The fourth gospel presents the reader with an early Christian text in which women and men are treated as "a discipleship of equals." Margaret M. Beirne makes an argument for the existence in the gospel of six examples of "gender pairs" of characters (a widely-accepted Lukan feature). The members of each pair are portrayed in a parallel or contrasting faith encounter with the Johannine Jesus, that is of substantial theological importance to the gospel's stated purpose (John 20:31). Through close examination of these pairs, Beirne offers a reading of the Gospel which gives support to the equality of women and men with respect to the nature and value of their discipleship.