Equality Junction

What about......

 

1 Corinthians 14:34 says that "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." 

Simply put, there is no Jewish Law that says this. Paul gives no references to which law he is talking about. That in itself is contrary to how Paul writes. "In every case when Paul specially refers to Scripture, he says it is written (1 Cor. 1:19, 1:31, 2:9, 3:19, 10:7, 15:45) and consistently quotes from the Old Testament to prove his point." (God's Word to Women).

 

This scripture also has Paul contradicting himself. Paul consistently says that we are no longer under the law. So how could he appeal to the Law? 

 

In Galatians 5:7-12, Paul chides Christians for allowing someone to come in and stir them up by telling them they have to obey the law again, particularly in regards to circumcision. Paul reminds them that when they teach the old law, they have ignored the cross of Jesus. You can sense Paul’s frustration when he blurted out, in verse 12, “I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” Today Paul would say, “cut it all off!” You get the picture. Women are not circumcised, but because they have a female body, they have been made to wear the cloak of oppression. Putting restrictions upon women and forcing them to obey laws that have nothing to with the gospel makes Christ “die for nothing” (Galatians 2:21b).

 

1 Peter 3:1-6 "In the same way you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe: It will not be necesary for you to say a word... Sarah was like that; She obeyed Abraham and called him her master."

It is impossible to connect 1 Peter 3:1-6 to the words of Sarah found in Genesis to support the doctrine of wifely submission. For one thing, Abraham is told by God to obey Sarah (Gen. 21:12). The time that Sarah obeyed Abraham got them in trouble (Gen. 20:5). Here in his passage, the promise is not that women would be Sarah’s children if they are submissive, but that they would become mothers like Sarah because they themselves would be founding a new nation of believers, not by giving birth in the physical sense, but by spreading the gospel message so people can be born again by the spirit.

 

Peter tells these women that “like mother, like daughter” and just as their mother Sarah birthed a new nation, they, too, are birthing a new nation of believers.

 

We can interpret Peter's words something like this, “That was the way it was done back in Sarah’s day, but things have changed. We are now under grace by faith, not under the law. You have done what is right in becoming Christ-followers, and are Sarah’s daughters—children of the freed woman—if you do not fear as you keep following Christ, and, like Sarah, you will birth this new nation of God’s people.” 

 

When Peter goes on to talk about hair and clothes, he is continuing the same subject, which is to maintain a lifestyle that will successfully birth a new nation of believers rather than scaring others away from Christianity. Wearing fine clothing, gold, and pearls would set a woman apart as being wealthy, worldly, and above others. Therefore, Christian women were instructed to dress according to cultural norms so they would be seen as being inclusive and equal to those around them. They were to use their style of dress to promote equality, to become approachable so their husbands and others would feel free to ask questions, to discuss their choices, to consider aligning themselves with Christ.

 

It was by eliminating social barriers, by avoiding radical change, and by staying in context of who they were before they became Christians, that they were more likely to attract others to Christ.

 

Sarah is mentioned four times in the New Testament, three of which are specifically about her becoming the mother of a nation. 1 Peter 3:6 is too, but the greater truth of it has been neglected. By passionately claiming the first part of the scripture that says wives must submit to their husbands, the promise it held for New Testament wives has been ignored. This particular reference to Sarah in 1 Peter 3:6 emphasizes the new covenant and has those new Christian women actively participating in the ministry of the gospel by birthing a nation of believers (1 Peter 3:6; Hebrews 11:11; Romans 4:19; Galatians 4:2-26, 31).

 

Wives, continue in your marriages even if your husbands are unbelievers, for by doing so, you will be like Sarah, mothers of a nation of believers.

 

Ephesians 5:22-23 "Wives, submit yourselfs to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church, and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body."

1. For the husband to be the “head” of the wife, Jesus must take a backseat. That is contrary to all of Paul’s teaching. Not only that, but it is contrary to the whole concept of one God.

2. To be the “head” of the wife would make a husband the wife’s savior and would make man divine (Ephesians 5:22).

3. Christ is the head of the man and of the wife, or the Good News is of no report.

4. Jesus never said women had to submit to their husbands.

5. Paul’s teaching declares that all are equal – men and women (Galatians 3:28)

6. The Good News of the New Testament does not hang on wives’ submission.

7. “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He himself being the Savior of the body,” is simply an illustration, as Paul himself says in verse 32.

 

1 Corinthians 11:3 "Now I want you to realize the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God."

Ephesians 5:22-23 is part and parcel of 1 Corinthians 11:3. Try to understand the Scripture this way “Now I want you to realize the head of every man is Christ (it is like in your marriage where the man is the head of the wife) and the head of Christ is God.” Again, Paul does not seek to make man divine, but man would have to be divine to be head of the woman like Christ is head of the church. So, either Paul just made man divine, or this scripture means something else.

 

Paul always uses a woman’s marriage illustration to show the mystery of Christ, not speaking of criteria for the future. He is simply stating a fact, and he is not telling males in the 21st Century that they are to be the head of their wives. He uses a woman’s marriage situation of his day (it is different in our day), because it does not work using a man’s marriage as the illustration.