Concerning Women in Christian Ministry - IV

THE LIMITING PASSAGES

I would like to now deal with “the limiting passages” (as they are commonly known) of 1 Corinthians 14.33-35 and 1 Timothy 2.11-15.

In my mind, the usual reason we run into trouble interpreting these passages correctly is either because we

[1] stumble upon them in our devotional reading and are startled by Paul’s teaching, or

[2] through either recommendation or indoctrination or personal curiosity we try and see what all the fuss is about.

In both scenarios we commit a grievous error:

we interpret the whole of biblical teaching on women

in light of these two texts (just 8 verses out of 7,959)

instead of (properly) interpreting these two texts

in light of the entire Story of God and the Bible.

Having looked first at God’s original design for humanity in Genesis 1,

and then looked more deeply at how that original design is being restored within the church through Christ as New Creation –

complete with plenty of examples of women doing exactly the kinds of things Paul seems to prohibit –

I want to now scrutinize these two texts in light of the larger Story.