We were mainly discussing what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35:
34 women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.
Paul says that women should not speak in church, and that they should be in submission. This is a good enough explanation for some, and they apply the scripture in a very literal way. However, it troubled me. If Deborah was around today would we not let her preach? She was a boss! I had heard arguments for other interpretations of the passage, so I did some research and found this: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Women_Service_Church.htm
It is N.T. Wright's views on women in church. Luckily, he addresses this passage and seems to explain it very well. He says (actually he got this information from a source he cites in his paper) that services in that time were usually performed in formal or classical Arabic. Men would know this language, whereas women usually did not. Also, men and women would sit on opposite sides of the room. A common result of this situation would be women talking amongst themselves (which is a reasonable idea, seeing as it would be boring for myself, not knowing arabic, to sit through an arabic sermon), which caused distractions. I have to point out that they weren't necessarily having selfish conversation. They might have been asking about something because they did not understand it. This idea is supported by verse 35, which says they should wait until after the service to ask about whatever they do not understand. Either way, they would usually have to be told to be quiet.
So is the reason Paul says women should be quiet simply because they are women? MAYBE not (stress on maybe). I don't know all of the ins and outs of this argument, but it does seem that there is something important to be found here. Women were stereotypically uneducated. They did not understand much of anything that was spoken in the church services, so they would talk (some things never change, do they?) about it and discuss what the pastor meant. In this context, Paul wouldn't tell them to be quiet because of them being women, but because they were causing distractions.
So what does this mean to us? If we are to buy into this argument, it seems that it isn't women in particular that should be quiet, but the people who are either not understanding or not paying attention to the pastor that should be quiet and not cause distractions.
What I think is most important to understand about this passage is what it does not mean. It does NOT mean that women should not address the church or teach the church. This subject does not fit in to the literary context (order in worship). However, distractions during worship do fit into this context. Verse 34 and 35 seem to be saying that people in attendance at church should not cause distractions for the others who are trying to listen to what is being taught.
These are just some thoughts. I have in no way completely decided what I believe. I think this argument has some merit, but it also seems to be a stretch. So, feel free to leave comments, and tell me what your view is!
Also, I don't want to act like all of these thoughts originated from me. I am not that smart! The vast majority of these thoughts came from professors' ramblings, N.T. Wright's exegetical, and conversations with friends.
