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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Women,
Be Silent In Church When trying to
understand and apply a Bible passage to us today we must know it wasn't
originally written to us and our situations.
So, before we make any present-day application we must know to whom
and why it was written. Only
after diligent research can we begin to make any present-day application.
In my prior article,
"Was Paul Anti Woman?" based on a misunderstanding of 1 Timothy
2:11 and 12, I claimed he was not anti woman.
I will do the same now based on a misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians
14:34 and 35, conceding that more should be said about these verses.
"Women should
remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be
in submission, as the law says. If
they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands
at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church." "Paul said it, so I
believe it," I was recently told.
"But is that what Paul said or what you think he said?" I
answered. If you read 1
Corinthians 14:34 and 35 with that mentality without some research, you'll
jump to the uneducated conclusion that Paul was anti woman.
We must admit that we
don't know every detail that prompted Paul to write the above statement on
this particular occasion. Some
historical research, however, should help us avoid jumping to unreasonable
conclusions. Paul wrote his letter to
Christians in Corinth
around 53 AD, in a Greco-Roman world where men kept women uneducated.
This was in stark contrast to Christian teaching that stated both
men and women would be inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak God's Word.
Peter claimed this by quoting Joel 2:28 and 29 (Acts 2:18) which we
must consider as we try to understand Paul. We must also consider
that Corinthian house-church meetings were more participatory in nature
than our Sunday meetings. 1
Corinthians 14 tells us that Paul taught full, but orderly participation.
You would think that included women participating, but uneducated
women speaking appears to have led to disorder.
For this reason Paul advised women to be silent in the meeting and
learn from their husbands at home. Telling
a man to teach his wife at home was culturally unacceptable in the
Greco-Roman world where men preferred their wives to be uneducated
baby-making machines. Paul's
advise shows he was pro woman, ahead of his day in respect to women. Women learning at home
might have been a temporary measure. Once
they were educated in things of the Lord I believe they could speak in a
meeting. Priscilla was one
educated woman (Acts 18) and so was Phoebe (Romans 16:1 - 2).
Paul respected both women.
We must not jump to
uneducated conclusions about any Bible passage, and that includes Paul's
teaching to the Corinthian church about women.
We can't read our English Bible and simply say, "Paul
said it, so I believe it," without serious research.
Post
Script Most scholars
don't know why Paul used the law to back his reasoning in these verses.
The Law of Moses didn't address this issue, and besides, he taught
that Christians weren't subject to the law (Romans 10:4 and elsewhere).
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