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The roles of women in Christianity can vary considerably today as they have varied historically since the first century New Testament church. This is especially true in marriage and in formal ministry positions within certain Christian denominations, churches, and parachurch organizations. Many leadership roles in the organized church have been restricted to males. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, only men may serve as priests or deacons; only males serve in senior leadership positions such as pope, patriarch, and bishop. Women may serve as abbesses. Most mainstream Protestant denominations are beginning to relax their longstanding constraints on ordaining women to be ministers, though some large groups, most notably the Southern Baptist Convention, are tightening their constraints in reaction. Most all Charismatic and Pentecostal churches were pioneers in this matter and have embraced the ordination of women since their founding. Christian traditions that officially recognize ''saints'' as persons of exceptional holiness of life do list women in that group. Most prominent is Mary, mother of Jesus who is highly revered throughout Christianity, particularly in Roman Catholicism where she is considered the "Mother of God". Women prominent in Christianity have included contemporaries of Jesus, subsequent theologians, abbesses, mystics, doctors of the church, founders of religious orders, military leaders, monarchs and martyrs, evidencing the variety of roles played by women within the life of Christianity. Both the apostles Paul and Peter held women in high regard and worthy of prominent positions in the church, though they were careful not to encourage anyone to disregard for the New Testament household codes, also known as New Testament Domestic Codes or ''Haustafelen''. They were efforts by the apostles Paul and Peter to encourage the brand-new first Century Christians how to obey the ''Patria Potestas'' (lit., "Rule of the Fathers) of Greco-Roman law.〔Powell, Mark A. ''Introducing the New Testament''. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic. 2009. p.337.〕 The New Testament written record of their efforts in this regard are found in , , , and , , , , and 〔Stagg, Evelyn and Frank Stagg. ''Woman in the World of Jesus''. Westminster Press, 1978. ISBN 0-664-24195-6〕 Christianity emerged from Judaism and in the Greco-Roman culture, patriarchal societies that placed men in positions of authority in marriage, society and government. The New Testament only records males being named among the 12 original apostles of Jesus Christ, though women were clearly honored by him as being important disciples. Women were the first to discover the Resurrection of Christ and became the first Apostles by proclaiming it to the remaining eleven disciples. Since clerical (clergy) ordination and the notion of priesthood post-dates the New Testament, its 39 books contain no specifications for such ordination or distinction. Subsequently, the early church within Catholicism developed a monastic tradition which included the institution of the convent through which women, developed religious orders of sisters and nuns, an important ministry of women which has continued to the present day in the establishment of schools, hospitals, nursing homes and monastic settlements. ==Theology== Mary the Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany and her sister Martha have been among the very few women identified as having been key to the establishment of Christianity. Karen L. King, Harvard Professor of New Testament Studies and the History of Ancient Christianity, writes that the history of women in ancient Christianity has been almost completely revised in the last twenty years. Many more women are being added to the list of women who made very significant contributions in the early history of Christianity. The new history comes primarily from recent discoveries of biblical text that had been neglected through the ages.〔King, Karen L. "Women In Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries".() Accessed 30 July 2015>.〕 The entirely false notion of Mary Magdalene being an adulteress and a repentant whore can be traced at least as far back as the fourth century, and became the generally accepted view in Western Christianity because of its acceptance in an influential homily of Pope Gregory the Great in about 591. In that homily the Pope identified Magdalene not only with the anonymous sinner with the perfume in Luke's gospel, but also with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Karen King says the discoveries of new texts by female scholars, combined with their sharpened critical insight, have now proved beyond any doubt that the disreputable portrait of Mary Magdalene is entirely inaccurate.〔 As prominent disciple and leader in the early Christian movement, Mary Magdalene’s designation as the very first apostle of Jesus has helped promote contemporary awareness of the leadership of women in Christianity.〔 The New Testament Gospels, written toward the last quarter of the first century CE, acknowledge that women were among Jesus' earliest followers. *From the beginning, Jewish women disciples, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, had accompanied Jesus during his ministry and supported him out of their private means. *Jesus spoke to women both in public and private, and indeed he learned from them. According to two gospel accounts, an unnamed Gentile woman taught Jesus that the ministry of God is not limited to particular groups and persons, but belongs to all who have faith.; *A Jewish woman honored him with the extraordinary hospitality of washing his feet with perfume. *Jesus was a frequent visitor at the home of Mary and Martha, and was in the habit of teaching and eating meals with women as well as men. *When Jesus was arrested, women remained firm, even when his male disciples fled into hiding. Women accompanied him to the foot of the cross. It was women who were the first witnesses to the resurrection, chief among them again Mary Magdalene. These gospel stories reflect the prominent historical roles women played in Jesus' ministry as disciples.〔 In one of her several books, Linda Woodhead notes the earliest Christian theological basis for forming a position on the roles of women is in the Book of Genesis where readers are drawn to the conclusion that women are below men and "that the image of God shines more brightly" in men than women". The following New Testament passages and more recent theological notions have contributed to the interpretation of roles of women in Christianity through the centuries: *“Women will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.” *"The rule remains with the husband, and the wife is compelled to obey him by God’s command. He rules the home and the state, wages wars, and defends his possessions.... The woman, on the other hands, is like a nail driven into the wall. She sits at home.... She does not go beyond her most personal duties.” (Luther, Lectures) *“Properly speaking, the business of woman, her task and function, is to actualize the fellowship in which man can only precede her, stimulating, leading, inspiring.” (Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics)〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Women in Christianity」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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