Women, Be Silent (1 Corinthians 14:34-35)

"Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak" (1 Cor. 14:34).

Adding to the chaos of the Corinthian worship was the practice of allowing women to teach in the public assembly. Paul renounces this not on the basis of cultural norms but on the basis of God’s eternal decree. God created woman to be under the authority of man, and this has not changed since the dawn of time; therefore, we cannot dismiss Paul’s command as cultural: “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve” (1 Tim. 2:11–12). The emphasis in this passage as in 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 is authority. As Calvin wrote, “authority to teach is not suitable to the station that a woman occupies, because, if she teaches, she presides over all the men, while it becomes her to be under subjection.”

Prophesying and speaking in tongues involve teaching, transmitting truth and revelation. A woman, who is to be in submission to male authority, should never seek to overshadow that authority. This does not mean that she is not endowed with these gifts, which she can use privately. Neither does it mean that she cannot pray or sing, because neither of these actions involve exercising authority. And even though Paul refers to women prophesying in 1 Cor. 11:5, there is no indication that he approves of the practice. If anything, his exhortation for them to cover their heads as a sign of submission would keep women from exercising authoritative gifts. In other words, if they were to teach and have authority over a man, it would be contradictory for her to wear a sign of submission on her head. But since she is supposed to have this sign, she cannot take a position of authority by teaching in the public assembly.

Paul, of course, encourages women to learn. This she can do in silence, and in private under her husband’s tutelage, or if she is not married, she can go to her elders for further instruction. Because women are to learn in subjection, which even means refraining from asking questions in public worship, their husbands must be able to instruct them. The husband, and the father, should lead those under their charge in all truth and not rely on pastors and teachers to take up the duty that God has primarily given to them.

Paul’s teaching here was given not only to the Corinthians, but to the church in Ephesus (1 Tim. 2:15) and all the “churches of the saints” (14:33)—an introductory phrase to v. 34. How have you personally failed to keep this command? Whether a man or woman, what changes do you need to make to keep this directive?

Order in Worship (1 Corinthians 14:26-33)

"For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints" (1 Cor. 14:33).

The Corinthian church had been zealous to exercise their spiritual gifts; they sang, prayed, exhorted, prophesied, and expounded the Old Testament Scriptures, all without the benefit of completed New Testament writings. They often worshiped God through revelations in the form of tongues and prophecy. The problem, however, was that the Corinthians were not using their gifts properly. Each individual was focusing on his own experience, and the result was chaos, something that brought dishonor to God.

To deal with the problem, Paul gave specific instructions. First, he told them that if anyone speaks in a tongue, only two or three were needed. No one was to yell out in tongues in the middle of worship. If someone did speak, they needed an interpreter. If there was no interpretation, the person was required to be silent and commune with God alone. “Let him speak to himself and to God.” This proves that the speaker understood the message even if no one else could.

Prophetic messages were also to be limited. Only two or three could speak at any given service, and these in turn. Once the prophets spoke, those who could discern the spirits were to judge whether what was said was according the Spirit of truth. This proves that it is the responsibility of the church to keep a check on man’s teaching and to let nothing pass that is not according to truth and edifying to the entire church.

When Paul says that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, he simply means that the spiritual gift of prophecy is under the control of the prophets themselves. They do not exercise their gift in a wild frenzy, but in a self-controlled fashion that brings honor to God, who is not the author of confusion but of peace. “Every spirit which is from Him must be capable of control,” Hodge wrote. “He never impels men to act contrary to the principles which He has ordained. If He wills order to prevail in the church, He never impels men to be disorderly … When men pretend to be influenced by the Spirit of God in doing what God forbids, whether in disturbing the peace and order of the church, by insubordination, violence, or abuse, or in any other way, we may be sure that they are either deluded or impostors.”

According to today’s passage, what kinds of things upset the unity of the body and the orderly worship of God? What is the goal of an orderly worship? (vv. 25, 31) If your ultimate goal is to honor God, how does focusing on yourself keep you from this goal? In what ways do you focus on yourself in worship? How can you change this?

A Blessing Or A Curse? (1 Corinthians 14:20-25)

"… tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers …" (1 Cor. 14:22).

In vv. 20–25, Paul sends a wake-up call to any church that encourages the chaotic exercise of tongues. He tells them to put off such evil behavior and to be mature in their understanding and use of their gifts. The apostle references the Old Testament as an object lesson. “The Jews had refused to hear the prophets speaking their own language, and God threatened to bring upon them a people (the Assyrians) whose language they could not understand,” Hodge wrote. “This was a judgment; a mark of displeasure designed as a punishment and not for their conversion. From this the Corinthians might learn that it was no mark of the divine favor to have teachers whose language they could not understand. They were turning a blessing into a curse. The gift of tongues was designed, among other things, to facilitate the propagation of the Gospel, by enabling Christians to address people of various nations each in his own language. Used for this purpose it was a blessing; but to employ it for the sake of display, in addressing those who could not understand the language employed, was to make it a curse. The Spirit of God often confers gifts on men, then holds them responsible for the way in which they exercise them.”

Because the Corinthians were speaking meaningless gibber without interpretation, the gift had become a curse. Tongues, therefore, had become a sign, or manifestation of God, to unbelievers. God had sent unintelligible teachers to unbelievers as a sign of judgment. But when He sent prophets, those whom the people could understand, they were blessed and believers were edified. If tongues had been rightly used, been interpreted for the people, it would have been a blessing, a prophetic message of conversion.

The Corinthians, however, were using their gift foolishly, without giving any thought to the unbeliever in their midst. As a result, the unbelievers who heard them were hardened in their sin. But if the Corinthians had spoken the Word of God clearly and intelligibly, the unbelievers would have heard, not unknown tongues or foolish gibberish, but the truth of God, the Good News of Jesus Christ; and hearing such divine truth, they would have been convicted of their sins and publicly confessed faith in Jesus Christ.

It is common to walk into some churches today and find people speaking, praying, and singing in tongues, most of which are a cacophony of sounds and not real languages. This is often done without interpretation or order. Using today’s study and verses, what would your response be to such a display? Let your words be gracious.

Is It Just Noise? (1 Corinthians 14:6-19)

"Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks" (1 Cor. 14:11).

Because so many people think the type of “tongues” Paul is talking about here is an ecstatic utterance, inarticulate sounds that carry no meaning for the speaker, we must look carefully at vv. 6–19. Some conclude that Paul’s comparison of tongues to musical instruments implies that tongues are just noise, not a real language. But keeping the passage in the context of the definition as it is used in Acts 2 (which means languages), we find that he is simply saying that if one does not understand the language, it carries no meaning. In v. 8, he says if a trumpet makes a particular sound, but the hearer does not grasp its meaning, how will he prepare for battle. Likewise, if someone speaks in a language, but it is not interpreted, what good is it?

Next, Paul says that there are many languages in the world—again the emphasis is on real languages. But if the church is left without an understanding of that language, what good will it be? You will know what you are trying to say, but others will not. This will only disrupt unity and cause brothers in Christ to become foreigners to one another in the worship of God.

When Paul says, “if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful,” we must not conclude that he is no longer in control of his faculties, or that his spirit is separated from his mind—a dichotomy that is not supported by the rest of Scripture. To assume the speaker is not aware of what he is saying would contradict what Paul states elsewhere, especially v. 17 which implies that the speaker gives thanks, knowing full well that he is giving thanks, but the uninformed listener cannot join in that thanks with him. What Paul means, therefore, is that he prays according to the spiritual gift he has been given, but his understanding of divine truth is unprofitable for others—this is in keeping with the whole context in which Paul is proving that the higher good is transmitting truth for the edification of others. Unfruitful, in this context as in others (Eph. 5:11; Titus 3:14; 2 Peter 1:8; Matt. 13:22) means unbeneficial to others. In verse 15, to pray “with understanding” means to speak in such a way as to convey instruction, which is done through interpretation.

Paul says that you pray, speak, or sing “with understanding” when what you have said is interpreted (v. 13). Like any spiritual gift, tongues can be abused. What spiritual gift do you have? Are you using it as God would have you use it? You can know this by examining whether you use that gift for the building up of others in the body.

Does it matter what we believe about Genesis?

What we believe about the past—even the distant past—has an impact on how we live our lives today, including our choices, values, and moral foundation, and yes, even our destiny. Our Foundations illustrates this by walking through a young man’s life (Parker) in three different scenarios: Atheistic, Compromised Christianity, and a Biblical Worldview. In the Atheistic worldview, Parker’s life plays out with the understanding that his life is a product of molecules-to-man evolution over millions of years. There was no creator before him, and he will answer to no moral judge after he dies. Under the Compromised Christian scenario, Parker is raised by parents who take a mythical viewpoint on Genesis, and thus the Bible’s power to be an authority in his life is usurped. If the Bible doesn’t get it right in the beginning, why should Parker order his life after the rest? Thus he lives his life disregarding its principles. Under the Biblical Worldview, Parker’s parents regard the Bible as historically true and scientifically credible, and therefore base their perspectives and choices upon its teachings. This leads to a much different life outcome than the other two scenarios…

Note: Because this movie is a short treatment of some very complex theological issues, please see our movie website for disclaimers: www.foundationsmovie.com.