In which congregations of the saints should the women remain silent?
Paul says “all” of them. “As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches” (1 Cor. 14:33b-34a, emphasis added).
Paul goes on:
For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized” (1 Cor. 14:34-38).
Paul elaborates at another place:
“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control” (1 Tim. 2:11-15).
No man who finds the Bible’s teaching offensive ought to be teaching or leading in the church. In the Southern Baptist Convention today there are many who uphold Paul’s teaching, but there are many who would accuse those faithful people of being godless. On this issue—the definition of who may and may not lead—hangs the unity of any religious association. Soon this will become more clear to those wishing not to understand it.
For the above reasons, the Southern Baptist Convention must be dissolved and it will be dissolved. What fellowship does light have with darkness?
