HYMN TO
LOVE
#4: Meetings
#4: Meetings
#3: Freedom
#2: Sexuality
#1: Unity
#5: Resurrection
HYMN TO
LOVE
Gifts & the Body
Order :
Lord’s Supper
Women:
Leading
Gifts & the Body
Order :
Spoken Words
Women:
Speaking
HYMN TO
LOVE
Gifts & the Body
Order :
Lord’s Supper
Women:
Leading
Gifts & the Body
Order :
Spoken Words
Women:
Speaking
WOMEN
& CHURCH ROLES
1 Corinthians 14:33b-40
1 Corinthians 14:33b-36
As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the
women should be silent in the churches, for they are
not permitted to speak, but should be submissive, as
the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn
something, they should ask their own husbands at
home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in
the church meeting. 36 Did the word of God
originate from you, or did it come to you only?
Common Interpretations
Women should be silent when the church gathers as a
demonstration of their submissive role within creation.
Interpreters who take this position further clarify what
they think this “silence” means.
 The
minority group maintains that the command is
absolute and universal – women should never utter
any word when the church is gathered.
 The majority group maintains that this reading is too
strict and that Paul was really referring to women not
teaching within the gathering.
Look at context…
Paul had just talked about women in leadership
1
Cor. 11:3-6 -- I want you to know that Christ is the
head of every man, and the man is the head of the
woman, and God is the head of Christ. 4 Every man who
prays or prophesies with something on his head
dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or
prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head,
since that is one and the same as having her head
shaved. 6 So if a woman’s head is not covered, her hair
should be cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to
have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should be
covered.
Look at context…
Paul had just talked about women in leadership
Cor.common
11:3-6 -- I wantinterpretations
you to know that Christ is the
The
both
head of every man, and the man is the head of the
make
Paul
himself
woman, and
God contradict
is the head of Christ.
Every manin
whoa
prays or prophesies with something on his head
manner
a few
paragraphs.
dishonors his of
head.just
But every
woman
who prays or
1
4
5
prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head,
since that is one and the same as having her head
shaved. 6 So if a woman’s head is not covered, her hair
should be cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to
have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should be
covered.
This text connects to a broader essay…



In this essay, Paul repeatedly corrects specific abuses
he has heard are occurring when they gather…
The driving application Paul comes back to
throughout this essay is the call to love one another &
build one another up…
Our interpretation of this text must fit with the flow of
the broader essay…
 If an interpretation stands outside of this flow, then the
burden of proof is on the one espousing this
interpretation.
This text connects to a broader essay…
In this essay, Paul repeatedly corrects specific abuses
he has heard are occurring when they gather…
The minority position (that women
 The driving application Paul comes back to
shouldthisNEVER
speak
when
the &
throughout
essay is the
call to love
one another
build one another up…
church
gathers) is hard to jive with
 Our interpretation of this text must fit with the flow of
call
for women prophets to
thethe
broader
essay…
 If an interpretation
stands outside of this flow, it
then
speak
with sensitivity...and
isthe
burden of proof is on the one espousing this
hard
to jive with the rest of the NT.
interpretation.

This text connects to a broader essay…



In this essay, Paul repeatedly corrects specific abuses
he has heard are occurring when they gather…
The driving application Paul comes back to
throughout this essay is the call to love one another &
build
one another
What
aboutup…
the majority position
Our(that
interpretation
of
this
text must
fit with the
flow of
this
is
really
saying
that
the broader essay…
should
notofteach)?
 If women
an interpretation
stands outside
this flow, then the
burden of proof is on the one espousing this
interpretation.
We need to read what this text says
and does NOT say…
“As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the
women should be silent in the churches, for they are
not permitted to speak, but should be submissive, as
the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn
something, they should ask their own husbands at
home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in
the church meeting.”
 Does
NOT say anything about teaching
 Does NOT say anything about leadership roles
Preliminary conclusion…
Therefore, we should throw out BOTH the
common minority & majority interpretations.
 Because
he can’t be telling all women in all places to
be totally silent in church meetings and ALSO be
telling women to pray aloud and prophesy
 Because he can’t be telling women never to teach and
ALSO be telling women to teach or prophesy
respectfully
 Because these verses say nothing about teaching, but
are referring to common speech
Preliminary conclusion…
Therefore, we should throw out BOTH the
common
minority
& majority
interpretations.
It DOES
say
women
should be
 Because
he can’t be telling all women in all places to
silent…submissive…and
if
trying
be totally silent in church meetings and ALSO be
telling
women tothey
pray aloud
and prophesy
to learn
should
ask their
 Because he can’t be telling women never to teach and
husbands at home.
ALSO be telling women to teach or prophesy
respectfully
 Because these verses say nothing about teaching, but
are referring to common speech
So what is Paul talking about?
Apparently, in addition to throwing off the
cultural hair & head covering norms discussed in
ch. 11, another problem was that some women
were distracting the meeting by badgering their
husbands with questions while someone was
teaching.
 Paul is in essence saying, “save your questions for
home instead of distracting the meeting.”

So what is Paul talking about?
Apparently, in addition to throwing off the
cultural
hair &
head largely
covering norms
discussed in
Women
were
uneducated
ch. 11, anotherstproblem was that some women
in
1
century
cultures.
were distracting the meeting by badgering their
husbands with questions while someone was
teaching.
 Paul is in essence saying, “save your questions for
home instead of distracting the meeting.”

So what is Paul talking about?
Apparently, in addition to throwing off the
cultural hair & head covering norms discussed in
ch. 11, another problem was that some women
Because
of
societal
norms,
men
&
were distracting the meeting by badgering their
women
werewhile
often
seated
husbands
with questions
someone
was
teaching.separately in meetings.
 Paul is in essence saying, “save your questions for
home instead of distracting the meeting.”

So what is Paul talking about?
Apparently, in addition to throwing off the
cultural hair & head covering norms discussed in
ch. 11, another problem was that some women
were distracting the meeting by badgering their
husbands
with questions
while someone
was
1st century
Roman
& Jewish
teaching.
cultures
both
were
very
strict
in
 Paul is in essence saying, “save your questions for
theirinstead
approach
to women
& their
home
of distracting
the meeting.”

public roles.
Does this interpretation jive?



Male & Female Prophets (be respectful & silent
when others are talking)
Male & Female Tongue-Speakers (be respectful
& silent if there is not interpreter)
Married Women (be respectful by waiting to ask
your husband questions later)
Application must be live-able…
The common minority interpretation has some
serious challenges.
 That means women can’t speak in casual
conversation if believers are gathered together.
 They can’t speak in order to teach and train
children and other women (which Titus 2:3-5
holds up as model behavior).
 They can’t speak by singing songs.
Application must be live-able…
The common majority interpretation has some
serious challenges.
 What
typically follows from this line of reasoning is an
endless list of arbitrary environments in which women
are permitted to teach or speak.
 The problem with this is that such a distinction is
unsupported by this text and foreign to the Bible.
 Thus, those that push for a literal (i.e. “just read what
the words say”) interpretation of these few words
seem to be trapped by their own methods.
So how do we apply vs. 34-35?





We all need to be sensitive to others around us as we
gather together in our meetings
We need to be sure we are not unnecessarily distracting
others in the way we interact in our meetings
We need to keep talking & dialoguing & learning outside
the meetings
Sometimes we need to scale back some of our freedoms
in Christ so as not to confuse or distract others
We need to seriously evaluate ourselves to be sure that
we are not unnecessarily restricting women’s roles in church
1 Timothy 2:8-15
8 Therefore,
I want the men in every place to pray,
lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.
9 Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest
clothing, with decency and good sense, not with
elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive
apparel, 10 but with good works, as is proper for
women who affirm that they worship God. 11 A
woman should learn in silence with full submission.
12 I do not allow a woman to teach or to have
authority over a man; instead, she is to be silent.
1 Timothy 2:8-15
13 For
Adam was created first, then Eve. 14 And
Adam was not deceived, but the woman was
deceived and transgressed. 15 But she will be
saved through childbearing, if she continues in faith,
love, and holiness, with good judgment.
Common Interpretation
This text teaches that a woman’s God-ordained
(and thus good) place is in the role of a submissive
complement to man. Women are equally valued
and loved by God, but they are just designed for
different roles within society and within the church.
She is not to have a position of authority over a
man because that is not God’s original design in
creation. Adam was created first, and then Eve
was created from him to serve as his
complementary helper. Women are not to have
Common Interpretation
authoritative leadership and teaching roles within
the church based on this reality, and also based
upon the fact that they have been more historically
prone to deception with regard to theological
issues. Some also maintain that women are
constitutionally incompetent to lead. Paul holds up
the case of Eve’s deception and fragility to support
this perspective once and for all. A woman’s
proper role is one of a nurturing and supportive
caregiver to her family and others. If she continues
Common Interpretation
along this path she will find joy and the fit she was
designed for. The curse in Genesis 3 states that this
role will come under attack. Being a wife and
mother will be difficult, and a woman’s desire will
be to rule over her husband. However, if her hope
is in Christ and she is committed to increasingly
becoming the woman she is designed to be, she will
experience salvation and fulfillment. Any
contemporary struggle with these roles comes from
our own desires to push against the order of
Common Interpretation
creation. These directives are not cultural, but are
trans-cultural and timeless since Paul goes back to
the original creation account to justify his position.
Problems with this interpretation?
It does not do justice to descriptions of women in
ministry in the surrounding context of the New
Testament.
 The
first person entrusted with proclaiming the reality
of the resurrection of Christ was a woman (Matthew
28:1-10; Luke 24:1-11; John 20:11-18).
 This was tremendously important content to
convey…and to convey to a group of men!
 “Yeah, but this is not talking about an ongoing
leadership or teaching role…”
Problems with this interpretation?



Mary came and conveyed her theological truth to
a gathering of the disciples – most of which seem
to have been men. God commanded her to do
this.
How is this gathering of disciples different than a
gathering of disciples at other times?
If they had officially called a “formal” meeting to
order, would God have restricted her from
conveying this truth to men?
Problems with this interpretation?


Is there something substantially different about
preparing a theological teaching that women can’t
handle, but somehow God thought they could
handle conveying one of the most difficult
theological truths in human history?
When would Mary have been considered
“teaching men” and when would she have been
“just sharing” with men in a non-authoritative
way?
Problems with this interpretation?
It does not do justice to descriptions of women in
ministry in the surrounding context of the New
Testament.
 The record of the growth of the early church includes
various women who were involved in leadership.
 Lydia and the church at Philippi (Acts 16:11-15,40;
Philippians 4:2-3)
 Priscilla (Acts 18:18-19,26; Romans 16:3; 1 Cor.
16:19).
 Big list of 10 women leaders sprinkled in Paul’s
farewell in Romans 16
Problems with this interpretation?
It does not jive well with other texts on this
issue.
1
Corinthians 11:2-16 & 14:34-35
 Titus 2:3-5 calls for women to invest in other
women and their children.
 If
women are too “deception prone” to teach men (who are
supposedly not as prone to deception), then why are women
entrusted with the task of teaching other women and children
(who are supposedly the most prone to deception)?
 Shouldn’t the men be entrusted with this monumental
task?
Problems with this interpretation?
It attributes to Paul a very suspect use of the Old
Testament.
 Is
Paul arguing that all women from Genesis 3 on have
been easier to deceive than men?
 If so, he seems to be reading into the text something
that is not there. The passage only teaches that Eve
was deceived. It never mentions that this deception
was or would become inherent to the feminine
gender for all time and in all places.
 This is a dangerous interpretive precedent to set…
Problems with this interpretation?
It attributes to Paul a very suspect use of the Old
Testament.
 Does
Genesis really teach that men are superior to
women?
 All that the text seems to say is that Adam was
created prior to Eve. Thus, Adam does have
priority, but not superiority.
Problems with this interpretation?
It attributes to Paul a very suspect use of the Old
Testament.
 Does
Genesis really teach that men are superior
leaders?
 God told Adam about not eating the fruit
 Adam was standing there silent while Eve was
deceived
 It took far less to deceive Adam into eating!!!
Problems with this interpretation?
It attributes to Paul a very suspect use of the Old
Testament.
If
this interpretation of God’s design is
correct, then God Himself directly ignored it
in the case of Deborah.
Problems with this interpretation?
Its applications and assumptions do not seem to
square with reality.
 Do
we actually experience women as more innately
deception prone than men?
 Has human history shown that men can somehow “see
through” deceptions because they are men?
 Are there not women who are gifted to teach and
who have some things to offer that the entire body of
believers would benefit from?
Problems with this interpretation?
It inappropriately mutes half of the creation that
God created to display His image to the world.
 Part
of what it means to be created “in the image
of God” is that humanity was created “male and
female” (Genesis 1:27).
Problems with this interpretation?
It inappropriately mutes half of the creation that
GodSo
created
to display
His image
to the
world.
what
is 1 Tim.
2:8-15
about?
Do
some
further
study!!!
 Part of what it means to be created “in the image
of God” is that humanity was created “male and
female” (Genesis 1:27).
Our current reality & invitation…
We are seriously wrestling with these issues as
an elder team (and have been for some time)
 We recognize that we are currently living
inconsistent with any of the interpretations
 We really are seeking to be sure not to restrict
the advancement of the Gospel
 We fully affirm that God has created us male &
female
