By now, you may be wondering why most lessons in this course make no reference to the Endnotes. That arrangement has a purpose: We want the flow of biblical thought to lead our understanding of key passages. God knows that we come to the Bible from diverse backgrounds. Each culture, or in the case of newer generations, each counterculture, has its own pressures and preferences. On a topic like “roles,” we all have deeply embedded opinions and emotions—the lenses through which we naturally view God’s word. To help us understand His word more clearly, God gives thousands of years of divinely defined background and context. He reveals His character, His principles and His ways of speaking.
What happens when we ignore that inspired background, when we isolate a Scripture and apply interpretive rules of our own making? We tend to arrive at conclusions that we had in mind all along. How much better to read each Scripture in the light of its overall context and its immediate context. The approach of this course, therefore, is to lay a foundation by means of a relevant and thorough survey of the Bible. Then, building on that foundation, we encourage you to decide for yourself—in Lesson Twelve—the meaning of key passages. By the time you reach the Endnotes, you should have clarified your own thinking based on the Bible’s contextual foundation. We assume that you have worked that process. Now, if you wish to compare findings, we offer further study on some key passages about roles.
The first passage we consider in 1 Corinthians 11 which refers to male and female prophets. It seems that some of the latter exercise their gift in a way that challenges the order established by God. In Corinth, a woman’s covering shows respect for “authority” (1 Corinthians 11:10), and some prophetesses are discarding that covering. Notice how Paul returns to Genesis to answer this challenge.
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven…. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God (1 Corinthians 11:3-5, 7-12).
Since God is the head of Christ, Christ voluntarily places Himself under the Father (John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 8:28, 12:49; Matthew 26:39). Next, the husband (andros can also mean “man”) voluntarily treats Christ as his head. Then, the wife (gunaikos can also mean “woman”) voluntarily treats her husband as her head. These are not merely changeable social roles. Rather, they are God’s choice. They are rooted in the Creator’s character. For humans, they are rooted in the order of creation (Genesis 2:7, 22).
To be the “glory” of another means to bring honor and praise to that person, rather than bringing shame. In the broadest sense, all creation is the “glory” of God (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20). In the sense of Genesis 1, both male and female are the glory and image of God. But Paul narrows the focus to the order of events in Genesis 2. There, the male already bears God’s image before the female’s arrival. The male’s special place as first-born continues even now, using the present tense: “Man… is the image and glory of God” (1 Corinthians 11:7). Eve brings a kind of “glory” or honor to Adam, and that too continues into the present: “The woman is the glory of man” (1 Corinthians 11:7 cf. Proverbs 12:4). Mutual dependence also continues. “In the Lord,” neither gender is “independent” of the other (1 Corinthians 11:11-12). Their roles are different but complementary, as procreation itself illustrates. That we are not “independent” speaks volumes to our generation!
Where, exactly, are the women praying and prophesying? Frankly, we today are not sure. We are not there to see the setting. Paul writes to Christians in Corinth who know the details about which we are left to speculate. (If you doubt that people are speculating, read a variety of commentaries and note how the most competent scholars draw opposite conclusions from the available data.) There is no doubt that anyone prophesying is leading in some sense. But leading whom? Are these women more like the national leaders Deborah and Esther? Are they more like the prophetess Miriam who leads other women in celebration? Is their activity in the assembly or in other settings?
At which point in 1 Corinthians does Paul focus on the full assembly that has both men and women? As you seek an answer, place this passage into the larger context of God’s dealings with men and women and their respective roles. Regarding the immediate context, some think the focus on the assembly begins with the first verses of 1 Corinthians 11, a view that favors women prophesying in the assembly. Others point to Paul’s transition in 1 Corinthians 11:17-18.
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you….
The words “in the first place” suggest a start. A start to what? To the discussion of assembled worship. “In the first place, when you come together as a church….” From that point on, there is no doubt that the assembly, with the Lord’s Supper, is in clear view. That kind of clarity is also found in 1 Corinthians 14, which we consider next.