The Relationship Between Apostle Paul and Women - Essay Sample

Introduction

The relationship between Apostle Paul and women is a crucial aspect of the theological context of Christianity and women. Paul was the first writer when it comes to providing ecclesiastical directives regarding the women's role in the church. However, Odewole (1996, p.32) asserted that Paul's teachings on the role of the women in the church are post-Pauline interpolations, thus being a contentious issue in the modern church. The Gospels records demonstrate that women formed a significant portion of Jesus' earliest followers. Some of the Jewish women disciples such as Mary Magdalene and Susanna accompanied Jesus and supported His ministry fervently. This indicates that women had already taken center stage in Christianity before the beginning of the Apostle Paul's Missionary movement. It is imperative to evaluate the controversies surrounding the position of women in the church. This paper will examine Paul's perception to the role of women in the worship of the congregation as reflected in 1 Corinthians, by focusing on the aspects of ancient culture and religion portrayed in the selected texts.

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The Early Church in Corinth: Religious and Cultural Beliefs

The state of the early church in Corinth was unpleasant to visit, as supported by Richard and Kroeger (2002, p.3) views, which portrays the Corinth church to be that of chaos and delirious insanity. During this era, the Greeks considered madness to be a vital element of madness, with women being answerable to Bacchus (Dionysus) who was the god of madness and exciter of women. Women were mainly recognized for the role of wildness during the Bacchic cult and in particular mystery cults, where the aspects of worshipping were majorly traditional (Richard and Kroeger, 2002, p.4). As part of the conventional worshipping, women were supposed to provide specific types of sound-effects, with these kinds of sound effects mainly limited to the feminine ministrants.

Apart from savagery and yelling, ancient writers commonly portray worshippers of Dionysus as involved in dancing, sexual promiscuity, varying levels of undress and other forms of extreme behaviors (Richard and Kroeger, 2002, p.5). From the perspective of the traditional religious practices of the Greeks, it is demonstrated that individuals can have communion with God only in a frenzy or in an ecstatic state. Before Paul embarked on writing his letters to the Corinth church, there were critical indications that the ancient pagan religion had a significant influence on the converts in Corinth. For example, the new converts were reluctant in eating meat that had been offered to the idols as well as being reminded not to partake sacrificial meals in Pagan temples (Garland, 2003, p.3). This indicates that the ancient religious activities and Paganism at Corinth had provided a specific set of norms and directives which in turn influenced the identity and the role of women in the Church.

Paul's Views on Women Remaining Silent

In 1 Corinthians, Paul focuses on outlining proper ways of worshipping God, especially for women. Paul's directives were meant to demonstrate that God is orderly, and He should be worshipped in an orderly manner. The incidences in the traditional worshipping where women were supposed to make certain noises as they worshipped their gods prompted Apostle Paul to provide ecclesiastical guidelines, which required women to be silent during the worshipping session (Carson, 2005, p.3). This implies that Apostle Paul was advocating for the reformation of a woman's role in the congregation, which involved worshipping God in an orderly manner. In 1 Corinthians 14: 34, Paul declare that just like it is the case with a congregation of saints, women are supposed to remain silent.

Some theologians argue that the two verses in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 are not Paul's original text but were preferably added to the scripture by scribes and copyists. The two verses explain how women should conduct themselves before the congregation which includes remaining silent in churches since they are not allowed speak but remain in submission as recommended by the Law (Richard and Kroeger, 2002, p.7). It is portrayed that women were never expected to speak since it was disgraceful to do so in the church. It is imperative to understand the context from which Paul was writing his directives to the congregation. Paul reveals that everyone in the early church of Corinth participated in whatever expressions they desired, whenever they wanted and as shouted as loudly as they desired. This resulted in chaos and great confusion in the church, prompting Paul to act.

However, in some scriptures, Paul outlines the contexts in which a woman can be allowed to pray and prophesy to the congregation (Richard and Kroeger, 2002, p.7). This suggests that Apostle Paul was proposing a limited role for the women in the church, which was supposed to be constrained within the laid church norms. The first command for the women to remain silent was mainly meant to instill proper order in church and appropriate acknowledgment of the law. According to the portrayal of the earlier Corinth church, it is indicated that some women spoke in a manner that disregarded the spiritual authority of their husbands and leaders (Odewele, 1996, p.4). From Paul's directives, it is apparent that women should not remain silent entirely, but can as well speak once they adhere to the proper practices such as covering of their heads when praying and prophesying.

Head Covering and Submission of Women

Apostle Paul also demonstrated his views on the roles of the women in the church by addressing the aspect of women's appearance before the congregation. According to the Pauline text, 1 Corinthians 14:1-33, it is revealed that the Christians who Paul in Ephesus was dismayed by the uncontrolled manner of worshipping, especially by women, which involved speaking scenes of trance speaking in tongues during the prayers. As a demonstration of ecstatic frenzy, it was common for certain women to take off veils as well as loosening their hair (Kroeger, 1978, 332). This had upset some members of the community, consequently getting Paul worried since the practices were likely to hamper peace and order. Paul was compelled to stop such practices.

However, there was a contradiction regarding a section of men who had abandoned the Jewish practice of praying with a prayer mantle over their heads. They decided to pray without covering their face as a way of reflecting the glory of Christ. Paul's argument in the scripture 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 reflects on the roles of women when it comes to their physical appearances before the congregation and what is expected of them when they present themselves before God when praying (Lawrence, 2012, p.5). From this passage, Paul appears to be answering the question on the appropriateness of a woman is praying to God with her head uncovered. Paul draws his response from the practices of the early church in Corinth where it was inappropriate for a woman to pray to God without covering the head with a veil.

From the passage 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, it is apparent that Paul expects women to wear head coverings as well as opposing the practice of men is having long hair or covering their heads before the congregation. However, scholars have found it difficult to interpret this text by questioning its applicability, especially in modern churches (Carson, 2005, p.5). It is imperative to explore the contentious issues implied in this selected scripture, regarding the covering of the head, for both men and women. In the first five verses of the passage, Paul is talking about the covering of the head, but in verse 15, Paul states that the hair was given to a woman for covering. This leads to the assumption that was only talking about the hair implying that he was not compelling the believers at Corinth church to put on a veil, but rather, he was inspiring women in the congregation to identify themselves as women by keeping long hair.

Analysis of the passage demonstrates that Paul was indeed pleading for order and peace in the society. This compels him to advise women against praying with their long hair hanging loosely but covered with a veil. According to Thompson (1988, p.101), Paul's directives and concerns reflected the anxiety regarding the appearances of deviant sexuality. During the early church of Corinth, there was a perception that long hair on men and short hair on women was closely linked to homosexuality which was forbidden by the law (Thompson, 1988, p.102). This compelled Apostle Paul to suggest the practices which deemed them best in quelling the possible disunity amongst the believers. However, it would be wrong to allude that Paul had promulgated a law by providing a directive that will require women across all generations and cultures to put on a veil in the church.

Another contentious issue regarding the applicability of the passage 1 Corinthians 14:1-33 regarding the covering of the head is the differences in the historical contexts. The historical background of Corinth and Paul is not clear since it is not stated whether or not the head covering in the public worshipping was a mandatory practice during their time (Kroeger, 1978, 332). Modern Christians are left wondering whether or not to apply Paul's teachings regarding the woman's role in covering her head before the congregation since the message was intended for the early church of Corinth. The applicability of Paul's letter on the role of a woman is questionable since the directives were inspired and based on the cultural practices of Paul's time. However, most churches still consider Paul's ecclesiastical instructions as essential and still expects women to conduct themselves with dignity, by the law.

Paul's teachings in the 1 Corinthians also describes submission as another role of women in the church. Before addressing the issues that were affecting the running of the early church in Corinth, there were complains to Paul that a section of women was not behaving and respecting the authority of the church accordingly (Thompson, 1988, p.102). Paul addresses these issues by reminding the believers that the head of every man is Christ whereas the head of a woman is her husband. Paul suggests that women should respect their husbands since a man was not created from a woman, as opposed to the woman who was created from the rib of a man (Garland, 2003, p.12). Through this scripture, Paul advises women to keep authority over their head because of the angels (1 Corinthians 11:10) suggests that Paul expects women to be submissive to the authority, which translates to the authority of their husbands.

While being submissive, Paul clarifies that men and women are equal and no gender is superior to the other. In 1 Corinthians 11:11-12, Paul asserts that a woman is neither different from a man nor a man different from a man, in the Lord. According to Paul, a woman might have come from a man's rib, but a man is also born from a woman (Hurley, 2002, p.7). This implies that the roles of both men and women in the congregation are supposed to be complementary for the common good of the church and the body of believers.

Conclusion

The Commentary of the 1 Corinthians reveals that the church at Corinth was in chaos and a mess. Paul was compelled to address these issues which included partisanship with rival leaders, incest, prostitution and concerns regarding women praying and prophesying in a disrespectful and immodest manner. Through Paul's response to these concerns, it can be deduced that Paul e...