Saint Paul, grand promoteur de la dignité de la femme

Abstract

Based on some statements from the Epistles « of Saint Paul », many a feminist have accused Saint Paul of having legitimated gender inequality in favour of men. However, a closer analysis of those ‘antifeminist’ statements proves that claim to be wrong. For this to come out, one has firstly to distinguish statements about women made by Paul in the letters that he actually authored from the statements found in the Epistles attributed to him but which were in fact written by his disciples. Secondly, one has to set those statements in the context in which the Epistles they are found in were produced and the circumstances the author and audience were in. That is what this article does, discussing the very ‘antifeminist’ statements pointed out by feminists. Our viewpoint is that Saint Paul could not help making such statements, given the circumstances. The article further points out other evidence showing that Paul treated equally the women and men he associated to his evangelizing mission. So, in the final analysis, far from being misogynous, Saint Paul was rather an engaged feminist who did all he could to uplift the woman’s status in society and in the Church, but was misinterpreted and betrayed later by those who did not like his pro-woman views because they did not go along with the androcentric culture prevalent at the time.