Was Jesus Christ the first real feminist?

Leading theologians have theorised that feminism as a movement could only have arisen in the Christian West due to Jesus’s revolutionary treatment of women, which worked its way outwards into secular Christianity. Institutional Christianity, however, remains inherently sexist and as a result there has been a large fall-off in church attendance by women.

Christianity is also often used as a support for conservative political systems. As Archbishop Emeritus Chaput of Philadelphia has pointed out, in advice to the current Vatican synodal process, “Jesus was crucified precisely because he did not conform or accommodate, but rather bore witness to his Father”.

The Gospel texts are striking in their depiction of Jesus’s revolutionary treatment of women and also of his inclusivity and kindness to people considered ‘other’ and ‘sinners’.

Biblical-era Israel was rigidly patriarchal. The sexual double standard that traditionally demands far higher levels of sexual chastity from females than from males was enshrined religiously and legally in a society that permitted polygamy and concubinage for males as well as premarital and extramarital sex. Prostitution was legalised to satisfy male needs, though prostitutes were treated as social pariahs.

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If women who weren’t prostitutes indulged in sexual relations or adultery they were criminalised and stoned to death. Jesus socialised with prostitutes. In groundbreaking Gospel stories, it is made clear that his aim in socialising with prostitutes was to psychologically as well as spiritually heal them. By lovingly defending and saving women he encountered who were marginalised and criminalised, Jesus strikingly subverted the double standard. In a culture where women were segregated in the public sphere and weren’t allowed to be accepted as disciples by rabbis, Rabbi Jesus accepted women as his disciples.

Some of the closest followers and supporters of Jesus were women, who played an active role in his ministry, travelling with him and supporting him financially. The fact that Jesus didn’t send his female disciples out alone to proclaim him is often cited by church authorities as justification for the non-ordination of women. It needs to be acknowledged that he couldn’t have sent them out publicly in his lifetime as it would have been culturally impossible, an argument that no longer holds.

It is clear from Jesus’s loving and egalitarian treatment of women that he favoured female equality in an era in which such a concept was unheard of and unimaginable. He is now often defined by theologians as the first feminist. Unsurprisingly, the risen Christ appeared first to Mary Magdalene, the leader of his female disciples who had remained by his side throughout his crucifixion. He told her to proclaim the good news of his resurrection to his male disciples, which made her the ‘Apostle to the Apostles’ and the first preacher of Christianity.

The status of women in the ideal, early Pauline church reflected their treatment by its founder; they shared a diversity of ministries with males including supervision of the Eucharist. Another important aspect of the early Church was the overall unity of its membership; there was no clerical/lay divide. This situation changed when Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire. It developed an exclusively male clerical hierarchy.

Significantly Vatican II made radical suggestions for the reform of Roman Catholicism to apply the truths of Christ to modern day life. Vatican II explicitly defined the Church as first and foremost its people, the whole people of God. However, most of the reforms have yet to be implemented.

The current synodal process established by Pope Francis is clearly his attempt to achieve the reforms of Vatican II. It includes the laity, both male and female. In the build up to it, Pope Francis organised discussions with the laity in Catholic parishes throughout the world. The majority of them issued a call for women’s ordination as a pastoral need and a matter of justice.

Five conservative cardinals have objected to Pope Francis, due to his focus on women’s ordination and his application of the inclusivity of Jesus to advising the acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics in the Church, and also a blessing of same-sex relationships.

Pope Francis referred to Pope John Paul II’s teaching that the ban on female ordination must be retained. He has recently confirmed that while it must be adhered to, it’s not a dogma and can be a subject of study. Although female ordination is being discussed at this month’s Synod and campaigned for by the Women’s Ordination Worldwide group, further study will take time and therefore it’s unlikely to be reformed in this year’s Synod. The study, however, is bound to lead to the restoration of women’s equal ministry eventually, hopefully in the 2024 October Synod. Jesus would welcome female ordination. It would have a transformative Christian impact on the public sphere.

Dr Niamh Middleton is author of Jesus and Women: Beyond Feminism and Homo Lapsus on religion and science.