Women: A Biblical Perspective
11/30/1997 - The Writings of Paul
This morning we approach two of the toughest texts in the entire New Testament. Two passages written by the Apostle Paul that have stumped the world's greatest Bible teachers for almost two thousand years. Two passages that seem to undermine much of what we've been saying thus far in this series on women.
The two texts I'm referring to are found in 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Corinthians 14. And what I'd like to do today is examine these passages and surface the difficult issues that relate to our discussion on the role of women in the church.
All along I've said that there are respected Bible teachers and Christian leaders who disagree on the role of women in the church. And that disagreement is best seen in the various interpretations of these two passages. So I'm not looking for consensus today. I'm just asking that we all keep an open mind and allow the Scriptures to be our final authority on this issue.
So far in this series we've concluded that God created the man and the woman equal in his image. He did not create the man to be superior to the woman or the woman to be superior to the man. In fact, they were commanded to rule over God's creation together. Yet the invasion of sin into God's perfect world changed all of that.
As a result of one bite of the atomic apple, Adam became subject to the ground from which he was taken and Eve became subject to Adam from which she was taken. And life was never the same again. That was not God's original intent, but like death itself, it was the devastating fall out of sin. God did not create Adam and Eve to die. He created Adam and Eve to live. God did not create Adam to rule over Eve. He created Adam and Eve to rule together.
Throughout the Old Testament we saw how that domination was expressed. The man went from being an equal partner with the woman, to being a ruler of the woman, to being the ruler of many women in polygamous marriage, to being an owner of many women with harems of wives and concubines. And God hated it! So he wrote the Law of Moses to control some of the abuses of women.
By the time Jesus entered the scene the status of women had sunk to an all time low. In the nation of Israel, women were not even treated as human beings. They were owned by their husbands like he owned his sheep and his goats. Women had no education, they had no rights, they could make no decisions, they could express no opinions, and they weren't even talked to in public.
Yet Jesus came to change all that! He came to change it by treating women as equals, as persons created in the image of God. He related to them on the basis on Genesis 1 and 2, not Genesis 3. And he founded a church where women were to be treated as equals and partner with men to do the work of God.
Throughout history God has affirmed the value of women by raising them up to various roles of leadership. Women like Miriam, Deborah and Huldah led Israel in the Old Testament. Women like Phoebe, Priscilla and Junia used their spiritual gifts to lead the church in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul worked shoulder to shoulder with women, counted on women, and commended them for it.
So why would Paul say things like the head of the woman is the man in 1 Corinthians 11:3 or women should remain silent in the churches in 1 Corinthians 14:34? Lifted out of their context and taken by themselves it looks like a no brainer? Slam dunk! Men are to be in authority over women and women are not to talk in church. Not to teach. Not to preach. Not to pray. Not to prophesy. Not to sing or give a testimony. End of discussion. Is that what Paul means in these two passages?
If so, how does that harmonize with the passages of Paul that seem to give equal access to women in ministry? We know that the spiritual gifts are genderless. Women can have the gift of teaching, leadership and prophecy. And these gifts were meant to be expressed in the church. We also know that Paul said in Galatians 2:28 that, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. The distinctions that stratify men and women outside the church are not to be brought inside the church and segment the community.
So is Paul contradicting himself? Can women speak in church or not? Some wouldn't even attempt to wrestle with these passages. They'd say that they're a mistake or not part of the Word of God. But because of our commitment to the absolute authority of Scripture we can't do that. We don't believe Paul made a mistake or contradicted himself. Nor do we have the luxury to pick and choose the passages we want to believe. All Scripture is inspired by God, so there must be a way to harmonize these tough texts with all we've learned up to this point.
So let's take a look at them one at a time. Turn to 1 Corinthians 11:3-16, Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is just as though her head were shaved. 6 If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. 7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. 11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice--nor do the churches of God.
Did everybody get that? Is that all clear? Can we move on to the next one?! First, let's set the context. In 1 Corinthians 11, the Apostle Paul is launching into a four chapter section that deals with worship etiquette. It's about how to behave in church. In fact, in my Bible this section is titled "Propriety in Worship." If you know anything about the Corinthian church, you know that they were a wild bunch. They were the most immature of all the churches that Paul started and when they came together their meetings were got pretty chaotic!
So Paul's concern in this section is that their public meetings be conducted in a fitting and orderly way. In fact, those are the very words he uses to sum up this section in 1 Corinthians 14:40 where he says, But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. That's the context of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16.
And now I'd like to make three observations from this passage that relate to our study on women. First, its clear that Paul is speaking about a mixed gathering of the church because he addresses men and women in these verses. And it's also clear that women were permitted to speak in these mixed gatherings. They were permitted to pray and to prophecy. To prophecy meant to deliver a message from God to the congregation. Look at verse 5, And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is just as though her head were shaved.
In this passage, the issue was not whether a woman could pray or prophecy in church. Which obviously involves speaking in the church meeting. The issue was that she do it properly, in a fitting and orderly way. And for her to do it properly, in that culture, meant having her head covered. So our first observation is that a woman could speak in a mixed gathering of the church as long as her head was covered.
Our second observation has to do with head coverings. What is this business about a woman covering her head? Some have taken this passage to mean that women should wears hats, scarves, or veils on their heads during the public meeting of the church. Yet, nowhere in the Greek text do we find a word that can be translated hats, scarves, or veils.
Because of that others believe that the covering Paul is talking about is a woman's long hair. In verse 15 he says, For long hair is given to her as a covering. A woman's long hair should be put up on top of her head as a covering to somehow symbolize she has authority from God to speak as it says in verse 10, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.
Still other scholars suggest that Paul was simply saying that in the church the sexes need to be distinct. Corinth was the Sodom and Gomorrah of the Roman world. It was Sin City with a capital "S." It was filled with prostitution and all kinds of sexual perversion and confusion. But that can't exist in the church. So Paul wants men to look like men and women to look like women. And in that culture hair length and hairstyle were a big part of sexual identity. In that culture prostitutes wore their hair down, Paul wants women to wear their hair up as a statement of moral purity.
All this to say that there is a lot of disagreement over this business of head coverings. However, one thing on which most scholars would agree is that this was an issue confined to that culture and that day, not a universal principle for the church for all time. Very few scholars would argue that a woman needs to cover her head today. And only few churches practice it.
The third observation has to do with the apparent hierarchy that Paul makes in verse 3 when he writes, Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. God, Christ, Man, Woman. For many this verse IS the slam dunk. Paul is saying that the man is over the woman just like God is over Christ. Case closed. But let me call a time out right now and say "Wait a minute!" Is that really what this verse is saying?
Is God really over Christ? Isn't the Trinity our model of equality, mutuality and community? It would be heresy to say that Christ is "weaker" or somehow "lower" than the Father because the Bible teaches that they are one. The Scriptures don't teach that the Father rules over the Son and the Son rules over the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures do teach that the Son submitted himself to his Father's will for a time in order to accomplish salvation. But the Scriptures also teach that the Father will one day give the reign of his whole Kingdom over to his Son. So if anything, we see a kind of mutual submission within the Trinity.
Which is why some scholars don't interpret "head" in this verse to mean "boss." Instead they interpret "head" to mean "source" or "origin" like the headwaters of a river are the source or origin of that river. "Source" is a viable meaning for the Greek word "head" here.
So they would take a chronological view, not a hierarchical view of this passage and say that Christ was the source of man at his creation, man was the source of woman at her formation, and God the Father was the source of Christ at his incarnation. They appeal to verses 11 and 12 to support this emphasis on interdependency, 11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
In the Lord, Paul is saying, there is a leveling effect. The woman may have been created from the man. But since then, every man has come from a woman. And yet everything comes from God. So interdependency and mutuality under the authority of God is what should characterize those who are in the Lord. Can you appreciate the difficulty of interpreting this passage?
To sum up, let me say that its obvious from 1 Corinthians 11 that women could speak in a mixed gathering of the church. They could pray and prophesy. They just needed to do it the right way, with their head covered. And that was most likely a cultural practice. And that "head" could mean that the man is over the woman. But it could also mean that the man is the source of the woman. Either way, Paul seems to be stressing the interdependence and mutuality that exists between men and women in the Lord.
The second passage we need to look at is also found in this four chapter section of 1 Corinthians. Turn the page to 1 Corinthians 14:31-35, For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, 34 women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35 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.
Again, Paul's concern is for order in the meetings of the church. He wants the men and women who have the gift of prophecy to take their turn instructing the congregation. He doesn't want them to interrupt one another or speak over top of each other.
The difficulty with this passage is that Paul says women should remain silent in the churches and that it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. That's pretty strong language, especially when Paul said a few paragraphs earlier, in 1 Corinthians 11, that women can pray and prophesy in church. They just need to do it properly. A strict reading of this passage would not only keep women from praying and prophesying in church, but from giving testimonies like we heard last week, or singing up front or in the congregation like we do every week. So what's the solution?
The speaking I think Paul is referring to here is not prayer, not prophecy, not teaching, singing or giving testimonies. The speaking I think that Paul is addressing here is the kind of speaking that would disrupt a church meeting. Remember in that culture women were not educated. They had little, if any, background in the Bible and so they were filled with questions, good questions. And they were reveling in the fact that they could finally be taught the Scriptures. So they were interrupting the teaching of the Word with their questions. Great questions but not appropriate to be asked in a large public meeting.
So Paul specifically asks the women to stop asking their questions in church and to instead ask their own husbands at home who were more educated in the Scriptures . It's a disgrace for a woman he says and a man, for that matter, to speak in a disruptive way in the church. All our learning should be done with a submissive spirit. Women are singled out here, again, because in that culture with their limited education they had lots of questions and were being too vocal with them in the church meeting. The questions they had weren't the problem, the timing was.
Another difficulty with this passage is that Paul appeals to the Law in verse 34 as his reason why women should be silent. Yet nowhere in the Law of Moses is there a command that women must be silent in worship. His reference to the law here may be a reference to the tradition of the rabbis who did have strict prohibitions against women. But God never said women should be silent in worship. You can't find that in the Old Testament.
To sum up then the silence Paul is talking about here does not have to do with praying, prophesying, teaching, singing, or giving testimonies. It has to do with not disrupting the public meeting of the church with questions that can be answered in another setting. That goes for women and for men.
There is one other passage in the New Testament written by Paul that seems to limit the participation of women in the church. It is found in 1 Timothy 2. Again, to that congregation in Ephesus, Paul says, A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. I thought about tackling that one today, but I think enough is enough. So we'll leave that one for next week.
In conclusion let me end with a quote by Mary Evan's from her book Woman in the Bible that I've come to agree with,"Thus Paul, in these two passages in 1 Corinthians where the position of woman in worship is considered, shows clearly that sexual differentiation is part of God's creation, and rejects any false identification of the sexes. A woman will worship as a woman, and a man will worship as a man. Nevertheless, there is very little to suggest that Paul advocated specific differences in the activities of men and women as such when the church met together for worship." (Grenz, Women in the Church, p. 125)
In the church, men remain men and women remain women. Yet, I don't believe these passages in 1 Corinthians are meant to limit equal participation of men and women in the church.