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1 Corinthians 14:34 "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."
The St. Louis area has recently seen the
apointing of Pastor Ilona Dickson to be the first female District Elder in the PAW (Pentecostal Assemblies
of the World) and now being apointed Suffragan Bishop Ilona Dickson. We see Pastor Michelle "Miki"
King around town preaching and teaching like a mad woman lol! We also have Dr. Patricia Phillips
who is another one who preaches like she has lost her mind lol! Don't forget about Pastor Wilma L. Walker
who pastors The Clinic Deliverance and Worship Center along side her husband Pastor Howard Walker. Apostle
Ariette Williams (Pastor of Oil Of God Ministries) is another female pastor from our area who represents an ever
growing branch of female leaders.
I was shocked not too long ago to sit down and talk with a preacher friend of mine who I have much respect for because of
his dedication to studying the scripture, along with another person and have to sit and listen to them both go on
about why they don't "believe in women preachers". In 2013 I am still a bit baffled at how some churches still make
the women speak from a podium on the floor and not allow them to come into their "sacred pulpits". My father had
to preach at such a church about a year or two ago and they would not let a pretty well known woman preacher from our
area sit on stage with the other preachers and belieeeeve me when I tell you that my father OPENLY let them have it when he
got up to preach...thought we were going to have to fight our way out that day LOLOLOLOL!!!!
I think we are missing something soooooo
simple that it has become a dividing tool in the church. For example, let's look at 1 Corinthians 6:12 (KJV) All
things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under
the power of any. In this particular verse the NCV, NIV, NLT, and NRSV translations of the
Bible use quotation marks to indicate that Apostle Paul was quoting a slogan that the Corinthians used in order to justify
their immorality where the ASV, KJV, NASB, and NKJV don't show any quotation marks. Another example where we would understand the passage a little better would be 1 Corinthians
7:1 (Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.) where Paul addresses a direct question that was asked him in a letter. It is
good for a man not to touch a woman should also be in quotation marks to help us see a little more clearly.
Understanding this let's look at 1 Corinthians
14:34 again. 34 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. 35
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.
One thing that is interesting here is that the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) includes
this passage in parenthesis which suggest that this statement did not flow smoothly with the rest of the writing here and
is simply a quote again from Paul. The church has taken this passage as a declaration from Paul...but why?...he was clearly
not making a declaration. He goes on in verse 36 and rebukes them for the way they thought and acted. The statements
that he made in 34 and 35 were their thoughts and not his just as we listed above in other scriptures.
To say that Paul was telling the women in
the church to be silent is yet another example of our lack of study. We take a piece of information, run with it, and start
entire movements, churches, and doctrines with just a piece and most of the time it's done in error. To say that Paul
was telling the women in the church to be silent here is to say he instantly became confused in this letter to the church
in Corinth because earlier in the same letter in his address to them he talks to the same people about how a woman ought to
be when she prays and prophesizes in the church (1 Corinthians 11:5) To say that Paul was telling the women in the church
to be silent is to say that Apostle Peter was wrong on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:17-18 when he quoted Joel 2:28.
Let me make a point on another note concerning
Apostle Paul. 1 Cor. 9:8-9 Paul writes, Does not the law also say the same? For it is written in
the law of Moses: "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." After referring to
the law as saying something, Paul tells us that it is written and and then quotes Deut 25:4 word for word. Also
in 1 Cor. 14:21 after Paul writes, "In the Law it is written," he then quotes from Isaiah 28:11-12. Also in
1 Cor. 4:6 where Paul refers to Scripture, he tells the Corinthians to learn through us the meaning of the saying "Do
not go beyond what is written." In all of these instances when Paul refers to Scripture, he says it is written (1 Cor.
1:19, 1:31, 2:9, 3:19, 10:7, 15:45) and consistently and directly quotes from the Old Testament to prove his point. Here
in 1 Corinthians 14:34 he says in the end (KJV) as also saith the law but
then in a manner that is TOTALLY out of the character to the consistent writings of Paul, not quote the law he is refering
to. ???????? This is where the dramatic music comes on LOL!
One reason is because there was no written
law that ever even suggested that women not speak openly but their was an oral law, a cultural belief that woman was created
inferior to man. The writings of Greek philosophers provide external documentation
informing us of the mindset that permeated the ancient city of Corinth. In Greek society, women were clearly held in low regard.
For example, Plato (424-347 BC) ascribed to the inferior status of women by stating: "It is only males who are created
directly by the gods and are given souls." Aristotle (384-322 BC) added, "women are defective by nature" because
"a woman is as it were an infertile male," and males command superior intelligence. [15] Under existing Roman family
law, the father had complete household authority. A husband could punish his wife in any way including killing her, and he
could make love to other women with impunity. [16]
Therefore, it is not unreasonable, given the Greek cultural background
of Corinth, to see how various derogatory statements about women permeated that culture and society. Also by the time of the
first century, the Jewish system of traditions and oral sayings were well established. (info in highlight taken from Dennis J. Preato)
Again, To say that Paul was telling the women
in the church to be silent is to say that the Holy Spirit made a HUUUUGE mistake on the day of pentecost. "Bare with
me a minute" (In my Baptist voice LOL!) In Acts 1 we see the disciples in the upper room and they were
going through the process of selecting someone to take the place of Judas among them because Judas obviously betrayed Jesus
and then killed himself. In verses 13-15 we see that women were present during this process. "I'm going somewhere
if you just stay with me" (in my COGIC voice LOL!) Acts
1:13-15 13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter,
and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes,
and Judas the brother of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer
and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 15 And in those days Peter stood up
in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
This verse shows us that there were about
120 people there in the upper room and then we jump to Acts 2 where it says that cloven tongues like as of fire sat upon
EACH of them and they were ALL filled
with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues. Then other men who were there from other nations or tongues (languages)
heard what was going on they came near to find themselves understanding ALL of these people
speaking in all of their own languages and not in the Hebrew tongue. The 120 were used to give the message to all of
these people from different nations and languages and the Bible says that about 3 thousand souls were added unto them that
day. WHY???...because both men and women were equipped with what was needed to get the message to the masses and to the nations.
This is when Peter stands up and quotes Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will
pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your
young men shall see visions:
So, did Paul contradict Peter and teach something
different than what the Holy Spirit did on the day of Pentecost? I THINK NOT LOL! "In closing" (In my Apostolic
voice LOL!) I leave you with this thought (I sound sooo important lol!) John 1:1 says that In the
beginning was the Word and then verse 14 says And the Word was made flesh who we all know was Jesus...riiiiight? Well, if women are not supposed to preach why then did God use Mary
(a woman) to deliver or bring forth "The Word" (Jesus) into the world?
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