Does 1 Corinthians 14 Mean Women Are to Keep Silent in Church?

The following is a transcribed Video Q&A, so the text may not read like an edited article would. Scroll to the bottom to view this video in its entirety.   

In 1 Corinthians 14 where it says “women should be silent in the church”, I think we always have to say context is important to determine what that means. You know the old saying that a text without a context is just a pretext. I can anything mean whatever I want it to mean if I don’t establish the context.

So, what does “silence” mean there. I think silence there means speaking with authority, it cannot mean saying nothing. And we know that because in 1 Corinthians the apostle also talks about women praying in the church, singing in the church (there is corporate singing), and people share their testimonies. There is no gender reference there. But in speaking with authority, there Paul brings into the church the order in which the family and the church are related regarding gender. And he is saying, “in the home, the husband is the head of the home”. That doesn’t mean that he is the dictator of the home but he is the one accountable before God to see that the home is a place where God is honored. And the wife is supposed to be supportive of him in that role.

Now for the wife to be in a support position and the man to be in that authority position in the home but then it reverses in the church would seem to be inordinate. So, when it comes to the instruction of the church, how are we to receive the authority of the Word, Paul gives the authoritative proclamation of the Word to men. This is why many churches for most of the last 2000 years have said that the ordination offices (the proclamation of the Word and presentation of the Sacraments whereby the authority of God is presented to the church) that this is received for those who would be the authority not only in church but in the home as well.

But that is not to say that women are not to participate. Paul is fairly explicit about women having roles in the corporate life of the church, but not in the authority position. So, even though it might sound odd, when the word silence is used there, it doesn’t mean “saying nothing” it means “not speaking with authority regarding the proclamation of the Word.”

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