ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title>Each One of You has a Song</title> <meta name="Author" content="Jon Zens"> <meta name="copyright" content="Jon Zens"> <base href="The Woman Question"> <meta name="Description" content="Each One of You has a Song"> <meta name="Keywords" content="woman,Church,veil,submit,submission,feminism,prophetes"> <meta name="revised" content="August 2007"> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="generator" content="skedit"> <meta name="language" content="en"> <meta http-equiv="pragma" content="no-cache"> <meta http-equiv="cache-control" content="no-cache"> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow"> <meta name="revisit-after" content="30 days"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.his-kingdom.net/style_orange.css" /> </head> <div class='box'> <div class='boxtop'><div></div></div> <div class='boxcontent' style="display:marker"> <p><center><img src="http://www.his-kingdom.net/graphics/header-hk.png"></center></p> <br /> <h1>"Each One of You has a Song ..."</h1> <p style="margin-left: 0px; text-align: center">(1 Corinthians 14:26) Some Reflections on the Silent Sisters Position</p> <p style="margin-left: 0px; text-align: center">by Jon Zens</p> <p>Some have used 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 as a basis for silencing women during the gathering of the saints. It is certainly possible to build a case for feminine silence from this passage, and Steve Atkerson has done as good a job as any in his article, "On The Lord s Command that Women Remain Silent." However, I believe there are compelling reasons why this conclusion is not warranted from these texts.</p> <p>Before going further, I think it is useful to reflect a moment on the interpretive decisions we all make when we come to Scripture. Why is it that believers reading the same Bible come to very divergent opinions about numerous topics? R.C. Sproul can study Scripture and then write a book titled, Chosen By God (Tyndale). Dave Hunt looks at the same Scriptures and pens What Love Is This? (Loyal Pub.). His conclusions are diametrically opposed to Sproul s. Norman Geisler tackles the same issues in Chosen But Free (Bethany House), and tries to find "a balanced view of divine election." It is obvious that something very mysterious is going on here as people interpret the Bible. If each of you were to read these three books, you would find certain arguments that convinced you, some that confused you, some that made you very upset, some that were new to you, and some that you found very weak. We all claim that we want the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of Christ, yet we must be aware that there can be sinister forces at work in each of us that keep us, in varying degrees, from discerning the Lord s mind. Even those with the sincerest motives can come to errant conclusions based on limited perspectives and incomplete information. These realities drive us to see again the importance of humility as we deal with the Word together with our brothers and sisters. A humble person is truly open to learn, ready to listen to the possible insight of others, and willing to modify his position if the evidence warrants it. What causes me to be persuaded by a line of thought that seems "clear," while you remain unconvinced because it seems "unclear," is a phenomenon not easy to unravel. But we must continue to listen to each other in love and pray that the Spirit will break through our prejudices and darkness with the light of His truth.</p> <p>With these basic thoughts as a backdrop, I would like to suggest some reasons why the use of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 to silence women during the meeting is extremely questionable. First, it would appear that Acts 2:17-18 must have some sort of hermeneutical priority in this discussion. In the age of the Messiah the Spirit will cause both males and females to prophesy. Now if Paul desires prophecy to be central in the meeting of the saints, what would lead us to believe that only males can prophecy in such a gathering? Wouldn t it be natural, and in line with Acts 2:17-18, for both sexes to participate in prophesying? Peter uttered the fulfillment of Joel 2:28 on the heels of men and women supernaturally speaking in foreign languages. It is claimed, in response, that the Day of Pentecost was not a church meeting. But that is not really true. The 120 disciples, men and women, had been praying in an upper room (Acts 1:13-15). Pentecost occurred in the setting of a body gathering, with fervent prayer being offered by both sexes. Women were not silent in the upper room, and they were not silent on the day the ekklesia formally began.</p> <p>Next, it must be noted that in order for the silence position to stand, it is required that Paul s epistle be read backwards instead of forwards. From the flow of Paul s thought in 1 Corinthians 11:1 to 14:34-35 you would never know that women must be silent during the meeting described in chapter 14. In 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 Paul discusses his concern that women pray and prophecy properly. The notion that 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 does not assume a meeting of the saints with both sexes present is very much a minority view. The great majority of exegetes and commentators  even those who ultimately believe women are to be silent  agree that a "worship service" is in view. In line with Acts 2:17-18, Paul has no problem with women praying or prophesying in the gathering. His concern is that it is done properly. In the next section, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, obviously it is assumed that women are participating in the Lord s Supper. In chapter 12 the emphasis is that every saint is gifted and has an important contribution to make to the health of the body. No exclusion of women from this perspective is given. In chapter 13 Paul shows the centrality of love in our dealings with one another in the body. Women are certainly not excluded or restricted in this regard! Then in chapter 14 he talks about the gathering of the brethren, and he is correcting some matters that were out of balance. In the course of this correction, he seems to assume that the whole body, males and females, are participating: "the person speaking in a tongue& the person prophesying& I wish all of you would speak in tongues& let the one speaking in a tongue& If the whole church [men and women] comes together and all speak in tongues& but if all prophesy& When you come together, each and every one of you has a song, a teaching& you may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be comforted..." There is nothing is Paul s line of argument to this point to suggest that only male believers were participating. It is very natural to see the whole body as contributing. In order for the silence position to avoid this clear inclusion by Paul of all believers, it must aver that "brothers" in this context means men only. Such a response is arbitrary and out of kilter with the apostle s line of reasoning. Reading Paul s epistle forwards yields the input of all. Starting with 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and going backwards results in the arbitrary silencing of women.</p> <p>To use the concern Paul expresses in 14:34-35 as a means of canceling out the natural flow of thought in the context that seems to include all saints, is a very questionable way of interpreting Scripture. It would seem to be a more probable assumption that the prohibition in 14:34-35 has some other explanation and was not meant to silence the sisters entirely during the meeting. </p> <p>Further, it would seem to be a very strange situation if women are allowed to prophesy everywhere but where Paul sees it as mattering most  in the meeting of the saints. Paul very clearly assigns to prophecy a central place in the saints meetings. He makes statements like, "the whole church comes together and all prophesy," and yet the silence position asks us to believe that women are excluded from this activity in such a meeting. Wouldn t it be more natural to assume that if men and women are to prophesy in the Messianic age, that they would both do it where it counts most, in a 1 Corinthians 14-type gathering? What about Philip s four virgin daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9)? Are we to believe that these gifted ladies would not prophesy in the context of the gathered saints, where such an activity was to be the center point? Again, it would be natural to assume that feminine prophesying took place in the 1 Corinthians 14 meeting, which coincides with the information in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. The silence position leads us to the unnatural conclusion that female prophesying can only happen outside of where Paul sees it as most important, inside the body meeting described in 1 Corinthians 14.</p> <p>The silence position militates against the very thing they say they are for  open meetings with mutual participation. In all the key ways, about half the priesthood has to be quiet. It really boils down to a meeting where the males participate. Paul says, on the other hand, "each and every one of you [hekastos] has a song, a teaching, etc." (1 Corinthians 14:26). This is another perspective that would at least make you wonder if using 14:34-35 to silence sisters is correct. It seems to me that Paul desires for the ladies to participate with their husband s blessing, while in submission to their husbands.</p> <p>It may help clarify the situation if we consider the general ministry of the Word in the assembly. Christ rules his ekklesia by his Word. That Word will have a number of goals  encouragement, comfort, admonition, rebuke  and will come through different channels  singing, teaching, prophesying, various words shared by the brethren. Remember, in the New Testament even singing is part of the teaching and admonishing dimension of our life together (Eph.5:19; Col.3:16). Thus, Paul has no issue with sisters praying, prophesying and singing, but they are not, according to 1 Tim.2:11-12, to publicly teach the assembly. The sisters participate in the broad teaching ministry of the church in many ways, for even when they prophesy, others learn. The ministry of Christ s Word is given to the entire congregation, and it will come to expression in many different ways. In all of this, it does not appear that women are required to be silent.</p> <p>What, then, is 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 talking about? I have studied this for years, and the best sense I can make out of it is summarized by Dr. Richard Pratt and R. McLaughlin:</p> <p>As he began to define this more clearly [in 1 Corinthians 14:26], he pronounced a general policy that everyone should come to worship ready to use his or her spiritual gifts . . . . Paul s point was that there should be no bystanders in worship. Each person should bring a gift of some kind, whether ordinary (e.g., a hymn) or extraordinary (e.g., a revelation) . . . . Activities in worship must be practiced for the strengthening of the church . . . . Paul applied this general principle to three main issues: speaking in tongues (14:27-28); prophecy (14:29-33); and women (14:34-35) . . . . The instruction to weigh carefully what is said (14:29) raised a particular issue related to wives. It is likely that here (as in 11:2-16) Paul had in mind wives, not women in general. How should wives honor their husbands who prophesy, and at the same time weigh what their husbands say? . . . It must be remembered that Paul did not believe women should not speak in church at all. In 11:5,13 he explicitly acknowledged their right to pray and prophesy. Rather, they should not ask questions . . . . In this context, he seems specifically to have prohibited wives from questioning their own husbands in church. It seems best to read this passage as returning to the issue of wives honoring their husbands in public worship . . . . it was important for wives not to embarrass their husbands by challenging their prophecies in public ("Love Is Our Guide: 1 Corinthians 14:1-40," IIIM Magazine Online, 24:4, 2002, pp.8,9; www.thirdmill.org/files/english/new_testament/; another excellent study, "What Did the Apostle Mean By,  Let Your Women Keep Silence in the Churches, " by Rusty Entrekin, can be seen at www.thingstocome.org/silence.htm).</p> <p>A key assumption of the silence position is that 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 does not refer to a 1 Corinthians 14-type of gathering. Even though most exegetes agree that is does refer to such a meeting, Steve Atkerson suggests that "the greater context leading up to 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 concerns the eating of food at private dinner engagements, not church meetings." But this does not appear to be entirely true. In 1 Corinthians 10:14-22, Paul specifically mentions the Lord s Supper, "you cannot have a part in both the Lord s Table and the table of demons." Further, 11:2, "I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you," indicates a transition into another concern Paul is going to deal with. This concern, as Ben Witherington III notes, relates to "praying and prophesying in Christian worship" (Conflict & Community in Corinth, Eerdmans, 1995, p.235).</p> <p>The difficulty of putting things in black-and-white categories can be illustrated when Steve Atkerson suggests that "the silence is limited to speaking." He believes that "women are not to make comments designed for the whole church to hear." But in Eph.5:19 singing is called "speaking to one another," So does this mean that women cannot sing in the meeting? Making melody is also said to involve "teaching and admonishing" (Col.3:16). What if the Lord gives a sister a song to sing to the congregation? Is that wrong? Must she teach her husband so he can sing it to the group? We know for a fact that women uttered prayers heard by the 120 in the upper room, and they burst forth with tongues the wonderful works of God on the Day of Pentecost. To suggest that sisters cannot offer spoken prayers, directed to the Lord but heard by the whole church, is an extreme and unwarranted restriction.</p> <p>Steve says, "it is noteworthy that from the early church fathers forward, the church has generally held to the silence of women in the church." Of course, in fairness, it should be noted that they also held to the silence of men in the church! They shut down the priesthood of believers and the hierarchy did all the ministry. The early church fathers are hardly a guide for sound teaching. I do not think Steve would also say, "it is noteworthy that the early church fathers practiced infant baptism, the Lord s Supper as a sacrament, and the bishop as supreme." These fathers held to a very unscriptural view of women as persons, so it is hardly fair to cite their silencing of women as something noteworthy (cf. Uta Ranke-Heinemann, Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Women, Sexuality & the Catholic Church, Penguin, 1990, 360pp). Since these early church fathers were so wrong on many key issues, one might justly reason that their view of women s role in the church could also very well be in error.</p> <p>Silence is meant to "protect women," Steve suggests, "from the burden of leadership and of having to function as men." Since Paul sanctions the praying and prophesying of the sisters in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, it is a mistake to designate these as male functions. Acts 2:17-18, 1 Corinthians 11:5 and Acts 21:9 assign the functions of praying and prophesying to women, not just to men. The answer to women not being in leadership is not to keep them silent, but for them to pray and prophesy under the oversight and with the blessing of their husbands. To posit that for a woman to speak words that the whole church hears is to thereby function as a man is without biblical support. Men and women are to speak to one another as servants unto edification.</p> <p>"If there is any doubt over the correctness of a stricter versus a more liberal application of a command," Steve states, "it is generally better to take the more conservative approach." In the issue under examination, I suggest that this principle is skewed. One could just as rightfully argue that since Paul s flow of thought in 1 Corinthians 11-14:33 clearly includes women, that it would be wiser to view 14:34-35 as not intended to silence women completely. Since prophecy is unambiguously the center point of the 1 Corinthians 14 meeting, it would be natural to see women prophesying in that context, and participation by males and females is certainly suggested by Paul s universal language, "everybody is prophesying." Thus the stricter application is unwarranted and unnecessary, given the weighty contextual considerations. A biblical and "loving approach" would allow women to speak in proper ways and to take seriously the concerns that Paul voices. To take the restriction in 14:34-35 and read it back into the previous context is not a sound hermeneutical method. The brethren read the epistle forwards not backwards. Women were included up to 14:33. Therefore, the stricter application draws a wrong conclusion from a highly questionable use of the text.</p> <p>Steve believes that his view is "letting the clear interpret the unclear." I would suggest that his view lets the tail wag the dog. Again, we are back to how each of us is persuaded by certain evidence as we make interpretive decisions regarding texts of the Bible. To me, it is clear that women were included in the flow of Paul s thought, and therefore it is letting the unclear interpret the clear to conclude that Paul meant to totally silence women in 14:34-35. I believe the weight of evidence tips the scale toward the proper participation of women, not toward their silence. The truth is you can build apparent cases from texts for both the participation and the silence of the sisters. Given the immediate announcement on the Day of Pentecost that brothers and sisters would prophesy, and given the fact that prophecy is to be central in the 1 Corinthians 14. meeting, I believe it is best to err on the side of allowing the sisters to function, rather than trying to resolve the issue by silencing them.</p> <p>[Many issues just touched upon in this article are enlarged upon in my piece, "And God Gave Heman 14 Sons & 3 Daughters (1 Chron.25:5-6): A Look At Women in the History of Redemption."]</p> </div> <div class='boxbottom'><div></div></div> </div> </body></html>