reltbracco on Nostr: Roles central to Christianity which the universal silencing of women in church / ...

Roles central to Christianity which the universal silencing of women in church / towards men undermines:



Repeated, essential theme: Christians are to imitate Christ.
Christ spoke, teaching, correcting, exhorting, and rebuking.
The Holy Spirit, who does not fill Christians in vain, does the same.

The Great Commission: Matthew 28:19-20
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you … ”

Teaching one another:
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Hebrews 5:12-14 indicates that the author believed mature Christians would be teachers: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.”
Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Examples set in the Psalms to speak in the assembly or congregation:
Psalm 111:1: “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the company of the upright and in the assembly.”
Psalm 68:11: “The Lord gives the command; The women who proclaim good news are a great army:” and :26 “Bless God in the congregations, Even the Lord, you who are of the fountain of Israel.”
Psalm 40:9-10: “I have proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, Lord, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.”
Psalm 35:18: “I will give You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty people.”
Psalm 26:12: “My foot stands on level ground; In the congregations I will bless the Lord.”
Psalm 22:22: “I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.”
Psalm 22:25: “From You comes my praise in the great assembly … ”
and to teach: one example is Psalm 71, with many instances.

Not hiding the light of the world: Matthew 5:14 “‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Being a royal priest and proclaiming God’s excellence: 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”

Use of spiritual gifts, which include teaching and prophecy:
Acts 2:17-18, quoting Joel 2:28-29:
“‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
And your young men will see visions,
And your old men will have dreams;
And even on My male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days,
And they will prophesy.”
1 Corinthians 14: Ironically, one passage used to keep women silent in church is actually full of instruction on how they are supposed to speak in church; for example:
“Therefore if the whole church gathers together and all the people speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are insane? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”
Note “the WHOLE church” and “ALL!”
Note that in translations which recognize how ancient Greek collective pronouns work and make it clear to modern English readers, this whole chapter is full of “brothers AND sisters” speaking in church!
The same command to “keep silent” is used in this chapter for those who speak in tongues and those who prophesy as well as women, but it’s NOT a universal silence – it’s a temporary one meant to enforce speaking in turns instead of everyone speaking at once and causing confusion and disorder. When Paul mentions women’s silence, he specifically states “If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home” – women who had not been educated in religious matters were asking questions during the assembly, which was causing disorder. Rather than just accepting the women's lesser knowledge, Paul is encouraging their education – lifting them up so they were able to stand beside the men. That teaching is not in vain, but for the edification of the Church.



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