Silent Church Women Part 3

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

The Quotation Reading

The words found in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 are so problematic that many doubt their authorship even belongs to the Apostle Paul. The external and internal problems of these verses have even led some to believe that these verses were added MUCH later by a scribe, since if these seemingly contradicting verses are removed, the text reads much more smoothly. Here are the issues: these verses seem to contradict, not only the rest of the bible, but Paul himself, in multiple places, and in the very same letter (1 Corinthians 11:5, 12:4-11)! The style employed in these verses is utterly foreign to Paul’s writing style . The appeal to the “Law” to justify silencing women frankly does not exist anywhere in the Old Testament. No where in the Old Testament does any law or command require that women “subject themselves” by being “silent” in an assembly or while in public.

Walter C. Kaiser, author of Correcting Caricatures: The Biblical Teaching on Women notes:

“The problem simply put is this: nowhere in the whole Old Testament does it teach or even imply what is claimed here. Now law in the entire old testament, much less the Torah, can be cited to teach that a women ‘must be in submission’ and ‘remain silent’ and if she wants to know or ask about anything, she ’should ask [her own] husband at home.’ Women spoke freely in both testaments.”

When Paul actually does cite the Law or scripture to support his points, he immediately follows it by quoting the law he is referring to, as he does in 1 Corinthians 9:8-9, 14:21, 1:19, 1:31, 2:9, 3:19, 10:7, 15:45. For more in depth analysis of Paul’s consistent writing style and the “mystery law,” see the very thorough article by Dennis J. Preato at God’s Word To Women.

A growing number of scholars insist that 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is not the words of Paul at all, but that Paul is quoting the letter written to him from the church at Corinth and then promptly rebuking this degrading, legalistic notion in verses 36-38. Besides the fact that these verses contradict everything Paul has instructed the Corinthians up until this point AND there is NO SUCH LAW in the Torah or the entire Old Testament that requires women to be silent, there are other clues in the original manuscripts that support the quotation reading.

We must remember that ancient Greek did not have punctuation marks, so there is no such symbol that we can equate with how our quotation marks surround a quoted sentence. However, in many of the earliest manuscripts, there appears this greek symbol: η with a grave accent at the beginning of verse 36 to signal to the reader that the above statement is quoted.

Paul already informs the reader that he begins addressing “the things you wrote” back in chapter 7, verse 1. After Paul gives very thorough instructions on how to maintain order during worship gatherings, this bizarre verse appears and contradicts everything he has just instructed, followed by a peculiar, sharp rebuke in verses 36-38.

But if one reads verses 34-35 as a quote from the Corinthians and verses 36-38 as Paul’s response, suddenly the meaning becomes crystal clear and totally conducive to the rest of Paul’s letter: all members of the body participating in worship assemblies in peace and order. So Paul repeats this appeal from Corinth for the purpose of rebuking it, not to command a universal ruling that silences women in church.

It’s imperative to note that while there IS NO law in the OT that silences women, rabbinical “law” strictly forbade women to vocally participate in religious assemblies. Women were seen as obscene, deceitful, immoral, untrustworthy seductresses, whose only purpose was to make babies and serve men. Paul NEVER appeals to rabbinical law to establish universal mandates. Jesus spent most of his ministry openly defying and challenging such legalistic “laws” and “traditions” of the rabbinical Judaism. The early church experienced its fair share of Judaizers (Jews who converted to Christianity, but still believed it necessary to observe the purity codes and rabbinical laws/traditions). Judaizers insisted that converted Gentiles be circumcised, abandon eating idol-offered meat, observe Jewish Sabbaths, etc. Paul refutes all of these assertions made by Judaizers clinging to rabbinical tradition. Such is the case here; Paul quotes Judaizers in Corinth to reveal the hypocrisy in such a statement and then flatly contradicts it, even mocks it. Ironically, these verses used to silence women are actually part of Paul’s defense of a woman’s right to participate as full member of the body.

Bible Scholar Dennis J. Preato concurs that the “mystery law” cited here is from the irrelevant rabbinical laws:

These verses are best understood as a slogan or rabbinic saying based on the Jewish “oral law,” not the written word of God. Therefore, these verses cannot be used to prohibit women from pulpit ministry within the church.

Below is the entire passage from verses 26-40. Remember that the the word brethren (Greek word: adelphoi) is gender plural or gender inclusive, including both men and women. Read verses 34-35 as a quoted statement. This blew my mind the first time I did this.

What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.


But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

THE WOMEN ARE TO KEEP SILENT IN THE CHURCHES; FOR THEY ARE NOT PERMITTED TO SPEAK, BUT ARE TO SUBJECT THEMSELVES, JUST AS THE LAW ALSO SAYS. IF THEY DESIRE TO LEARN ANYTHING, LET THEM ASK THEIR OWN HUSBANDS AT HOME; FOR IT IS IMPROPER FOR A WOMAN TO SPEAK IN THE CHURCH.

Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only? If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.

The King James Version translates verse 36 as: “What? Came the word of God out from you? Or came it unto you only?”

The phrase “Did the word of God come to you only..” is believed to be a reference to Jesus’ first appearance to the women at the tomb, the first entrusted with the good news of His resurrection and the first commissioned to tell the male apostles about it! Basically, Paul’s point is that the word of God has come to all believers, so how dare they deprive the church body by silencing half its members.

J. Lee Grady points out:

“This strange response makes no sense if we believe that Paul penned verses 34 and 35. But if he is contradicting the statements made by the Judiazers at Corinth, then we can understand the definat tone of verse 36.”

Deciphering quotations seems to be a tricky task for bible translators. For instance, 1 Corinthians 6:12, 6:13 and 10:23 are marked as quotations in the NCV, NIV, NLT, and NRSV; but they are not shown with quotation marks in the ASV, KJV, NASB, and NKJV. These kind of discrepancies occur because of the lack of punctuation signals available in ancient Greek.

However, all the available evidence seems to point to these verses and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 being quotations that Paul is rebuking.

Theologian Kenneth S. Kantzer wrote:

“In 1 Corinthians 14, we are caught in an intricate interplay between quotations from a missing letter form the Corinthians and Paul’s solutions to the problems the letter had raised. The verse is clearly not repeating a law of Scripture and cannot be taken as a universal command for women to be silent in church. That interpretation would flatly contradict what the apostle had just said three chapters earlier.”

I believe this reading is the strongest and most logical choice for interpreting 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. I apologize for the lengthiness of this post, but it’s difficult to present the sound-bite version of a biblical interpretation most people are unfamiliar with and do it justice! When there are only 2 obscure and highly controversial verses in the entire new testament that seem to bar women from ministry and church participation, we must dig into the scriptures and examine all available evidence to clarify their true meanings.

Silent Church Women Part 2

 “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.”–Paul, 1 Corinthians 14:33-36.

The Original Language Reading

The original language reading of 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 leads to one of three options:

1. Paul is addressing all of the women (in that church or in every church) and forbidding them from interrupting the service with unnecesarry questions, rude chatter, or airing private family matters to shame their husbands, not from vocally participating in an orderly fashion.

2. Paul is addressing UNBELIEVING wives attending christian assemblies with their converted husbands, commanding that they are not to speak during the assembly, until they make a commitment to the faith.

3. Paul is addressing all women everywhere and commanding them to be in silence, no speaking at all during church gatherings.

One of the most important factors to understand when dealing with the original language of the bible, Greek in this instance, is that Greek (Paul is writing in the dialect of koine) has NO SPACES between words and NO PUNCTUATION MARKS. So CONTEXT is relied on very heavily to determine meaning and arrangement.

Most English translations contribute to all the confusion surrounding this passage by dropping the phrase “as in all the churches of the saints,” down to the beginning part of verse 34’s sentence: “the women are to keep silent…” However, “as in all the churches of the saints” is really the last part of verse 33. So, it should read: “God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints,” meaning that God wants peace and not confusion in ALL the churches. The New American Standard Version, praised for its very literal translation of the bible, rightly corrects this error that is found in most other translations.

Here are the key words from this passage and the transliterated Greek words they are translated from:

Silent = sigao

The = hoi/hai (feminine form used in these verses)
Speak = laleo

In = En

Church/churches = ekklesia

Women = gune

Disgraceful/shameful = aischros

Laleo (to speak) is used in its present infinitive form, therefore some argue it should be translated as “continually speaking up,” which would support the idea that Paul is silencing women who interrupt the assembly, forbidding a type of speech, not all women from speaking in the midst of the congregation. Paul is correcting chaos, not forbidding women from speaking in the assembly in an orderly fashion. The verse prior to Paul silencing women is ABOUT CONFUSION and apparently the lack of peace in this congregation. So the context here is order, not gender. If women where the ones causing confusion by interrupting the services (not oderly participating), then this sort of silencing not only makes sense, but fits the broader context.

Greek only as ONE word, gune, for women/woman and wife/wives, so the context has to determine when the word means which. In this particular instance, wives seems to make more sense, since the solution to answering their questions is having them ask their own husbands. If Paul meant all women, would he not appeal to fathers, brothers, and husbands to solve the problem of women’s questions? Nonetheless the word CAN mean either. So there is no definite proof either way whether Paul is addressing unbelieving wives, or women in general.

The Greek word “hai” translated in these verses as “the” can also be translated as “those.” The very same word is translated as “those” in Matthew 8:33, 9:12, 12:3 (NKJ).

Likewise, the Greek word “en” translated in these verses as “in” can also be translated as “among.” The very same word is translated as among in Matthew 2:6, 4:23, 16:8, and 20:26.

While ekklesia is the word that means church, it literally means “the called out ones” or “true believers,” more aptly the gathering of called out ones/true believers, both men and women. It does not refer to a building. It should be noted that when a person came to faith in the early church, they were immediately baptized to be recognized as members of the ekklesia. So could these to-be-silent women not have made a public commitment of faith yet, thus were not yet permitted to participate in the gatherings as part of the body and instead only learn in silence until they became members? It’s something to consider.

Taking alternate meanings of the key words into consideration, verses 33-35 could read:

For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the congregations of the saints. Those women (or wives) are to keep silent among the called out ones (or true believers); for they are not permitted to speak (continually speak up), but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home. For it is disgraceful for a (the) woman (or wife) to speak (continually speak up) among the called out ones (or true believers: both men and women).

Some argue that the last line is addressing one unbelieving woman in particular that keeps disrupting the ekklesia. It is argued that the church at Corinth wrote Paul about the situation of a pagan woman continually interrupting with false prophecies and incoherent, babbling utterances, as was custom among the surrounding pagan cults. Since the subject of “someone” saying “Jesus be cursed” is mentioned earlier in the letter (1 Corinthians 12:3), it is not that far fetched to conclude that their were indeed unbelievers attending the church at Corinth, and if they were unbelieving wives, it can be easily seen why Paul would command their silence.

Others argue that these verses are just a matter of manners, telling women (who have never before been able to learn the things of God) to be attentive to those speaking, and not to talk amongst themselves, interrupt with constant unlearned questioning, and yelling across the room to their husbands to clarify for them what is going on.

The Problems:

The fact remains, that outside of the phrase “as in all the churches of the saints” being dropped down to appear as the first part of verse 34, this really isn’t concretely a case of mistranslation, but of key words retaining a variety of meanings. Hardcore complementarians can just as easily argue for the “traditional” reading that exists in most modern versions and not technically be wrong. Although, they cannot claim certainty in the least.  They may have to backpedal and qualify a lot of other verses to avoid contradictions, but the original words themselves, could render either reading.

Even if one subscribes to the alternate readings, it does not account for Paul’s uncharacteristic reference to the mystery “Law,” (further explanation in next post). Although, a possibility is the many laws in the OT (as well as Paul’s instructions in other NT letters) that unbelievers are not to have “fellowship” with believers. THis does not mean, believers should not associate with nonbelievers, but that unbelievers should not be afforded the same particiption within the BODY as believers. This could be the “law” Paul is reffering to here. However, this alternate reading does little to explain the sharp, puzzling statements that follow in verses 36-38. We haven’t touched on these verses yet, but will explore them in the next post.

For a more indepth look at the original language AND entire context of 1 Corinthians see “Let the Women Keep Silent in the Churches” by Dianne McDonnell.

If one fuses the original language options with the cultural and historical factors, it makes a strong case for this verse NOT being an all-time, universal command to silence all women from publicly speaking during church gatherings.

The next post will explore The Quotation Theory. This is my personal understanding of this bizarre passage.

Silent Church Women Part 1

“As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 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.” –Paul, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.

The Cultural/Historical Reading

For all my talk about the importance of understanding the cultural and historical context of a passage, I actually find this interpretation to be the weakest. I do think these cultural aspects enhance the reasoning and relevance for such a verse, but it’s not enough to discredit the notion that women should remain silent and that it is “shameful” for a woman to speak in church.

First, the context of 1 Corinthians as a whole is a letter written by Paul to the church at Corinth, which was in real trouble. They were unruly, disorderly, chaotic, and angrily disputing with one another. Some were even pitting teachers against each other. Paul calls them “worldly” and still “infants” in the faith (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). The letter is answering specific problems within that church. The first half deals with situations relayed to Paul through members of Chloe’s household (1 Corinthians 1:11) and the second half deals with specific issues the church at Corinth inquired about in a letter to Paul (1 Corinthians 7:1). Since we only have Paul’s answers and not the letter from Corinth, we can only “read between the lines” as to what those questions were. Biblical scholars like to say that the letters of Paul are akin to listening to one side of a telephone conversation. I think that is an apt description.

Most early churches met in homes, and many still segregated the men and women. This was a LONG standing tradition in Judaism, and since Christianity was seen as Judaism’s offspring, that tradition (along with others) crept into the early church. Nonetheless, women had never before been so included during religious meetings. The Holy Spirit fell on all believers at Pentecost and all believers were expected to contribute to church meetings for the common good and building up of the church (1 Corinthians 14:26). Some would prophesy, some would pray, some would sing, some would give a teaching, some would give instruction or a word of knowledge, some would edify the body, and so forth. Gifts are distributed according to the Holy Spirit and not according to gender, and if one had a gift, one was expected to use it in the midst of the entire body (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

We must remember that women previously under Judaism and previously under pagan religions were rarely afforded this kind of participation in religious services, so most were uneducated. Greek women stopped receiving any formal education when they got married, which was between the ages of 12 and 14! Pagan religions featured temple prostitutes and female prophets that uttered unintelligible babbling, but this was not the kind of participation expected in the christian church. So believing women in the church, though filled with the Spirit, did not have the same training under “The Law” as most of the men did. Based on some other early writings of this time, many scholars believe that the women let this new found liberty go to their heads and got out of hand by interrupting the meetings with unnecessary, UNLEARNED questions, talking over others, all prophesying at once, and so forth. And since women were still seated away from the men, it is supposed that they were yelling across the room to ask their husbands about what was happening or being said. This makes sense since the language of the “lay people” was a certain dialect in Greek and usually religious meetings used a formal dialect, that was hardly taught to women. So the “silence” command was not so much about gender, but keeping order.

Others believe wives were airing their dirty laundry during services, revealing all their personal problems with their husbands. It does seem strange that the first part of the verse is translated as “women” remaining silent and then the latter solution is that they should ask their own husbands. What about women who were unmarried? So this inappropriate “sharing” could be the case.

And yet others believe that Paul is addressing UNBELIEVING women who attend meetings with their believing husbands, who obviously would not be permitted to participate in a vocal manner until they became believers.

Although Corinth was a city IN the Roman Empire, it was Greek by culture. In Greek culture, woman had it even worse than in Jewish culture. The only women seen and heard in public were the cultured prostitutes, called hetaira. There were also pagan prophetess, administering sexual temple rituals and preaching pagan religions. But women by and large were considered inferior on every level: mental, physical, and spiritual.

Dianne McDonnell, from Church of God in Texas, points out:

The “keep silent” admonition was written to a church at Corinth that was a short forty mile boat ride away from the world famous Oracle at Delphi. At this temple women priestesses uttered babble which was interpreted and presented as messages from a pagan god. In 1 Cor, Chapter 12, Paul introduces the subject of “spiritual gifts” and then he reminds church members they were once running after dumb idols themselves.

Some believe Paul was being sensitive to the culture surrounding the Corinthian Church. Since Christianity was still an “infant” religion, unestablished and unknown to the culture at large, then if women were publicly speaking, they could easily be mistaken for the hetaira and Christianity would be seen as just another sect that offered temple prostitution to commune with the gods.

 

For more info on the cultures of Paul’s time, see A Tale of Two Cultures By James R. Payton Jr.

While all of the scenarios briefly covered above are plausible, they are highly speculative. I think the original language study and quotation reading offer a much clearer and precise understanding of this verse. Even though I find these insights into the culture beneficial and revealing, I do not think it is enough to clarify the meaning of the passage in question. The passage is phrased too broadly and universally to be based solely on culture. Calling it shameful for women to speak in church and appealing to The LAW is strong language that cannot be dismissed based solely on the situation and culture of the Corinthian Church.

Even if Paul is only telling Corinthian church women to be silent because of some cultural factors, it still flatly contradicts what he has written just a few verses AND a few chapters earlier.

So, unless one believes Paul would contradict himself right in the same letter, telling all believers to pray and prophesy in the church and encouraging all to use their gifts in front of the entire church, we have to conclude that there is more to this verse than meets the eye.

When Literalists Ain’t So Literal

Christians who pride themselves on being “biblical literalists,” taking the bible for what it says at face value, seem to ignore or give little credence to the very literal translation errors that have crept into English/Western versions of the bible that differ from the earliest Greek manuscripts. Many of these mistranslations conveniently pertain to gender language, in effect building the case for women to be restricted in ministry.

At least with hardcore-complementarians, the reasoning remains the same throughout their biblical interpretation process: the bible, as we know it in English, had divine direction and therefore, can be read at face value without worry.

But moderate-complementarians run into a bit of a problem. By moderate-complementarians, I mean Christians who believe only men should lead the church, teach the assembly, and lead in their homes, BUT believe women may participate in the services, as long as they are not perceived has “having authority.” So, a woman may get up and read a scripture, but she may not teach on it. A woman may get up and sing a song, possibly even lead a song. Women may pray aloud in the presence of men and even share testimonies. While I appreciate this more “liberal” approach, the issue of consistent biblical interpretation becomes problematic. For instance, a purely “literal reading” of 1 Corinthians 14:34:35 does not allow any of the aforementioned lenience.

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.”–Paul, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

There are really only two verses in the bible that would appear to outright bar women from public ministry and holding positions of “authority,” such as church leaders, church planters, pastors, preachers, evangelists, elders, and deacons: 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 (if read literally in English, this verse would silence women altogether: no speaking, no vocal praying, no singing…. ) and 1 Timothy 2:11-12. Sometimes Ephesians 5 is thrown in for good measure. But even if one takes the view that the husband has all the authority over the wife in the marriage relationship, this hardly places all women under the authority of all men in the church! Nonetheless, it is these verses upon which the complementarian position hangs and the verses through which they interpret the rest of the bible: the creation account, Jesus’ ministry, Deborah not being God’s best, etc. etc. ( I am speaking here of complementarian scholars, I do not presume to know how each individual complementarian approaches the bible…)

Now, across-the-board complementarians have no problem with reading the above mentioned verses literally, at face value, with no qualification, or contextualization, for that matter. They certainly have no qualms about prohibiting women from teaching/preaching/evangelizing/leading, and women’s overall public silence is just an added bonus.

But for the moderate-complementarian, this just doesn’t seem right. So, most moderate complementarians have opted for a little more “in-depth” interpretation when it comes to 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. They argue that this verse does not completely silence women in public church meetings or other mixed gatherings, was never really meant to be applied universally, or was never really meant to silence all women at all times.

Since the text ITSELF does not provide any of these convenient “qualifiers” or hints at a “temporary” instruction, moderate-complementarians refer back to the original language, appeal to the larger context of the verse, and what was happening culturally and historically at the time. Once it becomes clear, based on THOSE factors (not the text itself mind you), that Paul never intended to completely silence women, they feel justified in allowing women to vocally participate in public church meetings, as long as women are not leading or teaching men. Phew! right?

But the methods they use to come to this very logical conclusion about 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 are THE EXACT same methods they criticize and denounce egalitarians for using when applied to 1 Timothy 2:11-12 or Ephesians 5! They say things like: “You’re reading things into the bible,” “You’re over thinking it,” ” You’re using outside sources to determine meaning,” “You’re not just taking the text for WHAT IT PLAINLY SAYS,” “History and culture are irrelevant and unreliable,” “If the Bible is inspired, then that inspiration should have carried over with each translation”.  I can accept all of these arguments from hardcore, across-the-board complementarians, because at least they are consistent in their reading of the scriptures: all “command” passages are all literal, all-time binding, and can be taken at face value without qualification. But moderates who adhere to a “deeper” reading of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, while fancying themselves “biblical literalists,” is a bit of a head scratcher. What’s the old saying? Oh yes: Moderate-complementarians who live by glass hermeneutics should not throw stones. OK, now I’m just being snarky.

So, I would like to remind my moderate-complementarianish friends that if they believe 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 means anything other than completely silencing women in church gatherings, they have arrived at this interpretation through similar methods that egalitarians employ to arrive at alternate interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and Ephesians 5.

Now, on to business. :)

Before delving into whether or not it is allowable for a woman to teach/preach/lead in the presence of men, we must establish whether or not a woman is biblically permitted even to speak at all during church gatherings. So, the next three posts will be devoted to exploring 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and the verses around it.

There are MANY different interpretations of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, and biblical scholars rank this verse within the top three hardest passages in scripture to interpret. Not because the meaning is unfavorable, but because nearly two-thirds of the surviving Greek manuscripts place these verses in entirely different places! Also, the language, syntax, and style seem to be uncharacteristic, inconsistent, and contradictory with Paul’s other writings. The next three posts will present the following interpretations of this difficult passage:

1. The Cultural/Historical Reading

2. The Original Language Reading

3. The Quotation Theory

I personally find the third interpretation to be the most plausible. But we’ll see what you guys think. I’m breaking this up into three posts so I can thoroughly explain each position and avoid overlapping confusion between them. Letters of Paul, here we go!