2009-03-13 - 11:47 a.m.
I've got a ten page paper to write, and two smaller papers to finish off this weekend, so it seems like a good time to update the ol' blog. Yes, I'm procrastinating, but at least it's sort of productive procrastination. I'm not really worried about the paper, and it's not due until next Friday, both of which seem to be combining to not spur me to working. The paper is on Paul- we have to write two for the class, one on a passage from the uncontested Paul (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians 1 Thessalonians and Philemon) and then another on a passage with the same theme from contested Paul (Colossians, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, 2 Thessalonians and 1 Peter). I'm writing mine on the role of women in church. Some people might remember that in 1 Corinthians Paul has quite a bit to say on this subject, but it's one that the larger church quietly ignores. Even evangelical churches don't say too much about this passage. It's awkward, especially in Canada in the the 21st century. I've heard of some truly fundamentalist churches that don't allow a woman to speak, but it's rare.
I found a neat exegesis of this passage from Robert Allison, in which he claims that in this passage (1 Corinthians 14: 33b-36)Paul is quoting a letter that he received from one of the factions at Corinth (which the letter as a whole is dealing with). This faction is a group who does not allow women to speak in church, and so Paul sarcastically asks if only they have received the gospel. It makes sense to me, and it jives with 1 Corinthians 11, in which Paul talks about women prophetesses, who apparently were allowed to speak in church. Most of the works of Paul are riddled with references to women that he works with in the churches, so this explanation is one that seems to be true to the text and in accordance with what we know of Paul generally.
Anyway, I've got to church out ten pages of deathless prose on that subject, looking at the role of women in first century Corinth (or at least the Roman Empire generally), and other interpretations (of which the most charitable fall into the 'he was speaking to a specific group' range).
In non school news, there is a group of prospective students at the school for an open house. They sat in on Constructive Theology yesterday, and came over the residence for supper. This seems like a neat program - the school is putting them up in the school hotel, and they are spending all day today learning about how the school works, what it offers, etc. I wonder if they did this last year, and if they did, why I didn't go? Anyway, I came along to the supper yesterday to show the happy face of the school. There were a few current students and a couple alumni there, so it was a good mix, and I think we gave a good impression of the school.
