My wife who is a Yiddisha Mamma, and a Messianic Jewess informs me, that even today in the very Orthodox Jewish Synagogue, the women and men still sit separated from each other.
And as you rightly said Charles, that was the problem Paul was referring to.
I can just hear them now, "Harold is the Rabbi saying there is Haddock in the passage?" "No dear, He said it was an inadequate passage?
Blessings,
Ron.
Candy, thanks so much for asking this question. I'm writing to a lady now who has a huge problem with thinking men are more important than women in the church. These answers will give me something to pass on to her. Her name is Amber. Please pray for her. Thanks bunches, Darlene
i was a little freked out ..cause i work with youth ...people like18 to 25 yrs old people ...i know im just 17 but iv been tru alot and learnt alot of stuff.JESUS IS AN AWESOME TEACHER ..no one can eva teach betta than him ...so ya ..its like this ..GOD teaches me something during the week ..And inspires me to put it in an interesting way ...and i do dat topic ..on sunday ..with the youth..so ..when this vs came up i got abit confused ...now am clear ..thanks ...have you read "31 girl" by mary simpsom ..its good and also battle field of the mind ...joyce mayer.....its good ..i did topics on ...thoughts ...some times its ...a story ...then ..its a msg of GOD tru a game ....just make it interesting ...coz its hard to get young peop's attension ..ya iv been working on faith ...its an awesome topic ...stilll working on it:) anyways keep me in ya prayers..........
There are many churches today, who still hold to the literal interputation of these scriptures, and many women are held captive to them, as written, however, I do not believe this was Jesus intent, because the scrpiptues also say, , "There are neither male nor female, but, all are one, in Christ Jesus "
I had one pastor explain it by putting the empathis on "your women". When a woman comes to Jesus for salvation, she is no longer under the law, but, under grace. She is filled with the Holy Spirit, just like a man. Will anyone, tell the Holy Spirit, he cannot participate in a service ?
If you consider, what has been written above concerning this, about the men and women sitting seperately, and you consider the fact that a woman, or a man, are supposed to learn to be led, by the Holy Spirit, , and the fact that Jesus came to elevate women back to their original place, beside the man, (rather than under his thumb, as it is in some places ) it begins to make sense.
Women of the day, did not hold the same position women do today, and in many cases, they were truly considered as less than....and many were unlearned, (had not been taught formally ) so, with all this in mind, it begins to become clearer, what was said, and how it was meant.
Unlearned women, in the church, that had not yet, received the gift of the Holy Spirit, were causing disruption, and the statement was made, in order that they might be still, untill after the meeting, and discuss what was said with their husbands.
A Holy Ghost filled woman of God, would not be considered as "your women", I do not believe, because this just does not fit with the rest of the scriptures.
The second scripture, about a woman not having authority over a man, is along the same lines. In the KJV of the bible, it says, that a woman shall not usurp a man. If you look that word up, it is a forceful thing, to usurp, or take the place of, which again, a Holy Spirit led, woman of God, will not usurp... authority... from anyone, because she is sensitive to the leading of he Lord in her life, and does not want to make any moves that will grieve him.
I struggled with these scriptures, just like everyone does, when they run into them, however, I kept praying and asking questions, until I settled it in my heart. I hope this will help you to settle it also, as God never intended for anyone to be held back from being all they can be, in him.
There is another scripture that I think helped to settle it in my mind, and that is, The letter kills, but, the spirit gives life. To me, these words are glorious. Because if we feel we are held down, by the word of God, when the spirit of God inside, is not bearing witness, then we need to seek more information, on the subject that we are studying.
Also, if you will go back and read the next verse, it says, "What, came the word of God, out to you only?" Meaning to the men only and not the women.
I think the minsunderstanding over these verses, have kept many women in bondage to the letter of the law, when the spirit came to set them free and empower them.
One guideline for understanding the Bible is to not take a few verses out of context. I Cor 14:35 can not be understood without understanding all of I Cor 14. The entire chap (including 34 & 35) is a discussion about speaking in tongues. In (2) no one catches the meaning, (4) speaking in tongues edifiys oneself, (6) what's the advantage in speaking in tongues, (13) person who speaks in tongues should pray for someone to interpret, (18) Paul gives thanks for being able to do it, (23) if the whole church does it a newcomer will think they demented, (32) speaking in tongues is under a persons control, Paul concludes (39) by saying to not forbid it, but in (40) speak in tongues in an orderly fashion.
So, the prohibition Paul was laying on women is contextually saying, "Corinthian women should not speak in tongues in a Christian church and should ask their husbands what was being said in tongues at home." He put this prohibition on the Corinthian women because in Corinth at that time were Temples to pagan gods. The worship practice in these temples often involved women who canted and then had sex with the worshippers. Paul did not want some newcomer to stroll in and hear women speaking in tongues and thinking this just another pagan worship. It does not apply to women today.
hey ...thanks everyone ..im clear now ....:) ..wow these vs's are deep man:) anyways ..thanks alot, i liked pastor tim conways ...explanation ...it was good...hmm any ways ..JESUS ROCKS .. ..GOD BLESS ..Its so nice to get so many replies ...God bless u all
Do not be quick to discount the implications of these verses and to think they are not applicable for today. It is true that in God's kingdom there are no second class citizens, but it is just too easy to dismiss this by saying, "Well, this is only applicable for the Corinthian church," or "This was just a problem for uneducated women," or "This was only a cultural phenomenon of the time and doesn't apply today."
The previous explanations not withstanding, it is a scary thing to me to dismiss this command as not being applicable for our time when in the very next section the Word of God says, "If you claim to be a prophet or think you are very spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself" (I Cor 14:37). The warnings don't get much stronger that that!
Please be very careful. Just because it is not our current cultural practice, shouldn't we conform ourselves to the Word of God instead of the culture? If you start dismissing certain passages of Scripture as not being culturally relevant today, what is to prevent me from saying that prohibitions against gossip or fornication are not culturally relevant? After all, "Everyone is doing it." Let's really think about this.
As for not interpreting this literally, how could it possibly be interpreted except literally? The over-riding principle of biblical interpretation is to take Scripture at its face value and that the plain meaning takes precedence. This is not an unclear passage. We do not need to perform hermenutical gymnastics with the text. What is it about "Women should be silent..." that is too hard to understand?
Just because "There is neither... male nor female..." in terms of our salvation and standing in Christ (as per Galatians 3:21) that does not mean there is not an order, a hierarchy, a division of labor and gender roles in God's household (1 Cor 15:40). Men and women were created differently for different roles. Even though all the members of the Trinity are completely equal and all equally God, there is still a hierarchy, an order, and different roles in the Godhead (1 Cor 15:26-28). If this is true in the Trinity, should we be surprised that God has also mandated this in His church?
Now, a practical problem... When women begin speaking in church, exerting authority, teaching men, or taking leadership over men in the church, what happens? The men leave and the women and children are left to wonder, "What happened to all the men? Why are they spiritually checked out?" We can all say, "It shouldn't be that way!" but that's the way it works: God designed men to lead. So men, step up!
I don't have the easy answers for this. All I'm advocating is that we think and pray about this. Let's not be quick to toss these verses over the side thinking that we somehow know better, are more spiritual, or more enlightened today. That was exactly the arrogance God was warning the Corinthian believers against in 1 Corinthians 14: 36-38.