The Forgotten Women Who Helped Build Christianity
- Rowan Wilder
- Apr 26, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 26, 2025
When most people imagine the early church, they picture a group of devoted male apostles spreading the message of Jesus across the ancient world. But history—if you’re willing to dig a little deeper—tells a different, much richer story.
Women weren’t just in the background. They were leading, teaching, funding, preaching, organizing, and carrying the early Christian movement forward.
Some of these women were named in Scripture. Many more worked quietly behind the scenes. But over time, as the church grew more hierarchical and patriarchal, their stories were diminished, blurred, or outright erased.
It’s time to bring them back into the light. Because without them, Christianity as we know it might not even exist.
Phoebe: The Deacon and Patron
In Romans 16:1–2, Paul introduces Phoebe, calling her a "deacon" (diakonos) and a "patron" (prostatis) of many, including himself. That’s huge.
Deacon wasn’t just a servant title—it implied leadership in teaching, assisting in baptism, and caring for the community.
Patron meant she financially supported early Christian missions, including Paul’s.
Most scholars believe Phoebe was the one who physically delivered Paul’s letter to the Roman church, and likely explained or defended it. (Imagine being entrusted with the most theologically significant letter in Christianity!)
Phoebe wasn’t helping behind the scenes—she was standing at the center.
Priscilla: The Theologian Who Taught Men
Priscilla (sometimes called Prisca) appears alongside her husband Aquila multiple times in Acts and Paul's letters.
Notably, Priscilla’s name is often listed first, a major cultural clue that she was the more prominent of the two.
Together, they corrected the teachings of Apollos, a well-known preacher (Acts 18:24–26). And she wasn’t rebuked for doing so—she was celebrated.
Some scholars even speculate Priscilla could have been the anonymous author of Hebrews, one of the New Testament’s most theologically sophisticated books.
Priscilla wasn’t just participating—she was shaping Christian doctrine.
Junia: The Forgotten Apostle
In Romans 16:7, Paul greets Junia and calls her "outstanding among the apostles."
For centuries, translators altered her name to "Junias"—a masculine form that didn’t actually exist in the ancient world.Why?Because they couldn’t imagine a woman being called an apostle.
Modern scholarship confirms that Junia was a woman, and Paul recognized her as an apostle himself.
Junia’s very existence proves women weren’t just helpers—they were foundational leaders.
Mary and Martha of Bethany: Disciples and Confessors
Mary of Bethany famously sat at Jesus’ feet to learn—an act that, culturally, marked her as a disciple, not just a follower (Luke 10:38–42).
Meanwhile, Martha gives one of the most powerful declarations of faith in all of Scripture:
"I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God." (John 11:27)
Peter’s similar confession gets all the attention—but Martha said it too.
These sisters weren’t hosting potlucks—they were engaging Jesus at the deepest theological levels.
The Women at the Tomb: The First Witnesses
All four Gospels agree: Women, not men, were the first to witness the resurrection.
Mary Magdalene.
Joanna.
Mary the mother of James.
Salome.
Other unnamed women.
In a world where women’s testimony wasn’t even considered valid in court, this detail would have been deeply inconvenient to early evangelists trying to convince skeptics. And yet—it’s the women who see, believe, and proclaim first.
The Christian movement was launched not by Peter’s preaching—but by women’s witness.
Why Their Stories Were Forgotten
As Christianity grew from a grassroots movement to a structured institution, it became more aligned with the power structures of the Roman world—where patriarchy ruled.
Over time:
Women's titles were translated differently (deacons became "helpers").
Leadership acts were spiritualized rather than acknowledged as official.
Powerful female figures were either minimized, merged, or omitted altogether.
The result? A version of church history that looks far more male-dominated than it really was.
Why Their Stories Matter Now
Recovering the truth about these women isn’t just a historical project—it’s a spiritual reclamation.
It reminds us that the Kingdom of God has always been bigger than human hierarchies.
It challenges narrow ideas about who can lead, teach, and carry the Gospel forward.
It breathes life back into a church that desperately needs the full power of its founding story.
Christianity wasn’t born from neat organizational charts or carefully managed hierarchies.It was born in living rooms, on dusty roads, in whispered prayers, and in bold proclamations—by men and women together.
The forgotten women of early Christianity aren’t side characters.They are the architects of the faith.
Conclusion: Their Legacy Is Ours to Remember
Today, when we reclaim Phoebe, Priscilla, Junia, Mary, Martha, and all the unnamed women at the heart of the Gospel story, we honor the full truth of Christianity's beginnings. We remember a movement that welcomed the unlikely, elevated the overlooked, and empowered those the world ignored.
And we get a glimpse—not of the church history that was rewritten—but of the church history that was always meant to be.
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