Reconstructing the Rise of Christianity: The Role of Women

Author(s): Rodney Stark

Source: Sociology of Religion, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Autumn, 1995), pp. 229-244
Published by: Oxford University Press
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 1995,56:3 229-244
ofReligion
Sociology

The 1994 Paul Hanly FurfeyLecture

theRise ofChristianity:
Reconstructing
The Role ofWomen

Starkt
Rodney
ofWashington
University

Modern andancient agree

historians thatwomen responsive
wereespecially ChrisS
totheearly
tianmovement. Italsoisagreedthatwomen wereaccorded status
higher
considerably Chris-
within
pagan
thanitl thesurrouring
tiancircles essayI first
Inthis
societies. howthese
explain twoaspects
oftheearlychurch ThenI explain
wereconnected. howanexcess ofwomen subculS
intheChristian
tures,combinedwith a great ofmales
excess around
intheworld thems would ina subS
haveresulted
rateofintermamage.
stantial I showhowthiswould
Firully, havemaintained early as
Chnstianity
an opennetwork abletosustain
thereby tonon-members
theattachments neededforcontinued
growth.

Intermittently during thepastfewyears theo-

socialscientific
I haveutilized
riesandmethods toattempt toreconstruct Mygoalisto
theriseofChristianity.
gaina fundamental understandingofhowitallcameabout toexplain howa
tiny andobscure messianicmovement from theedgeoftheRoman Empiredis-
lodged classicalpaganism andbecame thedominant faithofWestern Civiliza-
tion.Thereisnosingle answer towhy Christianitysucceeded;a whole seriesof
factors wereinvolved. l hopesoontocomplete an integrated of
reconstruction
at leastthemostimportant ofthesefactors, butmeanwhile I havebeenpubS
lishing portions ofthelarger projectas I goalong(Stark1992,l991a,l991b,
1987,1986a,1986b).Today's1994PaulHanlyFurfey Lecture continuesthis
process. In itI shallsuggestthatgenderholdsoneoftheanswers tohowitwas
done thatwomen played roleintheriseofChristianity.
a critical
However, before anyuseful work
socialscientific canproceed ontheques-
tionofhowitallcameabout, isnecessary
itfirst toeliminatetheoldestandstill-
dominant explanationthattheGreco-Roman world wassavedbymasscon-
versions inresponse topublic preachingandmiracle working.From days,
earliest
massconversions havebeencentral totheChristian story:Crowds havegath-
ered, listened,marveled, andbeensaved. ThusActs2:41reports Peter
thatafter
preached toa multitude were
"there addedthatdayaboutthree thousandsouls."

t Directall carresponince Stark,Universiry

toRodney WA 98195.
DK40, Seattle,
ofWashington

229

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230 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

Writing inabout325,Eusebius (11137.3)tellsusthat"atfirst hearing whole

multitudes ina body eagerly embraced intheir soulspiety towardstheCreator of
theuniverse."
That massconversions builtChristianity has seemedobvious.Adolf
Harnack(1908:2:335-36) putit plainly: Howelsecan we understand the
"inconceivable rapidity"ofChristian growth and"astonishing expansion" ofthe
movement? Indeed, Harnack (fn.335) reminded hisreadersofSt.Augustine's
insightthatthegreatest miracle ofallwould havebeenforChristianity togrow
asrapidly as itdidwithout theaidofmiracles. Inhisdistinguished recent study,
Chrisiiarliting
theRoman Empire, Ramsay MacMullen (1984:29)alsostressedthe
arithmetical necessity formassconversions. Because"very largenumbers are
obviously involved," Christian growth couldnothavebeenlimited toan indi-
vidualmodeofconversion, butrequires "successesenmasse."
Thisisallvery troublesome because modern socialsciencelacksanytheoret
icalpropositions todealwithspontaneous massconversions. Instead,conversion
isexplained bysocialscience as theresult ofinteraction processeswithinnet-
works ofinterpersonal attachments whereby people cometoaccept newfaiths in
response to theirsocialtiestothosewhoalready believe(Lofland andStark
1965;StarkandBainbridge 1980,1985,1987;Kox,Meeus, andt'Hart1991).
Thus,from theperspective ofmodern socialscience, thekindofmassconver-
sionsdescribed byEusebius andaccepted byhistorians eversincewouldindeed
bemiraculous. AndiftheriseofChristianity canbeexplained onlybyresort to
miracles,thensocialscience would seemtohavelittle tocontribute.
Fortunately, the"facts" justifyingthemiraculous assumptionwerewrong.
Theonlyreason people believed thatthere wasanarithmetic needformass con-
version wasbecause nooneeverbothered todo theactualarithmetic. I have
donesoinconsiderable detail,taking caretoverify myresultswith thepertinent
literature
(Stark 1996).A brief summary sufficeshere.
Thereisgeneral agreement among scholars thatChristians intheGreco-
Roman world numbered somewhere between 5 and7 million intheyear300.
Howthistotalwasreached from a tiny startingpoint of,say,1,000Christiansin
theyear 40 isthearithmetic challenge. Atfirst glance, growthofthismagnitude
might seema miraculous achievement. But,suppose weassume thattheChris-
tianrateofgrowth during thisperiod wassimilar tothatoftheMormon rateof
growth overthepastcentury, whichhasbeenapproximately 40 percent per
decade(Stark1984,1994).Iftheearly Christianswereabletomatch theMor-
mongrowth rate,thentheir "miracle" isfullyaccomplished inthetimehistory
allows.Thatis,from a startingpoint of1,000Christians intheyear 40,a growth
rateof40 percent perdecade(or3.4 percent peryear)results in a totalof
6,299,832 Christians intheyear300.Moreover, because compounded rates
re-
sultinexponential growth, there isa hugenumerical increasefrom slightlymore
than1 million Christians intheyear250tomorethan6 million in300.This
givesfurther confidence intheprojections sincehistorians havelongbelieved
thata rapid increaseinnumerical growth occurred atthistime(cf.Gager1975).
The riseofMormonism hasbeenverycarefully documented andtheir
growth hasbeenbasedon theconventional network processesunderstood by
socialscience, whilemassconversions totheMormon faith
ofthekinddescribed

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 RECONSTRUCTINGTHE RISEOF CHRISTIANITY:THE ROLEOF WOMEN 23 1

byEusebius areunknown (Stark1984,1994;StarkandBainbridge 1985).

Clearly, theriseofChristianity
then, inac-
havebeenaccomplished
couldeasily
cordwith ourcurrent ofwhy
understanding takes
andhowconvetsion placeand
untothetaskathand.
issufficient
socialscience
So,letmenowreturn tomyprimary thatwomen
thesis: tothe
werecrucial
success movement.
vftheChristian
WOMENAND CHRISTlANGROWTH
Amidst contemporary denunciationsofChristianity aspatriarchalandsexS
iSt, iteasily is forgottenthatthe earlychurch was so attractive
especially to
women thatin 370theEmperor Valentinian issued a writtenorder to Pope
Damasus I requiring theChristian toceasecalling
missionaries atthehomes of
paganwomen. Although someclassical writers
claimed thatwomen wereeasy
preyforany"feareign mostrecognized
superstition," thatChristianity was
unusually apFnealingbecause withintheChristian subculture women enjoyedfar
higher status thandidwomen intheGreco-Roman world at large(Fox1987;
Chadwick 1967;Harnack 1908).
Butifhistorians havelongnoteel thisfact,
they havemadenoserious efforts
toexplain it. Why werewomen accorded higherstatus inChristiancirclesthan
elsewhere intheclassical world?Inwhatfollows I shallattempt tolinkthein-
creased power andprivilege ofChristianwomen toa very major shiftinsexra-
tios.I showthatan initial shiftinsexratiosresulted from Christian doctrines
prohibiting infanticideandabortion andthenshowhowtheinitial shiftwould
havebeenamplified bya subsequent tendencytO over-recruitwomen. Along the
wayI shallsummarize evidence from ancientsources as wellas from modern
archeology andhistorical demography concerning thestatusofwomen inthe
early church. l shallexplore
Finally, therelativelyhighrates ofexogenous mar-
riages byChristian women andsuggest howthesewouldhavegenerated many
"secondary" cvnversions toChristianity.
CHRISTIAN AND PAGAN SEX RATIOS

Mengreatly ournumbered women intheGreco-Roman world. Dio

Cassius
(1987),writinginabout200C.E.,attributedthedeclining populationofthe
Empiretotheextreme shortage Inhisclassicwork
offemales. onancient and
medieval J.C. Russell
populations, (1958)estimatedthatthere were131males
per100femalesinthecityofRomeand140males per100females Asia
inItaly,
Minor,andNorth Africa. notedinpassing
Russell thatsexratios thisextreme
canonlyoccurwhenthere is"sometamperingwithhuman life" And
(1958:14).
tamperingtherewas.Exposure ofunwanted femaleinfantsanddeformed male
waslegal,morally
infants accepted,andwidely byallsocialclasses
practiced in
theGreco-Roman world(Fox1987;Gorman1982;Pomeroy 1975;Russell
1958).Lindsay(1968:168)reportedthateveninlargefamilies"more thanone
daughter never
waspractically reared." ofinscriptions
A study atDelphimadeit
600families.
toreconstruct
possible onlysixhadraised
Ofthese, more thanone
daughter(Lindsay1968).

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232 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

I willpursue
thesubject
offemale
infanticideatlength
ina subsequent
study
ofChristianfertility.
Fornow,consider
a letter,
written
byoneHilarion
tohis
pregnant wifeAlis,whichhasbeenreported bymany authorsbecause
ofthe
quiteextraordinarycontrast
betweenhisdeepconcern forhiswifeandhis
hoped-forson,andhisutter
callousness
towardsa possible
daughter.
Know thatI amstillinAlexandria.Anddonotworryifthey
allcomebackandI remain in
Alexandria. I askandbegyoutotakegoodcareofourbabyson,andassoonas I receive
payment I shallsendituptoyou.Ifyouaredelivered
ofa child[before
I comehomel,
ifitis
a boykeepit,ifa girldiscard
it.Youhavesent
meword,"Don'tforget
me."HowcanI forget
you.I begyounottoworry (inLewis 1985:54).

Thisletter datesfromtheyear1 B.C.E.,butthesepatterns persisted among

pagansfarintotheChristian era.Giventhese practices,
eveninchildhood, be-
foretheonsetofthehighfemale mortalityassociatedwithfertility
inpre-mod-
erntimes,females weresubstantially
outnumbered among pagans intheGreco-
Roman world. Moreover,itwasn'tjustthehighmortality from childbirth that
continuedtoincrease thesexratiosamong adults.AsI shalldocument atlength
elsewhere(Stark1996)abortion wasa major causeofdeathofwomen inthis
era.Thatis,abortion waswidely practicedandthemethods werebarbaric and
deadly.
However, thingsweredifferent
among Christiansastheirdistinctive
subcul-
turebegan toemerge. Thereislittleharddataonthesexcomposition ofChrisS
tiancommunities. InhisEpistle
totheRomans Paulsentpersonal greetingsto15
women and18 men.If,as seemslikely, therewereproportionately moremen
thanwomen among thoseChristians ofsufficientprominencetomerit Paul's
special
attention,thenthecongregation inRomemust alreadyhavebeenpre-
dominately female.A secondbasisforinference isan inventoryofproperty re-
moved from a Christian
house-church intheNorth Africantown ofCirtaduring
a persecutionin303.Among theclothes theChristianshadcollected fordistri-
butiontotheneedy were16men's tunicsand82women's tunics as wellas 47
pairsoffemale slippers
(Frend1984;Fox1987).Presumably thispartlyreflects
theratioofmentowomen among thedonors.But,eventhough better statistics
arelacking, thepredominance ofwomen inthemembership ofthechurches
was,asFox( 1987:308) reported,
"recognizedtobesobyChristians andpagans."
Indeed,Harnack (1908:2:73)noted thattheancient sources:
. . . simply
swarmwithtalesofhowwomen ofallranks
were converted
inRomeandinthe
provinces; although
thedetailsofthesestories
areuntrustworthy,
theyexpresscorrectly
enough thegeneral
truththatChristianity
waslaidholdofbywomen inparticular,
andalso
thatthepercentageofChristianwomen,especially
among theupper
classes,
waslarger
than
that ofmen.

Theseconclusions
aboutChristian
sexratios
meritourconfidence
whenwe
examine whysexratiosshould
havebeenso different
amongtheChristians.
First,
byprohibiting
all forms
ofinfanticide
andabortion,
Christians
removed
majorcausesofthegender imbalance
thatexistedamongpagans.Evenso,
changesinmortality
aloneprobablycouldnothaveresulted
inChristian
women

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 RECONSTRUCTINGTHE RISEOF CHRISTIANITY:THE ROLEOF WOMEN 233
comingtooutnumber Christian
men.However,
there
wasa second
factor
influ-
encingChristiansexratios:
Womenweremorelikelythanmento become
Christians.
This,combinedwiththereduction
infemale
mortality,
wouldhave
caused
a surplus
ofwomen intheChristian
subcultures.
SEXB1ASIN CONVERSION
Inhiswidely-admired monograph ontheearly church, theBritish historian
Henry Chadwick noted that"Christianity seems tohavebeenespecially success-
fulamong women. Itwasoften through thewivesthatitpenetrated theupper
classesofsociety inthefirst instance" (1967:56). PeterBrown (1988:151) noted
that"women wereprominent" amongupper-class Christians andthat"such
women couldinfluence their husbands toprotect thechurch." Marcia, concu-
bineoftheEmperor Commodus, managed toconvince himtofreeCallistus, a
future Pope,from a sentence ofhardlaborinthemines ofSardinia (Brown
1988).Although Marciafailed tosecure theconversion ofCommodus, other
upper classwomen oftendidbring husbands andadmirers tofaith.
Itwillbehelpful heretodistinguish between primaryandsecondary conver-
sions.Inprimary corlversion,theconvert takes anactiveroleinhisorherown
conversion, becoming a committed adherent basedonpositive evaluations of
theparticular faith, albeitthatattachments tomembers playa major roleinthe
formation ofa positive evaluation. Secontry conversion is more passive andin-
volves somewhat reluctant acceptance ofa faithonthebasisofattachments toa
primary convert. Forexample, afterperson A converted toa newfaith, thatper-
son'sspouse agreed to"goalong" withthechoice, butwasnoteager to dosoand
very likely would nothavedonesootherwise. Thelatter isa secondary convert.
In theexample offered byChadwick, upper classwiveswereprimary converts
andsomeoftheirhusbands (oftengrudgingly) becamesecondary converts.
Indeed, it frequently occurred thatwhenthemaster ofa large household became
a Christian, all members ofthehousehold, includingtheservants andslaves,
wereexpected todosotoo.Keepinmind thatonceimmersed intheChristian
subculture, evenquitereluctant secondary converts canbecome ardent partici-
pants.
Theancient sources andmodern historiansagreethatprimary conversion to
Christianity wasfarmoreprevalent among females thanamong males.More-
over,thisappears tobetypical ofnewreligious movements inrecent times. By
examining manuscript census returns forthelatter halfofthenineteenth cen-
tury,Bainbridge ( 1982)found thatapproximately two-thirds oftheShakers were
female. Dataonreligious movements included inthe1926census ofreligious
bodies showthat75percent ofChristian Scientistswerewomen, as weremore
than60 percent ofTheosophists, Swedenborgians, andSpiritualists (Stark and
Bainbridge 1985).Thesameistrueoftheimmense waveofProtestant conver-
sionstaking placeinLatinAmerica. Infact, DavidMartin ( 1990)suggests thata
substantial proportion ofmaleProtestants inLatinAmerica aresecondary con-
verts.
Thisisnotanappropriate placetO speculate onthereasons whywomen in
many differenttimes andplacesseemtobefarmore responsive toreligion.Our

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234 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

interestsaresufficiently
servedbyexplring theimpact o fdifferential
conversion
ratesonthesexratios oftheChristian subculturesintheGreco-Roman world.
Givenseveral reasonable assumptions,simple arithmetic sufficestoassessthe
magnitude ofthechanges differential
conversionratescouldhaveproduce.
Let'sbegin witha Christianpopulation thatisequally maleandfemale a
sexratio of100.Letusassume a growth ratefrom conversiort
ak)neof30percent
perdecade. Thatis,forthemoment wewillignore anynatural increaseandas-
sumethatbirths equaldeaths.Letusalsosuppose thatthesexratioamong con-
verts istwowomen forevery man.As noted above, thisisentirely inlinewith
recent experience.Giventhesereasonable assumptions wecaneasily calculate
thatitwilltakeonly50years forthisChristianpopulation tobe62percent fe-
male.Or ifweassume a growth rateof40 percent perdecade,theChristian
population willbe64percent female in50years.
Ifweweretofactor inreasonableassumptions aboutnatural increaseanddif-
ferential mortality
wewould decrease thissexratiotosomeextent. Butevenso,
theChristian subcultures wouldhavehada substantial surplusofwomen ina
world accustomed toa vastsurplusofmen.Later I shallconsiderhowa surplus of
women shouldhaveresulted insubstantialsecondaryconversions viamarriages
tO pagans. ButfornowI wishtofocus onthesimple conclusion thatthere are
abundant reasonsto-acceptthatChristian women enjoyed a favorablesexratio
andtoshowhowthatresulted inChristian women enjoying superiorstatusin
comparison with theirpagancounterparts.
SEX RATIOS AND THE STATUS OF WOMEN
Oneofthemore significantandoriginal contributionstosocialthought in
recent
years is theGuttentag andSecord(1983)theory linkingcross-cultural
variations
inthestatus ofwomen tocross-culturalvariationsinsexratios.
The
theory
involves a remarkably subtlelinking ofdyadicandsocialstructural
power
anddependency. Forpurposes ofthisessayitissufficient merely tonotethat
GuttentagandSecordconclude thattotheextent malesoutnuraber femaless
women willbe enclosed in repressivesexrolesas mentreatthemas "scarce
goods."
Conversely, totheextent thatfemales outnumber males, theGuttentag
andSecordtheory predicts thatwomen willenjoyrelativelygreater
power and
freedom.
Asthey applied theirtheory tovarious societies
indifferenteras,Guttentag
andSecordnoted thatitilluminated themarked differencesintherelative
status
andpower ofAthenian andSpartan women. Thatis,within theclassical
world,
thestatus
ofwomen varied substantiallyinresponsetovariationsinsexratios.
InAthens, women wereinrelatively shortsupplyduetofemale infanticide,
practiced
byall classes, andfrom additional deathscausedbyabortion. The
status
ofAthenian women wasvery low.Girlsreceived littleornoeducation.
Typically,
Athenian females weremarried atpuberty andoften before.
Under
Athenianlawa women wasclassified asa child,
regardlessofage,andtherefore
wasthelegalproperty ofsomemanatallstages inherlife.Malescoulddivorce
bysimplyordering a wife outofthehousehold. Moreover, ifa women were se-
ducedorraped, herhusband waslegally compelled todivorce her.Ifa women

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 RECONSTRUCTINGTHE RISEOF CHRISTIANITY:THE ROLEOF WOMEN 235

wanted a divorce shehadtohaveherfather orsomeother manbring hercase

before
a judge. Finally,Athenian women couldownproperty, butcontrol ofthe
propertyalways wasvested inthemaletowhom she"belonged" (Guttentag and
Secord1983;Finley 1982;Promeroy 1975 ).
Spartans alsopracticedinfanticide,butwithout gender bias onlyhealthy,
well-formed babieswereallowed to live.Sincemalesaremoresubject tobirth
defects
andaremore apttobesickly infants,
theresultwasa slight excess offeS
malesfrom infancy, a trendthatacceleratedwithagebecause ofmalemortality
frommilitary lifeandwarfare. Keepinmind thatmortality ratesinmilitary en-
campments farsurpassed civilianratesuntilwellintothetwentieth century. At
age7 all Spartan boyslefthomeformilitary boardingschools andallwerere-
quiredtoserve inthearmy untilage30when they passed intotheactive reserve
where theyremained untilage60. A subjugated peasantry known as helots
suppliedallofthemalesinthedomestic laborforce.Although mencouldmarry
atage20,they couldnotlivewiththeir wives untiltheylefttheactive army at
age30.
Spartan women enjoyed status
andpower unknown intherestoftheclassi-
calworld. Theynotonlycontrolled their ownproperty, they controlled thatof
theirmalerelatives whentheywereawaywiththearmy. It isestimated that
women werethesoleowners ofa least40 percent ofall landandproperty in
Sparta(Pomeroy 1975).Thelawsconcerning divorcewerethesameformen
andwomen. Women receivedas mucheducation as menandSpartan women
received a substantial amount ofphysical education andgymnastic training.
Spartan women seldom marriedbefore age20and,unlike Athenian sisters
who
woreheavy, concealing gowns andseldom wereseenbymalesoutside their
household, Spartan women woreshort dressesandwentwhere theypleased
(Guttentag andSecord 1983;Finley 1982;Pomeroy 1975).
RELATIVESTATUSOF CHRlSTIANWOMEN
IfGuttentag andSecord's
theory
iscorrect,
thenwewouldhavetopredict
thatthestatus ofChristianwomenintheGreco-Roman worldwouldmore
closely
approximate thatofSpartan
women thanthatofwomen inAthens.
Although I beganwiththeassertion
thatChristian
women didindeedenjoy
considerably
greater
statusandpowerthandidpaganwomen, thisneedstobe
demonstratedatgreater
length.
Thediscussion
willfocus
ontwo primary
aspects
offemalestatus:
within
thefamily
andwithinthereligious
community.
Wives,
Widows,
a7ldBrides

First
ofall,a major
aspectoftheimproved status
ofwomen intheChristian
subculture
isthatChristians
didnotcondone femaleinfanticide.
Granted
that
thiswastheresultoftheprohibition
ofall infanticide.
But,themorefavorable
Christian
viewofwomen alsoisdemonstrated intheircondemnation
ofdivorce,
incest,
maritalinfidelity,
andpolygamy. As Fox(1987:354)putit,"fidelity,
withoutdivorce,wasexpected ofeveryChristian." Moreover,although
rules
prohibiting
divorceandremarriage
evolved slowly,theearliest
churchcouncils

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236 OFRELIGION
SOCIOLOGY

ruled that"twice-married Christians" couldnotholdchurch office(Fox1987).

Likepagans, earlyChristians prized female chastity, butunlike pagans theyre-
jectedthedoublestandard whichgavepaganmenso muchsexuallicense
(Sandison 1967).Christian menwereurged to remain virginsuntilmarriage
(Fox1987)andextra-marital sexwascondemned asadultery. Chadwick (1967:
59)noted thatChristianity"regarded unchastity ina husband asnolessserious a
breach ofloyaltyandtrust thanunfaithfulness ina wife." Eventhegreat Greek
physician Galenwasprompted to remark on Christian "restraintincohabita-
tion"(inBenkol986:142).
Should theybewidowed, Christian women alsoenjoyed verysubstantial ad-
vantages. Paganwidows facedgreat socialpressure toremarry. Augustus even
hadwidows finediftheyfailedto remarry within twoyears(Fox1987).Of
course, whena paganwidow didremarry shelostallofherinheritance, itbe-
coming thepropertyofhernewhusband. Incontrast, among Christians, widow-
hoodwashighly respected andremarriage was,ifanything, mildlydiscouraged.
Thus,notonlywerewell-to-do Christian widows enabled to keeptheirhus-
band's estate,thechurch stoodready tosustain poorwidows, thusallowing them
a choiceasto whether or not to remarry. Eusebius (1965:282) provides a letter
from Cornelius,Bishop ofRome, written in251toBishop FabiusofAntioch, in
which hereported that"more thanfifteen hundred widows anddistressed per-
sons"wereinthecareofthelocalcongregation, which mayhaveincluded about
30,000 members atthis time.
In allthesewaystheChristian woman enjoyed fargreater maritalsecurity
andequality thandidherpaganneighbor. Butthere was another major marital
aspecttothebenefits women gained from beingChristians. They were married
olderageandhadmorechoiceaboutwhomtheymarried.
at a substantially
Since,as weshallsee,paganwomen frequently wereforced intopre-pubertal,
consummated marriages, thiswasnosmall matter.
Ina now-classicarticle,thehistorical demographer KeithHopkins (1965a)
surveyed a centuryofresearch ontheage of marriage of Roman women girls
actually,most ofthem. Theevidence isboth literaryand quantitative.In addi-
tiontothestandard classicalhistories, theliterary evidence consists ofwritings
bylawyers andphysicians. Thequantitative data are based on inscriptions,most
ofthem from
funerary, which theageat marriage can be calculated(cf.Harkness
1896).
Astothehistories, silence offersstrong testimony thatRoman girlsmarried
young, veryoftenbefore puberty. It ispossible tocalculate thatmany famous
Romanwomen married ata tender age:OctaviaandAgrippina married at 11
and12,Quintilian's wife borehima sonwhenshewas13,Tacitus weda girlof
13,andso on. Butin reviewing thewriting aboutall ofthesearistocratic
Romans, Hopkins (1965)found onlyonecasewhere theancient writer men-
tionedtheageofthebride andthisbiographer washimself a Christian
ascetic! having
Clearly, beena childbride wasnotthought worth mentioning by
ancient biographers.Beyond silence, however, theGreekhistorian Plutarch
reported thatRomans "gavetheir girls inmarriage whenthey weretwelve years
old,orevenyounger" (inHopkins 1965a).CassiusDio,alsoa Greekwriting

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 RECONSTRUCTINGTHERISEOF CHRISTIANITY:THE ROLEOF WOMEN 237

Rotnan history,
agreed:
"girls
areconsidered . . . tohavereached marriageable
ageoncompletionoftheir
twelfth
year"(Dio 1987:170).
Romanlawset12as theminimum ageatwhich girts
couldmarry.Butthe
lawcarriednopenalties
andlegalcommentaries fromthetimeincludesuchad-
viceas:"Agirlwhohasmarriedbefore
12willbea legitimate wife,
when shebe-
comes12."Anotherheldthatwhen girls
under age12married, forlegalpurposes
theyshouldbeconsidered
engageduntiltheyreached 12.Hopkins(1965a:314)
concluded:
. . . wehaveno meansofknowingwhetherlawyers
represented
advanced,typical,
orconser
vativeopinions inthesematters.
Whatwedo knowisthatinthefragments
oftheiropinions
thatsurvive thereisnosneer
orcensure
against
marriages
before
12,andtherearenoteethin
thelaws[against itl.

Thequantitative dataarebasedonseveral studiesofRomaninscriptions,

combined byHopkins (1965a),frotn which ageatmarriage couldbecalculated.
Hopkins alsowasabletoseparate theseRoman women onthebasisofreligion.
He found thatpagans werethree times as likely as Christianstohavemarried
beforeage13(10percent werewedbyage11).Nearly half(44percent) ofpa-
ganshadmarried byage14,compared with20percent ofChristians. Incontrast,
nearlyhalf(48 percent) ofChristian females hadnotwedbefore age18,com-
paredwitha third (37percent) ofpagans.
Thosedifferences arehighly significantstatistically.
But,they seemofeven
greatersocialsignificance
whenwediscover thata substantialproportion ofpa-
ganRoman girlsnotonlyweremarried before theonsetofpuberty, tomenfar
olderthanthemselves, butthatthesemarriages typicallywereconsummated at
once.
WhentheFrench historian Durry (1955)first reported hisfindings that
Roman marriagesinvolving childbrides normally were consummated evenifthe
bridehadnotyetachieved puberty,heacknowledged thatthisrancounter to
deeplyheldideasabouttheclassical world. Butthere isampleliterary evidence
thatconsummation ofthesemarriages wastakenforgranted. Hopkins (1965)
notedthatoneRomanlawdiddealwiththemarriage ofgirlsunder age12and
intercourse,
butwasconcerned onlywiththequestion ofheradultery. Several
Romanphysicians suggested thatit might be wisetodefer intercourse until
menarche, butdidnotstress thematter (Hopkins 1965a).
Unfortunately, theliterarysourcesoffer littleinformationabouthowpre-puS
bertal
girlsfeltaboutthese practices,
although Plutarch regarded itasa cruelcus-
tomandreported "thehatred andfearofgirls forced contrarytonature." I sug
gestthat,evenintheabsence ofbetter evidence andevenallowing forsubstan-
tialculturaldifferences,itseemslikely thatmany Romangirlsresponded as
Plutarchclaimed.Thus,heretooChristian girls enjoyed a substantialadvantage.
Gender
andReligious
Roles

It iswell-knownthattheearly
churchattracted
anunusual numberofhigh
status
women (Fox 1987; Grant
1970,1977; Harnack
1908). Butthematter
of

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238 SO(SIOLOGYOF RELIGION

interestherehastoelowiththerolesoccupied bywomen withinearlyChristian

congregations. Letmeemphasize thatbyearly Christianity I meantheperiod
covering approximately thefirst fivecenturies.After that,as Christianity be-
camethedominant faithoftheempire andassexratios responded tothedecline
inthedifferential conversion ofwomen, therolesopentowomen became far
more limited.
Astothestatus ofwomen intheearly church, there hasbeenfartoomuch
relianceonI Corinthians 14:34-36 where Paulappears toprohibit women even
from speaking inchurch. Laurence lannaccone (1982)hasmadea compelling
casethatthese verses weretheopposite ofPaul'sposition andwereinfacta quo-
tationofclaimsbeingmadeat Corinth thatPaulthenrefuted. Certainly the
statement isatvariance with everything elsePaulwrote about theproper rolefor
women inthechurch. Moreover, Paulseveral times acknowledged women in
leadershippositions invarious congregations.
InI Romans 16:1-2Paulintroduces andcommends totheRoman congrega-
tion"oursister Phoebe" whoisa "deaconess ofthechurch atCenchrea," and
whohadbeenofgreat helptohim.Deacons wereofconsiderable importance in
theearlychurch. Theyassisted at liturgicalfunctions andadministered the
benevolent andcharitable activities
ofthechurch. Clearly,Paulregarded itas
entirelyproper fora woman toholdthatposition. Norwasthisan isolated case.
Clement ofAlexandria wrote of"women deacons" andin451theCouncilof
Chalcedon specified thathenceforth a deaconess must beatleast40andunmar-
ried(Ferguson 1990).From thepaganside,inhisfamous letter
totheEmperor
Trajan,PlinytheYounger (1943)reported thathe hadtortured twoyoung
Christian women "whowere calleddeaconesses."
NotonlydidPaulcommend Phoebethedeaconess totheRomans, healso
senthisgreetings toprominent woman intheRoman congregation: toPricilla,
whomhe acknowledges forhaving "risked herneck"on hisbehalf, to Mary,
"whohasworked sohardamong you,"andtoseveral other women (I Romarls
16:1-15). Moreover, inI Timothy 3:11Paulagainmentions women intheroleof
deacons, noting thattoqualify forsuchanappointment women must be"serious,
noslanderers, buttemperate andfaithful inallthings."
Thatwomen often served asdeacons intheearly church waslongobscured
becausethetranslators oftheKingJames version chosetorefer to Pheobeas
merely a "servant" ofthechurch, notasa deacon, andtotransform Paul'swords
inI Timothy intoa comment directedtowards thewiqJes ofdeacons.l ButthisreS
flectsthesexistnorms oftheseventeenth century, nottherealities ofearly
Christian communities. Indeed, earlyinthethird century thegreat Christian in-
tellectualOrigen wrote thefollowing comment onPaul'sletter totheRomans:
Thistextteaches
with
theauthority
oftheApostlethat. . . there
are,aswehavealready
said,
women deaconsintheChurch,
andthatthewomen,whohavegiven assistance
tosomany
peopleandwhobytheir goodworksdeserve
tobe praised bytheApostle, oughtto be
accepted
inthediaconate
(inGyrson1976:134).

1I amindebted
toLaurence
R.Iannaccone
for
pointing
outthis
feature
oftheKing
James
Version.

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 RECONSTRUCTINGTHE RISEOF CHRISTIANITY:THE ROLEOF WOMEN 239
Allitnportant
moderntranslations
oftheBiblenowrestore theoriginallanS
guageusedbyPaulinthesetwoletters,
butsomehow theillusionsfostered
bythe
KingJamesfalsifications
remainthecommon wisdom. Nevertheless,thereisvirS
tualconsensus
among historians
oftheearly
church as wellas biblical
scholars
thatwomen heldpositions
ofhonorandauthority within earlyChristianity
(Frend1984;Gryson 1976;Cadoux1925).PeterBrown (1988:144-45)noted
thatnotonlydidChristians
differ
frompagansinthisrespect,
butfrom Jews:
TheChristian
clergy
. . . tooka stepthatseparated
themfromtherabbis
ofPalestine.
. . they
welcomed
women aspatrons andevenoffered women roles
inwhich
theycouldactascollabS
orators.

Andnoneofhiscolleagues
wouldhaveregarded
thefollowing
claimbythedis-
tinguishedWayneMeeks(
1983:71)ascontroversial:
Women . . . arePaul'sfellow
workers
asevangelists
andteachers.
Bothintermsoftheir
posi-
tloninthelarger societyandintermsoftheir
participation
intheChristian
communities,
then,a number ofwomen brokethrough
thenormal
expectations
offemaleroles.

Closeexamination ofRoman persecutions

alsosuggestthatwomen heldpo-
sitionsofpower andstatus within theChristianchurches.Theactualnumber of
Christiansmartyred bytheRomans wasquitesmall(MacMullen 1984;Grant
1977)andthemajority ofthose executedwereofficials,
including bishops.That
a verysignificantproportion ofmartyrswere women ledBonnie Bowman ThursS
ton(1989)tosuggest thatthey alsomusthavebeenregarded bytheRomans as
holding somesort ofofficial
standing.Thisisconsistent
with thefactthewomen
torturedandthenprobably executed byPliny were deaconesses.
Thus,justas theGuttentag andSecordtheory predicts,thevery favorable
sexratioenjoyed byChristian women soonwastranslated intosubstantially
more status andpower, bothwithin thefamily andwithin thereligious subcul-
ture,thanwasenjoyed bypagan women. Letmenotethatwomen inRomeand
inRoman cities,incontrast withwomen intheGreek cities oftheempire, en-
joyedgreater freedom andpower (MacMullen 1984).However, itwasinthe
Greek citiesofAsiaMinor andNorth AfricathatChristianity madeitsgreatest,
earlyheadway andit is thesecommunities thatarethefocus ofthisanalysis.
Granted thateveninthispartoftheempire, paganwomen sometimes heldim-
portant positions withinvarious mysterycultsandshrines. However, thesereli-
giousgroups andcenters werethemselves relatively
peripheral topower within
pagansociety, forauthoritywasvested primarilyinsecularroles. Incontrast,the
church wastheprimary socialstructure
oftheChristian sub-culture. Dailylife
revolved around thechurch, andpower residedinchurch offices. To theextent
thatwomen heldsignificantroles within
thechurch, theyenjoyed greater
power
andstatus thandidpaganwomen. Consider thatparticipation inMirthraism,
which often hasbeenregarded asearlyChristianity's
majorcompetitor, waslim-
itedto males(Ferguson 1990).
Before I conclude thislecture I wouldliketo pursue an additional and
equallyremarkable consequence ofthevery different
sexratios prevailing
among
pagans andChristians. Inthepaganworld thatsurrounded theearly Christians,

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240 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

Butwithin
supFuly.
ofmencausedwivesto be inshort
an excessnumber the
subculture
Christian whowereinshort
itwashusbands layanex-
Herein
supply
forgaining
opportunity
cellent converts.
secondary
EXO&ENOUS MARRIAGEAND SECONDARY CONVERSION

BothPeterandPaulsanctioned marriage between andpagans.

Christians
Peteradvised women, whose husbands didnotbelieve,tobe submissivesothat
thehusbands might bewontofaith "when theyseeyour andchaste
reverent be-
havior" (I Peter3:1-2).Paulgivessimilar that"anunbelieving
advice,noting
husband isconsecratedthrough hiswife" 7:13-14).
(I Corirlthians Bothpassages
commonly areinterpretedas directedtowardspersonswhoseconversion post-
datedtheirmarriage. In suchcircumstances,as WayneMeeks(1983:101)ex-
plained, theChristian "divorceruletakesprecedence overthepreference for
group endogamy." But,I suggestthesepassagesmayhavereflecteda fargreater
tolerance forexogenous marriagethanhasbeenrecognized. Myreasons aresev-
eral.
Weknow therewasa very substantial Christian
ofmarriageable
over-supply
women andthatthiswasacknowledged tobe a problem. Fox(1987:309)re-
ported theconcern amongchurch leaders"tomatchan excessofChristian
women to a deficiency ofChristian men."Indeed,in abouttheyear200,
Callistus,Bishop ofRome,upset many ofhisfellow whenhe ruled
clerics that
Christian women couldlivein"justconcubinage" entering
without intomar-
(Brown
riage 1988;Fox1987;Latourette 1937).Although andother
Hippolytus
contemporaries denounced thePope'sactionas giving licenseto adultery,
Harnack defended onthebasisofthecircumstances
Callistus hefaced.
Thesecircumstancesarosefrom girlstnthechurch
thefactofChristian youths;
outnumbertng
theindulgenceofCallistusitself thefemale
unmistakably
proving element so
inthechurch,
classeswereconcemed,
faras thebetter wasinthemajority (1908:2:83-84).

Callistus
Inparticular, todealwiththeproblem
wastrying facing upper class
women whose only within
options
marital the community
Christian were tomen
offarinferiorrank.Shouldtheyhaveentered intolegalmarriages with such
men,high-born women wouldhavelostmanylegalprivilegesandcontrol of
theirwealth.Ifhigh-born women
Christian found to
itsodifficult find grooms
thattheBishop ofRomepermitted howwashetocondemn
"justconcubinage,"
middle-andlower-class women
Christian whowedpagans, especiallyiftheydid
thechurch
so within concerning
guidelines training
thereligious ofthechil-
dren?ThecaseofPomponia Graecina, anda very
anaristocrat early convert,is
whether
It is uncertain
instructive. herhusbandPlautius everbecamea
although
Christian, shielded
hecarefully herfrom butthere
gossip, seems to be
no doubtherchildren According
wereraisedas Christians. to Marta Sordi
(1986:27)"inthesecondcentury [herfamily]werepracticingChristians (a
member ofthefamily inthecatacomb
isburied I shalldemon-
ofSt.Callistus)."
insubsequent
strate workthatsuperior played
fertility roleintherise
a decisive
Buthadtheoversupply
ofChristianity. women
ofChristian resultedinanover-

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 RECONSTRUCTINGTHE RISEOF CHRISTIANITY:THE ROLEOF WOMEN 241

supply ofunwed, women,

childless potential
their would
fertility havebeende-
niedtoChristian growth.Summing uphislongstudy ofthesources, Harnack
(1908:2:79) notedthatmany mixed marriageswere reportedandthat invirtu-
allyallcases"thehusband wasa pagan,whilethewife wasa Christian."
Finally,thefrequency withwhich church
early fatherscondemned marriage
topagans could demonstrate "refused
thatChristians theirsonsanddaughters in
marriage tononmembers" (MacMullen 1984:103). Butitcouldalsoreflect the
reverse,sincepeopletendnottokeepharping onmatters thataren'tsignificant.
Tertullian offers example.
an interesting Writing inabouttheyear200hevio-
lentlycondemned Christianwomen whomarried pagans, thelatter
describing as
"slavesoftheDevil"(inFox19878:308). He alsowrote twoangry conS
treatises
demning theuseofmake-up, hairdye,fancy clothes,andjewelry byChristian
women(1959). I certainly wouldnotconcludefrom thelatterthatmost
Christian womeninTertullian's timedressed andrejected
plainly cosmetics.
Werethatthecase,Tertullian wouldhavebeenan irrelevant fool-whichhe
so obviously wasnot.I inclineto a similar interpretationofhisattackon
Christian women formarrying pagans Tertullian's angerreflects thatsuch
marriages werefrequent. Infact, feltitnecessary
Tertullian toacknowledge that
oneofhiscolleagues claimed that"whilemarriage toa paganwascertainly an
offence, itwasan extremely offence"
trivial (inHarnack 1908:2:82).Michael
Walsh(1986)seemstoagreethatintermarriage wascommon. Commenting
upona proposal byIgnatiusofAntioch thatChristians should marry onlywith
thepermission oftheirlocalbishop,Walshwrote:
proposal
Ignatius' mayhavebeenan attempt toencourage between
marriage Christians,for
marriages
inevitably between andpaganswerecommon,
Christians in theearly
especially
yearsTheChurchdidnotatfirst whichhaditsadvantages:
thispractice,
discourage Itmight
bring
othersintothefold(p. 216).

Thisisfurtherencouragedbythelackofconcern inearly
Christian sources
aboutlosingmembers via marriage to pagans.Peterand Paulhopedthat
would
Christians bringtheirspousesintothechurch,butneitherseemed tohave
worry
theslightest thatChristianswouldrevert to,orconvert to,paganism.
Moreover,pagansources Thecomposure
agree. oftheChristianmartyrs amazed
andunsettledmany pagans.Pliny(1943)notedthe"stubbornness andunbend-
ingobstinacy"oftheChristiansbrought beforehim under threat ofdeath
theywould TheEmperor
notrecant. MarcusAurelius alsoremarked
(1916:295)
ontheobstinacyofChristian AndGalenwrote
martyrs. that"their
ofChristians
contempt ofdeath(andofitssequel)is patentto us every day"(in Benko
1984:141). wastothewillingness
Galen'sreference tonurse
ofChristians the
sickduringthegreat thatstruck
plague theempire atthistime,
killing millions,
includingMarcusAurelius(Stark1992).Thehighlevelsofcommitment that
theearlychurch among
generated itsmembers shouldhavemadeit safeforthem
toenterexogenousmarriages.
ThatChristiansseldom lostoutviaexogenous alsois inkeeping
marriages
with modern observationsof high tension religious movements. Female
marryoutside
frequently
Jehovah'sWitnesses thegroup (Heaton1990). Seldom

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242 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

doesthisresult intheir defection anditoften resultsintheconversion ofthe

spouse. Indeed, thisphenomenon issogeneralthatAndrew Greeley( 1970)has
proposed therulethatwhenever a mixed marriageoccurs,thelessreligiousper-
sonusually willjointhereligion ofthemore member.
religious
Buthowmuchintermarriage wasthere andhowmuch diditmatter interms
ofproducing secondary converts?Whatwedoknow isthatsecondaryconversion
wasquitefrequent among theRoman upper (Fox1987;Chadwick
classes 1967).
Thiswaspartly because many marriedupper-classwomen became Christiansand
thenmanaged toconvert spouses-thiswasespecially
their common bythe
fourth century. Butit alsooccurred becausemany upper-classChristianwomen
did marry pagans,someofwhomtheysubsequently wereableto convert
(Harnack 1908).Indeed, PeterBrown (1988:154)wrote women
ofChristian asa
"gateway" into pagan familieswhere "theywere the wives, and
servants, nurses
ofunbelievers."
In truth, thereisnoabundance ofdirectevidence thatintermarriagesbe-
tween Christian women andpaganmenwere widespread. Butinmyjudgment, a
compelling casecanbemadebyresort toreason.Itisreasonabletoassume that:
1.Giventhegreat surplusofmarriageableChristian women, existinginthe
midst ofa world inwhich women were inshortsupply;
2. GiventhatChristians seemnottohavefeared thatintermarriagewould
resultintheir daughters abandoning theirfaith;
3.Suchmarriages ought tohavebeencommon.
4. From whatweknowaboutconversion mechanisms, theseintermarriages
ought tohaveresulted ina lotofsecondary conversions.
Asdiscussed conversion
earlier, isa network phenomenon basedon inter-
personal attachments. Peoplejoinmovements toaligntheir status
religious with
thatoftheir friends andrelatives whoalready belong. Hence,inorder tooffer
plausible accounts oftheriseofChristianity,weneedtodiscover mechanisms by
which Christians formed attachments withpagans. Putanother way,weneedto
discover howChristians managed toremain anopen network,abletokeepbuild-
ingbonds withoutsiders, ratherthantohavebecome a closedcommunity ofbe-
lievers.A highrateofexogenous marriageisonesuchmechanism. AndI think
itwascrucial to therise ofChristianity.
CONCLUSION
HereI haveattempted three
toestablish things. subcul-
thatChristian
First,
tures world
intheancient developed
rapidly a verysubstantial offemales,
surplus
whileinthepaganworld aroundthetnmales outnumbered
greatly This
females.
wastheresult
shift ofChristian prohibitions andabortion
infanticide
against
Second,
sexbiasinconversion.
andofsubstantial inaccord
fully withGuttentag
andSecord'stheorylinking ofwomen
thestatus tosexratios, women
Christian
enjoyed higher
substantially within
status theChristian thanpagan
subcultures
women didintheworld Thiswasespecially
atlarge. markedvis-a-vis re-
gender
lations thefamily,
within butwomen alsofilled within
positions
leadership the
church. given
Third, women
ofChristian
a surplus ofpaganmen,
anda surplus a

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 RECONSTRUCTINGTHE RISEOF CHRISTIANITY:THE ROLEOF WOMEN 243
substantial
amrunt ofexzgent
usmarriage
tozzk
place,thusproviding
theearly
church
witha steady
flow
(rf
secondary
converts.

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andRow.

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