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Dealing Under the Table: Ritual Negotiation of Women’s Power in Early Christ People’s Gospels

Dealing Under the Table: Ritual Negotiation of Women’s Power in Early Christ People’s Gospels

Monday, September 26, 2022
8:00 – 9:00 pm Eastern Time
Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig

This Bible and Beyond Discussion addresses two gospel texts with a woman and Jesus at their center. Both texts have gender controversy with Jesus and both display complex gender power. One of the gospels is canonical and the other extracanonical. The canonical text for our purposes is from the Gospel of Mark, although it also exists also in Matthew.  The other gospel is from the Gospel of Thomas.

The conflict and healing in Mark is about whether Jesus can or should heal the daughter of a Syro-Phoenician mother. Jesus is obviously prejudiced against the mother and perhaps the daughter as well, but the mother basically outfoxes Jesus, and he eventually heals the daughter.

In the Gospel of Thomas, the woman Salome, probably a leader in a Jesus community, is reclining on a couch during a meal, and Jesus climbs up on her couch. She challenges his presence on her couch. There is significant controversy between them, but also there is serious and good conversation. In both cases, the women’s power and leadership is on display, but on quite different terms.

Links to online texts used in this Discussion:

Gospel of Mark 7:24-30 (also Matthew 15:21-28)

Gospel of Thomas, Saying 61

Gospel of Thomas, Saying 61