The silence of women during "worship" is an issue that has yet to be removed from the list of disputed matters. Let me just challenge everyone to keep praying and studying about it.

Do consider that the word for 'women' is the same as 'wives' which much better fits the context in both of the "prohibition passages."

Let's think context. Remember how Paul on occasion TEMPORARILY advised against marriage "in the present distress" knowing that Christians were shortly gonna be made into human torches. He may have -temporarily- forbad speaking by women as he ALSO did in commanding that "tongue speakers" AS WELL AS those who judge prophecies to --be silent-- at certain times. This is a linguistic possibility according to those who make such calls.

These two passages (Tim and Cor) thus do NOT dictate an absolute silence, imo, because elsewhere, all saints are commanded to prophecy and (both genders) to teach. Paul even scolded one group of churches because they were not teaching one another. Remember?

Consider that the Greek language has many verb forms that English does not employ. Greek is thus far more precise. Surely, you would acknowledge that the KJV missed the verb tense in the place where "those born of God do not sin." "Sin continually" or "sin habitually" would have be more exact. What it says is obviously (?) what it does not mean.

So: let women not "speak habitually" or "speak continually" is much more suitable and accurate in this husband to wife setting at the gatherings.

Paul desired order amidst the new excitement of spontaneity. Quite likely, he was telling these previously uneducated women (wives) not to go on and on, in I Cor 14. And not to dominate over their husbands in 1 Tim 2. Notice how the two separate elements (1.-taking domination or authority over + 2. being silent) merge in both passages.

Nothing, btw, is more devastating to a guy's ego than to be publicly corrected by his wife. This hasn't happened to me....yet. Lol. But I have seen it happen.

Realtors speak of property value as defined by location, location, and location. Use this rule for study of the Scriptures too as you further examine the two "silence" passages.

If you were to tell your daughter to keep quiet while your son was speaking, would that mean that she was never allowed to speak when they were together later??? Surely not.

In 1 Cor we are talking about silence of WIVES with respect to questions that should be asked later at home. In 1 Tim we are talking about silence with respect to taking authority over your husband in the interactive meetings. God knows all about the huge male ego problem and he has graciously inserted these provisions for the sake of decorum and domestic tranquility after the meeting, ... if you know what I mean.

If we only cut, paste, and cite verbatim the KJV, we will only have SELF CONTRADICTIONS. God has promised something better - to give wisdom, not confusion - to all that inquire. The great promise of Pentecost was that both sexes, young and old, would SOUND OFF!

Do you think that those NT women who prophesied were leaving their living rooms to go somewhere around back ??? How could this be when the express purpose of prophecy is the edification and instruction OF OTHERS ?

Bottom line: Conditional - not absolute silence. IMHO. Silence with respect to taking authority over your husband and silence with respect to questions that could be settled at home.

As old Dr. Anderson, my Dad, used to say with a big grin: "Nobody questions whether or not women _can_ preach but whether or not they should." Yes, I reply, they should as the Spirit gives them knowledge and utterance.

Growing up, I often heard the Pastor say: "Sister so and so will now bring us a message in song." Never just --a message--. And all those multi-million member denominations that forbad their daughters to address the assembly - they would usually allow them to "sneak off" overseas as missionaries and preach and teach all they wanted to.

[While we're at it though, let me warn you all of the present glut of "egalitarian" books written to prop up the idea of women clergy and women's ordination. Most are not home church friendly. Look hard before you shell out.]

Obviously Christians - many fine Christians - who home church and who do not, do not see eye to eye on the "silence issue." I wouldn't want to see anyone "unchurched" over it, of course.

respectfully yours, ybiC,

David B Anderson
Bristol, TN

This is certainly an issue which needs to be examined and grappled with because it is part of inspired scripture.

Re. real estate you have emphaisized "location" and re. scripture we always need to emphasize CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT!

I Corinthians (as an epistle) was written to the church of God at Corinth. "The church of God" is always the church of the city. (Only one per city and including all that are sanctified in Christ Jesus in that city. I Cor.1:2)

The regulations of I Cor.14;23-40 are in the context of the largest church gathering in the city "if the WHOLE CHURCH be come together...." 14:23. So too the whole context of the first 3 chapters of I Timothy is instructions given so the saints would know how to behave themselves in the church of the living God. 3:14,15 (The church of the living God , again, is the church in the city, (the big one!)

Personally, I do not believe that I Cor.14 and I Tim 2 have to do with "interactive house church meetings"! How would one ever see or understand "house church meeting in someone's living room" in the contexts of either of these scripture passages????

All of the instructions of I Cor.14:26 and onward are to males: i.e. "brethren",(v.26 and 39) even the instructions relative to women's silence (v.34,35) are not addressed directly to the sisters! It does not say, "You women"! but rather, "Your women". Therefore, in the context, "every one of you" (v.26) or "you all" (v.31) does not have to include sisters but every one of the brethren.

But in scriptures where we have commands involving "one another" and "everyone" or "every man" (the generic not the male term or males indicated in the context) we see there is to be participation apart from any gender distinctions. See Hebrews 10:24,25; I Peter 4;10,11; Rom 12:3-18 etc etc.

I see that it is such scriptures which clearly indicate interactive, reciprocal, mutual ministry with absolutely no gender restrictions or regulations on audible ministry based on gender distinctions. I believe it is such scriptures which instruct us about ministry in house church gatherings. (The smallest church gatherings in a city.)

Just my two cents for what ever it's worth!