Liberated iin Jesus Christ

Women coming out of Hebrew/Greek deprivation As women received their liberation in Christ from the old Hebrew and Greek suppressions, it is believed that some of them had become overly aggressive in the meetings of the congregation.  It is believed that a few women seized power and were dominating the leadership and worship of the church in Corinth and Ephesus, 1 Tim 2:11-12; 1 Cor. 14:34,35.  What the interpreter must decide then is the scope of application. In light of 1 Tim 2:11,12 and 1 Cor. 14:13,35, were these only local situations that needed the drastic remedy that Paul prescribed, or was Paul setting a universal rule to be applied in all churches, in all places? The admonition to the women to learn in silence, we again must look at them as coming out of the deprivations that had long been imposed upon them.  They had a lot to learn, a lot of catching up to do.  The Jewish women had never been allowed to read scriptures in the synagogues or teach in a school.  The Greek women had rarely an opportunity to be heard by anyone outside of her home.  Here is where an understanding of the social and cultural background of the New Testament is essential.  Christians in Ephesus were from both Jewish and Greek background.  In the Jewish tradition, a woman was regarded more as a piece of property then a person.  She was without rights or power.  In spite of the honor given her in such a passage as Proverbs chapter 31 – The Virtuous Woman, in actual practice outside of the home, she was not regarded as a person.  On the Greek side women were also held to be non-persons.  She was her husband’s property.  She was rarely involved in community meetings or activities.  Though there were some women in business, such as Lydia in Philippi, they were the exceptions, and not the rule. In light of the command for women to “Learn in Silence with all submission,” may not have sounded to them the way it sounds to us.  I tend to believe that this command, as well as others, which suggest for women to be silent, was for that particular setting, corrective measures to local church abuser, which could have occurred anywhere or anytime.  After all the Holy Ghost said that women would preach during the last days, then say for women to shut up.  That is very contradictory if we do not rightly divide the word of truth and have an understanding also of the historical background setting of what was going on at the time of the writings of the scriptures. Sharon Therese Spencer