"This archaeological photograph of a mosaic in the Church of St. Praxedis in Rome shows, in the blue mantle, the Virgin Mary, foremother of women leaders in the Church. On her left is St.Pudentiana and on her right St. Praxedis, both leaders of house churches in early Christian Rome. Episcopa Theodora, 'Bishop Theodora' is the bishop of the Church of St. Praxedis in 820 AD." Photo and description from Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

You got your first peek at Women Who Didn’t Shut Up & Sit Down last week. Here another sneak peek before the book comes out May 17! (The first sneak peek is here.)

Corinthian Christian Women and Paul

How women should act in church gets more confusing the further we read in 1 Corinthians. There were several issues Paul dealt with regarding women and worship: whether or not married women should have their heads covered, as well as suggestions made for women who prayed and prophesied during the service. Wait, you may be wondering, didn’t Paul say women could not speak at all in church? But he also gave instructions for how women are to pray and prophesy?

Before we come to our verses in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul deals with women praying and prophesying during the worship service, and whether or not they should have their heads covered in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. Paul does not condemn women for taking an active part in the service, including authoritative prophetic utterance of Godde’s word. There are two different ways to interpret the instructions Paul gives in these verses. Let’s look at this passage from the New Revised Standard Version:

I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ. Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head– it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil. For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man. Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman. For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman; but all things come from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. But if anyone is disposed to be contentious– we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. (1 Corinthians 11:2-16)

The first way to interpret these verses is that Paul exhorts the women to pray and prophesy in a manner that will not be scandalous to outsiders. If they are married, they are to keep their symbol of marriage on–their head was to be covered with a veil or worn up, as was the custom for married women in that day. This way they would not be confused with the temple prostitutes who were numerous in Corinth due to the temple of Aphrodite-Melainis. The temple prostitutes were identified by wearing their hair loose or shaving it off. Christian women were not to bring shame onto their husbands by looking like prostitutes, but were to keep their “wedding rings” on, and prophesy and pray in a socially acceptable manner.

The second way to interpret these verses is that Paul is countering a custom in the Corinthian church that he does not consider to be Christian. Now let’s look at these same verses from The Divine Feminine Version:

Now I praise you, sisters and brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.

<You say:> ”But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christa, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christa is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and radiance of Godde, but the woman is the radiance of the man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man; for neither was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.”

But the woman ought to have liberty over her head because after all she will judge the angels. The point is, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from Godde. Judge for yourselves. “Is it appropriate that a woman pray to Godde unveiled?” Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her instead of a covering. But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do Godde’s communities.

When we read the verses this way the Corinthians are the ones who want to impose a gender hierarchy and want to limit the freedom that the women have in Christ. But Paul counters that women, like men, will judge the angels, and that whether her head is covered is irrelevant because nature has given women a natural covering: their hair. Women are free to pray and prophesy however they want because “the woman ought to have liberty over her head.” Paul also counters the argument that Godde created man to be the head of the woman; therefore, women are just “the image of man,” not made in “the image of Godde” as men are. In contrast Paul says that men and women are interdependant on each other because Godde made woman from man, but since the first woman, men come from women, and both sexes were created by Godde. If we translate these verses in this way then there is no contradiction with what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28: There is no longer male or female because we are all one in Christ.

From these verses we know that when Paul later says “It is shameful for a woman to speak in church” he cannot mean all speech, because he just endorsed women praying and prophesying in the church. He not only endorsed women speaking but women as leaders in their congregations.

Edited to add:

For a very insightful overview and explanation of 1 Corinthians 11:2-6, please read Mark Mattison’s “Because of the Angels” at The Christian Godde Project. I interviewed Mark about these problem passages in 1 Corinthians. The podcast will be posted on May 17. The full 30 minute interview is one of six podcasts you get free when you buy Women Who Didn’t Shut Up & Sit Down by June 1.

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Women Who Didn’t Shut Up & Sit Down is now for sale! Remember, if you sign up for my newsletter, you will receive a 20% discount on Women Who Didn’t Shut Up & Sit Down. This newsletter will only be letting you know about new products and discounts.

photo © 2007 Esparta Palma | more info (via: Wylio)
Why do we need another book on women, the Bible, and women’s roles? Well that’s easy: there are still factions of Christianity that use eight little verses to try keep women out of the workforce, out of having a career, and out of leadership positions in the church. As long as these eight little verses are used to interpret the hundreds of verses about women in the Bible, we need books like Women Who Didn’t Shut Up & Sit Down. Here’s a sneak peak from the Introduction.

Those eight little verses

What are these eight little verses that control how women through 5,000 years of Jewish and Christian history are portrayed? What are these eight little verses that are used to keep women in their proper silent and submissive place in both The Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament? Here they are:

As in all the churches of the saints, women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church (1 Corinthians 14:33b-35).

Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty (1 Timothy 2:11-15).

If you just went “Huh?” (or even WTF?!?), don’t worry, you’re not the only one. It’s shameful for a woman to speak in church? A woman has to keep silent because of Eve? And my personal favorite: Women “will be saved through childbearing.” (This is my favorite because my husband and I have chosen not to have children. Guess I’m unsaveable.)

So, what are we in the 21st century supposed to think about this? Do Christians (particularly Christian women) have to be held in rigid gender roles based on these verses? Do women have no choice but to sit down and shut up because these eight verses are used to marginalize and negate any Scripture regarding women working, women making their own decisions, and women in authority? That’s the way these eight verses have been used through the 2,000 years of the Christian Church. But I’ve learned that just because something in the Bible has been interpreted in a certain way for millennia doesn’t that interpretation is right. Look at slavery. Over 100 years ago Christians were using passages in the Bible to justify slavery. Now no American is going to use those passages in Scripture to justify slavery today. We recognize, that even though endorsed in the Bible, slavery is wrong. It’s unethical. We’ve changed how we interpret the slavery passages in the Bible. Why can’t we change how we interpret the passages about women?

According to those who want to interpret the Bible literally as the inerrant word of Godde in all things, to do this, would be to undermine all of Christianity. But all of Christianity wasn’t undermined by not literally obeying the passages about slavery. Why are women so different? My answer is: it’s no different. In fact, my challenge to the inerrantists is to take their literalism to its logical conclusion. In the Near Eastern world that is the setting of the Bible, women were property. That’s why instructions to women, children, and slaves were lumped together: they were all the property of the man who was the head of the household, or the paterfamilias. We now believe it is not right for one human being to own another: slavery is illegal. We no longer believe that children are the property of their parents; in fact, children are taken away from parents who neglect and abuse them. In First World countries (like the United States), we no longer believe that women are the property of men. The only way these verses make sense is if you continue to believe that women are the property of men. Women could not have authority over their husbands because they were property. Women had to submit to their husbands because they were property. So why do complementarians continue to take these verses literally when the foundation for these verses is longer valid? Honestly I don’t know. They try to make it sound like they don’t want to make out that women are property. They contort the creation narratives in Genesis into all sorts of horrible shapes to show female submission is the way Godde made things to be. But in the end, the only reason I can see why they hold so tenaciously to these verses is that they believe women are property.

They also don’t admit that there are major translation issues with these verses, and both epistles these verses show up in were written to very troubled churches about very specific situations. They do not want to admit these verses are not as cut and dry as they seem, and they refuse to admit that these instructions were just at that place for that time (like slavery). They want to make these verses universal: meant for all time.

I first want to take a look at these problem verses as they are called. I’m going to give the historical and sociological background to 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy. Then I’m going to show the different ways these verses can be translated. Finally I’ll show there are interpretations of these verses that are true to the Bible as sacred scripture but do not shackle women to be the property of men.

Then we get to the fun stuff. We get to the women in the Bible that show these verses were never meant to be taken for all time, forever, amen. I’ve divided them into three groups: women who didn’t submit, women who didn’t shut up, and women who held authority over both men and women, mainly as religious leaders. We will see that women through the course of biblical history may have been viewed as the property of men, but they didn’t act like. The stood their ground, they spoke their minds, they made decisions that changed the course of Godde’s people, and they were leaders in both secular and sacred circles.

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Women Who Didn’t Shut Up & Sit Down is now for sale! Remember, if you sign up for my newsletter, you will receive a 20% discount on Women Who Didn’t Shut Up & Sit Down. This newsletter will only be letting you know about new products and discounts.

The What You Didn’t Learn in Sunday School series will make it’s official appearance on May 10 with its first installment: Women Who Didn’t Sit Down and Shut Up. That’s right patient readers: the E-book is coming out on May10! Squee! It’s all written up, in the process of being edited, and with a little desktop magic will be ready to release into the world in a little over a week. I’m so excited! I cannot wait to share with you all of these fabulous women in one place!

There will be special discounts with the release, so you want to make sure you sign up for my newsletter over to the right. The newsletter is only for Announcements and Special Offers, so you don’t have to worry about your inbox filling up with stuff from me. I’ve decided I don’t want to do a regular newsletter, but I do want you to be the first to know about new products and services and get fabulous discounts. So please sign up, so you’re not left out on any of the good stuff. The first newsletter will go out on May 2.

In personal news, I have been well for one whole week! No depression. No sickness. No colds. I feel physically and mentally wonderful, which makes me very, very happy. Another thing that is making me happy is an updated version of Julian Norwich’s Showings published by Anamchara Books. I am reviewing this book as we speak, and I love it. There will be a full review on Friday. It has been a long time since I read Showings, and it plodded along a little because of the antiquated English. This new version, in the English we speak, makes Julian’s visions and theology shine through since you don’t have to stop and wonder what some words mean. And I really needed her visions of how Godde loves us and how unconditional that love is right now. The last couple of months have been rough between depression and illness. Julian’s revelations begin with how much Godde loves us and and never seems to stop.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week. Tell me: what’s going on in your life?