Thursday of Trinity 4

In All the Churches of the Saints

1 Corinthians 14:33-38 (ESV) God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 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. 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. Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 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. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

St. Paul’s words above may strike us as jarring or “sexist,” given the extent to which egalitarianism has come to define our worldview, and political correctness regulates what we can and cannot say in public. There is no way to make Paul’s teachings sound egalitarian or politically correct, which is at least partly why some have attempted to “explain away” these verses by arguing that they do not apply to the 21st-century church.

Exhibit #1: In 2019 and 2020, the Evangelical “Lutheran” Church in America (ELCA) is celebrating “50/40/10,” which represents “50 years of Lutheran women being ordained in the United States, 40 years of women of color being ordained, and 10 years of LGBTQIA+ individuals being able to serve freely.”

The ELCA’s predecessor bodies (ALC, LCA, AELC) were on the bleeding edge of this issue. One of their basic arguments is that Paul’s prohibitions were merely attempts by him to accommodate to the surrounding culture so that the spreading of the Gospel would not be hindered. The argument goes, “In writing to the patriarchal culture of Corinth, Paul did not want to offend the cultural sensibilities of the male-dominated society, for this would have hindered the growth of the church.”

Yet in fact, Paul was going against the prevailing culture. As Dr. Dean Wenthe notes, “It is striking that in the ancient Near East, where female deities and priestesses were abundant, Israel was told to have only male priests. Similarly, in the Greco-Roman world, where female gods and priestesses flourished, the Church restricted the apostolic-pastoral office to men.” It is also worth noting that Jesus selected only men as the 12 Apostles. By contrast, for example, in Corinth there were several cults that had priestesses, and in the cult of Artemis in Ephesus, priestesses had higher positions than male priests.

So, if Paul had wanted to accommodate to the prevailing worldview, he would have allowed women to lead Christian worship. As his prohibitions stand, they would have caused as much offense then—perhaps even more—than they do today! Not allowing women’s ordination was unpopular then and now.

Some proponents of women’s ordination have acknowledged that 1 Corinthians 14 does prohibit public preaching and teaching in the church by women, and therefore ordination as well, but they argue that these prohibitions were only applicable to Paul’s own time and culture, not to ours. In other words, they say that times have changed and Paul’s words no longer are binding on the church.

Besides the fact that the Word of the Lord endures forever, Paul is always clear in his letters about when he is offering his own sanctified judgments and not the Word of the Lord. For example, in 1 Corinthians 7 he carefully distinguishes between which commands come from the Lord (and are therefore universally binding) and which instructions are merely Paul’s good advice to the church at Corinth (which are limited in application).

Yet the teaching of 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35 is said to apply “in all the churches of the saints”; that “Word of God” belongs not just to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14:36); and is in fact “a command of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37)—that is, a command of the Lord Jesus. The context of this passage indubitably sets it up as a universally binding command, not just culturally conditioned, time-specific advice.

We do need to be careful how we apply these verses, however, lest we end up taking them in such a literal manner that absolute silence is demanded of women when the church assembles. When St. Paul says that “the women should keep silent in the churches” (1 Corinthians 14:33b), this clearly does not mean that women cannot open their mouths in worship—for example, in confessing sins or singing hymns.

So what does it mean that women are to keep silent? Paul explains, “For they are not permitted to speak…For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church” (14:34-35). The word translated “speak” in 14:34-35 is the Greek lalein, which (when used by itself, without an object) is a technical term in the New Testament for public preaching and teaching (see, for example, Matthew 9:18; 12:46; Mark 2:2; Luke 9:11; John 8:12; Acts 4:1; 8:25; 13:43; 1 Corinthians 2:7; 2 Corinthians 12:19; Ephesians 6:20; Philippians 1:14, etc.). So Paul does not prohibit women from uttering words in the Divine Service, but only from preaching and teaching.

The Office of the Holy Ministry, which Jesus Christ Himself instituted (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-16; Luke 10:16; 24:44-47; John 20:19-23), was given to the church for the sake of public preaching and teaching of the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 14:33-38 specifically prohibits women from preaching and teaching the Gospel in the Divine Service, which is why these passages have always been used to reject the ordination of women.

Being a faithful Christian has always involved taking unpopular positions, because our Lord Jesus has given us some difficult, countercultural teachings to uphold, and He says: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). As we have seen, some of those words of Jesus that we cannot be ashamed of include the “command of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37) that women not serve as pastors.

Another point I try to make when teaching about this issue is that not only women, but the vast majority of men, are not allowed to be ordained (see, for example, 1 Timothy 3:1-7). And the Office of the Holy Ministry is not something to be entered into lightly: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1).

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) has, to date, done an admirable job of resisting the cultural push for the ordination of women. For a thorough, outstanding defense of the biblical, historical practice of ordaining only men into the Holy Ministry, see Women Pastors?, published by Concordia Publishing House. In that volume, there are a couple essays by Lutheran women who emphasize the different vocations of men and women, and the many ways that women are also able to serve in the church.

In a world that is very confused about the roles of the sexes, what is most important to remember is that all of us, male and female, young and old, rich and poor, of all skin colors, have been set free from our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ and have been granted eternal life and salvation. Now that we have received that most precious and eternal gift in Christ, He wants to continue to bless us by teaching us to observe everything He has commanded us (Matthew 28:20). That “everything” is given to us in God’s inspired and inerrant Word, the Bible, and it is ours to treasure and gain wisdom from.

Since the teaching that God has reserved the Office of the Holy Ministry to men is given to us in God’s Word, we can receive this teaching as His gift to us, to be received by faith. The Lord gives, and we are given to, and we can be confident that the way He has ordained things is part of His good and gracious will for His Church and for all the baptized. “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28).

Prayer: Merciful God and Father, You have graciously promised that, by the preaching of the crucified Christ, those who believe in Him will be saved. By Your Holy Spirit grant grace to those men whom You have called to be pastors in Your Church. Grant them readiness and steadfastness in their ministry, patience, understanding, and great zeal. Support and strengthen them in Your service that, by Your Word, they may faithfully serve in the upbuilding of Your Church; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.