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The Forgotten Female Disciples of Jesus – Helen Bond

Alex O'Connor | August 11, 2025



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– VIDEO NOTES

Helen Bond is Professor of Christian Origins at the New College, University of Edinburgh, and former head of the School of Divinity there. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

In 2023, she co-authored a book with Joan Taylor called “Women Remembered: Jesus’ Female Disciples”: https://amzn.to/4lnjwEk

Watch the documentary version here: https://youtu.be/17QWDhomle8?si=MguR-xBT36cJatGH

– TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Why Were Jesus/ Disciples All Male?
08:20 – Which Biblical Woman Can We Know Most About?
11:29 – Did Each Disciple Have a Female Counterpart?
17:08 – Who was “Mary Magdalene”?
27:30 – Who Was Salome?
28:54 – Which Women Were Present at the Crucifixion?
37:29 – Why Does Paul Not Mention Women Witnesses to the Resurrection?
44:23 – Were Early Christians Sexist?
47:39 – The Importance of Women in the Early Christian Church
01:04:34 – Were There Early Female Bishops?
01:12:36 – The Erasure of Women in Early Christianity
01:18:36 – When Even Mary Was Left Out

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Written by Alex O'Connor

Comments

This post currently has 50 comments.

  1. @jassy0903

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    Because men were so messed up that they needed the most correction. He spent the whole gospel yelling at them about how selfish and ridiculous they were

  12. @jaccepte683

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    I watched Secret History: Jesus’ Female Disciples with Helen Bond and her coworker and greatly appreciated it.

    However, I wouldn't say they are “forgotten.” They’re in the Bible. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna — they’re right there, named as key supporters.

    The “prostitute” label for Mary Magdalene? That’s not in Scripture. Nor is any romance with Jesus — that’s modern fiction.

    I don’t buy the duo-duo theory, but I do believe there were many women among the 70+.

    Junia was an apostle — early Church Fathers regularly commented on Junia's greatness as a woman.

    They’re not forgotten if you look into the Scriptures — just not talked about enough. And that matters.

    (As someone on a journey toward Jesus, I think we owe it to the text to read it carefully.)

    I also liked that they brought to my attention that “Mary from Magdala” could be a play on words — referring to her as a pillar in the Jesus movement. And I appreciated the info about the female bishop and Salome.

  13. @nairod5448

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    So sad to find out that for some reason that video in the description it's not available in my country…Like not even a way too religious country so I don't understand

  14. @ozonecandle

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    These women likely worked for Jesus under good will, knowing that they wouldn't go down in history, and that the men would just given the place and time. Like I'd like to believe they probably understood that.

    And here we are, thousands of years later trying to dig up their contributions and get it figured out. I wonder if they'd be flattered, if they'd blush if they found out 😂? I find that cool and indictive of the collective human spirit.

  24. @DadBodMastermold

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    Love the discussion! I’m a Mormon, and we’re generally known for having large and/or strong families. I’d just like to opine that I don’t agree with imposing the forced dichotomy of “Mary Magdalene is either there because she’s a capable leader, or because she’s the wife of Jesus.” Can’t it be both?

    Married women have just as much to offer as single women. Marriage shouldn’t limit or define a person to the exclusion of all else.

    I don’t know if Jesus was married or not, but if he was, I think that instead of wondering “why was Mary in her position?” the way to truly promote women would be to ask, “would Jesus have been Jesus without his wife?” Or “How is Jesus in his position because of Mary?”

  26. @fryke

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    So Mary, or rather Maria, was the most common name in the times of Jesus, and his own mother was called that. How can anyone, seriously, think twice about the importance of Maria Magdalena being "given" a nickname in the bible? They literally had to, to make sure she was a specific person and not one of the other Maries mentioned in the book(s). Also, mentioning all the good things "the tower" could mean, but not even mentioning it could just mean "you know, the tall one" seems like a strange omission to me.

  30. @racsooj456

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    Tbf there's not much mentioned about many of the disciples either. It seems to me that whatever later sexism exists by way of minimal reference, its so clear that there is a parralel in scripture.

  32. @bufboston1

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    In the Orthodox Church, the misidentification of Mary of Magdala as a prostitute is almost absent. She is also described with the honorific "Equal to the Apostles".

  34. @RonJohn63

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    14:15 An unmarried woman traveling with a man-not-her-relative in that patriarchal time and place?
    23:35 And Yeshua/Joshua/Jesus was a very common man's name.
    28:14 Fishing villages had towers, and six of the disciples were fishermen. Mary the Tower… 😇
    55:39 Women ran the house, while men ran the external world; early Christianity was organized around house churches. Ergo, women were important to the early Church. Not so much when they move to dedicated buildings.

  37. @Truth_Tradition24

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    Hey Alex, 👋 this is Jackson from the Truth & Tradition Podcast. I am on a mission to watch every one of your videos and leave a comment on each of them.

    This was such a great conversation, I learned so much! Thanks for putting it together. 🙏 The part about the women bishops found in the catacombs was particularly interesting! I'll have to check out more of Helen Bound's work. Love it!

  39. @UltimateBibleTheology

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    I'm a new up and coming channel, and yes as a Christian I know the early Church even had Deaconesses! And women had roles! Later on the Church like Orthodoxy and Catholicism changed it all! Message me if you wish to learn how to be Spiritually Baptized and born again! 😀

  40. @dand3953

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    It is also apparent from the New Testament that Jesus had FEMALE followers who where quite important, the least because they provided necessary funds for His travels around greater Palestine. It was his female followers who were the financial rock of his ministry. The 12 male apostles recieved the pseudo-nym treatment. The Female followers of Christ (except for MM perhaps) remained wholly anonymous.

  42. @joellaw7950

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    I'm wondering if these towers are meant to find shoals of fish, perhaps Mary Magdalene is the tower from which the fish which would be representative of Jewish women or gentile women are found. That is to say, Mary of Magdalene was the tower that the disciples are Jesus used to find fish or people to convert

  47. @matheuscoutinho4690

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    Why didn't Helen didn't mentioned the apocryphal where there is a Salome traveling with Joseph when Mary is in labor, after Jesus is born, she touches Mary's vagina to check her virginity and her hands are carbonized, than she desperately prays, regrets and an angel comes to her and says "touch the baby", and she is healed.

  48. @Ofus5

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    First time on this channel random YouTube. Loved it. Great conversation and learned so much.
    Thanks I’ll be listening more.
    Great job.

  50. @bluewolfey

    August 11, 2025 at 3:11 pm

    I often times listen but not watch these videos. Consequently, every time Alex reads the advert lines, I get confused why he sasses the guest so suddenly 'do you trust the news?!' XD

Comments are closed.

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