Have you ignored this bible verse?

This coming Sunday is Mother's Day.  I had a good talk with mine about a month ago.  We were talking about how I had recently had a conversation with an agnostic who was tossing "commands" in the Bible at me to which some churches don't adhere in an effort to discredit what Christians say about the Bible by first establishing that they themselves don't follow it.  Some of the verses he tossed at me, I needed to do some quick Internet research in order to answer better.  But, they were all answered and I noticed a softening in the speech going back and forth.  He appreciated the answers and was obviously reevaluating his position.

One of the examples I gave my mother sparked her intrigue.  The argument presented goes something like this:  "1 Corinthians 14:34-35 clearly states that women should remain silent in church, yet they don't and I don't see any of you Christians up in arms about it.  You say the Bible is inerrant but you ignore the passages that you don't like and that don't fit your beliefs.  You shouldn't be such hypocrites."

I know people use this phrase too often and quite often when it doesn't truly apply, but I'll say it anyway: it's important to not take things out of context.  The immediate context of verses 34-35 is 36 and it changes the entire meaning of the verses that precede it.  The KJV of verse 36 reads like this "What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?"

All ancient texts are difficult to understand at times and shouldn't always be taken at face value. Understanding what Paul is saying here would be better understood with some quotation marks in the passage. Paul is quoting a law in the Corinthian church. It was not God's law and cannot be found in any of the OT texts concerning as such. Paul quoted their law and followed it with his own words and his reaction to that quote in verse 36.

Verse 36 makes it very clear that Paul was not in agreement with this so-called law. He was reprimanding them for suppressing women and in doing so suppressing half of the image of God.

It's interesting to note that verse 36 is completely skipped over in most biblical commentaries.  These commentaries will actually affirm the very practice in the Corinthian church that Paul was trying to correct.  And, then they'll just go right on to verse 37 without so much as blinking an eye.  Many churches teach this way, as well.  Just last week I was listening to Bott Radio Network and heard John MacArthur teaching that women have their place in teaching other women and children but not to be speakers in the church and not to have any leadership roles in the church.

This teaching lines up quite well with what the Corinthians were being reprimanded for, yet we have entire denominations of churches that reaffirm this incorrect practice.  To the male leaders of these churches, I would like to reiterate the words of Paul and say to them "What?!  Your word is now the word of God?!  And only through you may God use for His word?!"

Let's not forget that when God created man, he did so in His own image, but that for the first time in all creation God said "it is not good".  The solution to this was to create woman.  God's image is only complete in mankind with the marriage of a man and a woman.  These same churches will use this as a picture of marriage but then ignore it when it comes to the teaching of the gospel.

So, for this Mother's Day, recognize not just your own mother or the mother to your children, but give proper biblical respect to the faithful spiritual mothers that surround us in our churches.

Posted in: belief,controversy,God,marriage,truth