Rev. Felipe Gomez S.J.

WOMAN FIRST AMONG THE FAITHFUL 

by Francis J. Maloney, S.D.B,
Notre Dame, Indiana. Ave Maria Press, 1986, pp. 127, paper $4.95 

Whoever enters into one of our churches will notice that the majority of worshipers are women. This is also true of Vietnamese communities. It is, therefore, overdue that we study more carefully the role of women in Christianity and in the Church. A good way to begin is to go to the New Testament, to the Gospel of Jesus especially, and see what it has to say about "women". Fr. Maloney, a man, has undertaken this task, for which he must be congratulated. His book speaks, of course, to both men and women, challenging many of our prejudices. In any case, he says, an authoritative reflection on women in the Church must start from the very Word of God.

In fact, the study of Maloney is about "women" in the New Testament, not about "women". So he studies feminity and related themes and devotes a large amount of space to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. She has a lot to teach us today about women and, also, about men.

The first chapter deals with Jesus and how he treated women, according to the Gospel. The texts are grouped in "categories", as they deal with miracles, conflicts, parables, the woman who anointed Jesus at Bethany and those, who stood at the cross and by the tomb. Jesus' attitude was really revolutionary in his time. He brought a radical newness because in the new world he inaugurated all ‑ both male and female ‑ are equally children of a Father who is God, and so brothers and sisters in the Kingdom or new society. He wiped away the prejudices and taboos dividing men and women, condemning the idea that women were inferior.

After that the author studies St. Paul. In some superficial way it would seem that St. Paul does not follow Jesus' radical views. Maloney explains the difficult texts where Paul tells women to keep silent in the Church and to be subject to their husbands, etc. What went wrong? Well, Paul, was in fact in agreement with Jesus but had to struggle with a culture clearly opposing Jesus' message. His epistles have been often misunderstood and abused.

The author deals with the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and with the book of Revelation and finally with the Gospel of John. The person of Mary is studied especially from the viewpoint of St Luke.

Studying the New Testament, Maloney finds five principal ideas:

1. Women was liberated from taboos and myths, but in theory.  In practice, soon Christian society went back to the old customs.

2. Women is great in christian view because she was the first who believed and showed the best faith.

3. Matthew and Luke show, in the infancy stories, that woman had an essential role in the plan of God; the stories of the apparitions after the Resurrection show the same key role of women.

4. Both the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation show "woman" as the symbol of humanity, ambiguous yes, but making clear the role of women in the early Church.

5. The Gospel of John uses women as models of our journey of faith which means that all Christians must follows them in their fidelity; that seems to mean that in the order of faith women must be leaders.

The book is scholarly written but easy to read by any Christian. The author does not make long exegesis of texts but takes the "themes" or generals ideas of chapters or book and exposes them as related to his subject. But the extensive bibliography of the book proves the sound scholarship behind this study.

The book is not "feminist" in the bad sense of that word; but is "Christian" and so devoted to truth as it can be found in Revelation. It can help us to better understand the role of all believers in fostering equality and brotherhood in the Church where "there is neither man or woman, for we are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28). The book is so a good study on discipleship, which contributes to make easier a better life in the Church, especially among groups who strive to become better followers of Jesus.