Women play a variety of roles in Christianity—notably as contemplatives, healthcare providers, educationalists, and missionaries. Until recent times, women have been generally excluded from episcopal and clerical positions within certain Christian churches; however, great numbers of women were influential in the life of the church, from contemporaries of Jesus to subsequent saints, theologians, doctors of the church, missionaries, abbesses, nuns, mystics, founders of religious institutes, military leaders, monarchs, and martyrs.

Christianity emerged from surrounding patriarchal societies that placed men in positions of authority in marriage, society, and government. While the early religion restricted membership of the priesthood to men, its earliest forms offered women an enhanced social status and quickly found a wide following. Women came to play an important role in Christianity through convents and abbeys, practicing as sisters and nuns. Women have maintained an active role throughout the history of Christianity—particularly in the establishment of schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and monastic settlements. Women constitute the majority of members of the consecrated life within the Catholic Church, the largest of the Christian churches. Except for the Eastern Christian churches, in most denominations, women have been the majority of church attendees since early in the Christian era and into the present.David Murrow (2005, 2011), Why Men Hate Going to Church. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. . In recent decades, ordination of women has become increasingly common in some Protestant churches. Laywomen have also been highly active in the wider life of churches, supporting the community work of parishes.

In Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, particular veneration has been given to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, which made the model of maternal virtue central to their vision of Christianity. However, Marian devotion is generally not a feature of Reformed Christianity.

Apostolic age

New Testament

The New Testament of the Bible refers to a number of women in Jesus' inner circle (notably his mother Mary, for whom the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy hold a special place of honour, and Mary Magdalene, who discovered the empty tomb of Christ), although the Catholic Church teaches that Christ appointed only male Apostles.Coppieters, Honoré. "Apostles." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 10 Oct. 2014

Among the most famous accounts of Jesus directly dealing with an issue of morality and women is provided by the story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery, from verses in the Gospel of John. The passage describes a confrontation between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees over whether a woman, caught in an act of adultery, ought to be stoned. Jesus shamed the crowd into dispersing, and averted the execution with the famous words: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." According to the passage, "they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last," which left Jesus to turn to the woman and say "go, and sin no more."

Another story contained in the Gospels concerning Jesus' attitude to women is the story of Jesus at the house of Martha and Mary. In this story, Mary sat at Jesus' feet as he preached, while Martha toiled in the kitchen preparing a meal. When Martha complained to Mary that she should instead be helping in the kitchen, Jesus said that, on the contrary, "Mary has chosen what is better" (, New International Version).

From the very beginning of the Christian church, women were important members of the movement, although much of the work women have done has been overlooked.MacHaffie, Barbara J. Her story: women in Christian tradition. Fortress Press, 2006. . Since sources of information stemming from the New Testament church were written and interpreted by men, many assumed that it had been a "man's church". In the 21st century historians began looking in mosaics, frescoes, and inscriptions of that period for information about women's roles in the early church.

Some historians, such as Geoffrey Blainey, have claimed that women were more influential during the period of Jesus' brief ministry than they were in the next thousand years of Christianity. Blainey points to several Gospel accounts of Jesus imparting important teachings to women: his meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well, his anointing by Mary of Bethany, his public admiration for a poor widow who donated some copper coins to the Temple in Jerusalem, his stepping in to aid the woman accused of adultery, and the presence of Mary Magdalene at his side as he was crucified. Blainey then concludes that "as the standing of women was not high in Palestine, Jesus' kindnesses towards them were not always approved by those who strictly upheld tradition."Blainey, Geoffrey. A Short History of Christianity, Penguin Viking; 2011; pp 19-20

There were women disciples present at Jesus' crucifixion (Matthew 27.55). Women were reported to be the first witnesses to the resurrection, chief among them again Mary Magdalene. She was not only "witness," but also called a "messenger" of the risen Christ.Maisch, Ingrid. tr. by Linda M. Maloney. Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 1998.

Assemblies in the Homes of Believers As time went on, groups of Christians organized within the homes of believers. Those who could offer their home for meetings were considered important within the movement and assumed leadership roles.MacDonald, Margaret. "Reading Real Women Through Undisputed Letters of Paul" in Women and Christian Origins, ed. by Ross Sheppard Kraemer and Mary Rose D'Angelo (Oxford: University Press, 1999), 204 The New Testament Gospels acknowledge that women were among Jesus' earliest followers. Jewish women disciples, including Mary Magdalene, Saint Joanna, and Susanna, had accompanied Jesus during his ministry and supported him out of their private means. Although the details of these gospel stories may be questioned, in general they reflect the prominent historical roles women played in Jesus' ministry as disciples.

Early Spread of Christianity

Historian Geoffrey Blainey has noted that women probably comprised the majority in early Christian congregations. This large female membership likely stemmed in part from the early church's informal and flexible organisation offering significant roles to women. Another factor is that there appeared to be no division between clergy and laity. Leadership was shared among male and female members according to their skills and talents. "But even more important than church organization was the way in which the Gospel tradition and the Gospels themselves, along with the writing of Paul, could be interpreted as moving women beyond silence and subordination." Women may also have been driven from Judaism to Christianity through the taboos and rituals related to the menstrual cycle, and a societal preference for male over female children.Sawyer, Deborah F. Women and Religion in the First Christian Centuries. Vol. 1. London: Psychology, 1996. Print. Religion in the First Christian Centuries.

In his Short History of Christianity, Geoffrey Blainey wrote that the early Christians were "sympathetic to women":

Whereas neither the Jewish, nor the Roman family would warm the hearts of a modern feminist, the early Christians were sympathetic to women. Paul himself insisted in his early writings that men and women were equal. His letter to the Galatians was emphatic in defying the prevailing culture, and his words must have been astonishing to women encountering Christian ideas for the first time: 'there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Jesus Christ'. Women shared equally in what is called the Lord's Supper or Eucharist, a high affirmation of equality.

Blainey went on to note that "the debate about Paul's attitude to women will go on and on", for in later letters ascribed to Paul, it is written "let your women keep silence in the churches", although elsewhere Paul laid down rules for women for prayer and prophesying during religious services.

The early Christian texts refer to various women activists in the early church. One such woman was St. Priscilla, a Jewish missionary from Rome, who may have helped found the Christian community at Corinth. She traveled as a missionary with her husband and St Paul, and tutored the Jewish intellectual Apollos. Others include the four daughters of Philip the Evangelist, from Caesarea, Palestine, who were said to be prophets and to have hosted St Paul in their home. However, some people, including the author of Acts, did not see women as true missionaries or leaders in their own right even though they performed good acts in the community.Ferguson, Everett. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. N.p.: Taylor and Francis, 1999. Print. Widows for example were recognized as a group in society but were not admitted into the clerical rank. While women did have roles in early Christianity, as Christianity became formalized with sacraments and hierarchization or church office, women's earlier public roles were restricted and regulated. Modern scholarship has further examined these developments, including the work of Karen Jo Torjesen, who has analyzed women's leadership in early Christian communities and the institutional processes that led to the restriction of those roles over time.

Debatably Equal Partnership Between Men and Women In the Bible, there are many quotes that explore this equality. One authentic Christian tradition is "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord" while "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it"."The Ecumenical Review." Seminars on Orthodox Spirituality and Role of Women in the Church. Not only are women supposed to love and put forth effort in a marriage, men are too. This equality gives a supportive base to marriage. Another quote from the Bible is that "we are all one in Jesus Christ".Galatians 3:28 In early Christianity, this was a new concept that was practiced and preached. The oneness of humankind between male and female was a defining feature of this new religion. As stated before, women were given equality by adding the title of deacon (deaconess). This tradition continued until the 15th century, and still persists in some women's monasteries among the eastern churches and in Protestant churches. In Christian Orthodoxy, the function of the two sexes is genuine (have equal roles) and seen as a mutual fellowship. Both men and women are to offer love and sacrifice, according to Jesus Christ. An Orthodox text states that an Orthodox woman should not feel inferior to men simply because she cannot stand in front of the holy altar, for everything in the church is a result of cooperation. The equality between the sexes in the Christian church gives women more power and does not limit their potential. While some positions were not allowed for women, they still were able to get involved with the church. The equal partnership between men and women is not only seen in the religious aspect of Christianity but also in the social and home life.

Patristic age

There is compelling evidence of a great deal of activity by women in the life of congregations during the early centuries of Christianity. Women served as deacons and ladies of means like Lydia of Philippi acted as financiers. Women probably constituted the majority of Christians. Blainey notes that by around AD 300, women had become so influential in the affairs of the church that the pagan philosopher Porphyry "complained that Christianity had suffered because of them". Nevertheless, by the close of the Patristic era, a male hierarchy had established itself over church affairs, with priests and bishops running the congregations.