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Re: Woman worship leaders, bibilically correct ?
Message:Hi JeannieA lot of theology against women ministering in churches comes from 1 Corinthians 14. But this is especially interesting for several reasons. First, there are scholars that believe that verses 34 through 35 were added by someone other than Paul. If one omits verses 34 and 35 in reading chapter 14, Paul’s message regarding prophecy is clarified rather than distorted or discolored. Another scholarly position is that 1 Corinthians is a compilation of at least three and up to six books rendering 1 Cor 14:34-35 as a fragment placed out of context. I think that these are rather speculative. Here is what I consider to be the better exegesis of 1 Cor 14: First, it is wrong to build a doctrine on one or two scriptures taken together to support each other (in this case 1 Cor 14 and 1 Tim 2). Let’s turn out attention to what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians. To do that, we need to know why Paul wrote to the Corinthians. One reason was addressing the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit and their decent and orderly exercise in public worship (decent = with respect for one another, order = one at a time up to two or three prophecies or interpreted tongues). Corinth was extremely important to Paul because it was a strategic evangelistic center - nearly all trade to and from Western Europe went across the 3.6 mile isthmas of Corinth. Therefore, you could touch the nations for Christ simply by having an outstanding witness. This was not the case with the Corinthians. They were fighting one another, they were divided among themselves and they were more interested in showing off their spiritual gifts than about each other. Now lets consider 1 Cor 11 and 1 Cor 14 together. In chapter 11, Paul says that women should have their heads cover when they pray and prophesy while in 1 Cor. 14 Paul says the women should be quiet. To understand what Paul is getting at we need to understand the culture of the New Testament church. How many women were allowed in the Jewish Synagogue? Actually none. So how much experience with “church services” would women have? Little or none, right? One of the living examples of Paul’s assertion that we are all one in Christ – women and men, slave and free, Jew and Greek is the fact that women were in the church and not excluded as in the Synagogue! A common explanation is that in the context of an out of control service, women were asking questions trying to figure out what was happening; their conversations were distracting. Some scholars suggest that more women were demonstrating the charismatic gifts then men so Paul targeted his address to the women only (I doubt this was Paul’s intent though). Therefore, in light of 1 Cor 11, Paul is suggesting to quietly respect the speaker and when the woman prays or prophesies (according to 1 Cor 11) that she should do it in a way that is socially respectful (women having uncovered or shaven head were a sign that they were a prostitute which would discredit the churches witness to the nations). All this to say that every church should embrace the ministries regardless of men and women. However, I think that 1 Cor 11 and 1 Tim 2 suggests that a woman should not have unlimited authority, which by the way, I would also apply to men; we all should answer to some levels of authority and accountability as a means of maintaining spiritual balance and health.
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