Question: A question has come up in our church. One of my good friends and I got into a discussion today about women speaking in church. He used as his reason the scripture in 1 Corinthians 14: 34 where Paul tells the Corinthian Church that women are to remain silent. Personally, I like to hear the women speak, but I had no answer for his objection.

Ron

Answer: Dear Ron,

Thanks for listening to our Commentary! Your question – 1 Corinthians 14:34 – basically is, "Is this passage to be read and understood as a prohibition against women speaking in church at all, ever, in any way?"

Logical problems – if so, then women cannot speak in children’s church to teach children, they cannot sing hymns, they cannot say "A-men" to a public prayer, they cannot even whisper to their children who may need to be told to "sit still", etc. Further, if this passage is extracted in a literal way – even modified from the extremes I offered above – then other issues in the immediate context must also be addressed in the same way.

This same chapter has information on speaking in tongues – is that information a command, that we should all speak in tongues as did Paul (see vs. 18 – "I thank God I speak in tongues more than all of you") as long as an interpreter is present?

Or, continuing in the same general context, what about other instructions about formal and public worship – such as in chapter 11, the command for the woman to have her head covered when in worship/prayer? Does this mean a certain length of hair, or does this mean a scarf over the hair?

These are issues which Christians today must read and understand as having had specific significance for the church in Corinth, and general wisdom for us – but they are not on the level of the new commands Christians are given in the New Testament. For example, we do not find such instructions on the sin and virtue lists of the New Testament.

Hope this gives you some thoughts to consider.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht