Posts Tagged ‘women’
Women Who Followed Jesus
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in General on March 20th, 2011
About a year ago I started noticing an extraordinary parallel between women throughout the past two millennia who devoted their lives to following Jesus. They lived with total conviction in their God-given worth, and they held their ground against society’s opposition to it. Whether they were born in the first, 10th, or 20th century, they lived with unselfish courage and have left their mark in my heart.
I decided to find a way to tell their stories, and recently produced a first-person presentation of 14 of these extraordinary women. Here’s a brief video clip from a live presentation:
Two of the women from the Bible identified Jesus in his unique roles before his male disciples did – as the Messiah and the fact of his resurrection. It is odd that men get the credit for these “firsts” in the Bible, and the women’s stories are usually forgotten. But of even more interest is an observation on society’s perpetual belittling of women from Mechthilde of the Middle Ages. She noted that women were less tempted by worldly power, and because they were not able to please the powers of the Church, they were freer to nurture their natural affinity for the “love relations with God.”
Her comment provokes a powerful question for all of us, men and women, to ponder: What are those “love relations with God?” Must women always endure shame and persecution in exchange for the gift of this natural affinity? Or, must men always be blocked off, because they are privileged in society?
The full Women Who Followed Jesus presentation is available for rent on DVD. Make check out to and mail $5.98 to “Spirituality and Christianity,” c/o Heather Sholeen, 437 Washington, Barrington, IL 60010. Re line: Women Who Followed Jesus
The Code of Silence in the Church
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in Podcast on August 23rd, 2010
Episode #31 is a discussion between Barbara Zeman and Shirley Paulson about an often unknown but potent code of silence in the church.
Barbara begins the conversation by wondering aloud why it is that when women are given the chance to exercise leadership or authority in a 
religious community, men almost always want to dominate. It’s a phenomenon in society, but it seems to be especially notable within the church context.
For sure, this is not a male-bashing conversation, because we both acknowledge there are men who are very supportive of women and their authority. Also, most men we know are kind and good men. There seems to be something working within the system that puts men and women both in the position of having to defend the subordination of women.
As we probed the issues involved, we also asked ourselves what we know of Christ that is bringing resolution. We’re convinced that injustice must be overthrown by the divine law of justice; and that no one is left out of the good given by God. But we also recognize that without saying something or objecting to it, the evil force would continue to suppress. There is a code of silence that preserves the unjust status quo. No one made it up or ordered anyone to agree to it, but it operates in such a way that both men and women feel very threatened by it. We are eager to expose the problem for the purpose of shedding light for the benefit of everyone.
Please let us know what you think about this. We’re convinced Christ is breaking this form of injustice, and we’d love to hear what experiences you’ve had, big or little, that may give evidence of progress.
For related links:
- Paper by N.T.Wright: “Men, Women, and the Church
- Talk by Karen King: Women in Ancient Christianity: the New Discoveries
S+C | Women in the Bible
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in Podcast on March 29th, 2008
Episode #7 is a mother-daughter discussion of women in the Bible. Heidi Winder, my daughter, raises the question: What’s so scary about women?
We noted that women in the Bible and throughout Christian history have been marginalized, sexualized, demonized, and marked as incompetent — by men. Men wouldn’t do that if they weren’t scared of something. We started the discussion with some evidence of this very deliberate reaction. Mary Magdalene, for example. Was she a prostitute, as the Church Fathers have taught us? Or, was she a spiritually mature, strong leader, as her gospel claims? What about Martha, the sister of
another Mary? Why does the emphasis on her character remain on her bustling about as a hostess, when she was also one of very few who confessed to the identity of Christ?
Heidi and I discuss other women throughout Jewish and Christian history, whose lives and characters have been under attack. The common thread we found in these women is that they were extraordinarily strong — spiritually. We could see how spiritual strength could be perceived as a threat, when it is invisible to earthly prowess. But the solution is not in the destruction of femininity, or even the hostessing and attractiveness attributed to womanhood. Rather, a stronger spirituality in both men and women can remove the threat and enable women to make their contributions to Christianity and to the world.
Let us know if you have some further insights to add to this conversation. We feel we just cracked the door open to a very large topic. Click on “Comments” below this posting of episode #7 in Spirituality and Christianity, to tell us what you think. Thanks!
Also mentioned in this podcast: