The Apostle Paul: Views on Women

Women are human beings. We are equals to men. Yet the Bible doesn’t see women this way. In the New Testament in particular, Paul expresses a particular disdain for women I briefly mentioned while writing “Hypatia of Alexandria.” As I think about Patriarchy and in particular how my life, along with the women I’ve written about, are shaped by the effects of patriarchy in our daily life, I am reminded specifically about how Paul has influenced views towards women and the historical consequences for women in western societies. In fact on June 26th, 2024 Church historian Thomas Dierson wrote to me, “Paul’s Epistles were among the very FIRST books to be accepted as scripture. By the end of the 1st Century, 4 Gospels, Acts, & 13 Pauline Epistles were widely accepted as Scripture throughout the Church.” As a biographer of primarily women, I find this very telling about the church and early attitudes towards women and women’s rights.

Let’s look at some specifics that catch my attention, using the King James Version of the Bible.

Saint Hildegard von Bingen defied Paul when she founded the Cloister at St. Rupertsberg and began writing down her visions.

1 Corinthians 14: 34-35 states, “³⁴ Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. ³⁵ And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”

Katharina von Bora with husband Martin Luther and their children. Katharina defied Paul in participating in her husband’s “table talks” with his students and accepting a measure of equality within their family. Luther even called her “Mein Herr Käthe.”

In 1 Timothy, chapter 2 Paul writes, “⁹ In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; ¹⁰ But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. ¹¹ Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. ¹² But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. ¹³ For Adam was first formed, then Eve. ¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. ¹⁵ Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”

Later, Paul invests 11 verses (1 Timothy 5: 2 – 16) on the matter of widows, judging them harshly if they pursue lives of their own after the death of their husbands. Even after giving her dead husband children, she is expected to live in perpetual mourning and suffering – any sort of happiness or pleasure is looked upon disdain by Paul

This harsh disdain that Paul shows towards women he shows equally towards slaves, demanding absolute obedience to their masters (Ephesians 6: 5 – 8, Colossions 3: 22 – 24).

In the Greek poem, Theogony, Hesiod describes women as created as a curse on mankind. But rarely do I see more misogyny in ancient literature than I find in Paul’s writings.

What then conclusions should we draw? I’ll leave that up to you. But looking back at both the women whose stories I’ve told (Hildegard von Bingen and Katharina von Bora among them) and in my own life, I think Paul’s writing have served as an effective weapon, socially and religiously, against those women who challenge the patriarchal status quo. It takes great courage to stand up and say “no” to what Paul wrote, to insist on something different, perhaps much better.

The women I write about often do say “no” to Paul in some way. Whether it’s making a difference in religious life for women or simply assuming the responsibilities given to her by her bloodline, these remarkable ladies have changed our world in countless ways, making it possible for the women of today to pursue our lives.

Abigail Smith Adams, the best known of our Founding Mothers, came from a family of prominent clergy, allowing her to self educate.

No matter your specific interest in history – in secular ladies or religious reformers – I hope you will take the time to discover the stories of the Legendary Women of World History and the Life in America series. I promise you, you will be inspired.