Aquila and Priscilla

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 -- Week of Proper 20
Philander Chase, Bishop of Ohio, and of Illinois, 1852 (transferred from Sept. 22)

Today's Reading for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 985)
Psalms 78:1-39 (morning) 78:40-72 (evening)
Esther 5:1-14 (or Judith 8:9-17; 9:1, 7-10)
Acts 18:12-28
Luke 3:15-22

I am choosing to read Judith for the first lesson.


Yesterday we had a reference to Aquila and Priscilla, and husband and wife who show up often in the New Testament as Paul's partners in ministry. They had fled Rome when the Emperor Claudius expelled Jews from the capitol around 49 CE. Paul met them in Corinth and lived with them as fellow tentmakers.

It appears Aquila and Priscilla have traveled with Paul to Ephesus as we read today. They hear Apollos, another early Christian leader who is mentioned in Paul's letters, who has come from Alexandria. Apollos is an eloquent and passionate speaker, but his teaching is at variance in some way with Paul's teaching. We read that Priscilla and Aquila "took him aside and explained the Way of God more accurately."

Note the equality with which this couple is mentioned. Both Aquila the husband and Priscilla the wife are mentioned as housekeepers and workers in Corinth. Both are described as teachers, correcting the theology of Apollos, who will become a notable apostle.

At the end of his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul sends greetings from his friends back to their former home: "Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord." In Romans 16, Paul sends the following message: "Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, and who risked their necks for my life, and to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Greet also the church in their house." Later in that same passage, Paul includes Andronicus and Junia as being "prominent among the apostles," listing a woman's name under the authoritative title "Apostle." Today the church regards bishops as the inheritors of the office of apostle.

It appears that women functioned in leadership roles in Paul's churches. They were teachers and they led prayers. The rather opaque passage in 1 Corinthians 11 speaks of Paul's rule that women who were leading prayer or offering prophecy in church were to wear a head covering, I assume something like the hijab that is common in Middle Eastern countries today. The picture we get is of a church where both genders are participating and actively leading. "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28) (The passage silencing women in 1 Corinthians 14:33 is probably non-Pauline insertion; it conflicts with the other teachings of Paul, and it appears in different locations in different manuscripts. Some translations put it in parenthesis because of its debated origin.)

Paul's practice mirrors the traditions from Jesus, who welcomed Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, to sit at his feet and take instruction just like a man. Part of the scandal of Jesus' fellowship was the presence of women among his disciples. Mary Magdelene was the first to recognize the risen Lord and to witness to his resurrection. For that she is called the First Apostle in the Eastern church.

Apparently this egalitarianism was a problem for some of the male leaders of the church within a couple of generations after Paul. Speaking in the voice of Paul, the unknown author of 1 Timothy is obviously trying to change the received tradition when he says he permits no woman to "teach or have authority over a man" (2:12). The ethos of 1 Timothy is more conventionally secular in its cultural norms than was the ethos of Paul's genuine teachings.

It has taken the church twenty centuries to reclaim the earlier model of egalitarian leadership from the days of Jesus and Paul. Today, however, when we send greetings to the House of Bishops, we do so through Katharine, who like Priscilla/Prisca and Junia takes her place as being "prominent among the apostles."

Lowell

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Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

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The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas