Wednesday Bible Study: Ladies' day

The useful part

As I said last time, this chapter was likely appended after the document was originally completed. It's notable for the rather glaring reason that it name checks many women, some of whom are called deacons and one, Junia, is specifically called an apostle. Church does not allow women to be priests, on the grounds that all of the apostles were men.

How it works

• That wouldn't really follow anyway, but this would seem to contradict that assertion, and in any case the numerous women listed here who are not explicitly called apostles appear to have served in that...
• That might be wrong, but it points to how murky the origins are of all this material.
• Once again, in verse 20, Paul predicts the imminent apocalypse.
• We don't know who composed this, but it is interesting that the purported scribe identifies himself in verse 22 and allows himself to speak in his own voice.
• It is also a bit puzzling because it appears that Luke, the author of a gospel and of Acts, accompanied Paul and served as his scribe at the time Romans was written.

Details worth keeping

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon [ a ] [ b ] of the chu...