228 – Did you ever realize how many women leaders there are in the New Testament?

More than you probably realized. There are some I didn't even realize were women? Why haven't we been told about these amazing women who risked their lives to share the Gospel in the early Christian Church?

This week I talk with Dr. Nijay Gupta about these women leaders in the early Christian church and how they set examples for how women can have leadership roles in the church today. He has written a book called: Tell Her Story (see below for link).

Here are the women we talked about. How many of them have you heard of?

• Mary Magdalene
• Junia
• Joanna
• Susanna
• Phoebe
• Tryphena and Tryphosa 
• Persis
• Rufus's mother
• Julia
• Nereus's sister
• Euodia and Syntyche 
• Priscilla

Most of them we know very little about but Paul mentions them and commends many of them for their work in sharing the Gospel.

Nijay and I also talked about the so-called submission and women-be-silent verses, but he points out the cultural contexts of these verses, how they seem to contradict the fact that Paul commended women for preaching and promoting the Gospel elsewhere.

And Nijay makes it clear we get into serious trouble when we create a theology around just two or three verses.

Nijay Gupta's books:
Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church.*
A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Studies*
Paul and the Language of Faith*
Prepare, Succeed, Advance, Second Edition: A Guidebook for Getting a PhD in Biblical Studies and Beyond*
New: Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling*
All books* by Nijay Gupta

Podcast: Slow Theology
Blog: Crux Sola

Show notes:
For a full transcript and more detailed show notes, go to thebiblespeakstoyou.com/228.

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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life.

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