Canonical Gospels and Women in the Apostolic Role: A Case Study

In contemporary studies, different perspectives can be found in discussing the role of women in religious communities and the impact of religion on how women are socially represented. Some scholars have considered religion as a tool to suppress women and for this reason, they tried to reduce its value in the eyes of faithful women. While others, duo to the significant population of faithful women, have considered religion as a kind of factor in reviving the status of women. In the feminist approach, by using modern study methods, the sacred religious texts, especially Christian texts, are read, understood and analyzed in order to explore the impact of religion on the position of women in the light of a new perspective. In this study, an attempt has been made to first discuss the apostolic role that women have played with Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Then we are going to examine the report of the four Gospels about Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene, who accompanied Jesus on his travels and find a model based on a feminist approach for the presence of faithful women. both women played a dynamic role in various social activities and in various religious fields, both practical and theoretical. Hence, they have attracted the attention of feminist scholars. Also, in this research, an attempt is made to study the components of female faith in a descriptive-analytical method.