Buried Talents: The Women after Pentecost

Pentecost

Jesus’ inclusion of women among his disciples begins a pattern that is reflected in the conduct of His apostles. Women disciples were with the apostles at the very beginning:

(Acts 1:12-14) Then [the apostles] returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

The text is ambiguous as to whether the women were present when the Spirit descended, but clearly Peter understood that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were for women. He quoted the prophet Joel in his sermon that day:

(Acts 2:17-18) In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

The passage emphasizes the equal rights of men and women to the gifts of the Spirit. We know that prophecy is more than predicting the future. It includes “forthtelling” as well as “foretelling.” Thus, Joel prophesied that women would have the miraculous power to speak words of encouragement, rebuke, exhortation, and condemnation.

The prophets of the Old Testament are still legendary for their ability to so vividly declare the word of God that even kings trembled, and Joel prophesied that the Messianic age would be ushered in with this gift — in women!

Thus, it is not surprising that in Acts 21 we read of the four daughters of Philip the evangelist who prophesied or that in 1 Corinthians 11 we read of women prophesying in the presence of men in the assembly. Paul rebukes their failure to cover their heads, but not their prophesying.

It therefore appears probable that women were among those who received the Spirit at Pentecost. After all, the essence of Peter’s argument is that those listening to his sermon were seeing the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. And the essence of Joel’s prophecy is that the gift of prophecy will be given to women!

Peter could have picked numerous other Old Testament prophecies of the Spirit arriving in the age of the Messiah, but Peter chose as his text the only passage that emphasizes women having the gift of prophecy.

Junias

Junias (Junia in the KJV), a feminine name, is described by Paul as outstanding (“of note” (KJV)) among the apostles (Rom. 16:7). Even the early church fathers (hardly a “liberated” group) considered her to have had an apostolic role (James Walters, “Phoebe and Junia(s),” published in Osburn, editor, Essays on Women 1, pages 185-190. Walters is an associate professor of New Testament at Harding University).

Certainly she was not one of the Twelve, nor must we conclude that she was of the same order as Paul, and yet her role as an “ambassador” must have been quite important to earn such a title, especially from Paul, who defended his rights as an apostle vigorously.

Notice that the Bible also refers to Titus (2 Cor. 8:23), Andronicus (Rom. 16:7), Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25), James the brother of Jesus (Gal. 1:19; 1 Cor. 15:7), and Barnabas (Acts 14:14) as “apostles.” This is certainly a worthy group, and we must acknowledge the teaching and leadership roles of all the members of the group whom the Bible describes in any detail at all. The title must imply some role analogous to the apostles themselves (Walters, ibid.).

The notion of a woman being referred to as an apostle by Paul is so foreign to many that two arguments have been offered to avoid the implication of the statement.

First, many have suggested that Junias was a man, despite the plainly feminine form of the name. In Greek, “-as” is a feminine ending. However, all early Christian writers commenting on the passage considered Junias female, with the first suggestion that Junias was a man appearing in the late 14th Century. In fact, the early church considered Junias a female much longer than the early church insisted on a cappella singing.

Second, some suggest that “outstanding among the apostles” means “considered outstanding by the apostles,” thus avoiding the sense that Junias was an apostle. However, scholars are virtually unanimous in interpreting Paul as referring to Junias as an apostle. “This is the way the phrase was understood by all the patristic writers, by most all modern commentators, and by virtually all English translations.”

John Chrysostom, writing in the late 4th Century, states the view of the early Christians:

To be an apostle is something great. But to be outstanding among the apostles-just think what a wonderful song of praise that is! They were outstanding on the basis of their works and virtuous actions. Indeed, how great the wisdom of this woman must have been that she was even deemed worthy of the title apostle

(James Walters, “‘Phoebe’ and ‘Junia(s)’-Rom. 16:1-2,7,” in Osburn, Essays on Woman, at page 187).

Phoebe

Phoebe, a woman, is described by Paul as a deacon of the church at Cenchrea (not as a deaconess, the word being masculine). Indeed, the word “deaconess” wasn’t coined until long after apostolic times, with men and women both being called “deacon” for hundreds of years.

Some would translate diakonos in this passage as “servant” rather than deacon. This issue will be taken up later when we discuss deacons in particular.

Priscilla

Priscilla (Prisca) and Aquila are a familiar pair. Contrary to the customs of the day, the wife is often mentioned first. In fact, of the Bible’s six references to Priscilla, she is mentioned first four times. “Evidently, she was an outstanding person in her own right” (Leon Morris, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Wm. B. Eerdmans 1978), page 246).

This would occur in the First Century only if everyone, including the husband, understood that the wife held the more important or prominent position. Moreover, Priscilla is specifically referred to as having taught Apollos — a man (Acts 18:26). Priscilla is mentioned first in this passage.

Other Women

Paul’s many other references to particular women as being among his circle of evangelists and worthy of honor are too numerous to list.

The prophetesses of 1 Cor 11

We’ll consider 1 Cor 11 in greater depth later. For now, it’s worth noting that many women in Corinth had the gift of prophecy and were using it in the assembly, in the presence of men. Paul criticized their lack of head covering, but did not command them to stop. Indeed, in 1 Cor 14 he strongly encouraged the continuation of prophecy is the assembly. (And, yes, we’ll get to 1 Cor 14:33-35.)

Summary

We see that although men certainly held most of the leadership roles throughout biblical times, the record plainly contradicts any notion that God prohibits women from leading men, having authority over men, teaching men, or speaking in the presence of men, as we have traditionally interpreted these commands.

Neither the Law of Moses nor Jesus ever commanded women to be submissive to men, except in the sense that we are all to submit to one another or that wives are to be complements to their husbands. If God made an eternal law that women are forever subordinate to men, you would think that Moses or Jesus would have said so plainly.