Women Speaking In Church The Curse at the Garden David FieldDecember 6, 2009
I believe the bible has been grossly misinterpreted over the years and these distortions amplified and passed down through the generations. We have been brought up in religion and sort of brainwashed into these false doctrines without knowing it, relying on the understandings of other men, instead of the Holy Spirit, which has been sent to help us. Jesus said when he goes, a helper would be sent. I believe it is time to rethink a lot this distorted theology, beginning with those things which are obvious contradictions in scripture. Fear not, for the Holy Spirit is with us. I suggest to throw out religion and the traditions of men in favor of God whenever the choice arises.
If women were not allowed to speak in church, why are there complete bible books written by women? Either those books should be taken out, or we need to re think what Paul said in to the church at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 14 (Youngs Literal Translation) 34 let your women keep silence in the assemblies, for it is not permitted for them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as the Law also says. 35 If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a woman to chatter in the assembly.
For the bible to be the true word of God (as written in its original inspired form), it cannot contradict itself. The Youngs Translation says these women were chattering, implying a disruption. The basic version says they were out of control.
Those women Paul was talking about were wives because he referred to them as having husbands. He was not talking about women in general. He was singling out a certain group of women that were apparently misbehaving publicly. Paul at the time had no knowledge that what he was writing would later be a part of our bible. He was merely responding to an issue brought to his attention, the details of which we are not privy to now. We do not have access to the other half of this discussion. He said that they were disrespectful of their husbands by disagreeing with them in public. Just to bring up a difference of opinion with your spouse for the purposes of working it out is not disrespect. It would take the total rejection of his leadership to be disrespectful. Paul was just saying that husbands and wives should be united before they enter the public arena. I believe if the two have their differences worked out, then they both are allowed to speak. Remember Paul also said that even men were not allowed to be leaders in the church with their houses not in order. Women have brains too, and to totally disregard that would be a shame and a great waist of God given resource.
Now I want to talk to this "God cursing" theology prevalent in the church today, as well as the “ruling over” by husbands. God created nature, and nature has with it a set of laws that govern its behavior and enable everything to work. God knows what those laws are, and he informs us as to those laws in the bible. He is not cursing us when he does that; he is telling us to beware, and in an effort to help us live a better life. It is simple cause and effect. In Genesis 3:16, God did not pronounce a curse upon mankind, he merely informed them as to the consequences of their actions. God did not give man the right to rule over women as thought of in Genesis, God was just warning us that men would try to rule over women. And it doesn’t say that women would desire the approval of their husbands, it says that women would desire their husbands, and to be in their place. This is a curse of the natural order that God first laid down. A curse is the distortion of the way things should be. To be in authority is quite different from ruling over. Husbands should be granted authority by wives, but husbands are not given permission from God to “rule over”. To rule over brings an entire different meaning, without love, and without regard or concern. Husbands do not forcibly rule over their wives. Husbands lead, and good wives follow willingly. Men, if you are following God, keep going. If your wife doesn’t follow you, let her go her own way. It is not your choice to make. She alone will be held accountable, and you are accountable for only your own actions.
This is about the lifting of the curse. When Jesus died on the cross, he gave us the power to come out from under all curses. Jesus said, “I have overcome the world”. Then he handed us the victory of this overcoming, the spoils of the war have been given to us. We are free of all curses, including those mentioned above in Genesis, if we possess the faith to believe what God through the bible says. Jesus not only paid the price for our sin, he paid the price for our total deliverance from sin. Curses are the result of sin, so we are not only delivered from sin, but the results of it. Sickness, and decease, mental illness, despair, unhappiness, being without, are all effects of sin. God is a god of perfection, and completeness. To think anything less would devalue the offering of the perfect Lamb of God. Jesus said the kingdom of God is at hand. This does not mean that it was imminent or forthcoming. Jesus said exactly what he meant. At hand means at your fingertips, within your reach, and available now! If he meant anything else, he would have said something else. And Jesus did not say some of the kingdom of God is at hand; he said the kingdom of God is at hand. God and Jesus do not speak in riddles. He speaks as he is - in perfection, and completeness.