TaylorC

Someone made an interesting suggestion to me the other day, regarding the Christian claim that it was "pro-woman" for the gospels to tell of how women were the first to arrive at the tomb of Christ. This individual suggested that perhaps it was just simply a cultural custom of the time for women to be the first ones at the graves because they would be tending to the condition of them or something. I figure it might explain why such a predominantly sexist book has women suddenly thrown into the focus in that one way. Is there any evidence to support this?

mountainman

Dear TaylorC,

The predominant "pro-woman" evidence from the early christian literature is derived from the apocryphal tractates, such as "The Acts of Paul" and others in which women are presented as conducting baptism, and preaching in their own right. See what christians claim about this (eg: Tertullian), and whether these "pro-women" presentations contributed to these tractates being regarded as heretical to christian sympathies.


Best wishes,


Pete

show_no_mercy

I'm not sure you can call Christianity "pro woman" just because of the empty tomb. The earliest gospel in its first incarnation has the women simply run away from the tomb scared shitless and they don't tell anyone about the empty tomb.