Search — Theology Explorer

women in early church Greco-Roman context Jewish context

Women's participation in early church was countercultural but distinctly Christian

Mike discusses the contrast with Jewish and Greco-Roman culture.

1 Corinthians 11:5-6 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 shaving analogy argument from shame

Paul's first argument: shaving analogy (verses 5-6)

Mike identifies five distinct arguments Paul makes to support head coverings.

1 Corinthians 11:8-9 Genesis 2:18 creation order ezer 1 Corinthians 11:8-9

Two principles in verses 8-9: who came from who (order) and who was made for who (purpose)

Mike distinguishes two separate arguments Paul derives from Genesis 2.

1 Corinthians 11:16 1 Corinthians 11:16 universal church practice Roman Catholic

Paul's fifth argument: universal church custom (verse 16)

Mike explains the appeal to all churches practicing head coverings.

kephale Craig Keener source meaning

Keener: kephale means 'source' or if 'authority' then only cultural authority

Mike details Keener's handling of verse 3.

1 Corinthians 11:9 Craig Keener translation comparison 1 Corinthians 11:9

Keener translates verse 9 as 'through' instead of 'for the sake of,' absorbing it into verse 8

Mike identifies Keener's handling of the problematic verse 9.

Craig Keener textual criticism Bruce Metzger

The manuscript evidence for the passage is overwhelming -- no textual basis for removal

Mike demolishes the interpolation argument with textual evidence.

kephale akatakalupto Philo

Philo uses akatakalupto coupled with kephale to refer to cloth coverings

Mike provides first-century textual evidence for cloth covering meaning.

1 Corinthians 11:9 1 Corinthians 11:9 Gordon Fee necessity interpretation

Gordon Fee on verse 9: woman is 'necessary for man' to fulfill his calling -- also creates contradiction

Mike examines and refutes Fee's interpretation.

1 Corinthians 11:9 Craig Keener translation comparison 1 Corinthians 11:9

Keener on verse 9: translates 'for' as 'through,' making it reiterate verse 8

Mike examines and refutes Keener's translation choice.

1 Corinthians 11:14 F.F. Bruce Plutarch physis

Question 8: What does 'nature' (physis) mean in verse 14?

Mike examines the meaning of Paul's appeal to nature.

1 Corinthians 11:15 Tom Schreiner doxa 1 Corinthians 11:15

Tom Schreiner's consistent interpretation of glory as 'honor' works for both uses

Mike presents what he considers the best interpretation of glory.

honor chain headship chain Gospel of John

Glory as honor connects the entire passage: headship chain produces honor chain

Mike shows how the honor interpretation unifies the passage.

1 Peter 1 Corinthians 11:10 Genesis 6:2 1 Peter 1 Corinthians 11:10 angelic observers

Question 12: What does 'because of the angels' mean? Four views evaluated

Mike evaluates the four main interpretive options for this phrase.

1 Corinthians 11:10 1 Corinthians 11:10 angelic observers worship context

Mike's preferred view: holy angelic observers who delight in seeing God's order in worship

Mike presents his conclusion on the angels question.

Mark Goodacre testicle theory Troy Martin peribolaion

Question 13: The testicle theory -- Troy Martin's claim about peribolaion

Mike introduces the most controversial recent interpretation.

Mark Goodacre translation comparison Troy Martin peribolaion

Euripides source: all published translations use clothing metaphor, not testicle

Mike examines the second and stronger piece of evidence.

Mark Goodacre straw man argument Troy Martin Mark Goodacre

Martin's later paper shifts: claims he can establish testicle meaning from 1 Corinthians alone

Mike traces the evolution of Martin's argument.

Troy Martin peribolaion anti

Six reasons Martin gives for testicle in 1 Corinthians 11 -- all fail

Mike systematically refutes Martin's case from the text of 1 Corinthians.

physis hair length gender distinctions

Hair length IS probably transcultural since Paul argues for it directly from nature

Mike distinguishes hair length from head coverings in terms of ongoing application.

1 Corinthians 9:22 hermeneutical principle symbolic meaning cultural application argument

The cultural view is not arbitrary: five facts support it

Mike defends his position against charges of mere cultural accommodation.

1 Corinthians 11:5 1 Corinthians 11:5 logical contradiction argument women prophesying

Style Argument 3: The verses logically contradict 1 Corinthians 11:5

Mike addresses the argument that these verses contradict Paul's earlier allowance of women prophesying.

1 Corinthians 9:8-11 Deuteronomy 25:4 1 Corinthians 9:8-11 Deuteronomy 25:4 ministerial support

Paul appeals to the law in 1 Corinthians 9:8-11 as a direct counterexample

Mike provides a clear example of Paul using the OT law to establish principles for Christian behavior.

the law Roman law Jewish oral law

What does 'the law' mean in 1 Corinthians 14:34?

Mike addresses the debate over what 'the law' refers to: Roman law, Jewish law, local custom, or the Old Testament.

Craig Keener Paul, Women and Wives education view

Craig Keener's version of the education view

Mike presents Craig Keener's more balanced version of the education interpretation.

1 Corinthians 11:5 1 Corinthians 11:2-6 head coverings 1 Corinthians 11:5 women prophesying

Utter Silence View Hinge 2: 1 Corinthians 11 proves women could prophesy publicly in church

Mike presents the strongest challenge to the utter silence view from within the same letter.

1 John 4:1 1 Corinthians 12:10 1 John 4:1 testing prophecy 1 Corinthians 12:10

Judging Prophecy Hinge 1: Was testing prophecy a real practice in the early church?

Mike establishes that testing/judging prophecy was indeed a regular church practice.

1 John 4:1-3 Mormonism 1 John 4:1-3 Christology test

The doctrinal/theological nature of testing prophecy from 1 John 4:1-3

Mike shows that testing prophecy involved theological evaluation.

congregational testing eldership function doctrinal guardianship

Problems with the 'everyone judges prophecy' view

Mike argues against congregational testing of prophecy.

eldership doctrinal testing church governance

Elders have a natural role in judging prophecy due to their doctrinal guardianship function

Mike builds the case that elders must have been prominent in testing prophecy.

Acts 14:23 Titus 1:5 Acts 14:23 Titus 1:5 elder/overseer/bishop

Elders as the only universal biblical ongoing office with authority

Mike provides scriptural evidence for the elder/overseer role as the primary authority structure in the church.

Acts 20:28-31 doctrinal guardianship Acts 20:28-31 fierce wolves

Paul's farewell to Ephesian elders (Acts 20:28-31) -- fierce wolves and elders' responsibility

Mike cites Paul's passionate charge to elders to guard the flock.

1 Corinthians 12:10 1 Corinthians 12:10 gift of discernment church governance

Women can have the gift of discernment but are restricted in its public exercise during church governance

Mike addresses the objection that his view means women cannot have a spiritual gift.

Craig Keener rabbinic literature gender-segregated seating

Refutation of the 'separate seating' theory: no evidence men and women sat separately in early churches

Mike addresses the popular online claim that men and women sat on opposite sides of the church.

1 Corinthians 14:35 1 Corinthians 14:35 women's education Jewish education debates

Conclusion 2: Women have no restrictions on learning

Mike notes that Paul's instruction actually preserves women's right to pursue knowledge.

complementarianism terminology

The distinctiveness of the complementarian label as explicitly Christian

Mike explains why he prefers the term complementarian over patriarchal.

German scholarship Gospel origins anti-Semitism in scholarship

Analogy to overturned German scholarship on the Gospels and Greek myths

Mike argues that entire schools of scholarly thought can be wrong and get overturned.

1 Timothy 2:12 eldership 1 Timothy 2:12 teaching with authority

Pillar 2: Elder positions AND functions are for men only

Mike establishes the second pillar as more than just the title Elder.

Genesis 1:26-28 image of God dominion Genesis 1:26-28

Genesis 1:26-28 — both male and female are given dominion over the earth

Mike grounds Pillar 3 in Genesis 1.

1 Samuel 25 Acts 5:29 David Abigail 1 Samuel 25

Abigail in 1 Samuel 25 — a positive example of a wife righteously subverting her husband's authority

Mike uses Abigail as a biblical example showing limits on female submission.

soft complementarianism application methodology

Summary of how examples push against strongest patriarchal views but fail to establish softest complementarianism

Mike previews his conclusions from examining biblical examples.

Isaiah 3:12 Deborah Isaiah 3:12 women ruling as judgment

Isaiah 3:12 does not prove women ruling is always God's judgment

Mike addresses the patriarchalist use of Isaiah 3:12.

1 Samuel 25:3 Abigail 1 Samuel 25:3 gender stereotypes

Positive vs negative stereotypes about men and women

Mike distinguishes between healthy and harmful gender stereotypes.

Industrial Revolution feminism critique LGBT

Feminism took unhealthy male self-advancement and transferred it to women

Mike critiques the progression from Industrial Revolution to feminism.

1 Timothy 3:2 1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 5:17 1 Timothy 3:2 1 Timothy 2:12 teaching with authority

What distinguishes an elder from a non-elder: teaching AND having authority

Mike identifies the distinguishing marks of the elder role.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 Billy Graham Greg Laurie

Stage evangelism (Billy Graham style) overlaps into elder function — applies 1 Timothy 2:12

Mike distinguishes casual evangelism from large-scale public proclamation.