[I just finished reading The DiVinci Code late last night. Many people had told me that it was a page turner, and they were right. The story was exciting and the mystery gripping. Dan Brown's writing, his imagination and creativity, was both fascinating and irritating. While most of his details were intriguing, so many were just stupid. I was impressed with his ability to make even the impossible sound plausible, and the ridiculous sound reasonable. What I grew to resent was his constant insertion of conjured feminine/fertility significance (read: "sexual") into so many common aspects of everyday life. This is agenda-based pollution of ideas and actions that injects unseemly concepts where they did not and should not exist.
I will post more about this at another time. But the scripture below has a direct and obvious relevance to the message of Brown's work of fiction.]
Scripture: Romans 16:1-7, 12-16
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5 Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. ...12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Observation: What we have in the passage above is the true story of the role of and regard for women in the Ancient Church. Listed are the names of ten women with some detail on several of them. They are:
1) Phoebe (servant (i.e. minister) of Cenchrean church, a great help to Paul and others)
2) Priscilla (along with her husband (her name is always listed first, perhaps indicating Priscilla as the stronger in the team) are Paul's fellow workers)
3) Mary (worked hard for the Corinthians)
4) Junias [Junia (feninine) in the Greek] (imprisoned with Paul, "outstanding among the apostles")
5) Tryphena (worked hard in the Lord)
6) Tryphosa (ditto)
7) Persis (worked very hard in the Lord)
8) Rufus' mother (a "mother" to Paul also)
9) Julia
10) Nereus' sister
Ancient Christianity respected women as partners in the Gospel ministry. A true understanding of Biblical Christianity has always elevated the role of women -- not as "reproductive goddesses" but as coworkers, sisters, and fellow heirs of the blessings of God in Christ Jesus. In this passage are ten women who Paul mentions by name and greets with respect. Many are said to have "worked hard in the Lord," a phrase which likely refers to ministry leadership in the church. One, Junias (or Junia as it appears in the Greek text) is an apostle like Paul, and said to be "outstanding among the apostles." The clear conveyance of all these words is respect, admiration, and appreciation for the significant contribution these women have made. There is an obvious sense of partnership between Paul and these women.
Application: Dan Brown has it all wrong. His twisted caricature of the teachings of the church is a product of a thorough misunderstanding (and perhaps even a deep resentment) of Christianity. While the history of the church has many despicable and shameful chapters, we are aware of them and the Christian Church has shunned the misguided thinking and practices of those times. (After all, The Dark Ages are so named because of the fact that in these times, people walked in darkness, departing from and acting contrary to the light of the Gospel.) But even through these times, there were those who held to the beauty of the true Gospel of God's love and grace. We in the Church can hold our heads high, not in pride but in confidence that it is because of the true testimony of the ministry of Jesus and the teachings of early church which has been preserved in the New Testament, that the noble ideas of equality, liberty, purity, honesty, and justice (and true respect for women) exist in our world today. Without the Church in the world, without the Gospel, without the New Testament, this would be a very dark world indeed.
Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the light of the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, the only hope for salvation. Thank You for imprinting Your grace and Your truth within Your Word and within Your Church. I pray that the Church would be aware of Her mission to clearly portray Your truth as we live our lives before the world. Lord, I ask that You would not allow confusion to be infused into our culture as a result of the works of evil imaginations of creative minds, but that Your truth would prevail.
May Your truth ever shine.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 comment:
Very pretty site! Keep working. thnx!
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