"... der du Mirjam, Deborah, (H)Anna und Hulda mit Geist erfüllt hast ..." Biblische Frauen in der frühchristlichen Rechtsentwicklung am Beispiel der Apostolischen Konstitutionen

Abstract

The legal sources of Early Christianity include the “canonical” texts in the narrow sense (i. e. biblical texts), but also a wide range of various other literary genres, in particular canons passed by synods, canonical answers of ecclesiastical authorities and so-called “church orders” (most of them apostolic apocrypha). Biblical role-models are not restricted to the genre of “church order”, but they are much more likely to be found there than in canons. This paper focuses on the reception of biblical persons in the so called Apostolic Constitutions, a compilation from the second half of the 4^th century (most likely from Antioch). It does so from particular perspective of gender-studies, identifying the contexts of the church-order where biblical females play a role, naming the women who were received, but also asking for the missing female figures. Further on, the paper outlines the function of biblical females in the church-order and tries to compare it with the recourse on biblical males.