Summary: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> In the second century,<br> a Greek writer called Celsus criticised Christianity as a religion of women,<br> children and slaves - that is to say, a religion not to be taken seriously.<br> <br> <br> There are echoes of<br> this sentiment in contemporary critiques of Christianity, and religion more<br> broadly. For example, the idea of women being more religious than men, on the<br> whole, can be seen as something that discredits religion as irrational.<br> <br> <br> However, Christianity<br> is much more likely to be condemned today, no for being a religion of women, but a religion against women – this despite evidence of<br> a strong thread of gender equality in the early Church. <br> <br> <br> “In its inception Christianity set before<br> women a true possibility of complete transformation on equal terms alongside<br> men,” says Professor Sarah Coakley who has written extensively on gender theory<br> and the philosophy of religion.<br> <br> <br> “But at the same time it very quickly<br> accommodated itself into existing religious and cultural mores - and you could<br> say that that tension has been played out since then.” <br> <br> <br> In this episode, we’ll hear from Coakley<br> and a host of other scholars – Judith Lieu, Rodney Start and Beverley Gaventa –<br> about the role Christianity has<br> played both in the flourishing, and the oppression, of women.<br> <br> <br> ---<br> <br> This is Part III of our four-part series featuring interviews from our<br> forthcoming documentary, For the Love of<br> God: How the Church is Better and Worse Than You Ever Imagined. To catch up<br> on Parts I and II, and to make sure you don’t miss the rest of the series,<br> subscribe to Life & Faith on iTunes: <a href="http://bit.ly/lifeandfaithpodcast">http://bit.ly/lifeandfaithpodcast</a>.<br>
