Laws Regarding Women in the Church
Adhering to the Hebrew patriarchal mindset, women because of their natural cycles and nature were to be separate from men in the religious world. No longer could men holding positions of religious authority: bishops, priests, or monks, be married. To be truly holy and close to God, a man must remove the temptation of sexuality women possessed. One’s soul was now separate from a human, denying natural impulses became a testament to the human will, which could only be received through God’s grace. Women were considered the greatest threat to a man’s spirituality (Condren, 1989). Although women would have some part to play in the church it would be regulated. Women had no say or role in commenting or questioning the charter text, which eventually became known as the cannon of Christian teaching (Ruether, 1992).
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Women were relegated to roles in the church, which had no authority, such as nuns. The idealistic woman of the church was Mary Christ Mother; however her sexuality was removed, by the Immaculate Conception. A mother, by all rights, yet a virgin mother, not tarnished by the act of sex (Condren, 1989). This left little space for women to be fulfilled. Their only options were to be a virginal nun, mother, or a temptress; all of these roles came with restrictions. Goddesses were replaced with female saints, who faithfully obeyed the orders of the Father above and the fathers of the church. This is drastically different from the Celtic world of goddesses, who possessed all ranges of the aspects of a woman; nurturer, healer, mother, warrior, lover, spiritual, intellectual, political, sexual, powerful, and vengeful. The transformation of Celtic society from a polytheistic religion to monotheism reveals the stifled condition it created for women.
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