That is What it Says

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

THAT IS WHAT IT SAYS

1 Cor 14:33-35

As in all the congregations of the saints, 34 women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35 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.

NIV

We should just leave this one alone, but how can we, as it is a part of the whole. Historian/theologian/scholar types have tried their best to explain this as the law for the Jewish form of worship was for the men only and woman were allowed to sit in the balcony, but in this setting, the women were yelling down at their husbands. The problem is that the Church in Corinth was mainly made up of Greeks who were converted to Christianity when Paul visited there some two years before this letter. So this was not a Jewish form of worship and it was not a men’s only setting. Yet it still appears the women were not to be in a vocal role in this church. This of course would never fly in our church today. So how do we handle this? Do we say it was just for them at that time and only for them? Do we say it was just for those under the law? But wait, Paul says we have been set free from the law. Why would Greeks have to abide by the Jewish law anyway? Did the New Testament church abide by the law? Certainly from chapter 11 we see that woman prayed an prophesied, with their head covered of course, in the church, so what is this silence thing about? We might expect in the Greek culture that men were accustomed to debate and dialog regarding philosophical issues, and that it surely was carried into the church regarding doctrine and some spiritual matters such as the gifts. It would appear the woman were entering into this debate challenging either the order of things, or some other doctrinal issue, or how to interpret the instruction Paul left behind from his first visit there. Yet if the Word of God is eternal and good for teaching, correcting and rebuking, and it is applicable for all of us for all time, we need to see the truth for us in this instruction. Surely we have woman who are not silent in our church today, in fact, we have woman pastors, woman teachers, woman who are on leadership teams, board members, or are a deaconess. How do these women fit into the role of being submissive to their husbands, as the scripture commands? Surely in the Pentecostal churches of today women speak in tongues and prophesy maybe even more then the men. So is it still disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church? Maybe we have to come to terms with the simple fact that God established the man to be the head of his household. This means God holds the man accountable for the actions or behavior of his wife. This was not a Jewish law, but rather a primary law of God. So if a woman has some issue with the understanding of spiritual matters, she should not be causing disruption in the church, going around stirring up trouble, dissension, division, and the like. She should sit down with her husband at home and disguise her concerns, seeking resolution to her question. If a woman does not have a husband and no believing father, perhaps she should seek a spiritual sister with a husband so as to be included in that family, under the spiritual protection of the man. Again, would this really fly in our church today? Maybe it should. That is what it says.