"Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church."" (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).
"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner."" (1 Timothy 2:11-14).
Have the passages above somehow aided in the silence of women in the Church today? These passages have been troubling to many Christians throughout the ages, but especially to women in our modern era. Recently the modern feminist viewpoint is that Paul was oppressive to women in general. It is my opinion that this view has largely come about because anti-woman texts over the centuries have quoted Paul for support, and not because feminists have looked deeply at the Bible and carefully considered all the words of Paul in context. But even those who excuse Paul from the extreme charge of misogyny often don't know what to make of these troubling verses for women's roles today's church. .
I am one of those who are troubled by these passages, as man who has a female Pastor and female Associate Pastor in leadership roles within my church. I am troubled because I cannot dismiss Paul's words as uninspired, for I call myself a follower of Jesus and honor Paul as one of Jesus' apostles. .
Although there are many modern Christians who permit women to lead and speak in church simply dismiss these passages on women as "merely cultural- advice, we must remain hesitant because we humans tend to interpret in favor of our own wishes and our own culture at the expense of truth.