Why would the author of Acts be sure to name Mary, mother of Jesus in the list in Acts 1 when the rest of the women are unnamed?
How does the certainty we have about the authorship of a letter change how we give it authority? Should we see undisputed letters of Paul’s as more authoritative than those which might be pseudoepigraphic?
How should we interpret the Bible when it contradicts itself, such as Paul’s letters versus the pastoral epistles?
Applying the Text:
How do you imagine the early Christian church? Does the image of these women working alongside the men – offering patronage, teaching, and leadership – fit with your understanding of early Christianity?
Where would you have been in the earliest days of the Church described by Paul and Acts?
From the thin evidence in Acts and Romans 16, can we draw any conclusions about women in the early days of the church?