One In Jesus

Let’s first remember that our relationship with God as Christians is defined by the overriding principles of love and grace. God doesn’t just make up arbitrary rules and impose them on us. It is, therefore, entirely proper to ask if our usual way of reading this passage actually makes sense.

For example, if it is disgraceful and wrong for a woman to speak in the worship assembly, wouldn’t it be equally disgraceful and wrong for her to speak in a Sunday school class? Most Churches of Christ prohibit female speech in the assembly but permit — and even encourage — female questions and discussion in a classroom setting. I mean, Paul was particularly clear that women are not to ask questions — but we traditionally only allow question asking in Sunday School. We don’t even allow men to ask questions in the assembly! If there is some eternal principle prohibiting women from asking questions in the assembly, why not in Sunday school classes? Continue reading →

[This is expanded to include responses to comments. I’ll likely edit it some more as I work further through the comments. It’s been great working through the commentaries this afternoon, digging into the word to better understand this challenging passage, but it’s preschool graduation, my wife chairs the board, and it’s death if I miss it!]

1 Corinthians 7 and 11 are not the only passages in 1 Corinthians dealing with men and women — they are not even the most controversial.

1 Cor. 14:33b-36 As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 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. Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?

Scriptural context

1 Corinthians 11:2-16 refers to the assembly

Like all scripture, we must first consider the context of this passage. The following synopsis of chapters 11 through 14 will serve to set the stage: Continue reading →

A. Introduction.

Let’s take a closer look at the passage.

“Women should remain silent.” What does this mean? As tempting as it is to say, “Means what it says; says what it means,” no thinking Christian can believe this passage really means that women must be silent during the assembly. Why not?

First, we conventionally allow women to break their silence in the assembly for any number of reasons, including: Continue reading →

[This is not new material. I’m posting it this way to extract this argument from my more conventional arguments previously post, which I think are actually right. I have less confidence in this interpretation than I did before, but it’s too cool to delete entirely.]

I suggest the following alternative interpretation of “head” with some trepidation. I don’t believe that any commentator has ever made this proposal, and one should walk lightly when trying to be the first in nearly 2,000 years of scriptural exposition to propose a new idea. But I see another possible meaning for “head” in the context of 1 Corinthians 11 worthy of consideration.

“Image”

In verses 7-9 of 1 Corinthians 11, Paul states that man is the image and glory of God, and woman is the glory of man. Surely, this is a reference to the Genesis accounts. Genesis 1:26 plainly states that the Godhead made both man and woman in their image. And yet God made Adam first, in His image, and then made Eve from Adam’s rib. Continue reading →