In some cases, this cultural critique can almost water down the more essential truths of scripture such as the divinity of Jesus or the belief that Jesus rose from the dead: the argument goes that the culture of the time disposed his followers to put him up on a pedestal and deify Christ beyond what Christ himself desired "yet a careful study of Jesus' own words shows his claims for direct inspiration, kingship over the Jews, as well as divinity
Clearly, any cultural critique can go too far. One of the main roles of the scriptures is to preserve God's truth and moral principles so that this Word acts as a touchstone for us to critique human behavior and thought in any time or culture. It cannot do so if the scripture is only a product of its surrounding culture "scripture must be God-inspired and preserved to fulfill this role. However, if careful reading of texts and reasoning shows that Paul is, in this case of women's silence, associating to the context and culture of his time rather than stating an eternal principle, then I do not want to apply his advice about women beyond what he intended. We must break down these verses and other scriptures to find out what the Holy Spirit is saying through Paul to us about women's speech in the church. .
First, let's look at the message in context. Going back to the troubling verses by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2: 11-15. How are we to reconcile this with Paul's other statements, and the general important position of women's speech in Paul's other letters, or in Jesus' own words and actions? It is apparent that Paul is struggling to find an appropriate accommodation between A) his strong belief in the spiritual equality of women and men (Galatians 3:28) and the way that it enables women to almost transcend cultural limitations and become active, speaking messengers of Jesus , and B) the way Paul and his peers were brought up to view women in his strongly legalistic Jewish training and how he sees women and men treated by the cultures of the Middle East .
