Pauline Theology

Assignment Topic: Paul and Women

Name: Suphin Paul Submitted to: Rev. Samuel P. Rajan
Submitted on: 26.04.2021 Course: BD-4

Introduction
The world and the church are in tension to know about the status of women in church and
society. We see a patriarchal society from the beginning of the Bible. But Bible teaches us
about women contradictory to what today’s church and society teach us. Women are
suppressed and oppressed in various ways in the world. But how does Bible view the status or
importance of women in the church and society. The Old Testament itself do justify how God
raise women like Esther, Ruth, Deborah, etc. but this assignment is an attempt to know Paul’s
perspective on women with regard to ministry and status in the church and society.

1. Paul’s Rhetoric of “Women” and “Gender”

Elizabeth A. Castelli opines that the most common passage of Paul’s Letter in relation to
questions of gender and women is the baptismal formula that appears in the middle of the letter
to the churches in Galatians 3:28. 1 Placing this formula and its usage within ancient Christian
ritual practice and withing Greco-Roman context, Wayne Meeks has argued that these words
function in essence as a speech-act or, in his words, a “performative utterance:” They enact a
new reality through the very process of being spoken. Paul’s use of this baptismal formula
takes place within the broader context of his angry letter addressed to the churches in Galatia,
a letter whose immediate goal is to interrupt the adoption by those churches of observances
inscribed in the Jewish law. 2

Paul here does not make statements about Gender that rank him among the more progressive
voices of his day. The mentions of his conservative statements do not negate the more
progressive ones, rather, he articulates these for culturally strategic reasons. 3 No New
Testament writer has been more criticized for his allegedly negative portrayal of women that
Paul, the Apostle. His view on Gal 3:28 has been hailed as a revolutionary, he has been viewed
conversely as merely a child of his culture in other texts in which he appears to subordinate or
denigrate women. Whether Paul reflects his culture’s views of women or significantly differs
from them can only be understood by examining some of the most debated Pauline passages in
light of his culture.4

2. Women in Family
Ephesians 5:18-6:9 is the longest passage in the New Testament addressing household roles.
Why Paul told wives to submit is based on the context of the Greco-Roman world. the Roman

1
Gal 3:28- “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
2
Elizabeth A. Castelli, “Paul and Women and Gender”,
https://www.academia.edu/1865491/Paul_on_Women_and_Gender. Accessed on 23 April, 2021, 230.
3
Craig S. Keener, preface to Paul, Women and Wives (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007), vii-
viii.
4
Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid, eds., Dictionary of Paul and His letters
(Illionois: IVP Academic, 1993), 428.
aristocracy felt their power base increasingly threatened by social changes occurring around
them. these changes included the upward mobility of socially inferior elements, such as former
slaves, foreigners, and women. 5
2.1. Mutual Submission

In chapter 5 we examine what Paul means by submission, and how his readers would have
understood his point. In line with Paul’s concern for an honorable Christian witness in ancient
society, he clearly believes that it is right for wives to submit to their husbands. He defines the
wife’s submission as respect rather than obedience, and he expects husbands to submit to their
wives, something virtually unheard of in his day. Paul sometimes summarized only one side of
this mutual submission formula, as in Colossians 3:18, probably for the reasons mentioned in
chapter 4. But he argues for mutual submission when he explains his position more fully.
Although Paul Uses the standard form of household code, he significantly qualifies its meaning,
earning himself a place among the most progressive of ancient writers. Nevertheless, in his
culture, Paul seems to have assumed that husbands would in some sense lead in the home,
though they should submit to their wives’ needs; men and women in his day both seem to have
accepted this as a norm.6 This is not to suggest that Ephesians 5:18-6:9 is to be read as a direct
defense of Christianity to Roman readership. This letter was no doubt sent to Asia and not
Rome; further addressed to Christian, not to the opponents of Christianity. It was written to
encourage Christians to live in a way that would silence some of the needless objections raised
against the faith, as he had done in the previous letters. Paul was contributing to a cultural
defense of Christianity that would hopefully gain it a better hearing in Roman society. 7

3. Women in Society
Sex has to do with the body’s reproductive equipment, but the gender is social category. Gender
constructs expectations and mores on society’s perceptions of the difference that biological
difference makes. Gender was perceived less as biological difference than difference in one’s
social roles behaviors. The distinction between male and female, then, is not inherently
different from the distinction between Jew and Greek or slave or free. All have to do with
categories over which the individual has no control, and all are given meaning by the way
society perceives and structures those categories. 8
3.1. Women in Social culture

In contrast to women in Jesus’ life, the women in Paul’s writings would have been mainly
urban, some wealthy, and many Gentiles whose only previous religious worship and
experiences were pagan. The synagogue was Jewish, and while many Christians continued to
worship there, the primary worship place for Christians was the home, without the distinct
separation of church and home that we experience in many cultures today. The words of Paul,
instead of communicating a clear message calling for sexual equality, have become the primary

5
Keener, 139.
6
Keener, 133-4.
7
Keener, 147.
8
Sandra Hack Polaski, A feminist Introduction to Paul (Missouri: CHALICE, 2005), 66.
source of authority for the deprecation of women. Paul, the greatest intellect of the early church,
listening to God and transformed by God, saw the value of women ministering (Rom. 16:1-2,7,
Phil. 4:1-3).9
3.2. Galatians 3:28

In this context, “no male and female,” does bring something different. Its grammatical structure
breaks the neat parallelism of the preceding two phrases. Each contrasting pair is introduced
with words ouk eni, “there is no”: the Jew/Greek pair and the slave/free pair are linked with the
conjunction oude, “nor,” commonly paired with ouk in the sense “neither/nor.” The last pair,
though, uses kai, “and,” rather than oude. Also, instead of “man and woman,” as might be
expected, the phrase is “male and female.” 10

4. Women in Church and Ministry

In the list of 28 people who ministered the Lord with Paul, 10 of them were women. The term
“sunergos”, ‘co-worker,’ used by Paul is the same as his word alluded to Timothy (1
Thessalonians 3:2) and Titus (2 Corinthians 8:23). It denotes a person of the same trade, a
colleague. This is the evidence that Paul worked alongside women and gospel work gave
women freedom to use their gifts alongside.11 For Lucy, the strangely negative passages about
women seemed to be outweighed first by the teachings and behavior of Jesus, and then by other
passages in Paul’s letters where his passion for mutual respect, forgiveness, and self-sacrificing
love between all peoples, including men and women. He also worked with women, that he
expected them to serve in every aspect of church life, and that he sometimes referred to his
own experience in feminine terms. Against the usual feminist reding of Paul, he is viewed as a
man who had known Jesus Christ, he was not against women, but indeed, must have been “on
the women’s side.”12

4.1. Head Covering

1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:9-15 are the most controversial passages
which has now become a great struggle with regard to women’s role in Church. Regarding
Head coverings, although many churches would use argument like these to demand the
subordination of women in all cultures, very few accept Paul’s arguments here as valid for
coverings was only an issue back then. A related and more likely position is that while Paul
acknowledges these women’s authority over their own heads (11:10), he calls on them to
submit to the head coverings so as not to cause offense. This position has in its favor the entire
preceding context of surrendering one’s own “right” to avoid causing others to lose faith in
Christ.13

Cyril of Alexandria exposited that “the kephale of Christ is God because He is from Him
according to nature.” Being a Greek teacher in the fourth century, he summarized 1 Cor. 11:3,

9
Lynn Smith, Women, Worth and Scripture (Bangalore: SAIACS, 1988), 64-5.
10
Polaski, 67.
11
Smith, 65-6.
12
Lucy Peppiat, Women and Worship at Corinth (Oregon: CASCADE Books, 2015), 27-8.
13
Keener, 21.
“Thus we can say that the kephale of man is Christ, because h was excellently made through
him. And the kephale of woman is man, because she was taken from his flesh. Likewise, the
kephale of Christ is God, because he is from him according to nature.” The Living Bible thus
paraphrases 11:3, “a wife is responsible to her husband, her husband is responsible to Christ,
and Christ is responsible to God.” Headship dies indicate there must be a sense of responsibility
and honor the head of should not be deprived of. 14

If the universal church, local church or even the regional church has its standards of morals,
attempts to deliberately reverse the trend may stir shock, but does not lead to the glory of God.
It is particularly shameful to make such an attempt in the name of freedom by the Spirit. It is
also not worth the attempt to be non-affirmative to the local standards of worship simply by
claiming that one is accustomed to the practices of another geographical region. 15
4.2. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

Paul’s injunction reads “women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to
speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to enquire about something,
they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the
church,” (14:34,35). Why did Paul write that women should keep silence in the churches when
he just informed them that women prayed and prophesied in public (11:5)? What did he mean
when he used the word “to speak” (lalein)? What is the relationship is there between the word
“to speak” and the enquiries which they were to direct to their husband at home? Why did the
apostle state that it was disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church? The larger context of
this passage reveals that Paul had just endeavored to enjoin order on the Corinthian worship
services, especially in relation to the exercise of the gifts of the spirit. The use of the Greek
word translated “to speak” has generated considerable discussion and it appears that its
meaning ranges all the way from “to speak” to “to babble.” Several New Testament scholars
believe that verse 35 illustrates what is meant by the speaking referred to in verse 34. Paul
appears to be saying “Don’t ask your questions and interrupt the church services. Rather ask
your husbands later at home!”16

Conclusion
Therefore, we see that the church today has misunderstood a lot about Paul’s perception of
women in the society, family and church. The advices given by Paul is not to degrade any
women but probably as a resistance to the changing culture in Paul’s time. All the advices given
to women is not too hard for any woman to obey. It is all about simple act of obedience.
Speaking about our Indian context, Indian culture is almost similar to that of Jewish culture.
Therefore, what Paul says can be easily related to our Indian church, applied, understood and
simply obeyed.

14
Christina Chandy, “Head, Headship and Headcovering (1 Corinthians 11:2-16): A Socio-Rhetorical
Approach” (BD Thesis, New Theological College, 2018-19), 37.
15
Chandy, 63-4.
16
Arthur J. Ferch, Three Pauline Passages on the Role of Women in the Life of the Church
(Wahroonga, 1985), 9-10. https://www.adventistarchives.org/three-pauline-passages-on-the-role-of-women-in-
the-life-of-the-church.pdf. Accessed on 24 April, 2021.
Bibliography

Chandy, Christina. “Head, Headship and Headcovering (1 Corinthians 11:2-16): A Socio-

Rhetorical Approach.” BD Thesis, New Theological College, 2018-19.

Hawthorne, Gerald F., Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid, eds., Dictionary of Paul and His
Letters. Illionois: IVP Academic, 1993.

Keener, Craig S. Paul, Women and Wives. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007.

Peppiat, Lucy. Women and Worship at Corinth. Oregon: CASCADE Books, 2015.

Polaski, Sandra Hack. A feminist Introduction to Paul. Missouri: CHALICE, 2005.

Smith, Lynn. Women, Worth and Scripture. Bangalore: SAIACS, 1988.

Webliography

Castelli, Elizabeth A. “Paul and Women and Gender”,

https://www.academia.edu/1865491/Paul_on_Women_and_Gender. Accessed on 23
April, 2021.
Ferch, Arthur J. Three Pauline Passages on the Role of Women in the Life of the Church
(Wahroonga, 1985), 9-10. https://www.adventistarchives.org/three-pauline-
passages-on-the-role-of-women-in-the-life-of-the-church.pdf. Accessed on 24 April,
2021.