Happy Women's Day or is it?

 Happy Women's Day or is it?

We celebrate women because women are strong, intelligent, talented ...... etc and the list goes on. And we continue to celebrate women because they operate within boundaries we set for them. Here are some boundaries that we remind them of

Verse: 1 Corinthians 14:34-37 (English Standard Version)

34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 

35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 

37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.

38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

Women by nature are accommodative. And faced with the aggression that Paul displays, women almost disappear ..... So that is why we celebrate Women's Day..... Happy Women's Day!!! 

This behavior pattern is at odds with Jesus. He chose woman to announce his resurrection. And Paul demand for silence is misogynistic??? and violates God desire for what women should do...... they are to announce and not be silent .... See verse below

Verse: Psalm 68:11 (English Standard Version)

11 The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host:

If God chose the shameful women (as per Paul), to proclaim the resurrection ..... the bedrock of the Christian faith.... then....

Is Paul misogynistic??? 

I have asked this question to a number of people.... and the answer I get is that we don't know the full situation of the church. There must have been compelling reasons for these faithfully married women to route their questions through their husbands..... After all Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles!!! ..... He could not get this wrong .... could he?

If we are teaching the church to assume that Paul was right and the normal believer was wrong, I wonder why people would go to college to study theology. The impetus to study is the pursuing of truth and knowledge. Hence we don't assume!!! This culture where we assume is detrimental. We assume that Paul didn't get it wrong!!! Well, no one thought Ravi Zacharias got it wrong either!!!

This is not a statement on Ravi but rather stinging judgement on our naivety. We are taught to be naive and go by assumptions, by well trained Theologians, Pastors. What is worse is that is that we are all avid followers of their respective YouTube channels. 

Are there the likes of Ravi Zacharias lurking in our churches today? .... because of our assuming and naive culture???

How does the Church subjugate women?

This subjugation of women is not really implemented by men..... because men already have women who subjugate women. The oppression from these men and women comes in forms of 

  • Shaming the behavior .... "For it is shameful for a woman to speak...." (1 Cor 14:36)
  • Forcing your will, with the backing of social/other authority forms (Not God given) - Paul is using his Jewish background here and belittling the Gentiles. "Or was it from you that the word of God came" (I Cor 14:36). Perhaps this is why you need to go to Theology College to add titles  to your name as Pastor/Doctor/Reverends/Father etc and implement practices against God's design
  • Exclusion and Ostracization - "If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized" (1 Cor 14:38). This step almost destroys women because they are more socially inclined.  
  • Violence and Honor Killing (???) .... a practice not followed by Christian people??? Well, we Christians have an interesting way of doing this. "you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord" (1 Cor 5:5). It saddens me that Paul resorted to this step without even talking to this believer. The apostle Paul didn't have basic courtesy!!! 

There are other references in the Bible where Paul went out of his God given authority to force his will on the church... a topic for another time.

How do we celebrate Women?

We can truly celebrate women by teaching them the truth. We need to explain Paul's thought process when he wrote this. And Paul explains it, in the below passage

Verse: 1 Timothy 2:13-14

13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 

14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

The Genesis story does not in any way suggest that women should be silent in gatherings. Hence Paul is in error in his interpretation and he also missed the verse in Psalm 68:11. We can safely conclude that Paul is not misogynistic.... but someone who sincerely loved God and interpreted this scripture passage (Genesis Story) incorrectly. This makes it worse!!!

If we are sincere about learning God's word, we will be able to recognize Paul's error. And if we can sincere to ourselves, we will be brave enough to acknowledge that Paul is wrong. Instead we are taught to assume and rely on flimsy documentation to defend Paul!!! 

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any recognition or acknowledgement from the Church or Bible Scholars. Instead what we hear is the condemnation of ordinary believers of sin, without any acknowledgement of what Paul did.

Conclusion

Don't assume based on what Bible Teachers have said. Read the Bible for yourself .... ask questions ... put the answers together .... analyze it ...

And when you have knowledge, you are stable, planted and nothing can stop you..... not even Apostle Paul!!!

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