Women in Ministry Leadership: 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

As we have seen thus far, the overall tenor of Scripture indicates that women were full participants in the ministry of the early church. It would be hard to make any argument against women ministering in any way they are called on the basis of the examples we have seen of women in the Bible. Why then, you ask, is it even a question?

Indeed, as we will see in the final lesson, women in ministry is just plain common sense. Women are just as spiritual as men. They are just as wise as men. They are just as intelligent as men. And there are clearly women who are gifted leaders. It would be rather arbitrary for God to say, “Nope, you’re anatomy says you can’t.” It would be puzzling.

So why it is a question? Because two passages are regularly ripped from their contexts and then used to trump all the other passages of the Bible. The logic in effect is, “I don’t care what you think you see in all the rest of the Bible. You’re not allowed to listen to those verses. You have to read them through the lens of my interpretation of these verses.”

The first such passage in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. However, these verses have absolutely nothing to do with women in ministry. We can quickly read them in context and move on.

The women should be quiet during the meeting. They are not allowed to talk. Instead, they need to get under control, just as the Law says. If they want to learn something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is disgraceful for a woman to talk during the meeting.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35, CEB

What is the context? 1 Corinthians 14 is about disorder in the church. The core issue seems to be uninterpreted tongues in the worship service. Paul encourages the orderly use of prophecy in worship and the orderly use of tongues only if there is interpretation. Pastor Working has also mentioned some Greek practices associated with the god Dionysius that the women in the congregation may have brought into worship as well.

If we did not have previous context from 1 Corinthians 11, you might think Paul is prohibiting women here from prophesying or speaking in tongues in the worship service. However, when we go back to 1 Corinthians 11, we find that women did in fact pray and prophesy in Corinthian worship. As the material at the end of 1 Corinthians 11 makes clear, this whole chapter is also about order in Corinthian worship.

A little historical context is helpful. The Corinthians met in a house church. This had to present an awkward situation. You have men and women in close quarters who in normal society would be sharply separated. There had to be a fair amount of sexual tension. Women who did not normally wear a hair veil at home must have presented a potential temptation to men who weren’t their husbands. (Believe it or not, hair was very sexual in the Mediterranean world.)

Paul’s solution? Put a veil on it (1 Cor. 11:5). In this way, the woman is in proper relationship to her husband (like wearing a wedding ring). It tells the men in the congregation that she is taken and is in proper relationship with her husband.

Because 1 Corinthians 11 assumes that women will pray and prophesy in worship, 14:34-35 cannot be about spiritual speech. Those verses must be about disruptive speech, which makes sense in the broader context of the chapter. For them to ask other people’s husbands questions is disruptive. It can make their own husbands jealous as well as the wives of the other men. Ask their own husbands at home.

1 Corinthians 14 thus presents no argument against the consistent calling that God places on women throughout the Bible. It is irrelevant to the question of women in leadership or ministry. However, before we leave the passage, we should note that several prominent faith-filled scholars think that these two verses are an “interpolation,” a later addition to the text of 1 Corinthians.

Gordon Fee was a prominent evangelical scholar, and Richard Hays is also a faith-filled Methodist scholar. Both have concluded that 14:34-35 was not in Paul’s original letter to the Corinthians. Very briefly, their argument is 1) some manuscripts have these verses in a displaced location, as if it was originally in the margin rather than in the text itself, copied in different places by different copiers. Second, the passage reads smoothly without these verses.

Third, there are some internal curiosities. The church of Corinth is a singular church. So why would Paul tell them to be silent in the churches, plural? Next Paul does not usually reference the Jewish Law in this way if that were the law he has in mind. Pastor Working suggests he may have something like a Roman law in mind. Paul is far more known for teaching that Gentile believers are not under the Law. Lastly, the statement that it is a shame for them to speak does sound like it conflicts with 1 Corinthians 11 where there is no ambiguity.