Why did Paul tell women to be silent and not take authority in the church?
Paul told women to remain subdued, not talkative, and not to take authority in the local church because he was writing in the light of his culture and day. The purpose was to keep a mood of subservience, not slavery, recognizing the husband as head of the house, a principle going back to Eden and Eve's eating the fruit first.
Les explains that Christianity actually brought the greatest liberty to women, lifting them out of being downtrodden and not permitted to be educated or read. But present-day women abused that liberty, and abuse causes things to backfire. Paul, therefore, wrote in the light of the culture and time in which he lived. He told women to remain subdued, not be talkative, and not take authority in the local church. Verse 35 adds that if they want to learn anything, they should ask their husbands at home. The reason was to keep a mood of subservience—not slavery—recognizing that the husband was the head of the house. Les traces this back to the Garden of Eden, where it began, prompted by Eve eating the fruit first. He points to Genesis 3:16, after sin entered.
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
More Questions
Why did Paul tell women to keep silent in the churches in 1 Corinthians 14:34?
Paul told the women to keep silence in the churches because Corinth was a wicked city full of temple prostitution, and he did not want believers to do anything that smacked of being like those brazen, talkative prostitutes, which would give the world the wrong impression.
What did Paul tell the women in Corinth to watch?
Paul told the ladies in the church to watch their languages, speaking, and behavior.
What does 1 Corinthians 14:34 command women to do in the church?
Reading 1 Corinthians 14:34, Paul commands women to keep silence as the complete opposite of the women out on the street, and says it is not permitted for them to speak but they are commanded to be under obedience, as the law also says.