Why Women Should Not Speak in Our Churches – KAU #197 Pt 2

WHY WOMEN SHOULD NOT SPEAK IN OUR CHURCHES (P.2) (By Joey Faust)

The Seventh Day Adventists

The Seventh Day Adventists believe many heresies. They believe that Ellen
G. White was an inspired prophetess. They were therefore quick to allow
women to speak in their churches. In a June 26, 1866 editorial, Adventist
writer, Uriah Smith, argued:

“No one will certainly contend that Paul excludes females from being
members of the church. Yet in chapter 14:23, 24, he speaks about the whole
church being come together, and ALL speaking with tongues, and ALL
prophesying. This would include the sisters equally with the
brethren….The question still remains, What does the language mean? On
this point we may not be able to arrive at so definite conclusions, as on
the inquiry, what it does not mean; but there are grounds for certain
inferences, which are both fair and necessary.”
(“Morning Star,” June 26, 1866, “Let Your Women Keep Silence in the
Churches.”)

What Smith doesn’t mention is that the whole context is addressed to
“brethren” (14:6, 20, 26). It is discussing “prophets” (14:29, 32) not
“prophetesses” (Exodus 15:20). “All” therefore refers to those whom Paul
is specifically addressing (i.e. the men). Paul refers to women as “them”
in this chapter:

1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is
not permitted unto THEM to speak; but they are commanded to be under
obedience, as also saith the law.

Later, in the March 14, 1871 edition of “Morning Star,” an article
appeared, entitled, “Shall Women Speak in the Church?” It stated:

“Among some Christian sects it is considered disorderly for women to speak
or pray in a public assembly….The fact is, Paul is here [1 Corinthians
14:34-35] correcting abuses, disorders which caused confusion in the
churches at Corinth….Women were not to wrangle and to yield to pretended
impulses, and become excited and immodest in such assemblies. But nothing
is proved by this in regard to what is proper in orderly, sober
assemblies. Because it is very improper for women to take part in such
meetings as they had at Corinth, it does not follow that they may not take
part in orderly religious meetings. Women who usurp authority over men,
and become dictatorial in public assemblies, are very much out of place;
but that does not prove it improper to speak in a proper manner. That
these passages do not forbid a modest, orderly utterance of their views,
hopes and joys, in religious meetings, is evident from the fact that the
Scriptures endorse and commend such acts.”

First, this common argument actually taught the Sodomites how to defend
their own pet sin! They teach that Paul’s commands and warnings against
homosexuality are only warnings against ABUSES of homosexuality! With such
an interpretation we could literally defend any sin. Secondly, Scripture
never endorses women speaking in a mixed CHURCH assembly. The references
to women speaking are always outside the fully assembled church.

The 20th Century

Once the 20th century began, many Baptists also began to open the door to
the feminist agenda. By 1928, Harvey Boyce Taylor, Sr. (1870-1932) could
write:

“The Bible says it is a shame for women to speak in he church. Women who
thus disobey the Scriptures are honored in NEARLY ALL our Baptist
assemblies now. But there is one place they will not be honored for their
disobedience to God’s Word. That will be when they have to take a back
seat before Judge Jesus. The only women who will be honored then, will be
home-bodies, who wore modest apparel, were submissive to their husbands
and obeyed the Book. Blessings on them! There are far more than seven
thousand of them: but they are a very small remnant among the women of the
South.”
(“Why Be A Baptist?,” News and Truths, p.63)

Around this time, Katharine Bushnell (1855-1946) deceived many otherwise
good Christians. She simply revived the arguments of early antichristian
feminists and occult Theosophists. She argued in “God’s Word to Women”
that male translators had wrongly translated Paul’s commands. Therefore,
in the first half of the 20th century, D. M. Panton wrote a tract called,
“Christian Women And The Holy Scriptures” to counter these erroneous
claims of Dr. Bushnell. He writes:

“It is always a relief, but also a tragedy, when the seeds of error burst
into their final bloom: a relief, because all eyes are opened to the evil
at last; but a tragedy, because when an error comes in all its naked
hideousness into the open, it is generally because its battle is won, and
it can now afford to drop the mask. Dr. Katharine Bushnell’s works, which
may be taken as a fair sample of much that is being taught to Christian
women today, and which are being presented by her admirers as ‘nothing
short of a revelation from God,’ reveal, as by a sudden flash of
lightning, the ultimate goal and practices which, to many sincere and
simple souls, appear innocent and even laudable….Now Dr. Bushnell’s
divergence is radical and profound. Humanity (according to her) was
originally, as the Deity is now, BI-SEXUAL….Eve never fell, never sinned
herself….And how does Dr. Bushnell arrive at these astounding results?
By giving a fresh translation to nearly every Scripture involved….This
teaching strikes a deadly blow at Church order….[In 1 Corinthians 14]
twenty times in fifteen verses ‘to speak’ means to address the public
assembly. I confess that I turned with great curiosity to see how an acute
intellect would attempt to storm an impregnable citadel. Will it be
believed when it is stated? Dr. Bushnell says THE WORDS ARE A QUOTATION -
a quotation from Jewish Rabbis and woman-haters; that in these words Paul
is quoting what he is opposing with all his might….’Paul is uttering a
strong protest against this sort of opposition to women.’ One falls back
aghast….her grotesque conjecture is a final acknowledgement that the
passage cannot be squared, by any ingenuity of human skill, with anything
but silence….”

What Does Silence Mean?

Teachers who believe that the command to not speak is too confined will
always raise up a straw man as a smokescreen or emotional diversion. For
example, John Macarthur argues:

“Others go to the opposite extreme and insist that no woman should EVER
TALK in church under ANY circumstances – NOT EVEN to the person they’re
sitting next to. However Paul makes clear in verse 12 what he means by
‘silence’: women are to be silent in the sense of not teaching or
exercising over men in the church….The context of 1 Corinthians 14
indicates that the silence Paul commanded was not intended to preclude
women from speaking at all, but to keep them from speaking in tongues and
prophesying in the church….That women are precluded from speaking
authoritatively in the church assembly doesn’t mean they can never speak
God’s truth….I think there is a time and place as well for women to
publicly offer a testimony of praise to the Lord. I don’t think Paul is
saying they can never do that. What he is forbidding is women taking on
the leadership roles in the church.”
(“God’s High Calling for Women,” Part 3, 1 Timothy 2:11, Tape GC 54-16)

It is nice that Macarthur “thinks” this. Yet, he certainly didn’t prove
anything from Scripture. He simply raised up a straw man by saying that a
woman cannot even speak to the person next to her! But WHO has ever argued
such a thing? Macarthur does not say. He can find no significant writer or
preacher in print who has ever argued such a ridiculous thing. But what he
will find is that practically all of conservative Christendom throughout
history has maintained that the command to be in silence refers to
addressing the mixed assembly. He offers no support for his view that
women ARE allowed to speak to the mixed church as long as they do not do
so “authoritatively.” Is this what Paul actually commands? Notice the
Scripture:

1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is
not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under
obedience, as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ASK their husbands at home:
for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

How extensive is the command? Does it simply refer to tongues? No, it is
so extensive that a woman is not even allowed to ASK a question in front
of the mixed assembly! But simply asking a question is not teaching
authoritatively; nor is it tongues. Yet, such questions are clearly
forbidden by Paul. Macarthur is therefore wrong.

H. Boyce Taylor, Sr. in his day clearly refutes the careless arguments
that Macarthur and others use to defend women addressing the whole church:

“The issue is not as to whether a woman may speak IN a public mixed
assembly, but whether it is scriptural and right for a woman to speak IN
PUBLIC in a mixed assembly….The women scattered through that gathering
throng on Pentecost did speak as the Spirit gave them utterance, just as
thousands of women spoke every night at Asheville both before and after
the regular services at the Asheville Convention in a public mixed
assembly, but all their speaking was private, not public. No woman spoke
in public on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is very careful to
safeguard that very point so that no one need be mistaken unless he just
wants to be. ‘But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice,
and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem,
be this known unto you, and hearken to my words’ (Acts 2:14). It is
specifically said that when that assembly was called to order and the time
for the public speaking began that ‘Peter standing up with the eleven’ did
the talking. No woman on the day of Pentecost under the control of the
Holy Spirit dared to stand up before that mixed assembly and say one
word….Bro. [J.B.] Moody misses the issue as widely as does Bro.
Gambrell. He cites women prophesying ‘preaching in a private and personal
way’ and Priscilla’s private instruction of Apollos in support of his
position, not one of which touches the question of women speaking in
public before mixed assemblies….
(“Why Be A Baptist?”)

Along this line, notice the words of Roy Mason (1894-1978):

“Now if women ought to preach, deliver addresses before mixed audiences of
men and women, lead in public prayer, etc., it is evident that Baptists
have misunderstood the Scriptures for the past twenty centuries and that
they have grievously wronged millions of women….I desire to state that
if the Scriptures teach anything, they most certainly teach that a woman
should not preach, lead in public prayer before mixed audiences, teach
men, or take the place in church leadership that the Scriptures assign to
men…Because there is no record of a woman preacher in all the New
Testament. Personal, private witnessing is all that can be made out of the
testimony of the women concerning Christ’s resurrection, Philip’s
daughters, etc. No inconsistency in a single case…”
(“Is It Scriptural For Women To Preach, Lead Men and Women in Public
Prayer, and Make Talks in Church?”)

Objections And Questions Answered

1. But what about Deborah?

First, the Bible never states that Deborah addresses a mixed assembly.
Each person comes to her privately under the palm tree (Judges 4:5).
Secondly, it was a time when each man did what was right in his own eyes
(Judges 17:16). Thirdly, perhaps a better question would be, Why does the
Holy Spirit refer to Barak instead of Deborah in the Hebrews 11 “faith”
chapter?:

Hebrews 11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to
tell of Gedeon, and of BARAK, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David
also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Perhaps it was to guard against feminism. Even Deborah realized her place
(Judges 4:8-9). Finally, H. Boyce Taylor, Sr. writes:

“…the only seeming exception is Deborah and the exception was made in
that case because the men were all ‘sissies.’ The brethren are welcome to
all the consolation they can get out of that exception.” (“Why Be A
Baptist?”)

2. What if a woman feels as if she is called by God to speak to the
assembly?

If GOD is leading her, He will be leading her to obey His commands in 1
Corinthians 14:

1 Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or
spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are
the commandments of the Lord.
38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

Notice, this verse also answers those who would dare say that Paul’s
commands for women to be silent were NOT the commands of Jesus. Paul says
that if a man has any sense or spiritual maturity, he will realize that
GOD is speaking through Paul’s pen.

3. But what if your case is different and special?

1 Corinthians 14:36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it
unto you only?

This verse is given in the context of women remaining silent in the
churches. No one will be given any special revelation contrary to what
Paul has been given!

4. But wasn’t this command specifically for the Corinthians?

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,
as in ALL THE CHURCHES of the saints.
34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted
unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also
saith the LAW.

The context is for all the churches of the saints that they may be in
godly peace. The LAW is used as an extra witness. Therefore, this is a
moral command that is not limited to ages or dispensations.

5. But doesn’t 1 Corinthians 11 teach that women should pray and prophesy
aloud in the churches?

The section addressing the actual assembly does not begin until verse 17:

1 Corinthians 11:17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not,
that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when ye COME TOGETHER IN THE CHURCH, I hear that
there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

Therefore, there is no evidence that Paul is referring to women
prophesying before the actual mixed assembly of the church. The public
prophesying he is referring to would be in private gatherings, such as
that performed by the daughters of Philip (Acts 21:9), Huldah (2 Kings
22:14), Deborah (Judges 4:4), and Elizabeth (Luke 1:42). Such examples
have nothing to do with whether or not it is proper for a women to speak
before a New Testament church.

6. But if women cannot speak in church, how can they lead people to Christ
and use their gifts to exhort the saints?

First, they may teach women (Titus 2). Women can meet together in the
church for women’s testimony meetings. They can raise children and
instruct them (1 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 1:5). They may teach children in
Sunday school classes. Churches can also organize regular, small “prayer
fellowships” where women can pray, exhort and testify without addressing
the whole church body (Acts 12:12). Women can, and should, witness and
lift up their voices on the street in soul winning to those who pass by
(Proverbs 1:20-22, 8:1-3, John 4:28). They can exhort believers privately
(Luke 24:10, Acts 18:26). They can, and should, use their private homes
for “hospitality evangelism” and exhortation (Proverbs 9:1-6, Acts 18:26).
And finally, it appears that women may sing holy songs (in modest
apparel), even in the mixed assembly (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16).
Paul refers to the “law”(i.e. the Old Testament) in his command for women
to be silent in the church (1 Corinthians 14:34). In other words, the
submission of women through silence in the mixed assembly is taught by
example throughout the whole Old Testament (1 Corinthians 10:11). The only
exception in the whole Old Testament is the “prophesying” of Miriam
through SINGING (Exodus 15:1, 20). Therefore, the Bible forbids women to
address the whole mixed church assembly through preaching, asking
questions, leading in prayer, making announcements, giving testimonies, or
speaking in “business” meetings, etc. In regard to such regular modes of
speaking as these, she is to remain silent. Yet, there is no apparent
restriction on singing.

The Seventh Day Adventists in the 19th century justified letting women
speak to their churches by arguing that if they are allowed to sing, they
should be allowed to speak. But this is arguing backwards. The question of
women singing in the churches is debatable. But the question of regular
speaking is not debatable. Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or
spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are
the commandments of the Lord.
38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

Conclusion

There are blurry lines and difficult questions that could be formulated in
response to any subject. Yet, such questions should never be used to
justify disobedience in the areas that are clear.

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