Re: SIGATW in 1 Cor 14:34

From: Troy de Jongh (troyd@arh.com)
Date: Fri Jun 27 1997 - 14:43:55 EDT


Paul S. Dixon writes:
>
>
> On Fri, 27 Jun 1997 11:04:21 -0400 Jonathan Robie
> <jwrobie@mindspring.com> writes:
> >At 08:21 AM 6/27/97 -0500, Troy de Jongh wrote:
> >>Theresa J List, Dcs writes:
> >
> >>> Anyhow, there were most certainly women prophetesses,
> >>> like Anna, for example who SPOKE (LALEIN! Look it up!) in
> >>> the temple! So, women are not to speak (LALEIN, 1 Co 14:34)
> >>> in the assembly, but, of course, Anna did this with God's
> >>> sanction. Or, 1 Cor. 11:5, a mere few hundred words
> >>> before the injunction against speaking in 1 co 14, where
> >>> women are to prophesy with their heads covered. I refuse to
> >>> believe that either God or Paul are schizofrenic, erego I know
> >>> there is some way to understand these as not contradictory.
> >
> >>I agree that these passages don't have to be read as contradictory,
> >>Theresa. In fact, I think it helps to remember who Paul was talking
> >>to and in what context he was speaking (as well as his overall
> >purpose
> >>of writing the letter). Certainly there are many places in scripture
> >>where women are labeled as prophetesses or a woman holds authority
> >>(Deborah in Judges); but then Paul comes along and tells a particular
> >>congregation that women should be silent...
>
> We should be careful here. Only if we infer the negation of 1 Cor 11:5
> is there a necessary conflict with 1 Cor 14:34-35. Negations, of course,
> are not valid inferences ("If A, then B" does not imply "If not A, then
> not B").

Before I get really get taken out of context, I'd just like to restate what
I should've stated more clearly the first time. I wasn't addressing the
1 Cor 14:34 passage in particular. I was just trying to make the point
that whenever Paul says, "Don't do this" and "Don't do that" in his
letters, we have to take into account his great evangelical motives and
the cultural context of those times. In my opinion, sometimes Paul is
saying something like, "Look, if you're trying to share the gospel with
a prospective believer or interacting with a new believer, then don't do
anything to raise his eyebrows that might cause him to not believe or might
damage his new faith." That's Paul's "I won't eat meat if it causes my
brother to fall" principle. :) I'm not asserting that 1 Cor 14:34-35 is an
example of one of these "cultural" passages. And I probably should've
kept those thoughts to myself, since it's really not NT Greek. :-)

Now, however, Jonathan brought up an interesting point regarding the
Greek in that same passage...

-- 
Troy de Jongh        troyd@euler.com 


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