 ™ |
| Female 'Subservience' ? |
| An ungodly misrepresentation that has often blighted behaviour. |
words as per
the order
below:
| 1. | "...it is shameful for a woman to speak in church..." | 1 Corinthians 14:35. |
| 2. | "...Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness..." | 1 Timothy 2:11. |
| 3. | "...I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet..." |
1 Timothy 2:12. |
These words from Holy Scripture have sometimes been used to teach 'female subservience'; in effect that a woman has no standing in the world except to please a man.
This is NOT what the Bible teaches!
Respect for God's Word means not 'using' it just in support of a particular view-point but being true to both its literary and historical context
This is often seriously lacking and has led to shameful behaviour in church history.
The "literary context" means the whole Bible and "historical context" means the practical situation at the time it was written.
literary context begins in Genesis, which is why the Apostle Paul makes reference to Adam being made "first" when explaining the special leadership responsibility of the male compared to a woman's role in society. Likewise, he is referring to this original constitutional design of humanity, described in Genesis, when he makes reference to the "angels" as creation eye-witnesses in describing the relative significance of a woman's appearance in local church leadership ministry compared to that of a man.
1 Corinthians 11:10.
| It is very natural, unless otherwise corrected, to read the Bible within one's own mental framework, which has produced many misunderstandings |
The Apostle Paul is here dealing with the disorder in the ministry gifts of the Holy Spirit occurring in the Christian congregation in Corinth, for "you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged" and that there is no excuse for uncontrolled interruptions for the "spirits of prophets are subject to prophets" and that it is also the interruption of this ministry by questions which is "shameful". In those times, boys usually received more education in their upbringing than girls, therefore interrupting questions were more often from women for all were being treated equally in the congregation in the ministry gifts, so "If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home". This issue was interruption in the public ministry of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and not gender discrimination. The shame is the interrupting-questions.
Here, to young preacher Timothy, Paul is explaining the importance of public conduct associated with Christian ministry and that the prime (not sole) responsibility for leadership lies with the male, by God's constitutional design as indicated in the order of creation "Adam was formed first, then Eve".
| "...God created mankind in His own image, [to represent Him] in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." |
| Genesis 1:27. |
1 Corinthians 7:4.
This quote is in a context concerning leadership, and refers to the Genesis background of God's design to emphasize that responsibility for giving direction in leadership is not the same for both genders, and that the male has special responsibility in this regard, even within a Spirit-anointed Christian context. It does not mean the subservience of the female. It is a social / congregational leadership issue.
the Biblical perspective, in which there is equality of value between male and female, the statement expressing absolute equality in a marriage relationship needs to be remembered –
| "For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. ὁμοίως / LIKEWISE / ὁμοίως the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." |
The above simply illustrate how important it is to respect the Bible's own literary and historical context if we are to walk in the light!.
