Originally posted by Zahlanzi
the bible is clear. a woman must be silent in church and not presume to teach others.
now i ask again. do you agree with this assessment or not? even more, should it be applied today? and yes, i am also asking if women can be priests/ministers/preachers/cardinals/bishops/witch doctors/scientology grand poobahs and if not, y u so narrow minded?
No the context make it clear that Paul is talking of order, verse 33 states, God is a God of order, therefore what he is referring to is a congregational arrangement whereby men are to shoulder the responsibility of teaching, and a women is free to speak and teach under this arrangement.
It cannot be understood to be a complete ban on women talking or teaching, for such a stance contradicts the Bible elsewhere, for example that Christians of both sexes are to come together for an interchange of encouragement, if a women was to literally remain silent this could not be the case and as is demonstrated elsewhere, she is to impart knowledge through a public ministry. What is therefore wrong here is your or anyone else's insistence that this is a blanket prohibition against women teaching or voicing their knowledge in the congregation, such a position is at odds with the immediate passage and is at odds with the rest of the Bible. what Paul is referring to is simply a congregational arrangement whereby qualified men are to shoulder the responsibility and all others can impart knowledge under this arrangement but not usurp it.
Women cannot be elders, the arrangement as Paul states is restricted to males only and only those which qualify by meeting the standards set out in scripture. Now i suggest before you go on a rampage that this is the Biblical arrangement, you can either accept it or not, either way, it is what it is.