To the OP: Perhaps you misunderstand the scriptures. Women are not oppressed in the New Testament. All Christians (men and women) are under authority. Christianity was radical in its ideas regarding
everyone being equal in Christ. Here's the thing about the New Testament that people don't like to hear. The Church existed before the New Testament. The Tradition of the Church (of which scripture is an important part) is interpreted by the same Church. It makes no sense for those outside of that context to attempt to figure out what everything may or may not mean on their own. If you're listening to yourself or anyone or anything outside of the Tradition of the Church, then you can't be sure at all that you're getting the appropriate gist of the scriptures. The purpose of the New Testament is to proclaim Christ who is our salvation.
That said, many righteous women are mentioned in scripture. When one is talking about women in church as mentioned in the scriptures, it simply means that women can't be priests and administer the sacraments and disrupt liturgy and give sermons during liturgy to the faithful. Even most men aren't priests and don't administer the sacraments- are they oppressed? Women could do pretty much anything outside of the liturgy to spread the faith, same as men. Many women mentioned in the New Testament are recognized by the Orthodox Church as saints who were missionaries, who spread the gospel, who were martyrs, and who we call 'Equal to the Apostles.' We also honor the Theotokos and she is considered the greatest example for
all Christians to follow.
Thank you for any kind of insight you can provide.
And while I welcome feedback & thoughts from both sexes, I'm particularly interested in how women view these things in the Bible. How do you interpret Scripture on this? Are you silent in church? Do you willingly put yourself under the authority of the men in your life?
I go to a church where women can't be ordained. This means that only men can be priests who administer sacraments. I don't feel oppressed in the least. Most men can't be priests either. Yet, we all still participate during the liturgy. We partake of the holy mystery of communion. Priests are icons of Christ to their flock. Christians are icons of Christ to all they meet. Women sing, chant, bake prosphora, and are expected to provide a witness of faith to others. Women can be missionaries. Some women are called to be monastics. Some women write books, teach church school, and have special blessings from their priests and bishops to give theological talks on different topics to others. We are all called to be a light to the world, feed the hungry, visit the sick, pray for others, etc. Actually, outside of the priesthood, there's nothing that separates what men and women are allowed to do when it comes to living a life in Christ.
