The Unwritten Custom about Christian Women

Abstract

In the official Canonical tradition, the laws passed by world and local Church Assemblies enjoy unwavering authority. Excerpts from Epistles or other works by the Holy and Blessed Fathers of the Church, which are approv ed as tradition and cannot be changed or denied by anyone; are also approved by the V-VI Church Assemblies.
As for the first three centuries, during this period the Church life is directly connected with the Apostolic tradition, custom; examples of which can be found in Didache (75-85), in the Epistle of Clement of Rome To the Corinthians (ca. 95 AD), in Justin's Apology (middle of the 2nd century), in the Synodal Acts of the local Churches (2nd and 3rd centuries), in the Decrees by the Apostles and others.
This so-called Customary Law has become a source of eternal inspiration for the Canonical tradition. This is confirmed by Canon 6 of the First World Church Assembly and Canon 2 of the Second World Church Assembly. In the same vein, the letter of Basil the Great To Amphilochius On the Holy Spirit, which shows the special importance of the old rule in spreading the faith of the Apostles and in the Holy tradition of the Church, is the basis of many other rules developed at world and local Church Assemblies. It says: "Numerous righteous and enlightening teachings preserved in the Church were handed down to us in writing, and some of them, which come from the tradition of the Apostles, were kept secret from us. ... If we try to change these "unwritten rules" as not having much power ... our preaching will become just empty words."
This "unwritten rule" or the "custom", which is equal in force to the Law, allows us to reconsider the existing Laws about the place and role of women in the Church of Christ, collected from the Christian Canonical Collection The Law of the Great Faith. The Laws mostly concern the place of women in the family, marriage, Church; there are rules that the Law of Faith attributes to "custom" and does not specify, etc. These issues are particularly relevant due to the growing interest to the gender studies.