When Scripture Seems to Contradict Itself: My Journey with 1 Corinthians 14
Have you ever read a Bible verse that made you stop in your tracks and think, "Wait—this doesn't sound like God at all"? I certainly have. And one verse in particular sent me on a journey that completely transformed how I read Scripture.
It was 1 Corinthians 14:34-35: "Women are to keep silent in the church. They're not permitted to speak, but they are to subject themselves, just as the law also says. If they want to learn anything, they should ask their own husbands at home, for it is actually disgraceful for a woman to utter sound in the assembly."
For years, this verse haunted me. Here I was, sensing God's heart for equality and mutual submission, yet facing what seemed like His clear command for women to be completely silent in church. Not just quiet during certain portions—silent. No sound at all.
The Cognitive Dissonance Was Overwhelming
What made this verse particularly troubling was its context. The entire book of 1 Corinthians is about unity. Paul spends chapters explaining how we're all part of Christ's body—every single one of us is important and necessary. Some of us may be administrators, some have gifts of healing or teaching. We need both eyes to see clearly. We can manage without one, but if you're not fully showing up with who you really are, the body is missing you.
Paul does this beautiful job of saying we're all different parts of the same body. One person might be a hand, another might be an eye. I like to be the mouth—I often say that—but if my heart's not beating, you're not going to hear my mouth talking. The heart is important. The liver is important.
And then suddenly, in this book about everybody playing a role and everybody being a part, it sounds like Paul is saying, "Everybody but the women."
You have to step back and say, "What's going on here?"
The First Clue: "Now About the Things You Wrote to Me"
The real breakthrough came when I noticed something in chapter 7, verse 1: "Now about the things you wrote to me. (NIV)” Paul is actually answering the Corinthians' letter. There are several times throughout 1 Corinthians where he quotes what they say and then gives his response.
This isn't unusual in Paul's letters. He often addresses false teachings by first stating them, then refuting them. But here's the problem: the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts didn't have punctuation marks or quotation marks. So when translators work with these texts, they have to determine from context when Paul is quoting someone else versus speaking his own words.
The Harsh Reality in Greek
When I first sensed God showing me that women weren't meant to be secondary by His design, I thought I'd simply look up the Greek and show how we'd gotten it wrong. I was expecting to find some gentle qualifier or cultural context that would soften the passage.
Instead, I discovered it was actually harsher in Greek than in English. The phrase is more like "Silence, silence your women!" It's incredibly harsh—completely out of character for Paul, who worked alongside women like Priscilla, stayed in the home of Philip who had four daughters who prophesied, and recognized women as deacons and even apostles.
For a long time, I had no idea what to do with this verse. I was like, "Lord, I know Your heart, but Your words seem to be completely different from what Your heart would be toward all of us having a role, all of us coming together in unity."
The Breakthrough Discovery
The breakthrough came when I read a book by Gilbert Bilezikian called Beyond Sex Roles. He explained something that opened my eyes completely:
"In this epistle, more than any other, Paul quotes the words of the opposition—people who oppose what he's saying. Such occurrences are not readily recognizable today because punctuation and quotation marks are not used in the original Hebrew and Greek languages of the Bible. Today, clues for the identification of quotes are to be found in context and the content of such statements.
In this case, these prohibition statements—'women keep silent'—the sharp contrast of its contents with Paul's own views make it evident that he's quoting disapprovingly a teaching that is not his own. Our modern Bibles should rightfully have this statement enclosed in quotation marks."
Wait—quotation marks? You mean Paul was quoting somebody else here?
The "What?" Moment
The next clue is found by simply keeping reading. After verses 34-35 (the prohibition statements about women being silent), verse 36 says: "Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only?" (ESV)
That seems to come out of nowhere, doesn't it? We go from "everybody has a role, everybody has a word, everybody has a song" to "women must be silent" to "what? Did the word of God come from you only?"
It's exegetical whiplash.
The Scholarly Evidence
What I discovered through further study is that recent scholarship has called attention to what's called the "disjunctive force" of the Greek participle that introduces verse 36. This little word has the impact of an emphatic repudiation of what precedes it. A colloquial equivalent of "nonsense!" would come close to rendering the break between the prohibition statement and Paul's response to it.
So the passage would read: "Women are to keep silent in the church. They're not permitted to speak, but they are to subject themselves, just as the law also says. If they want to learn anything, they should ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to utter sound in the assembly."
"Nonsense! Did the word of God originate with you? Are you the only ones it has reached?"
Paul is quoting false teachers who were trying to silence women, then rebuking them for it!
The "Law" That Doesn't Exist
Another major clue is Paul's reference to "the law." Paul, who repeatedly tells believers they're free from the law's bondage, suddenly says women should subject themselves "just as the law also says."
But here's the problem: nowhere in biblical law—the Torah, the Old Testament—does it say women must be silent or subject in this way. Paul, a former Pharisee who knew the law inside and out, would never have misquoted Scripture.
The "law" the false teachers were referencing was likely the Talmudic traditions—oral traditions that had been codified when the Jews were in Babylon. These included restrictions like women having to be veiled in public and not being permitted to speak to men. It was actually scandalous for Jesus to speak with the woman at the well—not because she was Samaritan, but because He was speaking with a woman in public at all.
What This Means for Us
This discovery completely changed how I read Scripture. It reminded me that:
Context is everything. When a passage seems completely out of character with the rest of Scripture, we need to dig deeper.
Cultural background matters. Understanding the historical and cultural context often clarifies confusing passages.
God's heart is consistent. If something seems to contradict God's character of love and justice, we might be missing something.
We need each other. Scholars, historians, and thoughtful believers throughout history help us understand Scripture more fully.
The Freedom to Question
If you've been wrestling with passages that seem to contradict God's heart, I want to encourage you: it's okay to have questions. It's okay to say, "This doesn't seem right to me." God isn't threatened by our honest searching.
The God who promises to guide us into all truth (John 16:13, NIV) is faithful. If we seek understanding with humble hearts, He will reveal His design for relationships characterized by mutual honor, mutual submission, and mutual love.
Sometimes what we discover is that the truth has been hiding in plain sight all along—we just needed fresh eyes to see it.
What passages have you struggled with? Have you ever discovered that deeper study revealed a more beautiful truth than you initially understood? I'd love to hear about your journey in the comments below.
Blessings,
Susan 😊