August 31 Click on verses for Full Scripture	previous - - - - - - - - - - next
Today's Pathway: I 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 any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Yesterday we saw some of the different opinions as to what Paul is teaching in today's verses. While good men may look at these verses differently, I believe that there are a few things that can be said with certainty. First of all, women were not to speak in tongues. Because of Paul's teaching in I Corinthians 11:5 there could be a debate about whether or not women could prophesy, but there can be no question about them being forbidden to speak in tongues. Second, we need to remember that both prophecy and tongues are gifts which are no longer functioning, so whether or not women could practice them then is now a moot point for us today.

However, there are some principles here which are not limited to Paul's era. These would deal with the reasons that Paul gives for making his remarks. He starts by saying that women were to be "under obedience". This would have to refer to their relationships with their husbands. He has already discussed the man's headship over his wife in I Corinthians 11:3-9, which apparently had been an issue in the Corinthian church. Submission in general seems to have been a problem in that church, for Paul has had to deal with it in several different ways. Here he reminds the women that the Law said that they were to be subject to their husbands. This refers back to Genesis 3:16, which states,

"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

The second principle is that women were not to interrupt the teaching of the Word, however it was being delivered (preaching, prophesying, speaking in tongues) by asking questions. Apparently this was something else that was causing disruptions during the church service. I know from experience that people (male or female) sitting in a Sunday school class can try to take over the class by the questions that they ask. They can ask so many questions that they derail the direction of the teacher. Or, in some instances, they try to teach the class themselves by asking questions that are designed to cause confusion. Thomas Constable wrote,

"Rather than calling out a question in the middle of some prophet's message, a woman was to wait and ask her husband about it at home after the service. Presumably unmarried women would ask their fathers or some other man in the church after the service. Men could raise questions or make comments, but too much of this could ruin the edifying value of the message. Consequently Paul asked the women, evidently because of their natural position of subordination, to refrain. It is improper for a woman to speak in church meetings in the situation Paul addressed in the context. That situation is the questioning and perhaps challenging of what a prophet said who was sharing something he believed God had given him to pass on to the church."

"give an answer to every man (or woman)that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you" (I Peter 3:15).

We will look at one more passage that deals with this subject tomorrow.