If Paul really considered it an abuse for a woman to speak in the Christian assembly, he had, without a doubt, the change to make this point in Chapter 11. Instead of arguing for the custom which required that women cover their heads in public, he would have taken advantage of such a strong argument against the supporters of a mistaken understanding of the equality of men and women.

Really the contradiction has a simpler solution. Although eliminating a text to eliminate a difficulty is always bad, in the present instance both the external and the internal evidence suggest that the verses cited above, (I Corinthians 14:34-35), are an interpolation which has nothing to do with the genuine text of chapter 14 as Paul’s true thought. In some important manuscripts these verses are given at the end of the chapter 14, after verse 40, since verse 36 logically follows after verse 33, the verses in question break the continuity of the reasoning process. Sever lexicographic and syntactic details are unusual in Paul’s vocabulary and style, such as the formals as even the law says,” (Katos ho nomos legei).

Finally, some of the ideas of this text disagree with what Paul says elsewhere about women. This short passage actually means that in the assemblies women must not speak, in the most natural sense of the word. If they do not understand something, all they have to do is to ask their husband at home. They should not indulge in whispering or interrupting the speaker or disturbing the meeting in any way. This type of behavior would be unbecoming and contrary to the subordinate condition in which the law intends they should remain.

“Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the law says. And if they desire to learn anything, let thorn ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.” I Cor. 14:34.35.

It is so important not to lift these or any other verses out of their immediate context. First of all. Note that one of Paul’s primary concerns in this chapter was to deal with the problem of confusion (14:33) and disorder (14:40). The same verb which in verse 34 is translated “keep silent” is also directed towards some who were misusing tongues (14:28) and prophecy (14:30). It is apparent that one of the sources of confusion and disorder in Corinth was certain women creating some kind of disturbance in the assembly of believers.

We can only conjecture about the details of the original situation. Perhaps women who had been involved in various pagan religions had come to Christ and become part of the Corinthian congregation. Female deities were a part of these religions (see Acts 19:24-28) and women were often made spectacles in their rites. Such women would have had to learn to behave differently in the assembly of believers or perhaps there were uneducated women, both Gentile and Jew, who were constantly asking others out loud to explain what was going on or being taught (see verse 35). In any case, their speech was out of order!

Notwithstanding the secular women’s movement of today, what is going on in the Christian Church?

When I became a Christian in the seventies, the most shocking thing that I discovered was the fact that the Church was a boiling pot of discrimination! I guess that pastors were trying to do everything that they could to keep the secular, rebellious women’s revolution out of the church. Conservative Christian women were being told, “Just submit to your husband, no matter what kind of life he leads and everything will work out.” Many women began to submit to ungodly men and were being abused by them. Many were submitting to every evil thing under the sun that was asked of them by unconverted men. Every single family problem was said to be happening because the women were rebellious.

I remember ministering in a church during the seventies and the associate pastor made broad statements to the women to “submit to your husbands, period.” When I asked him should a women submit totally to unbelieving man who might ask her to go to the bar, should she submit to him? He answered, “Yes!” What if a woman’s husband asked his wife to submit to a wife swapping situation, should she submit to her husband? He replied, “Yes,” I said to him, “I totally disagree to these ungodly teachings. The Bible says that women should submit to their husband, as unto the Lord.” Little did I realize that many male ministers were interpreting this Scripture as “the Lord” begins the husband and not Jesus being the Lord! This pastor said to me. Who are you that you should question me? The associate pastor exclaimed authoritatively, “the woman must submit, even to a wife swapping situation!”I replied, “Pastor, the Bible says that God’s people should be holy as God is holy. You are telling these women to do unholy things because their unbelieving husbands tell them to sin with him.”