Are women to remain silent in the church?

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 cannot be used legitimately to prohibit women who are called, gifted, and qualified from exercising a ministry which includes public speaking. Paul did not silence the Corinthian women who prophesied and prayed aloud in church meetings.

New Testament women prophesied (Acts 2:18; 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5).

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”

This verse has been used over the years to cause division and hurt in churches. Churches have split over this verse.

Sadly, few understand why this verse is in their Bible and its proper application.  Understanding the context of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians will help us get a better grasp of its content.

The first letter from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians is a response to a letter he received concerning problems in the church. In several places within the letter, Paul is quoting what the Corinthian leaders have said and responding to their errors.

For example, in 1 Corinthians 10:23, the KJV says, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. “

The CEV and NLT translate the same verse, “ Some of you say, “We can do whatever we want to!” But I tell you not everything may be good or helpful.”

The big difference is the CEV and NLT show clearly that Paul was responding to claims the Corinthian leaders were making.

In 1 Corinthians 6:13, the New International Version (NIV) says, “You say, ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.’ ” And Paul responds to this claim, “The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”

The KJV says in 1 Corinthians 15:32-33 “If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die. 33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

Paul’s words only makes sense if we notice the quotes being used—first from Epicurus, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die,” and second from Menander, “Evil communications corrupt good manners.”

The Corinthians had been influenced by the thinking and philosophy of the Epicureans. Paul had to correct their misconceptions.

The Epicurian dictum noted above is a prime example. Since the philosophers of the time also believed in the immortality of the soul, they argued that the body was merely a vessel for the much more important soul.

Many in the church were living lasciviously, saying how you lived in the flesh was not important since God would destroy the flesh. Only your spiritual condition was important in their thought. Paul exposes their error by quoting them and refuting their assertion.

The KJV merely says, “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.”

The KJV is not wrong in its translation, but because the Greek language does not have quotation marks, it is not always obvious where Paul is quoting the Corinthians’ statements and where he is responding. The modern translators have added the “you say” and quotations to help the reader understand this.

There are several places in the first letter to the Corinthians where Paul is doing this including 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.

“Modern interpreters recognize that Paul cites the Corinthians’ own words in trying to conform their thinking and behavior to the wisdom of the cross.” —David Garland, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University

“Watson and Culy have written a very interesting and timely volume on 1 Corinthians that advances our understanding of both how quotations were indicated and functioned in the ancient world and how Paul and the Corinthians were dealing with issues of ancient and contemporary relevance. This is a volume that will be attractive to New Testament scholars and to those simply interested in the issues discussed.” —Stanley E. Porter, President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament, McMaster Divinity College

At first glance, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 seems clear: women are not permitted to talk in congregational meetings and must be silent. This is the stance that many have taken throughout much of the Church’s history.

“From Tertullian to Thomas Aquinas, commentators concluded that women could not even sing or pray audibly among men. Although the Reformers relaxed some of these restrictions, as late as the 1890s certain Presbyterians still forbade women’s singing in the context of church worship.” (Grenz 1995:121)

When the church began on the Day of Pentecost, women, as well as men, came into it in great numbers (Acts 5:14). There were no distinctions made in conditions of membership between the sexes. Furthermore, the importance of women to the whole church is reflected by the concern which the early church had for widows who needed care and help (Acts 6:1-6).

The good works of women are frequently mentioned in Scripture. Dorcas is cited as an example of faithful, loving service (Acts 9:36-39).

Lydia is shown to be a woman of great hospitality, “constraining” Paul and his company to abide in her house (Acts 16:1-15). Phoebe is described as a “servant of the church that is in Cenchreae” (Romans 16:10).

1 Cor 14:26 “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”

Silence is called for three times in 1 Corinthians 14: in verses 28, 30 and 34.[5] In 1 Corinthians 14:28 and 30, silence is called for in specific situations to regulate congregational contributions to the meetings. (The “silence” in verses 28 and 30 is not gender specific.)

It is very likely that the silence called for in verse 34 is also addressing a specific situation and is not meant to be a blanket statement to silence all women for all time in church meetings.

In fact, Paul’s intention could not have been to silence women at all times during church meetings. In 1 Corinthians 11:5 Paul acknowledges, without disapproval, that women prophesied and prayed aloud in church.

Paul not only approved of praying and prophesying by women in the assembly but he encouraged it! Reading 1 Corinthians 11:10 with the literal, active voice (“has authority”) instead of the presumed, passive voice (“sign of authority”), Paul states that a woman has authority (has the right!) to pray and prophesy. (Hicks 1990)

If Paul condones verbal ministry from women in chapter 11 it is very unlikely that he censures it in chapter 14.

Notice what follows 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. “What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:36-40

The Greek reads in verse 36, ” 36 ἢ ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐξῆλθεν, ἢ εἰς ὑμᾶς μόνους κατήντησεν; ”

Notice the ”  ἢ  .”  According to Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, ἢ  means nonsense. ἤ (B), an exclamation expressing disapproval, ἢ ἢ σιώπα Ar.Nu. 105; ἢ ἤ· τί δρᾶς; E.HF906 (lyr.), cf. Suid.

Greeks use the symbol ἢ to indicate the refutation of the previous passage. This is used many times by Paul to show that the previous statement is false and gives his opinion after it. In English translations it should be translated as ‘Nonsense!’.

For example, 1 Cor. 6:1,2 “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? (Nonsense eta) Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?“

In 1 Corinthians 14:34 ,Paul is saying “What???” or “Nonsense” to their claim that women must keep silent in the church.

Notice also, verse 34 says, “ they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. ” Yet nowhere in the Old Testament do you find this command.

The Corinthians are quoting the Talmud and claiming it is the law. Other places Paul rebukes men for making the traditions of men equal to scripture. No way would Paul have made such a false statement as verse 34.

First Corinthians was written in response to a verbal report from Chloe’s people (1 Cor. 1:11), and in response to a letter Paul had received from the Corinthians asking his advice (1 Cor. 7:1).

At times it is evident in his letter that Paul is quoting from the Corinthian’s letter as he deals with its contents. Some of these quotes include, “It is not good for a man to touch a woman” (1 Cor. 7:1); “We all possess knowledge” (1 Cor. 8:1); “There is no resurrection” and “Christ has not been raised” (1 Cor. 15:12, 14).

Scholars believe that 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 may also be a quote. This would account for the way it does not seem to fit with what Paul is saying in the surrounding verses.

1 Corinthians 1:10 tells us that there were competing factions in the Corinthian church (cf. 1 Cor. 11:18-19). It is possible that one of these factions was trying to silence women in church meetings. This would have been a real concern for Chloe!

Paul quotes the faction’s injunction for women to be silent in 14:34-35, and then reprimands the faction, which includes men, with, “What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? ” (1 Cor. 14:36).

The Greek adjective monous, which occurs in verse 36 and is translated as “you only” in the KJV, is grammatically masculine. According to Greek grammar, this adjective cannot refer only to women. The masculine gender in verse 36 does not seem to follow logically after 14:34-35 and its instructions to women. (Flanagan 1981)

The view that 14:34-35 is a non-Pauline quotation is one of the few which offers a plausible explanation for the jarring change of tone which verses 34-35 bring into the text, and the subsequent abrupt change of topic, tone and gender in verse 36.

If this explanation is the correct one, then Paul is not silencing women in 14:34-35. Rather, Paul quotes and then rebukes the people who are trying to silence the women.

CHLOE OF CORINTH

One woman who may have ministered in the church at Corinth was Chloe. In the opening chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul writes that he has learned that there are problems and factions within the Corinthian church from some people who had come from Chloe (1 Cor. 1:11). These people somehow belonged to Chloe. They may have been members of her household and members of her church.

Chloe had probably sent these people to Paul. Sending a delegation is clearly something only a person functioning as a leader can do. Considering the purpose of the delegation, it seems that Chloe was a church leader. Perhaps Chloe’s people did not just bring a verbal report to Paul about the problems in the Corinthian church, perhaps they also brought the letter which Paul responds to in 1 Corinthians.

In New Testament times, most Christian congregations met in homes, and some house churches were hosted and led by women. Nympha was the host of a house church (Col. 4:15), and so was Priscilla, with her husband Aquila (1 Cor. 16:19). It is unlikely that Paul would restrict Christian women from ministering in their own homes, especially as the New Testament provides ample evidence that Paul greatly valued the ministry of many of his female colleagues. Knowing that some early churches were hosted and led by women, makes the interpretation that women were not permitted to speak in church meetings unlikely.

Men and women both have gifts they may and should share with the church.

MEN & WOMEN ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

Both men and women are made in the image of God, not just men. When we silence the woman, we are missing out on the image of God as it is reflected in the female. God’s image is shown both in men and women and in their differences.

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Matthew 19:4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ’made them male and female,’”

Mark 10:6 “But at the beginning of creation God ’made them male and female.’”

Men and Women Are Dependent upon Each Other

Inspiration clearly stresses the mutual dependence of men and women in Christ. Paul says, “Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:11). Neither is complete without the other.

Women Rule the Household

The New Testament authorizes women a domain of authority within the home. Younger widows are advised to marry, bear children, and “rule the household” (1 Timothy 5:14).

Lenski says: “To rule the house” means as the wife and mother in the home, to manage the household affairs. This is the domain and province of woman, in which no man can compete with her. Its greatness and its importance should ever be held up as woman’s divinely intended sphere, in which all her womanly qualities and gifts find full play and happiest gratification (1961, 676).

This does not indicate, of course, that woman’s authority in the home equals the man’s. He is the head of the wife and she is to be willingly in subjection to him (Ephesians 5:22, 23). Yet, he should lovingly allow her the freedom to exercise authority in the management of domestic matters, for God has ordained it.

A historian has noted: “The way in which the Church began to lift woman up into privilege and hope was one of its most prompt and beautiful transformations from the blight of paganism. Too long in the darkness, she was now helped into the sunlight “(Hurst 1897, 146).

Such a transformation impressed even the heathen world; Libanius, a pagan writer, exclaimed: “What women these Christians have!”

The Divine Subordination of Woman

By divine design, man is to be the “head” of woman—in society, in the church, and in the home (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:22-24). This graduation of authority rests on two bases: first, the original constitution of the sexes as created, and, second, woman’s role in the fall.

Concerning the former, the Bible teaches:

Woman was made as a help for man—not the reverse (Genesis 2:18, 20).

Paul wrote: “For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man: for neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man” (1 Corinthians 11:8, 9).

And again, “For Adam was first formed, then Eve” (1 Timothy 2:13).

As to the woman’s role in the fall, she believed Satan’s lie that she might become as God, and hence, was “beguiled” (Genesis 3:13; 2 Corinthians 11:3) or “deceived” (1 Timothy 2:14); whereas Adam, laboring under no such deception (1 Timothy 2:14), merely sinned due to his weakness for the woman (Genesis 3:12). Accordingly, woman’s subjection was increased after her fall (Genesis 3:16).

These facts do not suggest that woman is inferior to man, but they do mean (to those who respect the testimony of Scripture) that she is subordinate in rank to man.

It ought to be emphasized that as Christ’s subjection to the Father involved no deprivation of dignity (Philippians 2:5-11), so there is none in woman’s subjection to man. So, as we shall presently observe, because of these historical facts, the sphere of woman’s activity has been divinely circumscribed.

New Testament women prophesied (Acts 2:18; 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5). 1 Corinthians 11:5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head

It is assumed that prophesying was preaching, hence, women of the first century preached. The word “prophesy” is from two Greek roots, pro (forth) and phemi (to speak). It is a very general term and may mean “to teach, refute, reprove, admonish, comfort” (Thayer 1958, 553; cf. 1 Corinthians 14:3). It can simply suggest the idea of “giving thanks and praising God” (1 Chronicles 25:3). The meaning of the word in a given situation must be determined by the context as well as other information in the Scriptures.

Paul limits the extent of a woman’s forth-speaking (teaching, etc.) when he writes: “I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness” (1 Timothy 2:12).

The negative conjunction, oude (nor), here is explanatory in force, revealing that the kind of teaching prohibited by the apostle is that which assumes dominion over the man (Lenski, 563).

Certainly women may teach (cf. Titus 2:3); they may, in certain ways, even teach men. There is a reciprocal teaching in singing (Colossians 3:16), and privately, in conjunction with her husband, Priscilla was involved in teaching Apollos (Acts 18:26).

But a woman may not assume the position of teacher, with the man subordinated to the role of student, without violating a New Testament command.

1 Timothy 2:8-15 “ I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”

CONCLUSION:

God’s women make a vital contribution to the kingdom of Christ on earth. Whether they are continuing steadfastly in prayer (Acts 1:14), doing good works and almsdeeds (Acts 9:36), showing hospitality (Acts 12:12; 16:14; 1 Timothy 5:10), teaching the word in harmony with divine authority (Acts 18:26; Titus 2:3, 4), being good wives (Proverbs 31:10ff), rearing godly children (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14, 15), or accomplishing various other commendable tasks, let us “rise up and call them blessed.”

The summaries presented in this article are just a sample of some of the better-known interpretations of 14:34-35. Still more interpretations have been proposed by respected scholars. Because of this vast variety of interpretations, it is difficult to know precisely how to apply these verses, especially in the context of the contemporary church.

One thing is certain, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 cannot be used to completely silence women from speaking in church meetings, as Paul condones the verbal ministries of prayer and prophecy from women. Taking into account that Paul condones women who prophesy, it is difficult to see how 14:34-35 can be used to exclude women from other equally influential and authoritative speaking ministries in the church.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 cannot be used legitimately to prohibit women who are called, gifted, and qualified from exercising a ministry which includes public speaking.

Paul did not silence the Corinthian women who prophesied and prayed aloud in church meetings.