Aren't Women supposed to Keep Silence?
Here are the Scriptures in question:
1Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
1Timothy 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
Now, those Scriptures are very clear, aren't they? Women are to be absolutely silent in church!
But I have one question...
Do you know of any church that actually obeys this, literally?
If women are to keep absolute silence, and never allow their voice to be heard in church (because that would be shameful!) then she must never sing. Never testify. Never even teach the children's class. Because Sunday School is very much a part of church!
In fact, if a woman's voice or expression of her thoughts are so dangerous, then anything a woman has written must be eliminated from the songbook. And woe be unto the man who uses the Amplified Version of the Bible! That version is the work of one lone woman, who dared to study Hebrew and Greek, and who dared to put her findings into print!
Now, do you know of any church who actually does this?
Not one.
Many say they believe this is literal instruction, and must be applied.
But they only do it partially.
And by their partial application of these verses, applied at man's discretion, they admit a core truth:
Verses that seem very strong, need to be taken in light of the entire counsel of Scripture.
The Bible stands as a whole. Verses taken out of context, and applied literally, can lead to serious error.
Want some examples?
1Timothy 5:23 "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
(Of course, literal application would lead quickly to very ill health and eventual dehydration and death. No one applies this one literally, either. Paul was talking about very limited medicinal use of alcohol, as in Nyquil.)
1Timothy 5:9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old...
11 But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
12 Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
15 For some are already turned aside after Satan.
Now, what would these verses look like, applied literally without knowing any cultural context?
Widows would not be allowed church membership until they reached 60 years old.
Any widow given church membership, who then marries, has cast off her first faith, and has turned aside after Satan!
But if a young widow is refused church membership, she not only can, but ought to get married. (How is this managed? Does the church arrange marriages? Surely the women aren't proposing to men!)
And once she's safely married, then she can be taken in as a member, at any age!
Do you know, I once knew an ignorant pastor who literally tried to apply this passage! He refused church membership to all widows under 60 years old. And he thought he was doing the Lord service.
Of course, we know by studying records other than the Bible, that Paul wasn't talking about church membership at all. He was talking about a paid women's ministry, which doesn't really exist in today's church world. But how can you know that, if you just go by the surface meaning of the Bible itself?
The same principle of interpreting Scripture in balance with the rest of Scripture must be applied to "Let your women keep silence in the churches" and "I suffer not a woman to teach, but to keep silence."
The rest of the Bible has a lot to say about this subject.
Correctly understanding these two passages is impossible, without first getting the overall scope of Scripture on the subject.
So let's go there.
Next post, I want to look at the entire Bible, to see what it actually says about women keeping silence. After all, Paul says in 1 Cor 14:34, "as also saith the law!"
Therefore, the correct way of understanding this concept is not limited to New Testament principles.
The core truth of how women are to express themselves in God's assembly is found in the Old Testament.
Stay tuned!
1Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
1Timothy 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
Now, those Scriptures are very clear, aren't they? Women are to be absolutely silent in church!
But I have one question...
Do you know of any church that actually obeys this, literally?
If women are to keep absolute silence, and never allow their voice to be heard in church (because that would be shameful!) then she must never sing. Never testify. Never even teach the children's class. Because Sunday School is very much a part of church!
In fact, if a woman's voice or expression of her thoughts are so dangerous, then anything a woman has written must be eliminated from the songbook. And woe be unto the man who uses the Amplified Version of the Bible! That version is the work of one lone woman, who dared to study Hebrew and Greek, and who dared to put her findings into print!
Now, do you know of any church who actually does this?
Not one.
Many say they believe this is literal instruction, and must be applied.
But they only do it partially.
And by their partial application of these verses, applied at man's discretion, they admit a core truth:
Verses that seem very strong, need to be taken in light of the entire counsel of Scripture.
The Bible stands as a whole. Verses taken out of context, and applied literally, can lead to serious error.
Want some examples?
1Timothy 5:23 "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
(Of course, literal application would lead quickly to very ill health and eventual dehydration and death. No one applies this one literally, either. Paul was talking about very limited medicinal use of alcohol, as in Nyquil.)
1Timothy 5:9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old...
11 But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
12 Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
15 For some are already turned aside after Satan.
Now, what would these verses look like, applied literally without knowing any cultural context?
Widows would not be allowed church membership until they reached 60 years old.
Any widow given church membership, who then marries, has cast off her first faith, and has turned aside after Satan!
But if a young widow is refused church membership, she not only can, but ought to get married. (How is this managed? Does the church arrange marriages? Surely the women aren't proposing to men!)
And once she's safely married, then she can be taken in as a member, at any age!
Do you know, I once knew an ignorant pastor who literally tried to apply this passage! He refused church membership to all widows under 60 years old. And he thought he was doing the Lord service.
Of course, we know by studying records other than the Bible, that Paul wasn't talking about church membership at all. He was talking about a paid women's ministry, which doesn't really exist in today's church world. But how can you know that, if you just go by the surface meaning of the Bible itself?
The same principle of interpreting Scripture in balance with the rest of Scripture must be applied to "Let your women keep silence in the churches" and "I suffer not a woman to teach, but to keep silence."
The rest of the Bible has a lot to say about this subject.
Correctly understanding these two passages is impossible, without first getting the overall scope of Scripture on the subject.
So let's go there.
Next post, I want to look at the entire Bible, to see what it actually says about women keeping silence. After all, Paul says in 1 Cor 14:34, "as also saith the law!"
Therefore, the correct way of understanding this concept is not limited to New Testament principles.
The core truth of how women are to express themselves in God's assembly is found in the Old Testament.
Stay tuned!
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