This other view comes from 1 Corinthians 11 in which the order of the service is explained. Women are permitted to share in the Lord's supper, praying, expounding on the Word and singing as long as they are covered. In most gatherings that have elderships and the women are covered, the woman does not speak during the worship, that being the Lord's supper.
The misunderstood passage that says women must remain silent, is easily explained in the original language.
1 Corinthians 13:33-35 "…33 For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, 34 women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35 If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church."
The word "speak" in this passage does not have to do with sharing in prayer or the Word, it would negate the 1 Corinthians 11 passage that tells a woman to be covered when she prays and prophesies in the gathering. In these passages the woman is not the leader but she does share as led by the Holy Spirit.
In 1 Corinthians 13 the women were chattering, asking their own husband in the middle of the teaching, being disruptive, so they were commanded to remain silent and ask their own husbands at home. This was the beginning of the church in which many did not know much about the Bible and did not have the New Testament in their own homes to read.
From Christian Corner "Silence in the Church"
"Sigao" is a verb that denotes not whimpering, complaining or disruptive, it is not that a woman cannot speak at all, it's that she is to be under submission and is to be led by the Holy Spirit. If she is not led by the Holy Spirit then she is to remain silent.
"(1) One who has the gift of tongues is to keep silence if he has no interpreter to use with his alien audience (28).
(2) If a brother is speaking, and another receives a more current revelation, the former is to keep silence (30).
(3) Finally, women are to keep silence (34)."
Unquote
If total silence were the command in these passages then 1 Corinthian 11 would contradict that and allowing women to sing would also violate it.
The woman is not to be teaching in a public setting over men as the leader, however she is allowed to share in the general gathering along with all the other saints in the Lord's supper and teaching the younger women as mentioned in Titus 2.
Titus 2:3-5
"3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may [a]encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored."
When we are in a gathering that has the rule that woman should remaining silent, we can adhere to their rules without hindering our own worship. There is no place I have heard of that understands these principles, we have lived under the ritual of the woman not speaking at all for so long now, most cannot wrap their minds around it, but that's alright. It's not a salvation issue that we should be arguing over.
A woman who goes into a gathering in which the women are commanded and expected to remain silent, except for the singing, we can adhere to that so as not to draw attention away from the Lord. Our worship toward the Lord is more important than exerting our right to pray or speak on the Word aloud.
I wonder though how the leaders who taught total silence for women came up with the allowance to sing? If anyone has an answer to this I would be interested in hearing it. If total silence were the command as they think, then why are the women permitted to sing. It sounds like a concession toward women that was invented by men. I see no place in the Word that says "women must be completely silent except to sing."
Traditions of men leave many unanswered confusing questions as well as being inconsistent.
This is just one more misunderstanding because of our English translations that were translated in a time when women were expected to be seen and not heard. This too was not Biblical but it was the condition of the culture of the time of the translation.
When an unbiblical rule is in place that is not a salvation issue, then we need to place Christ first and take a back seat to the traditions that men have hung onto for so many years.
It is interesting that men have done away with the head covering as well as the women sharing in the Lord's supper. They seem to go hand in hand.
Please do not misunderstand this post as a stab at "women's lib", anyone who knows me understands how much I despise the women's lib movement. I have spent 47 years at home as the keeper of my home in spite of nearly every woman I know who was asserting their rights to work outside the home and mocking my choice as a homemaker.
It is not my desire to assert myself in the gathering, however, it is my desire to know truth, that is more important to me than fitting in with the traditions of men. And believe me, there is precious few that I fit in with, in this age where the traditions of men are valued over the truth of the Scriptures.
Just saying!
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