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By Pastor Michael V. Johnson
"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."
~ 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
Paul makes a series of statements in these verses that have become the subject of heated debate among the Body of Christ. Discussion of these verses has become a point of contention for Women in Ministry, and a point to establish what is believed by Men in the Ministry to be Scriptural Fact.
The question is, "Does this particular Scripture hold true for the Women of the Church today, as it did for the Women of Corinth in 54 A.D. when the Apostle Paul penned this Epistle?"
Please produce Case, Point, and Scripture to answer the question. This will prevent this "Dialogue" from becoming a "Debate".
Let's talk!
Women’s gifts, talents and abilities should not be hindered in any way, shape or form. Women should be free to exercise ALL their gifts in ALL sectors of society. Women spend their time and money who have a sense of calling to preach only to be barred from that calling. It is a gross sin, especially for those who have spent years in training to live out that vocation.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re not a part of the denomination that supports this view, does that excuse you from acting like this evil don’t exist? YES, I said EVIL! Structural evil is the ecclesiastical ruling that keeps women from living out their calling, and poorer is the church that deprives women of their extraordinary gifts. Oppressive and hostile is what negates the claims that Christ was the great liberator of women. Those who push women out of church pulpits are denying them what is crucial to their identities as person. They are contributing to the dehumanizing of these women in ways that chauvinistic males are not likely to understand. Sexism is classified as what the Apostle Paul labeled, a “principality and power.”
Those who defend the practice of barring women from the preaching ministry of the church claim that they do so in obedience to the authority of Scripture. The infamous pieces of scriptural text are: 1 Corinthians 11; 1 Corinthians 14:33-35; 1 Timothy 2:11-12; and Galatians 3:28. Taking those verses at face value, those who use these Scriptures as “fact” claim them as a basis for barring women from their pulpits. It is my position that the Gospel does not change, but our perception of it may need revision! Yes, I said REVISION! Complementarians say that women can functions as missionaries but not as pastors. They base this off of Romans 16:7 and Philippians 4:2-3, which indicate that women did indeed function as missionaries. They believe that Paul celebrated women missionaries and also prohibited them from serving as pastors/overseers/elders. Complementarians argue that Egalitarians claim that there’s a direct contradiction of these texts, but some New Testament Scholars, such as Thomas R. Schreiner, claim that if there were any contradiction, that contradiction would exist in Paul himself, and no evangelical would want to say this. According to Schreiner, Paul was one who was moved by the Holy Spirit and he barred women from the pastoral office but permitted them to be missionaries. BUT, once the church was planted in a particular missions field, male leaders were appointed. This is a classic example of how women are dehumanized. Our gifts, talents and abilities are used to plant churches, but once the dirty work is completed, men step in and take over.
ReplyDeleteSo let us briefly revisit those infamous pieces of Scriptures that I’ve mentioned above to see if I assist on revising our perceptions:
ReplyDelete1. 1 Corinthians 11 DOES allow a woman to pray and prophesy provided that this activity does not dishonor her “head” (her husband; the situation of the unmarried woman is not clear). True, the passage said nothing about preaching, but it seemed legitimate to extend the scope of “prophesying” to cover this.
2. 1 Corinthians 14 forbade a woman to speak in church, but the passages was far from clear as to what kind of speaking was meant; moreover, it was not clear how a woman speaking in church today could be considered “disgraceful” or unseemly. When Paul said that women should learn in silence, he was saying simply that they should show respect when men were preaching and teaching and not interrupt them, as some women supposedly were doing similar to the problem at Corinth. These Corinthian passages seemed basically concerned to respect what was appropriate in contemporary society.
3. 1 Timothy 2 dealt with the way in which a woman might exercise some wrong kind of authority over a man (her husband? Or men generally?) by teaching or leadership. Again, I could not see that teaching or leadership necessarily had this character. I would grant that there are people who teach or exercise leadership because they are power-seeking rather than humble servants of God and his people, and yielding to this temptation can happen with both men and women; in both cases it is wrong. Paul, they claim, was concerned that the liberation of women had gotten out of hand and that the men who used to be the oppressors were themselves beginning to be oppressed.
4. Galatians 3:28 makes it clear that all believers are on the same level in the church, and there is no hierarchy that places all women below all men or every wife below her husband. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus!” The teaching in 1 Timothy 2 must have been for a special situation where teaching and leadership by women were causing temporary, local problems.
It is not though no women held key roles of leadership in the history of the church. In the church at Philippi, we find that Euodia and Syntyche filled significant leadership roles. In Romans 16:7, we read how Paul sends greetings to Junia, a woman who refers to as a fellow apostle. We read in Acts 18:26 that Priscilla was one of the person who instructed the young preacher Apollos about the work in the Holy Spirit. Speaking about the Holy Spirit and the book of Acts, there can be no question that, according to what the Bible states in Acts 2, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church on the Day of Pentecost had led to women receiving that call to preach:
ReplyDelete“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and DAUGHTERS will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men AND WOMEN, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
Thus we allow for the declaration that the gifts of the Spirit, which include preaching (1 Corinthians 12:8-11; Ephesians 4:11-12), were intended not only for men but for women to exercise as well.
Consequently, if there are women who have the gift of preaching, they OUGHT NOT to neglect their gift. To do so would be sinful, and those who perpetuate those institutional practices that keep women from exercising their gifts for preaching are, probably unconsciously, doing evil.
According to what Paul is recitng in the previous scripture, 1 corinth.14:34-35, it is to my understanding that he is quoting "law". Matthew 5:17 clearly states that Jesus came to fulfill the law which we couldn't keep. We are no longer bound by the law but live by grace. It's interesting Paul recites this law but rather had a missionary by the name of "Priscilla" who with her husband "Aquila" preached the Gospel with paul in different cities. (Acts 18) Isaiah 55:8 states "His ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts". God has called us all to be ministers of the Gospel, so who are we, pure man full of sin, to say who may or may not have a WORD. The Spirit of God flows through man and woman and we are not to withhold the word but therefore spread it. Ephesians 4:11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. There is no discrimination in who God gave these gifts to, but rather they were distibuted among those whom He sought fit to go and preach the word. God has the last say so and who are we to question His ways.
ReplyDelete1. We are living in a different dispensation (an exemption from a law) of time.
ReplyDelete2. When we oppress one, we are all oppressed. When we oppress someone (anyone), it could hold up something that maybe beneficial to the everyone as well as the oppressor.
3. Scripture tells us that in the last days, God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh Acts 2;17.
Those are some of my thoughts on it. : )
....also; Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them....Jer. 9:17 , listen to that command "Consider Now"......consider what is happening now, "call for the wailing women....God is raising up a woman with a word in her belly!!! Hey Glory, and I'm glad to be counted as one!!!!!
....also; Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them....Jer. 9:17 , listen to that command "Consider Now"......consider what is happening now, "call for the wailing women....God is raising up women with a word in her belly!!! Hey Glory, and I'm glad to be counted as one!!!!!
ReplyDelete