Who Are Women? By John Sellers For many years, woman’s role has been the topic of controversy, the subject of debate, and the cause of division in the Lords Church. In these situations, the primary scriptures discussed are 1 Cor.14:34,35, 1 Cor.11:1-16, and 1 Tim. 2:11-15. Much of the discussion (spoken and written) seems to take for granted that the word woman is defined as the female of the species. If you look up woman in Youngs Analytical Concordance, you will find included in the definition the word wife, and the Greek word so translated is gune. If you look up wife, you will find that it is the same Greek word gune that is rendered wife in a large number of passages. Vines Dictionary gives the Greek word, and the first statement made is see also wife... When this condition exists, one must examine text and context to determine which meaning best fits the evidence given, not just assume a definition. It is the objective of this article to examine the text and context to attempt to determine to whom the teaching is directed. The easiest of the passages is 1 Cor. 14:34-35. If you follow the they, them, and their through these verses, you will come to ...their husbands at home. There can be little doubt that these verses address wives (married women), for only they have husbands. Further evidence is found in these verses. Paul states: ..but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. Many of the commentators just refer to Gen. 3:16 ...and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. as the law’s evidence of the subjection of woman and make no further comment. It must be noted that Gen. 3:16 subjects the wife to the husband and does not subject females to males. The statement as also means to the same degree or extent; hence, one should expect to find parallel passages in both the Old and New Testaments. These are Eph. 5:22-23 and Gen. 3:16. To extend the teaching of the passage to all women would, therefore, require parallel passages that show that females are to be subject to males. To my knowledge, such passages do not exist. This lack of evidence forces us to conclude that the teaching in 1 Cor. 14:34-35 is directed to married women and not to women in general. It can be further argued that the passage is directed to those married women with believing husbands. Does it make sense to instruct a wife to ask a question about the faith, or to learn about the faith, from an unbeliever? Some feel that the New Testament passage subjecting all women to men is 1 Cor. 11:1-16. This, however, cannot be true unless we have a corresponding passage from the law. Paul’s criteria has not been met. Where is the parallel passage from the law? But the objective is to determine to whom this passage is speaking. The basic knowledge that Paul wants to impart is given in verse 3. It is headship and the respect given to the head. The divine order is God-Christ-Man-Woman, but should the gune here be rendered wife or women in general? The passage has no evidence that points to either definition; therefore, from this specific text, one cannot defend either definition. Hence, we must look elsewhere in the scripture to see if there is support for either definition. According to Vine, the passage uses Head metaphorically, of the authority or direction of God in relation to Christ, of Christ in relation to believing men, of the husband in relation to the wife, of Christ in relation to the Church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15). The statement of the husband in relation to the wife require scriptural proof and must not be accepted just because Vine says so. Authority or direction implies rule over. The same word head is used in each relationship, and the man is the head over the woman in the same manner as Christ is the head over the man. The matter of rule over has been discussed earlier, and the same question (What passage teaches the rule of men over women in any context other than marriage?) is asked. But let us look at the consequences of applying this passage to all women. To each married man, it would mean that I am one of the heads over your wife; and similarly, you are one of the heads over my wife. To the ladies, it means each has many heads. If there ever was a recipe for chaos and civil unrest, this (in my opinion) is it. In this passage, the scripture supports the definition of gune as the wife, seeing that it clearly teaches that the wife is subject to the husband. The final passage under consideration is 1 Tim. 2:11-15. The text here supports the definition as females, as opposed to the married. Paul begins in verse 11 let the woman learn... It does not make sense, or agree with scripture, that only married women are to learn. Later, Paul gives as his reason for not suffering a woman to teach or usurp authority, the order in which each was created, and the order in which each sinned. This order does not deal with ruling over or being in subjection; hence, it deals with the male and female. The teaching in this passage will be directed toward all women. In summary, evidence presented shows that 1 Cor. 11 and 14 address married women and that 1 Tim. 2:11-15 addresses women in general. Why the discussion? Who is one of the five W questions (Who, What, Where, When, and Why) that must be accurately answered to properly interpret text and context. When the Who is being addressed is not accurately determined, the What being taught can and will be applied in error. A few months ago, a Bible News Letter that came into your homes attempted to restrict the Jesus’ teaching during his personal ministry to the Jews only. Some of the teachers and preachers associated with this controversy want to apply the teachings beyond the limitations of the passages. There is no difference between restricting a passage to fewer than the passage allows or expanding a passage to more than it permits.*** ________________________________________ Brother Sellers has given some good points for us to consider in our studies. A few months ago, I conducted a home study on the subject of women speaking in Bible classes. Before moving to Ohio a couple years ago, not having the problem where I used to work, I had never studied this subject in any detail. Brother Sellers is correct that the two passages at the heart of the controversy are 1 Corinthians 14:34,35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-15. One of the problems I have seen in the teaching, advanced by others, is not staying within the context of the passages. What is under discussion in 1 Corinthians 14? This is part of a discussion that begins in chapter 12. Paul is discussing the use of spiritual gifts. Do we have spiritual gifts today? Do women prophecy today in the Lord’s church? Read the text carefully in view of the whole of the discussion. Could we be taking a passage out of context and making a broader application than the apostle Paul intended? This can be also done for 1 Timothy 2. What is the subject under consideration? The woman’s role is discussed, beginning in verse 9. The main thrust of the passage is that she is not permitted to usurp authority over the man. How she does so by engaging in a Bible study is difficult for me to grasp. Please study the context with an open mind. Maybe it’s not as difficult as we think! ***--KG
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 09:51:35 +0000
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