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About 2 John 1-13 - The Chosen Lady

It is perfectly reasonable to think that the Chosen Lady was chosen.

It is perfectly reasonable to think that the Chosen Lady was a lady.

It is perfectly reasonable to think that the Chosen Lady had a church in her house.

Biblical Text

2 John:
1 - The elder (presbuteros) to the chosen (eklektneh) lady (kuría) and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth,
2 - for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever.
3 - Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 - I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father.
5 - And now I ask you, lady (kuria), not as writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
6 - And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
7 - For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
8 - Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
9 - Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
10 - If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;
11 - for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
12 - Having many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that your joy may be made full.
13 - The children of your chosen (kuria) sister greet you.

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About 2 John 1-13 - The Chosen Lady

The elder John identifies himself as the writer of this letter.

The letter is addressed: To the chosen lady and her children.

2 John is written to the leader and to the members of the church. It is not logical to address a letter: To the church and to the members of the church. The church is its members. But this is what the theologians taught in order to not admit that this was a woman in charge of a church. But it is logical to address a letter: To Pastor Jane Doe and to the members of the church.

The Apostle John's second letter, one of the two that refer to him as an elder, is addressed to a "chosen lady and her children" (v.1). The Greek word behind the English word "lady" is kuria, the female version of the word kurios which means "master" or "lord." Though kuria is not found elsewhere in the New Testament, its connotation in first-century Greek was definitely that of power and authority, as in a person of position.
[Judy L. Brown. Women Ministers According to Scripture. Distributed by Judy L. Brown, 3000 North Grant, Springfield, MO 65803. Printed by Morris Publishing, 32312 E. Hwy 30, Kearney, NE 68847, 1-800-650-7888, 173.]

The replacement explanation that is most frequently proposed is that "children" and "lady" both refer to the same body of believers. This is extremely unlikely because the two expressions have opposite connotations, "lady" connoting a position of authority (kuria being the female form of kurios meaning "master, lord") and "children" connoting a position of dependency and subordination. If a masterful writer such as John had used redundancy at all (v. 1), he would not have done so in such a confusing manner. Also, "children" is used throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament as a metaphor for God's people, but "lady" is never used in this way.
[Judy L. Brown. Women Ministers According to Scripture. Distributed by Judy L. Brown, 3000 North Grant, Springfield, MO 65803. Printed by Morris Publishing, 32312 E. Hwy 30, Kearney, NE 68847, 1-800-650-7888, 174.]

The children of the Chosen Lady are the members of the church.

These children to whom John wrote were members of a house church (v. 10). It follows that the children sending greetings (v. 13) were members of a second house church. This aligns well with John's repeated references in his first letter to his own children, clearly indicating the believers who were under his care (1 John 2:1,18,28; 3:7,18; 4:4; 5:21). ... Understanding "children" as referring to a congregation and "chosen lady" as referring to their pastor is the most natural, straightforward reading of the text. The children were hers in the same way that the children addressed in 1 John were his, like sheep entrusted to the care of a shepherd.
[(Judy L. Brown. Women Ministers According to Scripture. Distributed by Judy L. Brown, 3000 North Grant, Springfield, MO 65803. Printed by Morris Publishing, 32312 E. Hwy 30, Kearney, NE 68847, 1-800-650-7888, 173-174.]

Vs. 6-12 - The elder John changes to the plural to include the chosen lady and her children. In this he gives them a great deal of theological teaching in a short letter:

• he emphasizes that love is to walk according to the commandments of God,
  
• he alerts against the many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh,
  
• he warns them to not lose their reward,
  
• he tells them to abide in the teachings of Christ,
  
• he says that if anyone comes and does not bring this teaching they are not to receive him in their house nor even to give him a greeting for this would be participating in his evil deeds.
  
• he says he has much to write, but would rather como to see them face to face.

Vs. 13 - The elder John returns to the singular and we encounter the words that made the interpreters suspicious of one of their ideas that the addressed was not chosen but had the name Chosen, because it happens that she has a "chosen sister" and it is not probable that two sisters would have the same name. However, Judy L. Brown says clearly:

The letter closes with the children of a second woman sending their greetings, this second woman being the sister of the chosen lady (v. 13).
[Judy L. Brown. Women Ministers According to Scripture. Distributed by Judy L. Brown, 3000 North Grant, Springfield, MO 65803. Printed by Morris Publishing, 32312 E. Hwy 30, Kearney, NE 68847, 1-800-650-7888, 173.]

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It is perfectly reasonable to think that the Chosen Lady was chosen.

The word translated "chosen" is a common New Testament word -- our English word "elect" comes from it. Paul used the same word in Romans 16 to describe Rufus as a "choice man in the Lord." Jesus used this word when he said, "Many are called but few are chosen." [Note CGP: Matthew 22:14] In Colossians 3:12, this word is used to describe believers as "those who have been chosen by God." It can be used in the sense of "respected" or "honorable." Here in II John, the word probably should be taken in the sense of "elect" or "chosen." Certainly, she was chosen in the Ephesians 1[:4] sense of being "chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world," but she was also chosen in the sense of having been either appointed by the apostle John or chosen by the church to a place of leadership. Aida Besançon Spencer, in her book Beyond the Curse, cites Clement of Alexandria in the second century AD who clearly used the word to denote persons ordained to places of public ministry.
[Lamar Wadsworth. "Who Was The "Chosen Lady" of II John?," Priscilla Papers, Vol. 10, No. 3, Summer 1996, 1-5.]

Innumerable commands such as these are written in the holy Bible appertaining to chosen persons, some to presbyters, some to bishops, some to deacons, others to widows, of whom we shall have another opportunity of speaking.
[Clement of Alexandria, "The Instructor," The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors. (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1950) Vol. II, Book III, Chap. XII, 294.]

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It is perfectly reasonable to think that the Chosen Lady was a lady.

As far as we can tell, women exercised more leadership on that subcontinent [Note CGP: of Asia Minor] than anywhere else in the early church.
[Dennis Ronald MacDonald. The Legend and the Apostle, The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1983) 37.]

1. The Four Daughters of Philip in Hierapolis

   The four daughters of Philip were in Caesarea on the coast of Palestine, but later were in Hierapolis, Cappadocia (Ásia Menor, modern Turkey) which today is still a beautiful area of mineral baths.

   Acts 21:
   8 - And on the next day we departed and came to Caesarea; and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.
   9 - Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.

   Eusebius is the first church historian whose work has come down to us. He cites the four daughters of Philip as preachers of the New Testament. Five women and four men are cited as authorities on the correct way to preach.

   After stating other matters, he enumerates those who had prophesied under the New Testament. Among these he mentions one Ammias and Quadratus. "But the false prophet," says he "is carried away by a vehement ecstasy, accompanied by want of all shame and fear. Beginning, indeed, with a designed ignorance, and terminating, as beforesaid, in involuntary madness. They will never be able to show that any of the Old or any of the New Testament were thus violently agitated and carried away in spirit. Neither will they be able to boast that Agabus, or Judas, or Silas, or the daughters of Philip, or Ammias in Philadelphia, or Quadratus, or others that do not belong to them, ever acted in this way."
   [Eusebius Pamphilus. The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Cesearea, in Palestine. Christian Frederick Cruse, translator. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981) 199.]

2. Apphia in Colossae

   Philemon:
   vs. 1 - Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,
   vs. 2 - and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.

3. Nympha in Laodicea

   Colossians 4:
   15 - Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house.

4. Jezabel in Thyatira

   Revelation 2:
   18b - The Son of God ... says this:
   20 - But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezabel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
   21 - And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality.

   The Son of God does not repreemand Jezabel for being a preacher, but gives her time to correct her message and practice that she obviously brought to her Christian ministry from paganism.

5. The ten women mentioned in Romans 16

   Romans 16:
   1 - I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant (diakonon) of the church which is at Cenchrea.
   3-Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
   4 - who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;
   5 - also greet the church that is in their home.
   6 - Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
   7 - Greet Andronicus and Junias my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
   12 - Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord.
   13 - Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. 15 - Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

   If, as many scholars have suggested, the last chapter of Romans originally was Paul's letter of recommendation to Ephesus on behalf of the deacon* Phoebe, the Ephesian church not only hosted this female traveling deacon but had among its members a female apostle (Junia, Rom. 16:7), several female church workers (Priscilla, Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis; vs. 3, 6, and 12), and other women dear to the apostle (the mother of Rufus [Note CGP: and of Paul], the sister of Nereus, and Julia; vs. 13, 15). But even if Romans 16 was not originally written to Ephesus, we still have ample evidence of women in leadership in Asia Minor.
   [Dennis Ronald MacDonald. The Legend and the Apostle, The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1983) 37-38.]

   *It is necessary to use "a deacon" (heh diaconos) for Phoebe when we are working with the New Testament text. Paul uses exactly the same form of the words that he uses in such passages as 1 Tim. 3:8,13. It is an error to introduce in the biblical text the word "deaconess" that is only encountered centuries later:
   (1) in the canons of the First Council of Nice held in 325 C.E.
   [A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, Editors. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1952) Second Series, Volume XIV, pp. 1-56], and
   (2) in the "Constitutions of the Holy Apostles" dated around 380 C.E.
   ["Constitutions of the Holy Apostles," in Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951) Volume VII, pp. 387-425.]
6. Agathonice in Pergamene, Martyr

   Agathonice, a Pergamene second-century martyr, appears in one document as a prophet.
   ["Martyrdom of Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice," 42-47. Cited in Dennis Ronald MacDonald. The Legend and the Apostle, The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1983) 38, 110, also mentioned in Eusebius Pamphilus. The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Cesarea, in Palestine. Christian Frederick Cruse, translator. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981) 150.]

7. Quintilla in Pepusa, Montanist Preacher

   Ephiphanius says that a prophetess named Quintilla established a sect in Pepuza, Phrygia, in which women were "bishops, presbyters, and the rest, as if there were no difference in nature. 'For in Christ Jesus there is no male and female.' "
   [Epiphanius, The Panarion [The Medicine Box] 49, 2, quoting Galatians 3:28, cited in Dennis Ronald MacDonald. The Legend and the Apostle, The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1983) 38, 110.]

8. Two deaconesses in Bithymia, Asia Minor

   Two deaconesses were mentioned by Pliny, the Younger (62-c. 113 C.E.) who wrote c. 112 C.E. to Emperor Trajan.

   I thought it the more necessary, therefore, to find out what truth there was in this by applying torture to two maidservants, who were called deaconesses. But I found nothing but a depraved and extravagant superstition, and I therefore postponed my examination and had recourse to you for consultation.
   [Documents of the Christian Church. Henry Betteson, editor. (London: Oxford University Press, 1963) 4.]

9. Ammias in Philadelphia

   Ammias was mentioned three times in a short passage about New Testament preachers by Eusebius:

   After stating other matters, he enumerates those who had prophesied under the New Testament. Among these he mentions one Ammias and Quadratus ... "They will never be able to show that any of the Old of any of the New Testament, were thus violently agitated and carried away in spirit. Neither will they be able to boast that Agabus, or Judas, or Silas, or the daughters of Philip, or Ammias in Philadelphia, or Quadratus, or others that do not belong to them, ever acted in this way." Again, after a little, he says: "If after Quadratus and Ammias in Philadelphia, the women that followed Montanus succeeded in the gift of prophecy, let them show us what women among them succeeded Montanus and his women."
   [Eusebius Pamphilus. The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Cesearea, in Palestine. Translated by Christian Frederick Cruse. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981) 199.]

10. Maria the Proselyte in Cassobelae

    Salute thou also Mary my daughter, distinguished both for gravity and erudition, as also "the Church which is in her house." (Col. 4:15) May my soul be in place of hers: she is the very pattern of pious women.
    [Pseudo-Ignatius, "The Epistle of Ignatius to Hero," The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors. (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1950) Vol. I, p. 115, also Christian Classics Ethereal Library (http://www.ccel.org) at Calvin College. Last updated on May 27, 1999.]

    Maria the Proselyte wrote a letter to Ignatius recommending three young men for the priesthood. Women in the early and medieval church could be bishops, but not priests, because they could not preside over the Lord's Supper because of their menstruation.

    Maria, a proselyte of Jesus Christ, to Ignatius Theophorus, most blessed bishop of the apostolic Church which is at Antioch, beloved in God the Father, and Jesus: Happiness and safety. We all beg for thee joy and health in Him.

    Since Christ has, to our wonder, been made known among us to be the Son of the living God, and to have become man in these last times by means of the Virgin Mary, of the seed of David and Abraham, according to the announcements previously made regarding Him and through Him by the company of the prophets, we therefore beseech and entreat that, by thy wisdom, Maris our friend, bishop of our native Neapolis, which is near Zarbus, and Eulogius, and Sobelus the presbyter, be sent to us, that we be not destitute of such as preside over the divine word as Moses also says, "Let the Lord God look out a man who shall guide this people, and the congregation of the Lord shall not be as sheep which have no shepherd."

    But as to those whom we have named being young men, do not, thou blessed one, have any apprehension. For I would have you know that they are wise about the flesh, and are insensible to its passions, they themselves glowing with all the glory of a hoary head through their own intrinsic merits, and though but recently called as young men to the priesthood. Now, call thou into exercise thy thoughts through the Spirit that God has given to thee by Christ, and thou wilt remember that Samuel, while yet a little child, was called a seer, and was reckoned in the company of the prophets, that he reproved the aged Eli for transgressions, since he had honoured his infatuated sons above God the author of all things, and had allowed them to go unpunished, when they turned the office of the priesthood into ridicule, and acted violently towards thy people [Note CGP: 1 Samuel 2:22].

    Moreover, the wise Daniel, while he was a young man, passed judgment on certain vigorous old men, showing them that they were abandoned wretches, and not [worthy to be recokned] elders, and that, though Jews by extraction, they were Canaanites in practice. And Jeremiah, when on account of his youth he declined the office of a prophet entrusted to him by God, was addressed in these words: "Say not, I am a youth; for thou shalt go to all those to whom I send thee, and thou shalt speak according to all that I command thee; because I am with thee." [Note CGP: Jeremiah 1:7-8] And the wise Solomon, when only in the twelfth year of his age, had wisdom to decide the important question concerning the children of the two women, when it was unknown to whom these respectively belonged; so that the whole people were astonished at such wisdom in a child, and venerated him as being not a mere youth, but a full-grown man. And he solved the hard questions of the queen of the Ethiopians, which had profit in them as the streams of the Nile [have fertility], in such a manner that that woman, though herself so wise, was beyond measure astonished.

    Josiah also, beloved of God, when as yet he could scarcely speak articulately, convicts those who were possessed of a wicked spirit as being false in their speech, and deceivers of the people. He also reveals the deceit of the demons, and openly exposes those that are no gods; yea, while yet an infant he slays their priests, and overturns their altars, and defiles the place where sacrifices were offered with dead bodies, and throws down the temples, and cuts down the groves, and breaks in pieces the pillars, and breaks open the tombs of the ungodly, that not a relic of the wicked might any longer exist. To such an extent did he display zeal in the cause of godliness, and prove himself a punisher of the ungodly, while he as yet faltered in speech like a child. David, too, who was at once a prophet and a king, and the root of our Saviour according to the flesh, while yet a youth is anointed by Samuel to be king. For he himself says in a certain place, "I was small among my brethren, and the youngest in the house of my father.

    But time would fail me if I should endeavour to enumerate all those that pleased God in their youth, having been entrusted by God with either the prophetical, the priestly, or the kingly office. And those which have been mentioned may suffice, by way of bringing the subject to thy remembrance. But I entreat thee not to reckon me presumptuous or ostentatious [in writing as I have done]. For I have set forth these statements, not as instructing thee, but simply as suggesting the matter to the remembrance of my father in God. For I know my own place, and do not compare myself with such as you. I salute thy holy clergy, and thy Christ-loving people who are ruled under thy care as their pastor. All the faithful with us salute thee. Pray, blessed shepherd, that I may be in health as respects God.
    [Maria the Proselyte found under the name Pseudo-Ignatius, "The Epistle of Maria the Proselyte to Ignatius," The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors. (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1950) Vol. I, 120-121, also Christian Classics Ethereal Library (http://www.ccel.org) at Calvin College (http://www.calvin.edu). Last updated on May 27, 1999.]

    The response of Ignatius to Maria has various points of comparison to the letter of the elder John to the Chosen Lady.

    Sight indeed is better than writing, ... But the second harbour of refuge, as the phrase runs, is the practice of writing, ... seeing that by means of a letter we have learned the excellence that is in thee. ... And thy intelligence invites us, as by a word of command, to participate in those divine draughts which gush forth so abundantly in thy soul.

    I have gladly acted as requested in thy letter, having no doubt respecting those persons whom thou didst prove to be men of worth. For I am sure that thou barest testimony to them in the exercise of a godly judgment, and not through the influence of carnal favour. And thy numerous quotations of Scripture passages exceedingly delighted me, which, when I had read, I had no longer a single doubtful thought respecting the matter.

    Now it occurs to me to mention, that the report is true which I heard of thee whilst thou wast at Rome with the blessed father Linus, whom the deservedly-blessed Clement, a hearer of Peter and Paul, has now succeeded. And by this time thou hast added a hundred-fold to thy reputation; and may thou, O woman! still further increase it. I greatly desired to come unto you, that I might have rest with you;

    Avoid those that deny the passion of Christ, and His birth according to the flesh: and there are many at present who suffer under this disease. But it would be absurd to admonish thee on other points, seeing that thou art perfect in every good work and word, and able also to exhort others in Christ. Salute all that are like-minded with thyself, and who hold fast to their salvation in Christ. The presbyters and deacons, and above all the holy Hero, salute thee. ... and may I see thee in Christ obtaining the crown!
    [Pseudo-Ignatius, "The Epistle of Ignatius to Mary at Neapolis, Near Zarbus," The Anti-Nicene Fathers, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors. (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1950) Vol. I, 122-123, also Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin College (http://www.calvin.edu). Last updated on May 27, 1999.]

11. Priscilla and Maximilla in Frigia, Montanist Preachers

    Priscilla e Maximilla were preachers with Montanus. He was the founder of a moviment called Montanism that began around 156 C.E.

    The movement now generally known, from the name of its founder, as Montanism had its birth in a village called Ardabau in a part of Misia adjacent to Frigia, probably not far from Philadelphia. [W. M. Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics of Phyrgia. (Oxford: 1895) 573.] There, it appears, around 156 C.E., Montanus, a recent convert, who had been a pagan priest, began to preach.

    After a time -- as it seems to be implied, a considerable time -- two women joined Montanus, Maximilla and Priscilla, or Prisca, who with his approval abandoned their husbands, and also said that they had the prophetic gift.

    The association with Montanus of two prophetesses involved the recognition that women could occupy high positions in the church. Maximilla and Priscilla appear to have made independent contributions to the montanist teachings (Hipp. Phil. viii. 19; cf. Did. Alex. de Trin. III. xii. 3; ZKG xxvi. 486); and they probably had the habit of preaching in the church (Eus. HE V. xvi. 9: akaíros.) There is evidence that, at least in later times, other women followed their example (Orig. ap. Cramer, Cat. v. 279), or even suprassed it; for we read of a prophetess in Cappadocia in the third century, perhaps a montanist, that baptized and celebrated the Lord's Supper (Firmilian, ap. Cypr. ep. lxxv.10), of women bishops and priests, and of virgins that regularly officiated in the church in Pepuza. (Epiph. Haer. xiix. 2f.; Did. Alex. de Trin. III. xii. 3).
    [ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, James Hastings, editor. (Edenburg: T. & T. Clark, 1914-1937) 13 Volumes, Vol. VIII, 828-832.]

    Sayings of the Montanist Priscilla, from the 2nd century C.E.

    Appearing in the form of a woman, radiantly robed, Christ came to me and implanted wisdom within me and revealed to me that this place [Pepuza] is holy, and that here Jerusalem is to come down from heaven.
    [Epiphanius of Salamis. The Panarion (The Medicine Box). Minge, J. P., editor. Patrologia Graeca. 161 Vols. (Paris: 1857-1866, also New York: Adlers Foreign Books.), 48.]
    The English translation of The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis. Book I (Sects 1-46). Trans. Frank Williams. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1987) has been published. Yet to be published are Book II (Sections 47-64) and Book III (Sections 65-80) and Epiphanius' concluding essay, De Fide.

    I am drived away as a wolf from sheep. I am not a wolf. I am Word and Spirit and Power.
    [Eusebius, History of the Church, V. 16.17. Cited in Ross Kramer, Maenads, Martyrs, Matrons, Monastics, A Sourcebook on Women's Religions in the Greco-Roman World (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988) 230.]

    Sayings of the montanist Maximilla, from the 2nd century C.E.

    2.4. After me there will be no prophet, but the completion.
    12.4. Hear not me; rather, hear Christ [through me].
    13.1. The Lord sent me to be partisan, informer, interpreter of this task, and of the covenant and of the pronouncement; compelled, willingly or unwillingly, to learn the knowledge of God.
    [Maximilla, quoted in Maenads, Martyrs, Matrons, Monastics, A Sourcebook on Women's Religions in the Greco-Roman World Ross Kramer, editor. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988) 230.]

12. Alce and Tavia

    Alce and Tavia are mentioned by Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 C.E.)

    Just as the letters of Paul abound in references to his female associates in ministry, the Apostolic Fathers also mention women as stalwarts in the faith. Twice Ignatius sent greetings to Alce, whom he calls especially dear to him. He also greeted Tavia and her household; perhaps she was another house-church leader.
    [Catherine Kroeger, "The Neglected History of Women in the Early Church," Christian History, 8.]

13. Thecla in Iconia, Virgin and Martyr

    Acts 14:1-7 tells the story of Paul and Barnabas in the city of Iconia. As no names of Iconia were mentioned, Thecla was not mentioned, however, she was very famous in history.

    "The Acts of Paul and Thecla" came down to us in Greek, Coptic, Syriac, Slavic, Arabic, and four independent Latin versions. In the Syriac it was added to the books of Ruth, Esther, Judith, and Susanna to comprise the "Book of Women." As late as the seventh century an ecclesiastical official had to remind the church to exclude "The Acts of Paul and Thecla" from its scriptures.
    [Dennis Ronald MacDonald. The Legend and the Apostle, The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1983) 90.]

    Modern research on the Thecla cult has shown that the author was conservative in his estimation of Thecla's acclaim: she was venerated from the shores of the Caspian almost to the shores of the Atlantic. In the fourth century a church in Antioch of Syria was dedicated to Thecla. Another church, in Eschamiadzin, Iberia, from the fifth century has a wall design showing Paul preaching to her. In Egypt archaeologists have found depictions of Thecla and wild beasts on two flasks for holy oil, a fresco of Paul and Thecla on the vault of a chapel, an ivory bas-relief showing Thecla and Theocleia listening to Paul from the windows of their home, and an inscription invoking the virgin-saint. In Rome, scholars found a sarcophagus graced by a relief portraying Paul and Thecla traveling together in a boat. Jerome in Jerusalem, Ambrose in Rome, and Sulpicius Severus in Gaul all praise Thecla as a model of feminine chastity. "The Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena" is about women in Spain who hear Paul preach and leave their husbands to follow him. Here again we find a reference to Thecla, as though all the readers would know who she was.
    [Dennis Ronald MacDonald. The Legend and the Apostle, The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon) (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1983) 94-95.]

14. Ten Deaconesses Known through Inscriptions in Asia Minor.

    Most of the other Greek inscriptions which mention deaconesses belong to Asia Minor: for instance, deaconesses Nunes, Strateges, Pribu, and Matrona, at Axylos (Eastern Phrygia); deaconesses Masa, Aurelia Faustina, and Paula, at Laodicea Combusta (Cilicia;) Elaphia, deaconess of the Encratite sect in Nevinne; Timothea, at Korykos in Cilicia; and Arete, in Aphrodisias in Caria.
    [Roger Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church. (Collegeville: The Luturgical Press) 90-91.]

15. Mariamme em Phrygia, the Sister of Philip the Apostle.

    Hippolytus says the Nassenes or Ophites in Phrygia claimed to have received their doctrines from Mariamme, the sister of Philip the apostle. The references to her in the "Sophia of Jesus Christ," which probably originated in Ophite circles, imply that she received secret revelations from Christ. Apparently the author of the "Acts of Philip" wanted to snatch Mariamme away from these Gnostics and give her lodging in his own theological camp, for according to him she accompanied her brother to Hierapolis in order to refute the Ophites.
    [Dennis Ronald MacDonald. The Legend and the Apostle, The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1983) 39.]

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It is perfectly reasonable to think that the Chosen Lady had a church in her house.

Acts 2:46-47 - And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 5:42 - And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Acts 8:3 - But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women he would put them in prison.

Acts 12:12 - And when he realized this, he (Peter) went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

Acts 16:14-15,40 - And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us saying: "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us. ... And they [Paul and Silas] went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

Acts 20:18,20 - And when they had come to him [Paul], he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the, whole time, ... how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house.

Romans 16:3-5a - Greet Prisca and Aquila my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house [in Ephesus].

Romans 16:23 - Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you.

1 Corinthians 1:11 - For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. [Note CGP: Some suggest that Chloe had a church in her house.]

1 Corinthians 16:19 - The churches of Asia greet you, Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house [in Rome].

Colossians 4:15 - Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house.

Philemon vs. 1-2 - Paul ... and Timothy our brother to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.

2 John vs. 1 and 10 - The elder to the chosen lady and her children ... If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting.

Five of the churchs in houses are in the homes of women. As there is no mention of the husband, there is the possibility that these women were either virgins or widows and that they should exercise zeal over right doctrine and authority to decide who they would or would not receive in their house.

• Mary in Jerusalem, mother of John Mark, Acts 12:12
• Lydia in Philippi, seller of purple fabrics, Acts 16:14-15, 40
• Chloe in Corinth, I Corinthians 1:11
• Nympha in Laodicea, Colossians 4:15
• The Chosen Lady in Asia Minor, 2 John vs. 1 and 10

  Three of the churches in houses were in the homes of couples:

• Prisca and Aquila in Ephesus, Romans 16:3-5
• Aquila and Prisca in Rome, I Corinthians 16:19
• Apphia and Archippus in Colossae, Filemom vs. 1-2

  One of the churches in houses was in the home of a man:

• Gaio in Corinth, Romans 16:23

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