Women in Ministry-No Speak

In this article we are going to go into a deep dive of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 which is one of the proof text verses that Complementarians use to defend their position. Some use it say women should not preach or teach from the pulpit. Others use it to say women should not lead worship. Others use it to say women should only teach women. Others use it to say that women should be totally silent in church when it comes to anything to do with a church service.

How can there be so many different interpretations of these two verses? They all cannot be correct. Maybe it is because the verse is taken completely out of context, not looking at the verses before and after it, and ignoring the historical/cultural context. We will explore all of this.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 KJV
³⁴ 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. ³⁵ 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.

Literal Interpretation
The literal interpretation would be women are not to speak in churches whatsoever, there is a ‘law’ that says they are to be submissive, which includes no speaking, and it is shameful for them to speak in church. If this is to be taken literal then it would mean that women should not even be allowed to pray in church, because prayer is certainly speaking.

Most Christians would not agree with a literal interpretation of this passage, but it should be noted that there are some Complementarian churches that do take this passage literally overall. But even they do not forbid women from general talking in a church setting. One has to ask where does the passage give women permission to talk for whatever reason if the passage is taken literally? It clearly states ‘keep silent’ and ‘not permitted to speak’ with no exceptions. If taken literally, since it mentions wives, then does the guidelines not apply to single women????

If this passage is not going to be taken literally, then what should determine how the passage should be interpreted? The actual context of the passage, and who it was written to. Those who it was written to would clearly understand what was the intention, meaning of the verse.

Who Was Apostle Paul Addressing?
When interpreting Scripture, especially a letter written to a church, it is important to know about the intended readers. This passage was written to the Church in Corinth. It is clear throughout 1 Corinthians that the church had many issues. They were not addressing sin within the church, there was carnality within the church, there was mishandling of the spiritual gifts, etc. Overall there was disorder in the Corinthian Church. It should be clear there was a lack of spiritual maturity, even among the men in the church. How much more among the women if one understands the culture at the time.

Corinthian Culture
There was much immorality within the city of Corinth. There was temple prostitutes. Overall the women were not educated, they certainly were not trained in Scripture. “And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home” in 1 Cor 14:35 makes that clear. This passage makes it clear that one of the issues was women asking questions in the church setting.

To rightly interpret this passage one must understand that in the culture of the time, in the synagogues the men sat on one side of the room and the women sat at the other side of the room. The men would have some understanding of the Scriptures while most of the women would not. Imagine the chaos within a church setting if women were asking their husbands all kinds of questions during the service, and/or challenging what is being spoken. That brings up the “but they are to be submissive, as the law also says” statement.

The Law
What is the law Apostle Paul is speaking of? Is there a law that says women not speak in church? Absolutely not! But Scripture does speak about wives being submitted to their husbands. (Reminder that Ephesian 5:21 husbands and wives are to submit to one another, but Scripture makes it clear in regard to headship of the husband.) Many scholars believe the law Paul is speaking of is Genesis 3:16

To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth;
In pain you will give birth to children;
Yet your desire and longing will be for your husband,
And he will rule [with authority] over you and be responsible for you.”

So the law would be in regards to submission, not in regards to speaking. It can be interpreted that Paul is saying based upon the law, a church setting is not the place or time for wives to be challenging their husbands regarding what is being spoken at a church service. It would be creating disorder in the church, the context of 1 Corinthians 14.

Keep Silent
In 1 Corinthians 14:34 it states for women to ‘keep silent’ in the church. It should be noted that the Greek Word is sigaó: To be silent, to keep silence, to hold one’s peace. Holding one’s peace means to not lose control over one’s tongue, to know when to refrain from speaking, so that peaceful relations can be maintained. When one understands the Greek meaning of ‘keep silent’ it brings clarity especially in the context of 1 Corinthians 14, considering the subject matter of 1 Corinthians 14 is to do things in a decently and orderly manner. It could stated by was saying women/wives hold your peace until your at home with your husband.

The Context of 1 Corinthians 14
1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is in the midst of 1 Corinthians 14. It is clear if you read the entire chapter that Paul was establishing guidelines for there to be structure within a church setting. There had to have been a lack of structure within a church service for Paul to address the topic. Paul clearly had issues with how the gifts of the Spirit were being used, and how women were behaving in the church. His focus was on decency and order. He was not addressing if women could preach or teach. There is no evidence of that whatsoever. No where does Paul or Scripture say only men can be used in the gifts of the Spirit, only men can give a message in tongues or prophecy, or any other gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians it is clear that men and women can be used in the gifts.


(We will be looking at other bible passages that give evidence that women were not silent in church settings or settings where men were in the room. Yes, we will also look at the other ‘proof texts’ regarding women in ministry.)

1 Corinthians 14:36-37
As Paul sums up 1 Corinthians 14 he makes strong statements regarding the Corinthians. It was clear that there was submission issues within the Corinthian Church. If there were submission issues among the men, there was certainly submission issues among the women. A correct interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is that Paul is addressing submission issues, behavioral issues, not if women should speak or not speak in church.

³⁶ Or did the word of God come originally from you [Corinthians]? Or was it you only that it reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

1 Corinthians 14:39-40
Paul ends the chapter stating brethren (men and women) to earnestly desire prophecy and not to forbid the speaking with tongues. It would be the twisting of Scripture to state Paul was only saying men to desire prophesy (and operate in the gift of prophecy), or only men can speak in tongues in a church setting.

³⁹ Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. ⁴⁰ Let all things be done decently and in order.

It would be the twisting of Scripture to interpret 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14 was only for men, not women, and yet 1 Corinthians 13 applies to both men and women.

SUMMARY
Based upon scriptural context, based upon historical/cultural context there is no way to interpret 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is stating women should not preach, teach, or literally not speak in a church setting. The entire chapter is on things being done in decently and in order, not the role of women in ministry. Scripture is interpret scripture. The context of the passage states what Paul’s intentions were regarding women not speaking in church. To be dogmatic that the passage teaches women are not to preach, teach, speak, or some combination, that Paul was defining roles, is to put one’s own interpretation upon the passage. Plus if one is going to be dogmatic regarding this passage then women should not pray in church since that would be speaking.

This passage on its own in no way is a proof text for the Complementarian Camp position. Far from it.

In the future we will be looking at many examples in the New Testament of women being used in ministry. We will also take a look at other Bible passages that are used as proof text for the Complementarian Camp position.

PS
There are those from the extreme Egalitarianian Camp that state that Paul’s writings are of his own, not inspired by God, and thus should be ignored, and in fact because he was a misogynist we should just toss out any writings by Paul. There is no legitimacy to that argument whatsoever. That position is blatantly heretical. We will address some of these heresies at a later time.

ADDENDUM
The following are passages in 1 Corinthians 14, commanding men and women to operate in the gifts of the Spirit within a church setting. They are told to edify, exhort, console, prophesy, share a psalm, teaching, revelation, tongue, interpretation. In vs 39 men and women are to earnestly prophesy (speak). Prophesy can contain foretelling, correction, edification.

⁵ Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but rather that you would prophesy; and greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.

¹² So you too, since you are eager to possess spiritual gifts, strive to excel for the edification of the church.

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

²⁶ What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification

³⁹ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But all things must be done properly and in an orderly way.

Women in Ministry Series
Women in Ministry, Introduction-Why the Topic?
Part One-Women in Ministry, Complementarianism, Egalitarianism, And?
Part Two-Women in Ministry, Isorropiaism-HUH??? Balance
Part Three-Women in Ministry, Bible Passages
Part Four-Women in Ministry, Extremism
Part Five-Women in Ministry, No Speak