Losing my religion for equality

By that logic, your children are property, no?

 

I don't know, the commandment doesn't include children. It only lists the things 'owned'.

 

Going from Paul's "stop turning worship into a fashion show and shut up and listen" to "the Bible says women are property" is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?

The research I've done so far argues that the context surrounding Paul's letter to Timothy (especially the religion and culture) are key to figuring out what he's really saying. He's trying to establish a new church with a new belief system into a society who embraced many female deities. Women had spiritual authority regarding the worship of gods such as Venus, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, and so forth. It would appear from Paul's strong wording in this particular letter that disruption and distraction from the female attendees had become a problem.

Edit: The 1 Corinthians 14 passage addresses the same issue.

I can't know with absolute certainty that this is the case, but it makes sense to me. Of course, I'm always open to new evidence.

 

The commandment doesn't use the word "property", though. Look at it this way -- do we not say "he's my husband"? Or "she's my wife"? Doesn't that indicate a sense of ownership or belonging?

 

Just as 1 Timothy is pretty explicit, Corinthians is just as explicit here don't you think? Does it leave that much room for your interpretation? Is it a valid interpretation or just an example of how a changing society changes it's interpretation to meet the contemporay mores?

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.

 

Silence in the concordance number 4601 in greek: Sigao, from 4602; to "keep silent" (trna. or intr.)--keep close (secret, silence), hold peace.

 

Didn't they speak Aramaic?

 

I go the the Strongs concordance and some other sources to get definitions from the original source. Greek and Hebrew never change unlike the english language which changes. Ex. Gay years ago meant something different than what it means today. So, what was written 2000 years ago has not changed today.

Paul spoke many languages and was a great scholar. He spoke coloquial greek and several other languages. Paul spoke of speaking in tongues in Acts and a couple other books telling us to take an interpreter with us if we do not know the language when going to a foreign land to teach the word. Tongues was languages.

Paul studied under Gamaliel who was the best known scholar of that period and was the grandson of the great Rabbi Hillel, a figure still revered by Jews today.

 

How does "Keep silent" change the meaning in regards to Paul's view of women in the church?

 

Right, but was the first text of the Bible written in Greek or specifically the passage you referred to the Greek originally written in Greek?

My point is that translations from anything not in the original tongue doesn't have much value in my eyes. We are probably talking multiple layers and many years separation from the original "intent."