The two New Testament passages that have been so frequently interpreted when defining the role of women in church is found in first Corinthians and first Timothy.

Paul's letter to Timothy demands a woman's silence.

1 Timothy 2 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Paul's letter to the Corinthian church also demands a woman's silence.

1 Corinthians 14 33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. 34 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. 35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Whereas the Timothy letter directs a woman to be silent and under a man's authority, the Corinthian letter emphasizes the woman's silence. One of the common interpretations of these two New Testament biblical passages is that women are not allowed to minister at a church setting except to other women or children. Another interpretation demands that women are not to minister to men at church, home, or any other place. Is that what Paul meant when he told women to be silent?

Let's study the Corinthian female passage to find out what Paul was telling the Corinthian church. (For the Timothy passage study, see Women at Home.)

Before beginning study of this passage, one should be familiar with a writing style Paul uses in his letters. In his letters. Paul often teaches the churches messages that present themselves in blocks with summaries and with a beginning and an end while giving an explanation of his intended meaning throughout the passage (an organization later often used to designate chapters). In Corinthians 14, Paul uses this style to lecture the church members on how they are to keep order within the church and why it is important to have church order.

Paul begins his speech in 1 Corinthians 14 about keeping church order by explaining the importance of having the gift of prophecy within church services (v. 1), a gift which women were also given (1 Cor. 11:5). He contrasts the gift of prophecy with the gift of speaking in tongue. Speaking in tongue is a good gift (v. 18), but during church services prophecy is preferred (v. 5) because prophecy can be made beneficial to the other church members since it is spoken in a language that is understood by the other members.

Those who speak in tongue are told to keep silent and limit their speaking between themselves and God (verse 28) unless there is an interpreter present (v. 27).

Each prophet is instructed to use their prophetic gift "one by one" (one at a time and not all at once or while someone else is speaking) (v. 31) to ensure order is kept during the service. Keeping order in church services edifies fellow believers during service because when order is kept everyone is properly heard which gives everyone listening the opportunity to learn from those who are prophesying (v. 31).

Paul then says that it is God's command that order be kept in church services (v. 33). This verse deserves further explanation because in this verse Paul wants the church to know that order is the way God operates, the way He created the universe, and the way He does things. And because it is the way God does things, it is the way He wants His church to operate.

1 Corinthians 14 33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

"Confusion" (from Greek "akatastasia") means to have "confusion" or"disorder" (Strong 181) and "peace" (from Greek eirene) means to have "peace" and "tranquility" gained from having order (Strong 1515).                                                                                                                                                        

If we compare the Greek words to the first passage found in Genesis, we will see that this peaceful and tranquil order is a come theme with God.  God designed the universe using a such an order.

Genesis 1 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Before the six day world creation, the world had become a world of chaotic wilderness with no order. God uses a system of order to create the world known to Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:2-31), peaceful and tranquil, where God Himself would dwell with man. The creation days could be defined or described as the laws of order and how God uses these laws to create a universe designed by His desire for order.

Paul understood how God had made the universe, through a system of peaceful laws, and the importance of keeping order because of it, including in church service. Those who were given the gift to use prophesy during church services were instructed to keep God's universal law of order when doing so by speaking one at a time (and not several at once).

In v. 34, Paul has just corrected certain women attending church who were also speaking out of turn and causing disruptions in the services.