In God the Father/God the Mother: The Gnostic Gospels and the Suppression of Early Christian Feminism, Pagels shows how political and social concerns shaped Christianity's treatment of women, but doesn't specifically state how. As a result of conflicting and contradictory teachings, early Christianity lacked unity. As a decentralized religion over a large empire, Christianity contained various beliefs and interpretations that appealed to both sexes. Early Christianity appealed mainly to the masses of ordinary people; however, as it gained popularity amongst intellectual elites, it rose in the social hierarchy. When the Roman empire experienced political turmoil in the 3rd and 4th century, church leaders attempted to unify Christians by creating a standardized teaching. The result was the formation of the Roman Orthodox Church, the loss of many diverse early Christian teachings, and a standardized teaching that subordinated women. Ultimately, Christian theology's rise in social and political popularity shaped its treatment of women.
Christianity's rise in the social hierarchy led it to become more patriarchal. "During its first three centuries, Christianity grew as a popular religion of salvation favored by masses, rather than as a reasoned doctrine of intellectual substance. During the fourth century, however, intellectual elites began to take more interest in Christianity (Traditions and Encounters 250)." Within the ordinary working class, there was an ordinance for women to work alongside men in daily labor as stated by Pagels, "In the lower class, where all labor was needed, women had been allowed to perform any services they could do;" thus, there was more equality between the sexes (University Readers 86). In contrast, within higher classes, women were confined to household duties. While some higher class women had positions in society, it was fairly dominated by men; thus, it was more patriarchal than the lower class.
