Voiceless seems to be the term that sums up the current issue surrounding women in the Church (for more on this see my previous post He gives her a voice). We are there but we are not heard. We are present in the pews but not in the pulpit. We can teach children’s church, but God forbid we preach the Gospel to a grown man. For anyone who has grown up in a conservative denomination, as I did, knows that this is normal. We are used to the limitations put on women, because that’s just how it is. But why is it this way? Is this really what God intended? We assume the Bible says that women cannot preach or lead because that is what has always been done. This thinking is buried so deep under layers of cultural tradition that it can be hard to discern the truth of God’s Word anymore, but that’s exactly what I want to do.
So where does this voiceless teaching come from? If you are not already familiar with it, this verse is one of the most controversial verses on the topic which we are going to dive into today.
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 Corinthians 14:34-35
Let’s begin with context. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. They are Greek believers, many of whom have come out of goddess worship. As I have said before, and will say again, Paul was writing to a specific church, in a specific time. He was not speaking universally to all women for all of time to keep silent. He was addressing certain women who were being disorderly during the church service (in a later post I will touch on the female led religions of that time which may have played a role in this) In fact in this very same letter (1 Corinthians 11:5) Paul refers positively to women praying and prophesying in church!
Understandably, people read this verse in English translations and it seems straightforward. Paul says women cannot speak in church, end of story. Actually no, let’s take a deeper look.
There are two main theories which scholars debate about on this topic and both of which do not condemn women to silence. It all comes from a little Greek symbol η used in the letter. The first use of this symbol indicates the author is quoting from another source. This would mean this whole verse is a quote from the Judaizers (Christians who believed it was necessary to adopt Jewish customs and law) within the Corinthian Church, and not Paul’s words at all. Most likely this source would be the previous letter he received from the Corinthian church. This is very common in Paul’s letters for him to quote from previous letters regarding the churches questions and concerns. The evidence for this theory lies in, “as the law also says.” The next logical question is, what does the law say about this? The answer is NOTHING! There is no law from Genesis to Malachi that says women must keep silent. Nor is there a single word in the entire law of Moses that refers to this subject. The only thing they could be talking about is the Jewish Rabbinical law, such as the Talmud. The Talmud served as a book of laws for the Jews to keep, which were not inspired, but written by religious leaders. This would refer to such quotes in the Talmud as, “It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men.”
Another note on this, Paul never referred to the law as the governing source of the Church. On the contrary Paul said that they had, “died to the law through the body of Christ” (Romans 7:4). So if Paul says we have been liberated from the law, how could he appeal to it? Also, further down in verse 31, he says, “you can all prophesy one by one.” This is in direct contradiction to being silent! All means all, men and women.
The other meaning of the aforementioned symbol η is an “expletive dissociation.” Which translates to the equivalent of, “what?!” or “no way!” This would mean instead of condemning women to silence as most believe, Paul is saying the exact opposite! He goes on to say, “was it from you that the word of God came?” He is disagreeing with their ridiculous request that women must remain silent in church, according to the “law” which is not the law of God, but men.
This breaks down the verse like this: The quote from the Corinthian church is, “the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn let them ask their husbands at home. For it shameful for a woman to speak in church” (vs. 34-35) End of quote. Paul's response: (Expletive dissociation) “What?! No way?! Was it from you (men) that the word of God came? Or are you (men) the only ones it has reached?” (vs.36).
Paul was likely referring to the day of Pentecost when “the Spirit was poured out on all flesh.” On that day Peter wrote that it was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel, “In the last days it shall be God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17). In this new dispensation of the Spirit the Word of God came from God, (not man) to men and women.
These are the main points, but just to drive the point home even further, consider this. In 1 Corinthians 7:8 Paul tells women it is better not to marry. If women are supposed to wait and talk to their husbands at home, what are the single women supposed to do? How can this be a universal command? If this does not apply universally, how does women not speaking apply universally? 1 Cor 7 Paul urges women to remain unmarried, why is that not universal? Hab 2:22 “Let all the earth keep silent” - why is that not universal? I could go on, but I think you get my point. The holes are many in the attempt to silence women in the church.
This was a heavy post, and I was just skimming the surface of the research done on this topic by scholars that go into much further detail. So to summarize here are my conclusions:
1 Corinthians 14 is NOT a universal command for women to keep silent. Strong evidence points to Paul quoting those words to begin with, and then heartily disagreeing with the notion of women's silence. For this reason I believe women CAN speak and preach in Church and the Bible does nothing to hinder her otherwise.
I look forward to continuing this topic in a later post. Thank you for reading, and please reach out with questions and comments!
