•I Corinthians 14:33b-35
•A Reflection
•Corinth
33b As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
(I Corinthians 14:26-33a, ESV)
Inauthentic Arguments
26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints.
36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. 38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39 So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But all things should be done decently and in order.
(I Corinthians 14:26-40 [Excluding 34-35])
Inauthentic Arguments
• The topic comes into focus strangely
– Paul often quotes the Law with a specific reference
– As such, the Law never explicitly states anything about women being silent
• Abrupt Break
– Paul has just been focusing on tongues and prophecy
• Contradictions
– This seems to contradict what is found in chapter 11:5
– Paul does not say women cannot pray or prophecy in the congregation (instead he focuses on modesty and respect)
• Manuscripts
– Scholars have found these verses are placed in two places
– Sometimes they are placed between verses 33 and 36, other times they are placed at the end of the chapter
Authentic Arguments
•The topic does make sense in context
– Paul has been arguing God is a God of order not chaos
– There seems to be women who were disruptive during the service (hence verse 35)
– The whole meeting could become sidetracked by question after question
• The individualistic stance of the Corinthians
– There was an issue where they were distorting the valued intimate personhood of men and women (chapter 11)
• Alluding to the Law
– Paul may not quote a particular place in the Law…but it is not outside the law either
– It may also be focused more on God being a God of order (which is not stated, but certainly alluded to throughout the Law)
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Authentic Arguments
•Counterargument
– While Paul almost always quotes the specific reference in the Old Testament…these are but a handful of letters Paul wrote
– An argument from silence is that Paul never simply alludes to points in the Old Testament
• Paul may not not be excluding women from all speaking
– Instead it is a kind of speech which his disruptive rather than constructive
• Manuscripts
– We do not have a manuscript where these verses are not included
– There are other passages in the Scriptures where this occurs
– The adulterous woman in the Gospel of John, for example, is such a story
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Authentic Arguments
•More on Manuscripts
– They were not written in paragraphs or with spaces between words
– Thetextlookslikethissowhenwefinditinthetextwedonotfindit like this insteadwefinditlikethiswhenyoucannotjusttakeoutawordorinsertaword.
• Asinallthechurchesofthesaintsthewomenshouldkeepsilentinthe churches.FortheyarenotpermittedtospeakbutshouldbeinsubmissionastheLawalsosaysIfthereisanythingtheydesiretolearnletthemasktheirhusbandsathomeForitisshamefulforawomantospeakinchurchOrwasitfromyouthatthewordofGodcameOrareyoutheonlyonesithasreached?IfanyonethinksthatheisaprophetorspiritualhehouldacknowledgethatthethingsIamwritingtoyouareacommandofthe Lord.Ifanyonedoesnotrecognizethis,heisnotrecognizedSomy brothers,earnestlydesiretoprophesyanddonotforbidspeakingin tonguesButallthingsshouldbedondecentlyandinorder (I Corinthians 14:33-40)
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33b As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
(I Corinthians 14:26-33a, ESV)
Main Points
• These verses make another point of disorder in the congregation
• Still the authenticity of the verses are in question
• We should be made aware and make informed decisions about their authenticity
Application Points
• Reflections
– I’d rather us make informed decisions
– This particular topic has hit a strong nerve in our culture
– The implication that men and women are responsible for different things
– We have been told through higher education, that the male patriarchy has held women down forever
– Even if these verses are inauthentic Paul says much the same in other letters and he just continues the paradigm
– It is not surprising as we continue to hear this reasoning we begin to question
– Even the possibility of these things being true becomes a bitter pill to swallow
– While it is true that men have abused their responsibilities…it is also true women can do the same
– Toxicity is not a matter of gender, but of sin and disobedience
Application Points
• Reflections (2)
– Any conversation about these things requires finesse
– If something is said without even the most careful considerations it is likely to explode
– It is the responsibility of the Church to respond to the world around us
– 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (Colossians 1:27-29, ESV)
– Paul warns everyone
– He cautions others against false teachings
– He also teaches
– He provides what is good, reasonable, and what is true
Application Points
• Reflections (3)
– When it comes to he topic at hand of gender responsibility, it causes one to reflect on the current situation
– We have been told there is no difference between genders
– How has this played out in society?
– Has it brought about greater blessings or defeats…both?
– The rise of egalitarian thought within the culture and Church has risen
– One can imagine a good outcome in which every individual is considered valuable
– It could lead to a situation where merit is the main emphasis
– Most positions are not considered valuable
– We see this as many men and women compete for the same positions (these are the “valuable” ones)
– Meanwhile physical labor is still predominately dominated by men
– These positions are considered less valuable and as such these individuals receive the least amount of respect
Application Points
• Reflections (4)
– What happens to men when they are no longer respected?
– That by even being a man means nothing more than brokenness?
– The answer is that the gender begins to believe it
– Where their roles and responsibilities are seen as “less than”
– The majority of men are stuck in these positions and roles and yet they find no value
– This is not only true for men but also of women
– The role of motherhood is diminished
– Where anything that limits you from doing whatever you want to do is bad
– If women are being hindered in anyway it is automatically seen as oppressive or bad
– For some reason culture pushes the idea that women’s desires are inherently good, whereas men’s are inherently bad
Application Points
• Reflections (5)
– The truth is that egalitarian thought does not need to come to these conclusions
– It has left behind not only the various roles and responsibilities of the gender, but also destroyed the genders in the process
– Statistically speaking, psychological malfunction is on the rise in both men and women
– That the genuine happiness and hope for many people has significantly decreased despite the fact that they are able to fulfill their personal desires at a higher degree than ever before
– This is the warning against libertarian egalitarianism
– It does not necessarily lead to its proposed promised land
– If this is the case then what should be the response of the Church?
– Is the logical conclusion to utterly reject the roles and responsibilities?
– The response should be to seek Biblical guidance to how we should be fulfilling the roles and responsibilities given to us by God
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
(Ephesians 5:25-33, ESV)
Application Points
• Reflections (6)
– In both cases we would see a rise in personal value because the closest people to each other, would offer what the person needs
– Finding value in the relationship as well as the role and responsibility of the other
– In some marriages husbands do the finances in others it is wives
– What the Scriptures are alluding to is the foundation for the relationship itself
– The same is true when it comes to the broader applications of men and women
– There are some things women are called to do that men are not
– The goal for the Church should be to encourage men and women into their callings as men and women
– Consider older women…
“3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”
(Titus 2:3-5, ESV)
Application Points
• Reflections (7)
– The same is true for men
– Paul writing to Timothy or Titus are personal letters in which he encourages them
– The warning is not to allow the world to dictate what it means to be a man or woman
– Let the wisdom of the Scriptures dictate these things
– This is our primary responsibility, to fulfill the roles given to us by God who has created us as we are for His purpose
– Be encouraged to follow God and not the world
– Find satisfaction in honoring God
– Men and women have responsibilities, there are roles that God has called each to
– We’ve all seen the ways of the world and what it leads to
– Let’s follow God instead and see if there will be better results in being faithful to Him
•Application Points
•The Gospel of Christ
–Origins
–Where we began
–Fall
–What went wrong
–Redemption
–How it is fixed
–Glorification
–Where it at leads
