Cult of Diana in Ephesus-Women in Ministry

[homebild]

The Dianic Cult in Ephesus

This is a continuation of the "Women in Ministry" thread and deserves one of its own because it will shed historical and cultural light onto women's societal roles in Ephesus and how it relates to Paul's alleged ban on women in ministry.

At issue is 1 Timothy 2:12 which says:

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet"

In another thread, we already called into question the universal application of Paul's instruction to Timothy regarding women in ministry, because Paul commends female ministers in other of his letters including the deaconess Phoebe, the apostle Junia, and the teacher Priscilla who is noted specifically in Acts 18:26 instructing a man, Appollos, no less a man but a future and apostle and fellow servant with Paul.

We will see by examination of the original Biblical language and by historic consideration of the influence of the Cult of Diana in Ephesus, that Paul's prohibition was directed not to women in general or to the Church at large, but was restricted to a particular problem or set of problems that unique to Ephesus at a particular point in time.

Let us first consider 1 Timothy 2:12 in the original languages.

LANGUAGE

1 Timothy 2:12 in the Greek reads:

gunaiki de didaskein ouk epitrepw oude auqentein androV all einai en hsucia

Of particular note, we will concentrate on the word for 'teach' which is didaskein, and the word 'authority' which is auqentein.

DIDASKEIN---Although the word didaskein means 'to teach', it has a very specific and limited application in the Greek language. It literally means the way in which the Greek Dramatic Poets taught the actors in a play to say their lines and how to perform their bits of action:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext...entry%3D%238291

The interesting point here, is that this word to teach is NOT the same form or word that is used when we think of someone as a teacher in a school or a professor in a college, or even in the preaching and teaching of the Gospel in the church where such teaching involves the free exchange of ideas and concepts that enables one to mature, become educated, and act independently by means of critical thinking. In fact, it means quite the opposite. Didaskein is not the reasoned explanation of evidence or the logical conclusions reached thereby.

Didaskein means simply to indoctrinate one to a particular point of view without regard to any other. The playwright or director only wishes his actors and performers to mimic and produce his thoughts and words on the stage, not their own. The cast is limited to speaking and acting as the playwright directs, and the cast does not have the ability to change the script or the action. The goal of didaskein is to produce a rote, repetitive emoting without regard to thought.

It should be noted as well, that the Greek stage was completely sexist. Women were not allowed to act. All roles were played by men, even those of female characters. This will prove of interest later.

It should also be noted that our English word didactic comes from this Greek root and in part means to 'teach or moralize obsessively'. This too will be of interest later.

AUQENTEIN--This Greek word translated as 'authority' above, actually has a more specific meaning and is more properly considered as:

-to have full power or authority over

-to impose one's will on another

-to inundate or overpower

-to govern in a manner that uses corrupt power for selfish interest

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/morph...eek&formentry=1

In Latin, the Vulgate used the word dominari which means:

-to be Lord over

-to dominate

-to domineer

-to act as a tyrant or despot with absolute power

It becomes clear, then, that Paul to Timothy is instructing against excesses and specifics here, and not the generalized actions of women. We will see this even more clearly as we consider the culture that existed at Ephesus at the time Paul wrote to Timothy.

THE CULT OF DIANA

From Acts 18 and 19 and elsewhere we find that at the city of Ephesus was centered the Cult of Artemis, the Greek Goddess whom the Romans called Diana.

Although the Dianic cult was present throughout the Roman Empire and present as a secondary religion in all cities, it was in Ephesus alone, that the Cult of Diana was the primary religion and her Temple was one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. The Temple existed for nearly 8 centuries prior to the appearance of Christianity and so massive it took over 220 years to construct.

At the center of the Temple stood here idol seen below on the left:

http://www.ancientroute.com/pictures/01380.gif

The Temple was believed to have been built by the Amazons of legend, a maternalistic society of women in which the women were the warriors and the role of men was relegated to performing the household chores.

Men who served in the Temple were castrated and kept subjugated.

It is thought by some that the round objects on the idol of Diana in the photo above represented the testicles of these castrated men.

Artemis, or Diana, was the daughter of Zeus, and pledged herself as a perpetual virgin. She was the goddess of "childbearing" and protectress of women in childbirth. She was also a fierce hunter and death at childbirth was considered to be from the receipt of one of Diana's arrows.

Diana was fiercely independent and spirited and vowed not to be associated with or subjected to a man remaining free in the wilderness with her band of female cherubic attendants. Diana sought above all to protect her chastity and personal space. Any man who attempted to violate her virginity and subjugate her by child bearing was killed.

The Cult of Diana consisted mainly of women particularly young girls who joined the cult at puberty. If they married they had to leave the cult.

Although St John Chrysostom destroyed the Temple of Diana in 401AD, the Cult survived well into the 14th century even in Christian Europe and Wiccan cults continue in Dianic worship unto this day.

The Church found this Goddess worship one of the most difficult to eliminate as this quote from an article in a Millersville University journal states:

http://marauder.millersville.edu/~resound//court.html#fn_14

The Encroaching Christian Church

It was into this matrifocal pagan continuum that the Christian church came. And for hundreds of years, Christ's greatest rival was the Great Goddess. At first, Constantine ordered the destruction of all goddess temples in the Roman Empire, and forbade the worship of the Goddess. Yet the devotion of the people (pagans) to the Great Mother endured. Diana's cult was so widespread in the pagan world that early Christians viewed her as a major rival, and later named her "Queen of Witches". The Gospels called for the destruction of all temples of Diana, and in Ephesus (a major Dianic pilgrimage center), the Dianic shrine was taken over in the 4th century A.D. and rededicated to the Virgin Mary. In 431 AD, one of the earliest churches dedicated to "Our Lady" was in Ephesus, but most believed the lady was Diana, not Mary. In 432, the Council of Ephesus tried to eliminate Diana worship, but the bishops were besieged by crowds demanding, "Give us Diana of the Ephesians!"12

And give them Diana, they did -- she was assimilated into Christian mythos as Mary's mother or elder self, the Grandmother of God, Anna (Hannah) or Di-anna (Dinah). The Gnostics named their Wisdom-goddess Sophia, the same Grandmother of God, and when the Ephesian Diana temple was demolished, its porphyry pillars were carried to Constantinople and built into the church of Holy Sophia.

From the beginning, the exclusively masculine new Christian religion was resented and resisted by the its potential converts. Christian evangelists discovered, however, that the people would accept the Christ, if allowed to retain their goddess as Mary.13 The Christian church incorporated pagan holidays into its own sacred calendar, and acknowledged Mary as "Queen of Heaven" (originally the Roman title of Diana, the triple goddess) and Mother of God. Ironically, Christianity succeeded ultimately because it represented a return to the original goddess worship which devotion to the Roman gods had precluded.14

It was in this environment of pagan worship that Paul first began to spread the Gospel in Ephesus as Acts Chapter 18 and 19 illustrates in detail, and it is in Ephesus that we find Paul's fellow ministers. Aquila and Priscilla, a woman, instructing Appollos:

Acts 18:24-28 "A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus. He was an authority on the scriptures. 10

25

He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.

26

He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way (of God) 11 more accurately.

27

And when he wanted to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. After his arrival he gave great assistance to those who had come to believe through grace.

28

He vigorously refuted the Jews in public, establishing from the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus. '

Acts 19:1 "1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and came (down) to Ephesus where he found some disciples. "

We find that Paul initially stayed in Ephesus for 3 months then continued on for 2 more years with good results:

Acts 19:8 "He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly with persuasive arguments about the kingdom of God. "

Acts 19:10 "This continued for two years with the result that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord, Jews and Greeks alike."

It was here that some Jews saw Paul casting out demons and tried to do the same but were turned back by the demons saying he knew Paul but not them...Many converts were former sorcerers both Jew and Greek alike who burned their spellbooks and incantations after conversion:

Acts 19:18-19 "Many of those who had become believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices. Moreover, a large number of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in public. They calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces. "

However the depth and pervasion of commitment to this pagan Deity Diana is seen in a riot that breaks out when Demetrius a silversmith who made idols for this cult complained about the loss of money resulting from conversions from this cult:

See Acts 19:23-41 below:

http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/acts/acts19.htm

It is now with this preliminary information behind us that we can now reconsider Paul's first letter to Timothy in Ephesus.

1 Timothy 2

1 Timothy 2:9-10 "Similarly, (too,) women should adorn themselves with proper conduct, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hairstyles and gold ornaments, or pearls, or expensive clothes, but rather, as befits women who profess reverence for God, with good deeds."

Was Paul making a universal rule here that women should not wear pearls, braid their hair, wear expensive clothes or otherwise decorate themselves? Few would think so.

In fact, upon closer inspection Paul was addressing behaviors specific to practices common to worship in the Cult of Diana alone:

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/2287.htm

"In the temple, worshippers would lay fine clothing, jewellery, and costly gifts on the statue of Artemis. They would ask for blessing upon their crops, livestock, and family. In particular, women would pray for help through conception, pregnancy, delivery, and menstrual problems."

1 Timothy 2:11 "A woman must receive instruction silently and under complete control."

Recall, in the Cult of Diana, women dominated men and subjugated men. The cult was sexist not teaching equality of access to God, but rather special privilege by women to receive instruction from the Goddess. It was from this type of 'sexist' teaching and behavior that converts from the Cult of Diana were to refrain and unlike in the Dianic Cult, women were to learn in submission and in all quietness JUST AS THE MEN WERE TO DO THE SAME.

1 Timothy 2:12 " I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. 4 She must be quiet."

Recall that the word 'teach' in the Greek means an indoctrination and that the word was only used in the Greek theater. Recall as well, that the Greek theater was also sexist permitting only men to act and perform. Recall, too that didaskein referred to unquestioning indoctrination and not faith in Christ based on reason, or a reasonable faith.

Recall also, that 'authority' auqentein means tyranny, or to enslave or to impose one's will on and over another. It does NOT mean to share in equally.

Paul is offering no command here that a woman cannot teach or be in authority over a man or is prohibited from speaking publically or serving in ministry...

Paul is condemning very specific certain practices of the adherants of the Dianic cult in which one sex has mastery over the other for selfish interest and reinforcing his teaching that in Christ all men and women are set free and are equal before God.

Unlike with Diana, where the female Goddess was to be worshipped, Paul reminds these sexist pagans that Eve, the woman, sinned first and foremost and dragged Adam (who followed willingly) into sin and death.

1 Timothy 2:13-14 " For Adam was formed first, then Eve. Further, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed. "

This does not make Eve inferior to Adam, but co-equal as Paul reminds us elsewhere and that submission by the sexes is MUTUAL in Jesus Christ.

"Contrary to the teachings of the Artemis cult, Paul insists that women do not have special insight into divine revelation through the goddess. They do not have spiritual authority over men simply by virtue of gender. Paul reminds his readers that, in fact, a woman was deceived first, not a man (1 Tim 2.13-14). By making this observation, he is countering the teaching of the Artemis cult. In effect, he is lowering the status of women to the same level as men. Because they have been led astray, he stops women from teaching. For now, they are to submit themselves to learning the Christian faith in silence (1 Tim 2.11-12). This does not prevent women from resuming a teaching role once they have come to a proper perspective. "---from the following link:

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/2287.htm

Finally, Paul notes to these Diana worshippers who were misled into thinking that Diana could help them with their childbirthing and that favor from the Goddess could be achieved in female problems by sacrifices to this cult, that it is through Jesus Christ that their salvation will come and by Whom their wombs shall be blessed.

1 Timothy 2:15 "But she will be saved through motherhood, provided women persevere in faith and love and holiness, with self-control."

"With pastoral concern, Paul ends with a word of assurance for the Christian woman in Ephesus (1 Tim 2.15). She will be kept safe through childbirth not by turning to Artemis but by turning to Christ. She does not need to come before Artemis with finery, she only needs to come to Christ in unadorned faith. "---from the following link:

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/2287.htm

The bottom line is, that Paul is not indicating from 1 Timothy 2:12 that women cannot be teachers and cannot teach men. Paul is consistent with his other epistles where he praises women in ministry and lauds their contributions to the Gospel of Christ.

Pauls commands and comments are local commands meant for followers of Diana in Ephesus.

But Paul's universal truth can be applied to the Church Universal: God is no respector of person's or sexes and minstry as well as the Gospel is open to everyone and that men need to submit to women in the same manner that they submit to men.

HELPFUL LINKS

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/2287.htm

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/ent/A0803619.html

http://www.websters-dictionary-online.org/...h/Di/Diana.html

http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~clit387/DianaWorship.html

http://www.ephesusguide.com/temple_of_artemis.html

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/gevans/art4384/influence.html

http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/artemis.html

http://marauder.millersville.edu/~resound//court.html

[Guest Bro David™]

It is an interesting read.

I might have to copy it into a document and then print it to read fully, kinda huge for one post.

Alot of study has gone into it, should be full appreciated .

With Love

David King

[Leonard]

We need to remember that in the very early Church 'deacon' was NOT an 'ordained' position.

Secondarily, Jesus violated about every social norm of His day. He was fearless in the face of societal pressures....but HE NEVER ORDAINED A WOMAN. That is a very difficult argument to overcome as far as ordaining women goes. Our church allows women to preach and teach under the Ministry of the ordained clergy.

[Guest Bro David™]

We need to remember that in the very early Church 'deacon' was NOT an 'ordained' position.

Secondarily, Jesus violated about every social norm of His day.  He was fearless in the face of societal pressures....but HE NEVER ORDAINED A WOMAN.  That is a very difficult argument to overcome as far as ordaining women goes.  Our church allows women to preach and teach under the Ministry of the ordained clergy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I thought we have already made the distinction between Teaching and Preaching.

With Love

David King

[homebild]

We need to remember that in the very early Church 'deacon' was NOT an 'ordained' position.

Secondarily, Jesus violated about every social norm of His day.

Edited April 2, 2005 by homebild

[Guest Bro David™]

We need to remember that in the very early Church 'deacon' was NOT an 'ordained' position.

Secondarily, Jesus violated about every social norm of His day.

[homebild]

[quote name='Bro David

Edited April 2, 2005 by homebild

[Lionroot]

Greetings,

I was reading that other thread, and I thought you did not establish much of what you now present as a given.

 

 

In another thread, we already called into question the universal application of Paul's instruction to Timothy regarding women in ministry, because Paul commends female ministers in other of his letters including the deaconess Phoebe, the apostle Junia, and the teacher Priscilla who is noted specifically in Acts 18:26 instructing a man, Appollos, no less a man but a future and apostle and fellow servant with Paul. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You did not deal with the fact that this was Paul's practice, not just counsel to Timothy, or that it was built on principles much more universal than any particular church.

I thought a deacon was a waiter, and a deaconess a waitress. Was that not what they were set apart to do, feed the widows?

It was not established that Junia or any other woman was an apostle. The text you cited does not support it in any absolute way. Without more supportive text it is risky speculation at best.

Priscilla did not act alone, but rather in union with her husband. Isn't that right?

I think it is a bit premature to build something on these premises. The idea of equality of roles is very popular with the world, but the scriptures just do not seem to support it. Rather we have different roles to play in the ministry.

Just my thoughts,

God Bless,

Robert

[Guest Bro David™]

Edited April 3, 2005 by Bro David

[Guest shiloh357]

[quote name='Bro David