© 1993 Pam and David Bradford
© 1993 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
Pam and David Bradford, Eden, NSW
The URANTIA Book tells us (UB 84:5.9) that in an enlightened developing society women are equal to men and are afforded equal rights and hold positions in society hand in hand with men. We are also told that although equality is important, it must not be mistaken for meaning that men and women think the same or are capable of exactly the same feats of achievement. Women have intuition, men have logic. Thus we are told (and the reader should be aware) that men and women enhance one another’s existence through mortal and spiritual existence.
At the time of Jesus’ mortal presence on Urantia, women held a lower place in society, not being considered worthy of holding positions of civic, political, or religious power. Therefore when Jesus appointed ten women as the original Women’s Corps many eyebrows were raised by his male disciples, and no doubt there were some malevolent feelings from church and political leaders of the time.
These ten women appointed to the Corps must have been also selected for their varied backgrounds, as well as their strong faith.
The ten had served in the former encampment and infirmary. During this time they had listened to Jesus’ instruction to young evangelists. It did not occur to the ten that they would be given responsibilities by Jesus to impart the word of the Master (UB 150:1.1).
The names and backgrounds of the ten women were:
- Susanna — Daughter of the former chazan of the Nazareth synagogue.
- Joanna — Wife of Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas.
- Elizabeth — The daughter of a wealthy Jew of Tiberias and Sepphoris.
- Martha — The elder sister of disciples, Andrew and Peter.
- Rachel — Sister-in-law of Jude (Jesus’ brother in the flesh).
- Nasanta — Daughter of Elman, the Syrian physician
- Milcha — Cousin of the apostle, Thomas.
- Ruth — Eldest daughter of Matthew Levi.
- Celta — Daughter of a Roman centurion.
- Agaman — A widow of Damascus.
The ten increased to twelve later when they were joined by: - Mary Magdalene — of Magdala.
- Rebecca — daughter of Joseph of Arimathea.
From the advent of the Women’s Corps, it can be seen that Jesus was in effect laying the groundwork for full emancipation of women as both physical and spiritual equals. A significant thing worth noting is, at that time, the power of government and religion was a male domain. Jesus said:
“In the kingdom of Heaven there is neither rich nor poor, free nor bond, male nor female, all are equal sons and daughters of God.” (UB 150:1.3)
Even though the disciples had heard Jesus say this often they were still of a conservative nature and were shocked at the astounding event.
And we read on UB 84:6.4 that, “The hand that rocks the cradle still fraternizes with destiny”.
They were given funds to start with but afterwards managed their own affairs and drew upon their own resources to fund the Corps.
The success of the Women’s Corps can be judged by the fact that without fear of favour, they preached the gospel to their sisters, no matter what their background. This is an interesting fact as it may be noted that at times the male disciples had a tendency to be selective and judgmental.
The appointment of women to positions of spreading the word was to be carried on after the cessation of Jesus’ mortal life by the disciples, but gradually reversions took place and today we still see examples of opposition to women’s roles as equals to males in leadership.
The members of the Women’s Corps proved to be faithful to Jesus to the end.
