If I have my weeks straight, I will be presenting a talk on "1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and Women in Ministry" this Thursday. The setting is a class on Women in Ministry taught by Dr. Constance Cherry at Indiana Wesleyan University. I thought I would do some preparation on the blog. I'll resume Sin later. :>)
Question: What does 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 imply about women in ministry today?
Answer: Absolutely Nothing!
There, the talk is over, we can all go home now.
Okay, okay, since others think it does have something to do with the issue I'll at least go through the motions on this "slam dunk" passage. Dr. David Smith has a much harder one to deal with the following week: 1 Timothy 2:12-15.
There are at least three reasons why this verse is irrelevant to the current discussion on women in ministry:
1. Given other comments in 1 Corinthians, it cannot be an absolute statement or else Paul would majorly contradict himself.
2. There are strong textual issues that suggest it was not even a part of the original manuscript of 1 Corinthians.
3. It would go counter to the fundamental principles of Christianity to use any Bible passage today to forbid called women from ministering in any capacity to which God calls them.
That's where I'm headed in the next few days. Here we go...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment