Ancient Evidence for Women Leaders in the Early Church

In this video, Dr. Mike Bird looks at Pliny's letter to Emperor Trajan (111-13) and what it tells us about the leadership roles that women exercised in the early church. Check out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC21I7qYVHPsOzL9ujxiRWZA The Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOqEMPs7xS8&list=PL_4rhC0z_G8t5VIOg-5ysURHbzNUOcapn&index=9 Paideia PlayList https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysKmZchYhn0&feature=youtu.be Who is the Son of Man? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q92W994iDfs&feature=youtu.be Paul, Artemis, and Women in the Church https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF9_LBc78ww The Didache https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-4Cqej1Njo&t=147s Polycarp: Bishop, Martyr, Destroyer of the Gods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF9_LBc78ww&t=3s The Origins of Gnosticism Further Reading John Granger Cook, "Pliny's Tortured Ministrae: Female Deacons in the Ancient Church?" Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity: The First Two Centuries, ed. Bart J. Koet, Edwina Murphy and Esko Ryks (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018). Lynn Cohick, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2009). Edwina Murphy, "Second Century Christian Women," in Baylor Handbook on Second Century Christianity, eds. Michael F. Bird and Scott Harrower (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2025). Find Me on Social Media Twitter: mbird12 Threads: michael.bird.33 Substack: michaelfbird.substack.com #churchhistory #earlychurch #womenpastors