Give an account of the role of women in early Christianity based on Letters of St. Paul, Eisler (The Chalice and the Blade Ch.9) and The Gnostic Gospels excerpt by Elaine Pagels.
philosophy
Description
This essay has to be between 500 and 800 words.
II WOMEN IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY
Answer all parts of this prompt in the proper order.
- Give an account of the role of women in early Christianity based on Letters of St. Paul, Eisler (The Chalice and the Blade Ch.9) and The Gnostic Gospels excerpt by Elaine Pagels. (= What is your impression of the role of women in the first 200 years of Christianity based on the course readings?)
- Give an account of Pagels’s theory of the role of Mary Magdalene (also referred to in Eisler Ch.9). What is Pagel's theory based on, and why has it created such a stir in some Christian communities?
- What do you think? Could Pagels be right about Mary Magdalene?
General Hints:
- "Identify," or "Give an account," means to describe someone's theory as accurately as you can.
- When a prompt asks you to "define," you need to come up with other words that express the same idea, as clearly as you can, also as if you were writing to someone who has never heard of the theory before.
- When a prompt asks you to "explain," you need to describe the theory in great detail, so someone who has never heard of it before can understand what it is all about. The explanation should include the philosopher's intention or purpose (= why is he or she putting those thoughts together? What point are they trying to make?).
- "Analyze" usually means to identify the author's goal and means of achieving it, and add your opinion: Is the author's theory well founded, or not?
