Manliga män och kyskhetsideal. Från soldaten i fält till kristna munkar

Abstract

This article discusses the ascetic ideal of the early Christians and its influence on subordination and equivalence between the sexes. Although some passages in Paul's letters as well as in the Gospels indicate that women took an active part in the Christian church during the first century, their roles became more passive when Christianity became an accepted religion in the Roman Empire. Under the influence of the prevailing ideals of the Roman society, Christianity introduced a new male ideal. It was the soldier's simple life in field and momentary continence, praised in Late Antiquity as the model of the real man, that characterized the hierarchy of the Church. This ideal of chastity and bavery became accepted by the Church Fathers and transferred into the monastic system, whereas females became excluded from activities in the religious sphere.