Smoodock's Blog

When seeking support for the patriarchal system of things, many folks will point to Paul, because that he told the Corinthians that women should be silent in the churches (1Corinthians 14:34). However, we need to remember that the Corinthian letter was written by Paul to correct many false practices occurring there in the local bodies of believers. There were divisions among them (1Corinthians 1:10-11). Some were no longer following Paul’s teachings (1Corinthaisn 4:16-18). Others were practicing immorality (1Corinthians 6:12-15). Still others didn’t believe Paul was an authentic Apostle of Christ (1Corinthians 9:1-2). So, we need to be careful concerning context and how we should read what he writes to the Corinthian church.

Notice what the scripture says:

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. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. (1 Corinthians 14:34-35)

The first thing we should notice about what is said here is that the Law of Moses says nothing about women keeping silence in the assembly. So, the question is what law is Paul referring to in his letter? If we look to civil law, we would find Livy quoting Marcus Porcius Cato’s History of Early Rome concerning women and Roman law:

“What kind of behavior is this? Running around in public, blocking streets, and speaking to other women’s husbands! Could you not have asked your own husbands the same thing at home?”[1]

Therefore, what Paul wrote was, actually, according to Roman law, not Mosaic Law. It is implied by Cato that women should be silent in public and speak only to their husbands at home. This is very nearly what is written in Paul’s letter. So, the next question is: was Paul endorsing Roman law in the churches, or was he quoting or stating what he heard was being practiced in the Corinthian churches, which was contrary to what he taught, when he was with them? Consider what Paul says next in the context of verses 34 & 35:

What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. (1 Corinthians 14:36-38)

It would appear that Paul was, in point of fact, correcting a false practice: “What? Did the word of God come out from you…?”[2] Remember, there were divisions among the Corinthians churches. Some were even doubting Paul was an Apostle of Christ (1Corinthians 9:1-2) and were teaching doctrines he didn’t teach (1Corinthians 4:16-18). If the very first evangelists who brought the Gospel to men were women (cp. Mark 16:9-11; Luke 24:10-11, 22-24; John 20:18), to teach women to be silent in the churches would be contrary to what Jesus had specifically told his followers to do! Some may try to say that the women bringing the Gospel to the disciples immediately after Jesus had risen from the dead is the exception to the rule, but how would they know? What proof do they have that the behavior of these women was an exception to the rule? Why would it be obedient for women to evangelize immediately after the resurrection of Christ, but not later? Moreover, if it was according to the Mosaic Law that women should be silent, why would Jesus and the angels tell the women to break the Law?

Paul concludes his thought with: “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak in tongues…” (1Corinthians 14:39), and it should be obvious that the word, brethren, refers to both men and women (cp. 2Chronicles 28:8). So, Paul taught that believing women, as well as believing men, should covet to prophesy, and neither sex should be forbidden to speak in tongues in the churches. Therefore, the idea that women should be silent in the churches is obviously an error embraced by church leadership, and the patriarchal system in modern Christianity is, once more, exposed as a false doctrine, pure and simple.

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[1] See Livy, History of Rome, 173: “Women demonstrate and obtain repeal of the Oppian law.” Rome 195 B.C. (34.1, 3xc. Late 1^st century B.C. – early 1^st century A.D.)

[2] See argument recorded in The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr; “Because Paul Didn’t Tell Women to Be Silent;” page 55-63.