From the book, “What People Ask About The Church,” by Dale A. Robbins — 59 — This issue remains a controversial one in many churches and
denominations. It stems from two scripture passages written by the Apostle Paul, which are
frequently interpreted differently. In the first, Paul writes, "Let your women keep
silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be
submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their
own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church" (1 Cor.
14:34-35). Some churches interpret this to mean that Paul forbade women to speak publicly
or preach in the church. However, others contend that he used the Greek verb that
described "talk or chatter," and was only discouraging conversational
interruptions in the assembly. The tradition of the early church (synagogue) was that the
men and women sat on opposite sides, divided by a waist-high partition. There's
speculation that during the teaching, there was disruptive chatting between the women or
perhaps they asked questions of their husbands across the partition. The other passage written to Timothy is even more controversial.
Paul wrote, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to
be in silence [submission]" (1 Tim. 2:12). This is seen by some as an indisputable
restriction against women holding church positions of teaching or authority, but others
believe that Paul was speaking to a wife's domestic submission to the authority of her
husband. Whatever Paul meant, it apparently was not intended to be a sexist bias against
women, as he explained elsewhere that gender held no distinction to those in Christ.
"...there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal.
3:28). What is clear is that the broad context of the New Testament shows
that women did have a significant role in the early church. Besides continuing with the
Apostles in prayer, there were women, such as Phebe, whom Paul described as a deaconess
(Greek, DIAKONOS), a term which referred to an office of ministry (Rom. 16:1). And there
were other women, such as Philip's four daughters, who prophesied, proclaiming public
messages from God (Acts 21:8-9). Throughout church history, women have played a vital role in its success. Many a pioneer church, while in short supply of men, has relied upon the faithfulness of women to carry the load of prayer, ministry and other responsibilities. Today, women continue to play a great part in the success of church ministries. Many churches authorize women to teach, preach or even pastor churches, but there are others which still restrict their participation to non authoritarian positions. This article is copyrighted © by Dale A. Robbins, 1995, and is a publication of Victorious Publications, Grass Valley, CA 95949. Unless otherwise stated, all scripture references were taken from The New King James Bible, © Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.You may download for personal use as long as you retain credit to the author. Obtain permission before reproducing copies for any reason, by filling out our simple permission form. For media reproduction rights, or to obtain published quantities of this title, . |
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