Hello, everyone.
So I think we're going to, we're just going to go ahead and get started.
Hopefully some people will be trickling in.
We are in the midst of a series on women in Christianity,
women we should know and love and honor.
And John Hinkson has been doing a great job.
He's been talking about women in Reformation era, Puritan era, you know, 15, 16, 1700s.
And in this class, we're going to go back farther in time to the early church.
And we're going to begin with the New Testament
and talk about some of the women in the New Testament.
These names, I think, will be pretty familiar to most of us,
but I'm hoping that perhaps we'll uncover some new things.
But even if we don't, I'm hoping that their lives will be encouraging to us.
And then we're going to move from the New Testament to women in the early church.
The first few centuries, a little bit afterwards of when Christianity began.
And these names may be a bit more unfamiliar.
Before I begin, I just want to give you guys kind of a warning about the state of evidence.
Because when we deal with the ancient world, as with everything in the ancient world,
we've lost an enormous amount of material.
And so most of these folks we're going to be talking about,
we just have little snippets of information, sometimes just a paragraph.
But that actually is worth quite a lot in the context of the ancient world.
For some women, we have much more.
But this is the case for most men in the ancient world also.
We know almost nothing or very little about them.
So because of this, in the past classes in this series,
John's focused on just one woman or maybe two.
But we're going to be looking at a bunch.
We're going to do just a series of vignettes of little portraits.
Some are going to be very quick.
Some are going to be a little longer.
And hopefully that will give us kind of understanding of the breadth
and of accomplishments of these women and how they were used by God
to glorify him and to build up his church.
Why don't I begin with prayer?
Father in heaven, we thank you for the opportunity to worship you together,
to gather here safely in your name.
Father, we're going to be reading about women who'd never had that opportunity.
And we pray we'd be encouraged by their faith and how much they loved you
and how much they sacrificed, how faithful they were in honoring you.
I pray, Lord, that their testimonies would echo in our hearts
and would build us up, would encourage us, would rebuke us where we need rebuking,
would give us peace where we need peace.
Father, we pray all this in the name of your son, Jesus.
Amen.
Okay, so like I said, we're going to be starting in the New Testament
before we move on to early Christianity.
We're going to start with the name of a woman that many of us know, Elizabeth.
She, as you know, was the mother of John the Baptist.
And I start with her because she's going to begin a little theme
we'll be addressing in the first section of our talk.
And that's because in the Gospel of Luke, Luke's the only writer who mentions Elizabeth.
And he talks about, in Luke chapter 1,
how after her husband, Zacharias, had the angel appear to him
and was told that she was going to become pregnant,
which would answer their long-sought-after prayer, despite her age,
she became pregnant, she conceived.
And then in Luke chapter 1, verse 41, Luke describes how Mary,
the mother of Jesus, who was pregnant, came to meet Elizabeth,
who was also pregnant with John the Baptist.
And, quote,
When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby, that's John, leaped in her womb.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
and she exclaimed with a loud cry,
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears,
the baby in my womb leaped for joy,
and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment
of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
So it's a beautiful passage.
This is almost all of the little we know about Elizabeth.
What I want to highlight here, though,
is how she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
And Luke doesn't use the word,
but she seems to give a prophecy here
about Mary and also about her child, Jesus.
She was filled with the Holy Spirit.
And that's going to be a little theme that Luke is going to emphasize,
because right after this, in Luke chapter 1,
Mary replies with this beautiful hymn, this beautiful song.
It's often called the Magnificat.
Mary says,
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.
Mary also then, in reply, gives this sort of prophetic word about her
and points out, like Elizabeth did,
that everyone from all generations are going to call Mary blessed
because she was blessed with conceiving and bearing and giving birth
and nursing the Son of God.
This little vignette of Elizabeth and Mary,
it reminds us of some of the women in the Old Testament
who also sang songs,
women like Miriam, Moses' sister,
and Deborah, the judge,
who all had these sort of prophetic ministries amongst the people
and who were called prophetesses,
just like these two women.
Luke goes on to tell us that Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes,
and Luke also gives us another little hint about something
that we have to delve below the surface to understand.
He says in Luke 2, verse 19,
when he's describing some occurrences that happened around the birth of Jesus,
he says that Mary, quote,
treasured all of these things in her heart.
And then, later on in the chapter, in Luke 51,
he says it again.
And scholars have pondered why Luke says this,
why does he repeat it,
and what does it mean?
And there is a theory,
which I think is the right one.
This is the one I favor,
is that Luke is indicating
where he is getting his information from.
He's kind of revealing his source for this,
that Mary remembered this.
And so he either interviewed Mary,
or he knew someone who knew Mary very well,
who relayed these stories about Jesus' birth.
And Luke is sort of giving this sort of subtly
as a clue to where he's getting his information from.
There's another,
there's a reason why we think this also,
because if we keep reading the Gospel of Luke,
we quickly, in chapter 2,
come across another prophetess,
another female prophet,
named Anna.
And we know very little about Anna.
This is a beautiful,
but highly unrealistic picture of Anna.
The codex had not been invented yet
when Anna was reading.
So everything was in a scroll.
So she,
and presumably at 84 years old,
she would not have been able to afford something like this.
But Luke tells us that when they brought,
Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the temple,
that there was a prophetess,
and in his words named Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived with her husband seven years
from when she was a virgin,
and then as a widow until she was 84.
And she did not depart from the temple,
worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
And coming up at that very hour,
she began to give thanks to God
and to speak of him to all
who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
That's all we know about Anna.
But what's remarkable is
if we start piecing these things together,
we see that in the first three chapters,
first two chapters of Luke,
we have three women
who are filled with the Holy Spirit
and who are speaking words of encouragement
about this coming Savior,
about Jesus.
And we have,
I've already mentioned them,
like Miriam and Deborah,
we have examples in the Old Testament,
but we see this clustering
of Luke emphasizing the role of women
in the early life of Jesus.
And that continues in the Gospel of Luke.
If we go to Luke chapter eight,
there's this fascinating little passage
that we're aching to know more about,
but Luke doesn't really let us know more.
But he's talking about Jesus.
He says,
soon afterwards,
this is chapter eight,
one through three.
He says,
soon afterwards,
Jesus went through cities and villages
proclaiming and bringing the good news
of the kingdom of God
and the 12,
the apostles,
the 12 apostles were with him.
But then Luke gives this wonderful detail.
He says,
and also some women were with Jesus
who had been healed of evil spirits
and infirmities.
Mary called Magdalene
from whom seven demons had gone out
and Joanna,
the wife of Chusa,
Herod's household manager
and Susanna
and many others.
Who provided for them
out of their means.
So,
we have this image of Jesus
when he's doing his itinerant preaching
and going from village to village.
His disciples,
his apostles are with him
and that's all true.
But Luke lets us know
that it was more than just the 12 apostles.
That there were also women with Jesus
who were following him
in his itinerant ministry
going from village to village,
city to city.
And not only that,
that they are providing
for him out of their means.
That they apparently fairly well off.
They're providing for his ministry.
They're supporting it.
And one of them,
at least,
Joanna,
she is called the wife of Chusa
who is King Herod's household manager.
So,
the steward would be kind of
the most senior
of the household staff
or the palace staff.
And she is the wife of this guy.
So,
she would have been fairly well to do
even if Chusa was,
it's possible that he was a slave.
But back in the ancient world,
slaves in this position
could be fairly wealthy
or have a lot of means
behind their jobs.
So,
this is also interesting
because Jesus' disciples,
you know,
they tended to be fishermen
and carpenters.
He was a carpenter.
But here we have
a woman of some wealth,
at least,
following him as well.
In total,
there are 14 women
mentioned by Luke
but are not mentioned
by any other gospel writer.
And
this is one reason
why scholars
think
that
many of the unique
stories that Luke has
are because
he knew some of these women
and they shared with him
these stories
and that they were
the sources
that he mentioned
when he says
in the very beginning
of Luke chapter 1
that I wanted to go
to the eyewitnesses themselves.
That he's not just
talking about the apostles,
he's also
speaking about
some of these women
like Mary,
the mother of Jesus,
and perhaps
these other women
like Joanna
or Susanna.
There's another
beautiful story
in Luke
which is very famous
about Mary and Martha
and how Jesus
was at their house.
They were hosting him
and how Martha,
Luke says,
was distracted
with much serving
and preparation
and hosting Jesus
and all the other people
who were presumably there
and Mary was
sitting at Jesus' feet
and listening
and learning
and there's that
Martha gets kind of
annoyed at this
and Jesus
says
that,
Martha,
you are anxious
and troubled
about many things
but one thing
is necessary.
Mary has chosen
the good portion
which will not
be taken away
from her.
So this is another
little window
in the ministry
and life of Jesus.
What's remarkable
here is that
Jesus wanted
women to learn
from him
just like the other
disciples were
and this was not
a normal thing
in the ancient world
to do
but for Jesus
that's exactly
what he wants
in his female
disciples.
As we go through
many of us
are aware
of the women
in the last hours
of Jesus' life
when he was
carrying
his cross.
Luke describes
how there was
a crowd of people
but he signals out
the women in particular
who were following.
He describes
how Jesus
addresses them.
He says,
daughters of Jerusalem
do not weep for me
but weep for yourselves
and for your children
and he gives
sort of a prophecy
about the terrible
things that are coming
and of course
the women were there
when they saw
Jesus die
on the cross
and when they
laid him
in the tomb
and wrapped him
in clothes
and then Luke
and the other
gospel writers
describe how
they were the first
ones to go
to the tomb
and other gospel
writers indicate
that Jesus
appeared to them
first.
Now this is
another
remarkable aspect
of Jesus' ministry.
It's often said
you may have heard
it before
that in the ancient
world
the testimony
of women
was not valued
or not believed.
We see this
in the gospel
accounts themselves.
Luke says
that when the women
returned
to report
to the apostles
Luke 24 11
that their words
seemed like
an idle tale
and they did not
believe it
and remember
they didn't
believe it
even though
Jesus had said
this was going
to happen
and then they
reported and
they still
are refusing
to believe it
and I actually
wanted to make
sure sometimes
we hear these
assertions that
the ancient world
was a certain
way like they
didn't accept
the testimony
of women
and I've tried
to track this
down and nail
it down
and I discovered
that if you
look in
Greco-Roman law
books if you
look also in
Jewish customs
they do
specifically say
that the
testimony of
women is
outlawed in
court and
you have that
in Greek law
you have it
in Jewish law
and you have
it in Roman
law Latin
law as well
by the by the
third century
that had
changed but
there was still
a stigma we
have jurists
you know lawyers
in Rome saying
yes you know
women are allowed
to do this but
they will even
say there's a
great prejudice
against them
and I point
this out because
it's it makes
it all the more
remarkable
that Jesus
chose to reveal
himself in this
way and the
early church
acknowledged this
there's a writer
named Hippolytus
he has a
commentary on the
Song of Songs
and Tyler
you'll appreciate
this he
interprets the
Song of Songs
as this sort
of love song
between the
soul and
God but
he also
interprets it
allegorically as
representing all
of like the
myrrh and the
ointments that
are mentioned in
the Song of Songs
he keeps giving
these allusions
to the women
who helped
bury Jesus
and he laid
him in the
tomb with
all these
with all
these perfumes
and ointments
and Hippolytus
famously calls
the women
apostles to
the apostles
because he
says that they
were the ones
who preached
the good news
to the apostles
so that the
apostles could
preach it to
the world
if we keep
going with Luke
there's that
scene on the
way to Emmaus
where Jesus
appears to
Cleopas and
another person
and Luke
doesn't tell us
who it is
it's an
anonymous person
and there's a
scholar Richard
Bauckham who
makes an argument
that this is
probably Cleopas'
wife and we
he says it for a
couple reasons
but one reason
is that we know
Cleopas had a
wife because she
was at the tomb
or helped bury
Jesus she was one
of the women who
was around and
so there's good
reason for thinking
that we don't
know that for
sure but it's
I think very
possible perhaps
even probable
if we keep
reading Luke is
not done with
his discussions
of women if
we read the
book of Acts
he mentions that
in chapter 1
when all the
disciples are
together with
one accord
devoting themselves
to prayer he
points out
specifically that
it wasn't just
the male disciples
he says together
with the women
and Mary the
mother of Jesus
he also mentions
at this point
his brothers
they apparently
hadn't always
believed but
already in chapter
1 in Acts
they're there
they've been
convinced
if we
so to sum
up
we find that
in Luke's
gospel he
tells us that
not only did
women have a
very important
place in Jesus'
ministry
they also had
an important
place as sources
for the gospel
of Luke
I think it's
very fair to
say that
the apostles
seem to have
taken up
Jesus'
examples
of how he
interacted with
women
which was
fairly contrary
to the custom
of the ancient
world
and this is
I'm just going
to give some
scatter shots
here of other
women in the
New Testament
before we get
on to women
in early
Christianity
but there was
Phoebe a deacon
in the church
of Corinth
who Paul
mentions to
the Romans
there's
Judea
and Syntyche
Paul calls
them fellow
workers
there's of
course Priscilla
and Aquila
the husband
wife missionary
team
they were the
ones who
sat Barnabas
down and
explained the
word of God
more accurately
to him
and that
proved to be
enormously
influential in
the church
Barnabas was
one of the
great missionaries
and apostles
of the early
church
and Priscilla
and Aquila
are mentioned
many times
in Paul's
letters and
in the book
of Acts
also
there's
a woman
Junia
who's mentioned
in Romans
and Paul
says that
she is
quote well
known among
the apostles
and this
has proved
controversial
this passage
is controversial
for a few
reasons
one is that
the name
is feminine
it's not
a hundred
percent sure
but it's
likely
all the
evidence
is in
favor of
it
but the
evidence
is not
you know
completely
rock solid
and then
the question
of what
that phrase
means
among the
apostles
people have
debated
if Paul
is here
saying that
this woman
is famous
to the
apostles
that the
apostles
all know
her
and she's
beloved
by them
or if
he's saying
he is
classing her
among the
apostles
as like
an apostle
herself
and this
is controversial
for several
reasons
there are
some early
Christian
writers
John
Chrysostom
Theodorette
they're
writing in
Greek
and they
interpret
this passage
as referring
to a
woman
and calling
her
an apostle
what seems
to be going
on
is that
that term
apostle
is what
we would
probably call
missionary
in the
New Testament
whenever we
translate apostle
we usually
translate it
as like a
special term
for the
twelve
or maybe
Paul the
apostle
but it's
actually
used more
broadly in
the New
Testament
to refer
to
missionaries
and general
missionaries
from churches
so that's
probably what's
going on
here
but again
she was
very prominent
and then
there were
also several
churches
that
met in
the houses
of women
and we know
some of them
like Chloe
in Corinth
Lydia
who's mentioned
in Acts
Nympha
who's mentioned
into the
Colossians
and so
these are
all some
of the
roles
that women
played in
the early
church
we don't
know nearly
as much
as we
would like
to know
about them
but these
are little
kind of
fragments
that remain
that we
can pick
up
okay
before we
I think
as a
fitting
transition
from the
New Testament
to women
in the early
church
I thought
that we
would talk
about
Peter's
mother-in-law
in the
Gospels
we find
that Peter
has a
mother-in-law
because she's
sick
and Jesus
heals her
and that also
tells us
that Peter
had a wife
because he
had a mother-in-law
and she's
never really
mentioned
in the Bible
but she is
mentioned
in early
Christian sources
there's this
one little
paragraph
about her
it's from a
writer named
Clement of
Alexandria
he's writing
around the
year 190
and he
says that
all he
says is
that he
has received
a tradition
that Peter
that Peter's
wife was
executed for
her faith
that she
was martyred
and he
says that
Peter saw
his wife
being led
away
for martyrdom
and that he
called out to
her and
encouraged her
and comforted
her and
addressed her
by name
saying
remember
the Lord
and Clement
says such
was the
marriage
of Peter
and his
wife
that they
would encourage
each other
like that
in their
moment of
most dire
need
Peter of
course after
this also
went on
to be
executed
we don't
know how
many years
afterwards
or how
soon
afterwards
but we
know that
he did
now what
I want to
do is
move ahead
about a
hundred years
from Peter's
own execution
and his
wife
to
France
to Lyon's
France
to a
woman
called
Blandina
and I
should probably
warn you
guys that
this account
of Blandina
and then the
next account
that I'll be
talking about
is a bit
gruesome
and terrible
I also want
to encourage
you though
that the
early church
considered
these accounts
to be
immensely
encouraging
for their
faith
they did
not write
these things
just to be
gory
or to
shock
people
but to
encourage
people
in following
Jesus
and it
seems
what happened
in Lyon's
France
around 170
was that
some rumors
started going
around about
horrible horrible
things that
Christians were
doing
and these
were slanders
they were
false
but it
stirred up
the populace
the pagans
were eager
to accuse
the Christians
of doing
wrong
and we
have a
lengthy
letter
we have
excerpts
from what
was a
lengthy
letter
describing
what
happened
and the
letter
begins
like this
it says
when these
accusations
were reported
all the
people
raged like
wild beasts
against us
so that
even if
some of
them
had been
moderate
towards us
because of
friendship
they were
now exceedingly
furious
and they
gnashed
their teeth
against us
and that
which was
spoken by
our Lord
was fulfilled
the time
will come
when whoever
kills you
will think
that they
do a
service
to God
and what
ended up
happening
the letter
is an
eyewitness
account of
what occurred
is that
they selected
some Christians
they tracked
some Christians
down
and this
happens again
and again
in early
church history
there's these
slanders
that come
against the
Christians
they tracked
down some
Christians
and then the
Romans
will try
their very
best to
make those
Christians
admit
that those
slanders
are true
and these
were things
like Christians
practiced
incest
that they
practiced
cannibalism
they did
all these
horrible
things
that they
would kill
little children
and things
like that
and so
these were
really awful
awful slanders
against Christians
and being
in Rome
which was a
very brutal
state where
torture was
legal and
even necessary
that they
would torture
them
and what
they did
is they
grabbed some
people
they have
some names
recorded
people like
Sanctus
who is a
deacon
from a
nearby city
and some
others
but the
letter goes
on to say
and Blandina
through whom
Christ showed
that things
which appear
mean and
obscure and
despicable to
men are
with God
of great
glory
and the
letter goes
on to say
that we
all trembled
in fear of
the sufferings
that their
companions were
going to
undergo
but Blandina
was afraid
for another
reason
she feared
that on
account of
the weakness
of her
body
she would
be unable
to make
a bold
confession
you start
piecing things
together
and what you
start realizing
is that
Blandina was
probably a
small frail
woman who
was probably
poor and
insignificant
and she
was caught
up in this
and was
arrested
and was set
to be
tortured
and her
one fear
was that
she would
not have the
strength to
loudly refute
these slanders
that were
being lodged
against them
the letter
writers say
that Blandina
was filled
with such
power
as to be
raised above
those who
were torturing
her by turns
morning till
evening
so that they
acknowledged
that they
were conquered
and could do
nothing more
to her
and they
were astonished
at her
endurance
the blessed
woman
like a
noble
athlete
renewed
her
strength
in her
confession
and she
kept
exclaiming
I am
a Christian
and there
is nothing
vile
done by
us
remember
that all
she had
to do
was deny
Christ
or admit
to these
slanders
to be released
from these
sufferings
and she
refused
to
so
after
her
entire
body
was mangled
from torture
they
stopped
for a
time
and
this is
very typical
in early
Christianity
that the
Romans would
then try
to make a
spectacle
out of
everything
so they
would set
up a
day
like a
big
it's very
perverse
but a
big
celebratory
day
where
everybody
would come
to the
local
stadium
and they
bring out
these
folks
and set
them
through
tortures
one more
time
before
executing
them
hoping
that
they
would
recant
their
faith
and
so
the
day
was
set
and
it
says
that
Blandina
was
suspended
on a
stake
and
exposed
to be
devoured
by wild
beasts
that they
were going
to let
in
and
the
letter
says
this
because
she
appeared
to be
hanging
on a
cross
and
because
of her
earnest
prayers
she
inspired
her
fellow
martyrs
with
great
zeal
for
they
looked
on
her
in
her
conflict
and
they
beheld
with
their
outward
eyes
in
the
form
of
their
sister
the
one
who
was
crucified
for
them
that
she
might
persuade
those
who
believe
in
him
that
everyone
who
suffers
for
the
glory
of
Christ
always
has
fellowship
with
the
living
God
they
go on
to say
that
Blandina
though
small
and weak
and despised
yet
the mighty
and conquering
athlete
she arose
with zeal
and overcame
the adversary
many times
and as a
noble mother
she encouraged
her children
and sent them
before her
victorious
to the king
and then
she was
executed
after that
and the letter
ends by saying
that the
heathen
the pagans
quote
confessed
that never
among them
had a woman
endured
so many
and such
terrible
tortures
Blandina
is
remarkable
for many
reasons
but
the one
I want
to highlight
when I
conclude
this
session
with her
is
that
this
happened
in France
and that
what her
actions did
planted
the seeds
of the gospel
in France
which
is still
a Christian
country
to this
day
with Christian
believers
there
but this
happened
with much
suffering
that she
bore joyfully
we have
one more
similar story
before we
go on
to less
weightier
topics
this one
is of
Perpetua
and Felicity
these were
two women
from Africa
we don't
know what
race they
were
this picture
here
has portrayed
them as
sub-Saharan
African
they may
have been
there's some
evidence
that Perpetua
at least
was a Berber
and that's
because her
name implies
a descent
from a Berber
so that means
she was not
Greek
she was not
Roman
of descent
those are
the two
privileged
ethnic groups
in antiquity
she was not
from them
she was from
North Africa
she was
well educated
she was
married
she had a
father and
mother
two brothers
one of whom
like herself
was a
catechumen
meaning just
an early
Christian
just had
recently made
the confession
to follow
Jesus
she was
22 years
old
we don't
know the
context
behind why
she and
Felicity and
some others
were arrested
but presumably
it was similar
to what happened
in Lyons
that some
rumor goes
out or
some governor
gets upset
and decides
he's gonna
do something
about the
Christians
what is
remarkable
about Perpetua
is that we
know about
her from
her own
words
she left
a journal
a diary
and we still
have excerpts
from this
a later
editor who
seems to
have known
her
took her
journal
and kind
of prefaced
it with some
comments
and then
gives excerpts
of her
writing
and then
wraps it up
at the end
and this is
remarkable
because she
that makes
her the
first
female
Christian
writer that
we have
is Perpetua
it also
makes her
one of the
earliest
Christian
Latin
writers that
we have
she's writing
around the
year 200
AD
this is
extremely
early for
Latin
Christian
literature
there
really
is only
maybe
two
documents
that
predate
this
that we
have in
Latin
but
they're
both
anonymous
they're
very
short
and
so
she's
in some
ways
the first
named
Latin
author
that we
know
about
she
was
22
years
old
which
also
makes
her
the
youngest
Latin
author
that we
know
about
at least
that I'm
aware
of
well
her
journal
begins
and she
says
she describes
her father
coming to
her begging
her to
recant
Christ
and he's
weeping
and she
refuses
and she's
she's taken
into a
dungeon
and she
says
quote
after a
few days
we were
taken
into the
dungeon
and I
was very
much
afraid
because I
had never
felt such
darkness
oh
terrible
day
oh
the fierce
heat
oh
the crowds
and the
soldiery
the prisoners
are just
packed
into this
hot cell
I was
very
unusually
distressed
she says
and then she
gives us
a frightful
detail
she says
I was
very
unusually
distressed
over anxiety
for my
infant
she also
had an
infant
baby
that she
was caring
for
she says
there were
present there
certain
deacons of
the church
who
by means
of a
gratuity
this may
have been
a bribe
it may
have been
a payment
that was
required
they managed
to allow
the prisoners
to get
permission
for the
prisoners
to go
to a
different
part
of the
dungeon
that was
better
and
so
she
says
we
were
allowed
to be
refreshed
there
for a
few
hours
in a
pleasanter
part
of the
prison
she says
there
I nursed
my child
who was
enfeebled
with hunger
and I
obtained
permission
for my
infant
to remain
with me
in the
dungeon
and immediately
I grew
strong
and was
relieved
from distress
and anxiety
about my
infant
and the dungeon
became to me
as it were
a palace
and I
preferred to be
there to be
anywhere else
she describes
how providentially
her child
was weaned
and she was
able to give
her child
to her parents
and her
brothers and
sisters
to take care
of
she also
describes
several visions
that she was
given
there's one in
particular
where there's
this ladder
going up
to heaven
and there's
someone
waiting at
the top
that tells
her
Perpetua
I am
waiting for
you
but be
careful
that the
dragon
does not
bite you
also
with Perpetua
in prison
was Felicity
whom you can
see there
and Felicity
is another
remarkable
woman
when she
was arrested
this account
says that
she was
eight months
pregnant
and that
there was
as the
day
appointed
day
for this
exhibition
where they
were going
to bring
out the
Christians
and do
horrible
things to
them
as that
day was
coming
close
there was
a law
in Rome
that a
pregnant
woman
was not
allowed
to be
publicly
punished
so you
could torture
them but you
couldn't do
it publicly
and because
the folks
wanted to do
this publicly
to Felicity
they told her
we're not
gonna have
you wait
and bring
these other
folks out
your brothers
and sisters
in Christ
first and
we'll wait
for you
to give
birth
and Felicity
was grieved
by this
because
well she
knew her
fate was
sealed and
she wanted
to die
with her
brothers and
sisters
and so
she prayed
that she
would give
birth
early
in her
eighth month
instead of
her ninth
and she
did
and
she gave
birth in
prison
and her
little girl
was given
to a
sister
in Christ
to bring
up
this was
very common
in the
ancient
world
the day
before
that they
were to
be executed
or to be
exhibited
and executed
they had a
last meal
and again
a gruesome
custom
all the
people would
come and
gather around
and watch
the folks
who were
about to
die
eating their
last meal
as kind
of a way
to be
entertained
and one
of the
future
martyrs
very boldly
said to
them
quote
note
our faces
diligently
that you
may recognize
them
on the
day of
judgment
and it
says thus
the crowd
departed
astonished
and from
these many
believed
the last
words of
perpetua
when she
was cast
before a
man with
a sword
to execute
her
was
stand
fast
in the
faith
and love
one another
all of
you
and do
not be
offended
at my
sufferings
perpetua
and felicity
are models
of jesus
words
when he
says that
anyone
who
loves
husband
or wife
or children
or houses
or home
more than
me
is not
worthy
of me
and this
is exemplified
by these
two women
who
sacrificed
more than
we can
possibly imagine
in many
ways
and this
was acknowledged
by the early
church
this is
an inscription
from
the third
century
and it
mentions
perpetua
and felicity
as martyrs
it mentions
their other
fellow martyrs
saturus
revocatus
so here's
the inscription
it's heavily
damaged
you can
see it
pieced back
together
and you
can see
the name
felicity
and perpetua
here
and it's
hard to
make out
but it
f-e-l-i-c-i
and then
perpetua
is there
and this
was discovered
some time
ago
but it
goes to
show what
an impact
these women
had on
their church
that there
would be
monuments
put up
in their
honor
and that
those
monuments
would still
survive
in a sense
or in a
way
to this
day
well moving
on
to a
woman
of a
very
different
station
in life
that we
know about
from this
statue
this is a
famous statue
called the
statue of
Hippolytus
I could
talk for
hours about
this
my research
has concerned
this statue
quite a bit
but what's
interesting
about the
statue
is the
inscriptions
on the
statue's
chair
and
these
inscriptions
allow us
to date
the statue
and they
date to
the year
222
AD
and
in fact
the inscription
says the
first year
of Emperor
Alexander
Severus
and it's
of March
or April
of that
year
it's the
first year
of his
reign
it's
222
AD
and
when you
start
putting some
pieces together
you realize
that this
statue was
made
just a
couple
months
or it
was at
least
inscribed
a couple
months
after
Alexander
became
Emperor
and
it also
turns out
that Alexander
was only
14 years
old when he
became Emperor
so he's a
14 year old
kid
that this
statue's
talking about
and when you
read through
the histories
you realize
that
Alexander's
mother
was really
the power
behind the
throne
her name
was Empress
Memea
and Empress
Memea
the mother
of Alexander
Severus
patronized
the Christians
and
what this
statue
seems to
be
now
there's
no
hard
evidence
for this
but you
put the
pieces
together
and it
seems like
what's
going on
is that
Emperor
Severus
became
Christian
his
or Emperor
Severus
became an
emperor
his mother
patronized
the Christians
and was now
really the
ruling power
in the
empire
and that
this
statue
is
was able
to be
made
because of
this new
found
freedom
that Christians
had in
Rome
and in
fact
one of
the
inscriptions
there's
several
of them
one of
them
indicates
that
Hippolytus
wrote a
letter
to the
Empress
and we
have an
excerpt from
that letter
about what
he says
we don't
know the
context
he's
encouraging
her about
the
resurrection
we also
know that
Empress
Memea
would summon
one of
the famous
theologians
of the
early church
to her
to preach
to her
and that
she would
send down
a chariot
with
soldiers
to take
him
on a
hundred
mile
journey
to go
see her
and preach
to her
so
it certainly
seems like
she was very
interested
in Christianity
we don't know
if she
actually was a
Christian or
not
there's obviously
suggestive that
she was
and
Emperor
Severus
was also
quite benevolent
as he grew
older
and became
an adult
he was very
benevolent
towards Christians
and this
is exemplified
by the fact
that when
he was
overthrown
about 13
years later
so he
would have
been 26
27 years
old
when he
was overthrown
right away
the bishops
of Rome
were rounded
up and executed
after he
was overthrown
and we also
know that there
were many
Christians in
the household
of the
Severan
dynasty
of the
household of
the emperor
at that time
so again
we have these
scraps
these little
crumbs
that we
got to
gobble up
but
this
the woman
the empress
here's a
bust of
her
she seems
to have
had an
enormous
impact
on the
early church
in patronizing
them
in protecting
them
and in
in listening
to sermons
we know she
listened to
several of
them at
least
inviting these
theologians
like Hippolytus
and like
Origen
another theologian
to preach
to her
but we
wish we
knew more
this is one
of those
areas that's
ripe for
discovery
you know
presumably
an empress
would leave
some information
about her
that we
don't have
so maybe
one day
we'll find
out more
well we've
talked about
early
Christian
women
martyrs
and empress
but now I
want to
move to
a female
slave
and missionary
Nino
of Georgia
now we're
in the year
300
so with
when we
were talking
about Blandina
that was
170
Perpetua
was 200
empress
mameo
was 222
now we're
in the year
300
or 320
we're in
Georgia
is a country
north of
Iran
south of
Russia
east of
Turkey
in the
Caucasus
west of
the Caspian
Sea
and we
have this
account
of how
the gospel
came to
the Georgian
people
and it's
by a church
historian
named
Rufinus
who's
writing
around the
year
380
maybe
maybe 50
years
afterwards
and he
says
it was
at this
time too
that the
Georgians
accepted
the word
of God
and faith
in the
kingdom
to come
and the
cause of
this great
benefit
was a
woman
captive
who lived
among them
and who
led such
a faithful
sober
and modest
life
spending
all of
her days
and nights
in sleepless
supplication
to God
that
the local
inhabitants
started to
wonder
at what
she was
doing
and this
curiosity
led them
to ask
what she
was about
and she
replied
with the
truth
that she
worshipped
Jesus
as God
and this
answer
made the
barbarians
wonder
only
at this
novelty
this kind
of strangeness
they didn't
know what
to make
of it
Rufinus
goes on
to say
that
there was
a custom
amongst
the Georgians
that if a
child fell
sick
and the
mother
couldn't
help the
child
that the
mother would
bring the
sick child
from house
to house
asking people
to help
do you know
what to do
do you know
what to do
and no one
knew how to
cure this
child
and she
eventually
this mother
came to
Nino
and Nino
said
that quote
she knew
of no
human remedy
but she
declared
that Christ
her God
whom she
worshipped
could heal
the child
and after
she had
put the
child
on a
shirt
on the
ground
poured
out
above
the
child
her
prayer
to
the
Lord
she
gave
the
infant
back
to
its
mother
in
good
health
and
word
of
this
got
around
to
many
people
and
news
of
the
wonderful
deed
reached
the
ears
of
the
queen
who
was
suffering
from
a
bodily
illness
of
the
gravest
sort
and
had
been
she
asked
for
the
woman
captive
to
be
brought
to
her
but
Nino
declined
this
is one
of those
moments
where
you know
I feel
like I
would
have
gone
I don't
know
why
she
didn't
go
but
you
see
that
in
the
gospels
Jesus
does
things
like
this
where
Jesus
is
not
he's
not
the
carnival
come
to
town
he's
not
a
wonder
worker
he's
not
here
to
just
do
miracles
at
the
snap
of
someone's
fingers
that
he's
there
to
build
faith
in
God
and
call
people
to
repentance
so
Jesus
often
is a
little
cagey
with
his
miracles
and
Nino
was
too
and
so
after
she
declined
the
queen
quote
ordered
that
she
herself
be
brought
to
the
captive's
hovel
and
having
placed
herself
on
the
ground
the
captive
that's
Nino
invoked
Christ's
name
and
no
sooner
was
her
prayer
done
than
the
queen
stood
up
healthy
and
vigorous
and
Nino
taught
her
that
it
was
Christ
the
son
of
God
most
high
who
had
conferred
healing
upon
her
and
Nino
advised
her
to
invoke
Christ
whom
she
should
know
to
be
the
author
of
her
life
and
well
being
and
the
queen
returned
home
joyfully
and
the
king
is
wondering
what's
going
on
and
she
says
I
was
healed
by
this
slave
woman
and
gold
or
silver
or
something
and
the
queen
said
that
no
she
doesn't
want
any
of
these
she
despises
gold
and
silver
this
alone
may
we
give
her
as
a
gift
that
we
worship
Christ
who
cured
me
but
Rufina
says
that
the
king
was
not
inclined
to
do
so
and
he
put
it
off
he
went
on
a
hunting
trip
and
he
was
trapped
somewhere
in the
deep
forest
a
storm
drew
in
it
was
terrible
dark
he
got
lost
each
of
his
companions
Rufina
says
wandered
away
and
he
was
alone
and
he
did
not
know
what
to
do
or
where
to
turn
Rufina
says
that
there
arose
in
his
heart
when
he
was
near
to
losing
hope
that
if
the
Christ
preached
to
his
wife
by
the
woman
captive
were
really
God
that
he
might
free
him
the
king
from
this
darkness
and
no
sooner
had
he
vowed
this
not
even
verbally
but
only
mentally
than
the
daylight
returned
to
the
world
and
guided
the
king
safely
to
the
city
and
he
explained
directly
to
the
queen
what
had
happened
and
he
required
that
the
woman
captive
be
summoned
at
once
and
so
that
she
might
tell
them
how
she
worships
and
then
after
that
happens
the
king
called
together
his
people
he
explained
the
matter
from
the
beginning
and
what
happened
to
them
and
taught
them
the
faith
and
a
church
was
put
up
without
delay
Nino
is
revered
in
Georgian
history
as
she's
often
called
the
apostle
to
the
Georgians
the
missionary
to
the
Georgians
and
from
that
day
to
this
day
Georgia
is
still
a
Christian
country
and
that
was
around
330
or
so
340
AD
Nino
is
the
patron
saint
of
Georgia
well
we've
talked
about
martyrs
and
missionaries
and
empresses
I want
to turn
now
though
to talk
about
poets
and
I
speak
of
a
woman
named
Faltonia
Batisha
Proba
she
lived
between
300
and
360
or so
AD
she
was
from
a
very
well
to
do
family
her
father
was
consul
that's
like
number
two
in
the
empire
her
grandfather
also
had
been
consul
she
married
into
a
powerful
family
she
had
two
sons
who
were
high
ranking
her
family
was
pagan
but
she
converted
to
christianity
as
an
adult
and
her
husband
and
her
two
sons
joined
her
we
know
of
Proba
almost
exclusively
from
a
poem
that
she
wrote
it's
called
the
this
is
a
illuminated
manuscript
of
the
poem
and
that's
her
there
and
the
poem
is
called
the
Cento
Virgilianus
de
Laudibus
Christi
or
a
Virgilian
Cento
concerning
the
glory
of
Christ
and
what
she
did
in
this
poem
it
sounds
a
little
strange
to
us
but
it
was
very
normal
in
the
ancient
world
what
she
did
is
she
took
the
epic
Roman
poet
Virgil
had
written
about
300
years
earlier
he
died
in
40
BC
he
was
like
the
poet
laureate
of
the
Roman
Empire
the
patron
of
Roman
paganism
and
Roman
culture
this
brilliant
poet
of course
his most
famous
work is
the
Aeneid
some
of you
may
have
read
it
and
what
she
did
is
she
took
his
poetry
and
excerpted
various
phrases
from
it
and
did
some
rearranging
to
create
a
poem
to
honor
Christ
but
in
the
style
and
the
wording
of
Virgil
and
this
was
remarkable
because
it
shows
that
Christians
at
this
time
many
of
them
were
not
trying
to
reject
wholesale
Roman
culture
Greek
culture
they
were
trying
to
repurpose
it
and
adapt
it
to
the
gospel
and
so
what
Proba
did
with
great
success
was
to
make
a
poem
using
the
words
of
Virgil
but
telling
the
story
of
the
Bible
and
telling
the
story
of
Christ
and
this
would
be
if
there
was
a
hymn
that
you
really
liked
that
you
added
some
verses
to
or
if
there
was
a
song
that
was
so
beautiful
wasn't
really
about
God
but
if
you
could
rearrange
some
stuff
and
make
it
sound
great
many
of
hymns
come
from
folk
songs
where
people
have
done
this
very
kind
of
thing
so
I
wanted
to
just
read
you
a
quick
text
now
God
almighty
of course
it's
not
going to
sound
poetic
because
it's
in
translation
so
forgive
me
now
God
almighty
I
pray
receive
this
sacred
song
loosen
the
mouth
of
your
eternal
seven
fold
spirit
and
open
up
my
heart's
inner
chambers
in
order
that
I
proba
may
disclose
all
mysteries
of
the
poet
that's
Virgil
I
will
declare
that
Virgil
sang
about
the
pious
feats
of
Christ
I
will
relate
from
the
beginning
a
subject
known
to
all
oh
father
oh
eternal
might
over
people
and
things
make
my
path
easy
and
glide
into
our
souls
and
then she
begins
with
Genesis
she
says
in
the
beginning
for
before
there
were
fires
of
celestial
bodies
before
there
was
bright
ether
or
air
there
was
only
black
night
riding
in
its
chariot
which
held
the
heavens
and
chaos
extended
headlong
deep
into
shadows
as
the
eye
gazes
up
to
ethereal
Olympus
in
heaven
but
then
the
almighty
father
who
has
supreme
power
over
things
he
separated
the
murky
air
and
dispersed
the
shadows
and
he
divided
the
world
in
halves
for
the
light
and
for
the
shadows
as
well
and
he
observed
all
the
stars
gliding
over
the
silent
sky
turning
his
watchful
eyes
to
the
region
that
withstood
the
southern
heat
and
which
turned
its
back
towards
the
north
pole
and
when
he
had
seen
that
all
was
still
under
a
peaceful
sky
the
almighty
gave
numbers
and
names
to
the
stars
and
equally
divided
so
that
was
like
the
first
day
of
Genesis
she
did
and
then
as
she
goes
through
her
poem
she
eventually
comes
to
Jesus
she
says
now
father
I
turn
to
you
once
again
and
to
your
great
plans
I
set
a
greater
work
in
motion
I
move
towards
the
prophecies
that
were
spoken
of
old
for
your
child
descended
from
heaven
on
high
and
at
last
brought
aid
to
us
who
wished
for
it
with
the
advent
of
God
when
at
first
a
woman
who
had
the
appearance
of
a
maiden
this
is
Mary
gave
birth
to
a
boy
who
was
neither
of
our
race
nor
of
our
blood
she's
speaking
about
how
Jesus
was
not
Roman
he
was
not
Latin
of
Latin
descent
he
was
of
Jewish
descent
many
prophets
of old
had
sung
of
these
late
these
recent
signs
that
a man
with
power
over
the
earth
and
men
would
arrive
from
heavenly
seed
and take
possession
of the
world
and the
promised
day
had
now
arrived
her
and the
she
goes
on
to
talk
about
the
slaughter
of
children
that
Herod
carried
out
in the
gospel
of
Matthew
and
she
describes
Mary
she says
who was
frightened
by all
the
crying
carried
her
child
in
her
bosom
through
this
raging
disorder
and
fled
to a
well
stocked
stable
and here
under
the roof
of a
lowly
house
she
nursed
her
son
the
poem
unfortunately
kind of
breaks
off
it has
these
beautiful
passages
but of
course
what
Proba
has set
out to
do
is
very
difficult
because
she's
limited
by the
words
of
Virgil
so she's
trying to
piece
all these
things
together
and like
I said
this poem
actually
proved to
be
enormously
popular
in the
ancient
world
and it
was
kind
of a
way
that
Roman
Christians
could
appreciate
their
culture
but also
glorify
Christ
in the
same
way
unfortunately
as I've
mentioned
that's all
we know
about
Proba
we don't
know much
else about
her
other than
her
poem
I've
spoken of
poets
and martyrs
and other
people
I want
now though
to
move to
a woman
who is
most well
known as
being
a mother
and a
wife
and I
speak
about a
woman named
Monica
she was
the mother
of Augustine
of St.
Augustine
and this
is a
famous
picture
it shows
Monica
she's
probably
wouldn't have
been dressed
like this
in the
ancient
world
this is
sort of
a middle
age
idea
of what
she might
be like
Augustine's
not too
happy
here
because he
wasn't
for some
time
and we'll
get into
that in
a moment
but Monica
was born
in Algeria
in today
Africa
she was
probably
of Berber
descent
so she
was not
from
Latin
stock
or
from
Greek
stock
she also
may have
been
Phoenician
as well
and
we know
most about
her because
of what
Augustine
says about
her
and he
describes
when she
was a
child
she would
often be
called upon
to go down
to the
cellar
and to
bring up
some wine
for the
family
and she
would always
take a few
sips as
a child
now in
the ancient
world this
was normal
this was not
something that
would have
been particularly
frowned upon
unless there
was some
excess going
on but
the servant
who was
with her
shamed her
and mocked
her for doing
that and
called her a
drunkard and
Augustine
observes how
deeply this
affected
Monica and
that she
vowed to
live a life
of temperance
and purity
thereafter
and as she
grew which
she did
throughout her
life and
as she
grew and
became a
woman she
was betrothed
to a
pagan she
was from a
Christian family
she was raised
as a Christian
but she was
still betrothed
to a pagan
and this man
was violent
he was hot
tempered and
to make matters
worse his
mother so
Monica's mother
in law hated
Monica and
talk about a
difficult situation
for someone to
be in of
course in the
ancient world
there was no
such thing as
laws against
domestic violence
in fact Roman
men were
explicitly given
legal permission
to pretty much
do whatever they
wanted to
anybody they
wanted in the
house so
there was no
recourse if you
were married to
someone who
who was abusing
you
Monica however
decided to
despite these
challenges to
be wholeheartedly
devoted to her
husband and her
mother-in-law and
to wholeheartedly
submit to them
in everything
and Augustine
writes that
eventually he
won them both
she won them
both over that
her mother-in-law
grew to deeply
love Monica
and her husband
became a Christian
himself now this
this these two
little stories
illustrate her
character very much
because Monica
it turns out had
this amazing
gift of being
willing to
long suffer
with people
and also was
was very willing
to listen
and respond
to harsh
sometimes harsh
or difficult
advice
for instance as
this the
servant when the
servant rebuked her
for drinking wine
and we'll see this
come up again
when she gave
birth to
Augustine she
was 23 years
old and she
set about
educating Augustine
in the Christian
faith and raising
him as a Christian
as Augustine
grew older
though as a
teenager he
deeply grieved
his mother
by living a
licentious and
slothful life
his parents had
spent an enormous
sum on his
education and
he was kind of
throwing it away
and he was
sleeping around
and doing things
like that she
was deeply
grieved by
this to make
matters worse
though Augustine
left his
Christian faith
and converted
to Manichaeism
Manichaeism was
a religion that
started by a guy
named Manny
in Persia
around 250
AD so about
100 years
before 120
years before
Augustine's
conversion to
Manichaeism
and Manny
claimed to be
a successor
to Jesus he
claimed to be
the paraclete
that Jesus
had promised
in the gospel
of John
whom we know
is the Holy
Spirit but he
claimed to be
that Manny
also claimed to
be the successor
to Buddha
but he was in
Persia so he
was bordering
Rome and
India at the
time so he
had access to
these various
traditions and
so Augustine
became a
Manichaean and
this deeply
wounded Monica
and she wept
much for him
she kicked him
out of the home
for his behavior
she sought
a priest
who had
once been
a Manichaean
himself and
she thought
this guy will
be able to
put reason
into Augustine
she went to
the priest
and begged
him that
he would
reason with
Augustine
and prove
his ideas
false
and the
priest talked
to Augustine
and came
back and
said to
Monica
that I
don't think
this is a
good thing
to do
that Augustine
is puffed
up with
arrogance
he's not
going to
listen to
anything
you just
need to
just be
at peace
with him
and just
love him
and she
continued
this you
know terrified
her she
continued
weeping
and wailing
Augustine
describes it
begging the
priest to
do something
until the
priest finally
said this
phrase
he said
the son
of such
tears
can never
be lost
and
Augustine
remarks
that
Monica
took this
as a
word from
God
himself
and obeyed
the priest
she settled
in her heart
to be at
peace with
Augustine
and she
welcomed him
back into
her home
and that
proves to be
exactly what
I think
Augustine
needed
so that he
wasn't driven
away from
his mother
and his
relationship
with her
though they
still had a
fairly rocky
relationship
Augustine at
this time
was starting
to become
immensely
accomplished
as an
orator
and he
actually obtained
perhaps the
most illustrious
position of
rhetoric in
the entire
Roman Empire
in Milan
in Italy
so he's
living in
Africa
so he
journeyed to
Italy
he did not
tell Monica
he was doing
this so he
abandoned her
she was worried
what would
happen to him
and you know
the high city
the big city
that there'd be
temptations and
things there
and he
left her
alone in
North Africa
and Augustine
writes this
he says
by this time
my mother
made strong
by her piety
had come to
me from
Africa
following me
over sea
and land
in all
perils
she still
felt secure
in thee
oh God
for in the
dangers of
the sea
she comforted
the very
sailors
on their
travel
assuring
them of
safe
arrival
because she
had been
so assured
by thee
oh God
she found
me in
grievous
danger
in despair
of ever
finding the
truth
what had
happened
was that
Augustine
had showed
up in
Milan
and he
had heard
about the
bishop of
Milan
Ambrose of
Milan
and heard
that he
wasn't
concerned
about
or interested
in
Ambrose
for his
Christianity
it was
because
he heard
that he
was this
amazing
speaker
and this
was Augustine's
job
so he
thought I
gotta listen
to this
guy
and he
showed up
and had
some
interaction
with Ambrose
and Ambrose
kind of
injected
some doubt
into Augustine
about
Manichaeism
and he
was deeply
troubled
and when
Monica
showed up
she found
that
Augustine
was no
longer
a Manichaean
but not
yet a
Christian
and
Augustine
says that
he was
really
surprised
because when
she found
out he
says quote
she did
not leap
for joy
he was
expecting her
to rejoice
at leaving
this faith
that she
did not
like
but she
didn't
instead
she told
Augustine
that God
had assured
her that
he would
become a
Christian
and that
this was
just part
of the
process
and that
she was
confident
it would
happen
he writes
that
quote
she hurried
all the
more assiduously
to the
church
and hung
upon
the words
of Ambrose
for she
loved
that man
as an
angel
of God
because she
knew that
it was by
him
that I
had been
brought
to my
present
condition
my
perplexing
state
of agitation
which I
was now
in
so
Augustine
writes one
more
thing I'll
share with
you
about his
mother
that helped
him on
his faith
journey
he says
that
as was
he says
my mother's
custom in
Africa
was to
bring to
the chapels
of the
saints
certain cakes
and bread
and wine
so what was
happening now
in the
380s
was sort of
that saint
worship
relic worship
was starting to
creep into the
church
so Monica
would
would go to
some of
these chapels
that were
honoring
martyrs of
old
so we
someone like
Perpetua for
example
and she
would leave
I mean
effectively
offerings
like cake
and bread
and wine
and she
comes in
and this
was a
beloved
practice
of hers
and she
finds out
Augustine
says that
she was
forbidden to
do so
to leave
these kinds
of offerings
and it
upset her
very much
because she
loved doing
this
but quote
as soon
as she
learned
that it
was Bishop
Ambrose
who had
forbidden
it
she
piously
and
obediently
acceded
to it
and I
marveled
at how
readily
she could
bring herself
to accuse
her own
custom
rather than
question
Bishop
Ambrose
that
it shows
her this
I hope you
see this
willingness
in her
to take
harsh advice
sometimes
or difficult
advice
even if
lovingly
given
so she
stopped
that practice
and it
also speaks
well of
Ambrose
because you
didn't want
people doing
that
so by
long
suffering
and many
tears
as you
all know
Augustine
did eventually
become a
Christian
soon after
this
and
Augustine
would go
on to
use his
brilliant mind
to write
millions
of words
one scholar
has said
that he
wrote the
equivalent
of a
300 page
book every
year for
40 years
and
Augustine
himself
was so
impressed
by his
mother's
intelligence
that he
writes about
how he
would insist
that she
would join
them in
his theological
discussions
with his
friends
and how
she
participated
just as
fluently
as
all of
his fellow
scholars
did
and we
know almost
everything
about
Monica
because of
Augustine's
love for
her
and I
only give
you a
little
sampling
of that
in this
in the
interest of
time we're
just going
to hasten
through
some things
this is
a picture
of a
a
or
france
so
really
west
hard
to get
more
west
than
this
and
she
went
on
a
pilgrimage
and
you
can
see
multi-year
pilgrimage
she
came
to
constantinople
to
antioch
to
jerusalem
and then
to
a
and
her
tells us
all
these
things
it's
sad
that
we
only
have
portions
of
her
journal
left
she
strikes
us
as
an
intrepid
traveler
and
she
describes
all
of
these
sites. And the amazing thing is that many of these sites, people still go to Jerusalem to see today,
or they go to Mount Sinai. So she describes going up Mount Sinai and what it's like there.
And she describes being in Jerusalem and what the churches were like and what things looked like.
It's an invaluable historical treasure for scholars to know what the Christian East was like.
She also passed into Mesopotamia, into Edessa, which is a famous Christian city. Sometimes it
was in Rome. Sometimes it was in the Persian Empire. It was one of those cities that kind of went back
and forth. And she passed in there and wrote about all her journeys and also in Constantinople. And
she has these beautiful phrases where she's writing. She's writing this journal and then
sending it as a letter to her friends back home. And she keeps addressing her friends as,
dear beloved sisters, dear sisters, dear sisters, you'll never believe what I saw today. And
writes all this. It's a wonderful little journal. The last woman I want to share with you all is a
hymnographer, Cassia. We're now advancing well into the medieval church, actually. Cassia was Greek.
She was born in Constantinople into a wealthy family. Around 805-810 is when she was born. And she was said to be
exceptionally beautiful and intelligent and so beautiful, in fact, that when the young emperor
was wanting to be married, he decided to have a party where he would invite all the most eligible
noble ladies to come, who were the prettiest, and take his pick. And Cassia was there. And the young
emperor approached her. And there's this famous phrase where, you know, the emperor is haughty. This is
not how you should try to woo a woman, I don't think. But he's very haughty, and he wants to
seem superior to everybody. So he just goes up to her, and he says, through a woman came forth
the baser things. And he's referring to Eve and how she sinned. And he's trying to put Cassia in her
place. And Cassia was said to immediately retort, and through a woman came the better things,
referring to Mary bringing forth Jesus. And the emperor was embarrassed and decided not to marry
her. And that was probably good for Cassia. She went on to become a nun and never married.
But she wrote many hymns. And these are kind of in two groups, as I understand it. Some of them are
just kind of pithy sayings, like proverbial advice. It's things that you would read in the Proverbs.
So she has, this is what she says about beauty. She says, one should prefer a drop of luck than great
beauty. It is better to possess grace from the Lord than beauty and wealth, which does not gain grace.
Or she has this on friendship. A friendship that is not founded on loving Christ.
Harmony is not possible for it, but rather strife. Give freely of friendship to a loving friend.
But to an ungrateful one, friendship is vain. A little is the most if the friend is grateful.
But to the ungrateful, the most is the least. She has lots of sayings like this. I will share her
most famous hymn with you. It's called The Hymn of the Fallen Woman. And it's about the woman who came
to anoint Jesus before his burial and was washing his feet with her hair and mourning over her sins.
And she says this, Lord, the woman fallen into many sins, recognizing your divinity rises to the
status of myrrh bearer. So she's bearing myrrh to anoint Jesus. And with mourning, she brings to you
myrrh before your burial. Woe to me, she says, for night holds for me the ecstasy of intemperance,
gloomy and moonless, a desire for sin. Accept the springs of my tears. You who with clouds spread out
the water of the sea, bend down to me, to the lamentations of my heart. You who made the heavens
incline by your ineffable humiliation. I will tenderly kiss your sacred feet. I will wipe them
again with the hair of my head. The feet who sound eve heard in paradise in the afternoon and hid in fear.
Who can describe the multitude of my sins and the depths of your judgment? My redeemer,
savior of souls. Do not disregard me, your servant. You whose mercy is infinite.
I love how she describes this woman wiping Jesus's feet with her hair and remembers in the book of
Genesis when it says that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord walking in the cool of the day and
hid from him because they have feared judgment. But here we have this woman coming to his feet and
clinging to him. Well, I hope that these little vignettes have given you an appreciation for some
early Christian women. We've spoken of disciples of Jesus, especially in the Gospel of Luke, Mary and
Martha, Mary Magdalene, Anna, Elizabeth, Mary the mother of Jesus, Peter's wife, and perhaps the wife of
Cleopas. And after them, there were the martyrs, Blandina and Perpetua and Felicity. And we also
turned to the Empress Mamea, the slave Nino, the apostle of the Georgians, the poet Proba, the loving
mother Monica, and the traveler Agiria and Cassia, the hymnographer. I hope these women have encouraged
you in your walk of faith. We have a few more minutes if you guys want to ask questions, but I've kind of
gone over a bit in time so we can close two if that would be more appropriate.