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| Q: | I have a friend who has a question regarding the application of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. In her home-based church, women are not allowed to speak or sing during the "assembly". Basically, the women are only allowed to participate in the service by physically being present and receiving Communion. I have explained to her that Paul's writing to the Corinthians does not refer to women keeping silent, but to women recognizing their place in the created order - they are to be subject to male headship during church following the prinicple set out by God at creation in Genesis 2 & 3 and should not have authority over man. She has researched the passage in her Greek/Englsih bible concordance and is also confused over the Greek translation, which reads, "Let the women of you in the churches be silent, not for it is allowed to them to speak, but let them be subject, even as also the Law says." Could you please clarfy this issue for her in context of the passage with as much detail, background and history as possible, as others in her church may have questions. Thank you! | ||||||
| A: | As is often the case, pulling a passage out of its context can lead to a misundertanding and a misuse of the passage. In the congregation at Corinth, when they came together for worship, everyone came with something they wanted to share with the whole congregation (v26). As a result, more than one person was talking at one time and there was disorder. Paul tells them to get some order into their service (v33a, v40) as God wants in every congregation (v33b). Paul tells them how this should be done: one person should speak at a time (v27): if another person stood up to speak the person who was speaking should stop (v30); and subsequent speakers should critique what previoius speakers had said (v29) because each prophet is subject to the control of other propehts (v32). In this kind of worship service, Paul tells the women they are to be silent (v34a) because otherwise they would be stepping out of their God-given role (v34b). That the women joined in the joint prayers and joint prophesying (which was probably all present joining in the reading of Scripture for their strengthening and comfort, cf. 1 Co 14:3,24) is evident from 1 Co 11:5. So the Scriptural principle is that a woman is not to have authority over a man (1 Tim 2:12, 1 Co 11:3, 1 Co 14:34b). The statement in 1 Co 14 that a woman is to be silent was an application of that principle in the unique custom of the worship service in Corinth. It would also be an application of the principle today only in a situation where by her speaking a woman would be putting herself in a position of authority over a man or men. | ||||||
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