Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: tblake@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Thomas Blake) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: ambitious women may approach the altar now ... Message-ID: Date: 19 May 91 02:47:45 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: State University of New York at Binghamton Lines: 82 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article math1h3@jetson.uh.edu writes: >So a woman can carry the Good News to people without violating the principle >of male headship; but Paul says clearly in 1 Tim 2:11-15 that in church >they should learn in quietness and full submission, and they may not >be a master-teacher in authority over a man. This, as I have said before, >means they may not serve as a man's pastor. I Corinthians 11:4-6 ... 4 So a man who prays or proclaims God's message in public worship with his head covered disgraces Christ. 5 And any woman who prays or proclaims God's message in public worship with nothing on her head disgraces her husband; there is no difference between her and a woman whose head has been shaved. 6 If the woman does not cover her head, she might as well cut her hair. And since it is a shameful thing for a woman to shave her head or cut her hair, she should cover her head. ... (TEV) Paul goes on like this for some time. Women should have long hair, and keep their heads covered. Men should have short hair, and not have them covered. It's the natural order of things. It's tempting to ask if you are in favor of enforcing these rules. (I for instance have long hair. I know many Christian women who do not wear their hair long, and they don't wear hats in church.) But that's not really my point here. Check out verse 5 again. Paul doesn't say that it is bad for a woman to proclaim God's message in public worship. He only says that she mustn't do it with her head uncovered, or with her hair cut (which amounts to the same thing in his eyes.) There is quite a difference between keeping silence, and proclaiming God's message in public worship! We seem to have quite a conflict between the letter written to Timothy and the letter written to the church at Corinth. But wait! I Corinthians 14:29-35 ...Two or three who are given God's message should speak, while the others are to judge what they say. 30 But if someone sitting in the meeting receives a message from God, the one who is speaking should stop. 31 All of you may proclaim God's message, one by one, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. 32 The gift of proclaiming God's message should be under the speaker's control, 33 because God does not want us to be in disorder but in harmony and peace. As in all the churches of God's people, 34 the women should keep quiet in the meetings, They are not allowed to speak; as the Jewish Law says, they must not be in charge. 35 If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a disgraceful thing for a woman to speak in a church meeting. (TEV) Well now what! Now even I Corinthians seems inconsistant with itself! But isn't it interesting that Paul makes reference to the Jewish law for support? Back in Chapter 7 we find... I Corinthians 7:18,19 ...18 If a circumcised man has accepted God's call, he should not try to remove the marks of circumcision; if an uncircumcised man has accepted God's call, he should not get circumcised. 19 For whether or not a man is circumcised means nothing; what matters is to obey God's commandments. ... Wow! So, the laws governing circumcision are out, but the laws governing the conduct of women are sometimes in, and sometimes out. What's wrong with this guy!? Well, now it's time to examine the structure of the letter. The church at Corinth is having some difficulties. They've asked Paul a bunch of questions. He's doing his level best to field them. To answer them, he draws from Jewish law, from his own feelings, from the teachings of Christ. Paul admits in his letter to the Romans that he is not perfect, he's having trouble. Which one of us in Paul's position would do better? How many of you have faced a Jr. High Sunday School class (or CCD class or whatever)? Paul's ongoing theme is to strive for unity in the church, unity through order and love. Tom Blake SUNY-Binghamton