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Every week we are E-Mailed questions on God, relationships, and all sorts of topics...so we thought we would make it a web page! Feel free to keep e-mailing questions (at the bottom of this page) and each month I will post one and answer it here. Please note that all answers, (no matter what the question) will be answered on a Biblical basis by us or one of our FEATURED AREA YOUTH PASTORS OR GUEST (YOU CHOOSE)!!! THANKS, KEEP UM COMMING! STEVE & AMY |
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I was looking at the campus life webpage today and I saw the part about
asking questions and you guys giving answers. Well, our dorm has a late night devotion session a few times a week. One of the questions was about women in the church. I've always thought that if women were given talents by God that they should use them. But when reading 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, I was a bit confused. This verse says that 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. I would love to know what you think about this! Thanks a bunch--- Sarah Schiebout |
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Hey Sarah,
Sorry it's taken me a bit to get back to you ... but you know me!!!!!!!
This is a tough question and my answer may be light
for such a deep topic. So I suggest you get a book called "Beyond Sex Roles" , What the Bible says about a Woman's place in Church and Family," by Gilbert Bilezikian. When Paul writes 1 Corinthians, it confuses most of us, (especially woman). One, because it hurts our pride but the second because, HE ALREADY MAKES PREVIOUS STATEMENTS THAT SEEM TO CONTRADICT THIS IN THE SAME LETTER. Paul, has already stated that women prayed and prophesied, presumably during worship services (11:5), as well as he wrote that the Spirit gave gifts to every one in the body (12:7, 11), So why, you ask would he say this? In my personal study I have found 2 explanations. The first is deep (it really is too long and complicated to state here, but I'll try to sum it up). It has to do with the Corinthian church coming under the legalism of a restrictive Judaizing teaching. Pauls statement is said to be filled with sarcastic overtones, (Paul was known to have the habit of quoting the words of the opposition,) which he is doing in these verses but, the statement seems to have lost it's "ump" because in the translation it loses it's punctuation and quotations (these were not used in the original language). But please note In the later verses he seems to be rebuking them for this thinking (once again sarcastically). The second explanation is that the women in the congregation at Corinth probably had few opportunities for formal education and little exposure to large gatherings---except for the wild rites of their former religion. So when they came into the church, they may have assumed a similar approach to Christian worship. This would have been inappropriate so Paul stated for them to have a quieter, more orderly form of worship now that they were following the Lord. I hope this gives you some insight on past thoughts from theologians (not me)! Study is most important on this topic so I encourage you to search, ask questions and Pray about this. In my search I have chosen to follow 3 rules: 1. Know your author and context 2. Know your content 3. Search for the Truth, weather you like the Truth or not. Remember, if you seek out the Truth God will revel it to you! If you seek out what you want to hear---you will find that too!!! Just so you know Sarah, the more I study, I tend to believe explanation #1, it makes more sense to me now, but hey, I'm still Praying and searching as well. Your big Sis in Byron, Amy |
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