progressive people who will offer their own elaboration and sensitivity to various issues. Of course, the issue of women in the Church should not be addressed separately from the broader issue of the position of the laity in it. But this is something that the Orthodox Church is trying to circumvent arguing that such a thing does not exist in its space. The fact, though, that it becomes all the more introverted constitutes proof that there exists a serious issue. The truth is that the involvement of women could conduce to the development of very useful social projects. The field of social work with the application of modern methods is open. What is needed is the appropriate will and imagination. But such a thing requires the opening of the Orthodox Church and the acceptance of the notion that much can be done in practice based on a variety of gifts. And those cannot only be limited to what the clergy can do. In this way, it can be understood that the Church has got many members and it should not be simply identified with the clergy.

Finally, it is necessary to raise this issue of the priesthood of women. This increasingly concerns Christian Churches in recent decades. There is clear variation in the practices that are followed. The Catholic and the Orthodox Church deny the mere existence of the issue. But the need that leads them to finding arguments to respond negatively to this issue constitutes evidence that the problem exists. The Protestant Churches have moved forward and ordained women priests and bishops. This differentiation leads to controversy. In reality there are no strong theological arguments to prevent this practice. The argument 'of tradition' used by the Orthodox Church is not enough to prevent the implementation of a different practice in modern times. What was mentioned earlier about the position of women in traditional society clearly show that it was impossible to discuss such issues in the context of tradition. So, how can one expect to get answers from those who never cared to ask any questions?

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