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The role of women in the early church is debated, and Alondra Olivo's work helps us understand their treatment. Olivo focuses on biblical texts, analyzing the historical and cultural context. She challenges the interpretation of verses that limit women's roles, suggesting they may refer to specific leadership positions rather than overall leadership. Olivo also highlights that women founded and led early Christian congregations. The shift in focus from justice and community to financial contributions may have marginalized women. Olivo asks us to critically analyze the social, cultural, and economic factors at play. This deep dive prompts us to reconsider the role of women in faith today and analyze modern texts. Okay, are you ready? Definitely. All right. Let's dive in. Today, we're tackling a topic that's been debated for centuries, the role of women in the early church, especially in ministry. I got some seriously intriguing material you sent over. What do the sources actually tell us about how these women were viewed and treated? Well, the exciting part about this deep dive is that we're going straight to the source early biblical text. We're not trying to rewrite history, but maybe understand it through a fresh lens. Right. And I love Alondra Olivo's work to guide us. She's really digging into these ... She's asking the tough questions, right? Are these verses truly limiting women's roles, or have they been misinterpreted for centuries? The refreshing thing about Olivo's approach, she's all about understanding, not just arguing. She wants us to really step into the shoes of the people who wrote these texts to grasp that historical and cultural context. She focuses on the mitzvahs, the laws, and does a deep dive into the language, the history. Yeah. It's impressive. Exactly. There's that one passage that's often used to say women can't be leaders, right? But Olivo points out that the Hebrew word used back then could also mean something more like president, leading a meeting, an event, but not the whole community forever. It's a small difference, but it changes everything. Right. It makes you wonder what other nuances are hiding in plain sight, because we don't get those original languages, the context. Exactly. And it gets even more interesting when you tie this linguistic analysis to what Olivo found out about the early Christian congregations. Okay. Now, this is where things get really exciting. Tell me more about these congregations. Olivo highlights how many were actually founded by women, not just attending. They were leaders hosting in their homes. They shaped the early church. That challenges everything we think we know. If women were so important back then, how did things change? It's the million dollar question. Olivo thinks part of it might be a shift in the church's focus. Remember the Gospel of Shalom, justice and peace? She says there was a move away from that and towards tithes, offerings, that kind of thing. So from community and justice to financial contributions. Right. And that shift, well, you can imagine what it did to power dynamics in those congregations. It makes you think, did that shift push women, the very founders, out of those central roles, devalue them? It's a powerful argument and it really gets to the heart of Olivo's point. We can't understand these women without looking at the bigger picture, the social, cultural, even economic forces at play. I love how Olivo approaches this. She's not giving us easy answers. She's asking us to think critically and that's something we all need, don't you think? So what does this mean for us? Does this deep dive make you reconsider the role of women in faith today? Should we be doing the same kind of analysis on modern texts? There's so much to consider. Really, so much to think about. This has been an eye-opening deep dive. Thanks for joining me. And until next time, keep digging.