quote:
Why would Paul bother to tell women that they shall have their heads covered when speaking prophecies, if he intended to tell them just few paragraph farther that they are not supposed to speak at all? That does not make sense.
The women didn't spend all their lives in church assembly, for sure. When the prophet Agabus, a male prophesied about Paul's impending peril were he to go to Jerusalem, the text does not sound like the prophecy was given during church assembly. My point is that the restrictive instruction to women pertained to church assembly only. Nor were they forbidden to teach other women or children, but were encourged to do so, the elder teaching the younger. It is possible, imo, that this might also pertain to ingathering classes within the church where men were not present. I Timothy 2: 12 possibly, I say possibly implies this to be the case. Also, Paul, in Titus 2:3,4 exorts the older women to be
teachers of good things, "that they may
teach the young women to be sober......." All of the numerous evangelical churches I've been in over the years do allow women to teach women and children in or out of the church.
The statement Paul made about women learning in silence and not speaking is a qualified statement which seems to pertain only to the general church assembly where both men and women are gathered together for worship and preaching. This is how most evangelicals see it, except that in most churches strict absolute literal adherance to this is not practiced. In other matters, like eating and drinking as well as sabbath keeping Paul does use language like "let each be convinced in their own mind" as to how they observe these things. I think that to be the case here. One should not judge others in this, but let God be their guide and judge.
[This message has been edited by buzsaw, 10-05-2003]