St. Paul and the Ladies
Title: Paul and Women: A Contextual Defense of a Misunderstood Apostle
Rev. Jane Herring
Introduction: Reconsidering Paul
If you’ve ever cringed at Paul’s words about women being silent in church or covering their heads, you’re not alone. For centuries, these verses have been wielded to silence women, discourage leadership, and cast doubt on the apostle’s view of gender equality. But what if these interpretations have missed the pastoral heart and contextual intelligence behind Paul’s writings?
What if Paul—far from being a theological misogynist—was instead a skilled pastor navigating complex cultural, religious, and gendered landscapes, seeking to build Christian communities rooted in humility, mutuality, and public credibility?
Let’s explore Corinth, gender norms, head coverings, angelic watchers, and the voices of women in early churches. Along the way, we’ll make a compelling case that Paul did not silence women, but instead sought to support their ministry within the contours of Greco-Roman culture and Jewish apocalyptic imagination.
I. The Cultural and Religious Landscape of Corinth
Corinth in the first century was a cosmopolitan city, newly rebuilt as a Roman colony after its destruction in 146 BCE. A hub of commerce and religious pluralism, Corinth boasted temples to Aphrodite, Demeter, Isis, and other deities—many of them female and attended by women priests, prophetesses, and initiates.
Women in certain mystery cults and temples were visibly religious leaders, often associated with ecstatic practices, erotic symbolism, and even (in Roman imagination) temple prostitution. While modern historians dispute the scale of sacred prostitution, the perception of Corinth as morally “loose” persisted in the Roman world and early church memory (Winter, 2003).
Paul’s ministry had to address this charged environment. Converts were coming out of cultic traditions in which female spiritual authority, eroticism, and ecstatic speech were bundled together. This context helps explain why Paul addresses both women’s dress and conduct in worship.
II. Head Coverings and "Because of the Angels": What Was Paul Really Saying?
In 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, Paul discusses head coverings and gender roles during worship. The passage is notoriously complex, but here are key takeaways:
Women were speaking in church: Paul refers to women “praying and prophesying” (1 Cor 11:5), indicating that he allowed and even expected women to speak in worship—a point often overlooked.
Covering was about public decorum, not subjugation: In Roman culture, an uncovered female head could signal sexual availability or public shame. Paul encouraged head coverings not as a mark of inferiority, but as a culturally appropriate way to maintain honor and avoid scandal in worship (Keener, 2004; Winter, 2003).
“Because of the angels” (v. 10): This cryptic phrase has drawn wide speculation. One reading, rooted in Jewish apocalyptic literature, connects it to Genesis 6:1–4 and the Book of Enoch, where the “sons of God” (interpreted as angels or Watchers) are seduced by the beauty of human women. In 1 Enoch, the solution to this disorder involves veiling and modesty to ward off cosmic disruption (Enoch 6–16; Tertullian, On the Veiling of Virgins). Paul’s reference may reflect awareness of this tradition, suggesting that covering the head was a spiritual gesture, acknowledging the presence of angels and the sanctity of worship.
Paul’s concern, then, was not about limiting women’s freedom but about protecting the church’s integrity, both cosmically (before angels) and socially (before their neighbors).
III. What About “Women Should Be Silent”? Context, Context, Context.
The verse most often cited to silence women comes from 1 Corinthians 14:34–35:
“Women should be silent in the churches… it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.”
This seems to contradict 1 Corinthians 11, where women are speaking. Several points clarify this:
Many scholars believe 14:34–35 is an interpolation—a later scribal insertion. In some manuscripts, the verses appear in different locations, and the syntax doesn’t fit Paul’s usual rhetorical flow (Fee, 1987). Early commentators often ignored these verses entirely.
If authentic, Paul’s “silencing” is likely situational, addressing a specific disruption—perhaps women questioning speakers or challenging authority in the service. Paul silences tongue speakers and prophets too (vv. 28, 30), suggesting his concern is with order and mutual edification (v. 26), not permanent restrictions.
Corinthian women, newly empowered and possibly drawing on religious enthusiasm from goddess cults, may have misunderstood freedom in Christ as permission to dominate the gathering—an error Paul corrects for both genders throughout the letter.
IV. Paul the Empowerer: Naming the Women He Called Co-Laborers
Far from silencing women, Paul names and celebrates them as co-workers, church planters, and apostles:
Phoebe (Romans 16:1–2): A deacon of the church at Cenchreae, commended as a patron and leader—likely the letter-bearer and interpreter of Romans itself.
Priscilla (Romans 16:3, Acts 18): A theological teacher who instructed Apollos. Paul names her before her husband Aquila in most mentions.
Junia (Romans 16:7): Called “outstanding among the apostles” and imprisoned for her faith. Later scribes masculinized her name, but early church fathers (e.g., Chrysostom) affirmed her apostolic status.
Chloe (1 Cor 1:11): The source of reliable news about the Corinthian church—likely the leader of a house church.
Euodia and Syntyche (Phil 4:2–3): Women who “contended at my side in the cause of the gospel.”
Nympha (Col 4:15): Host of a church in her home.
Taken together, these names show that Paul valued women as leaders, theologians, and co-laborers in Christ. He called them apostles, deacons, and teachers—radical language in a patriarchal world.
V. Conclusion: The Pastor, Not the Patriarch
Paul was not writing systematic theology textbooks; he was writing letters to real churches in real cities facing real struggles. He was a pastor and missionary, trying to shape communities of love, order, and credibility in contexts where gender, class, religion, and ethnicity collided.
He did not diminish women—he deployed them.
He did not silence prophecy—he guided its practice.
He did not erase cultural difference—but asked the church to embody Christ within it.
To lift a single sentence from Paul without his context is to misunderstand both his letters and his Lord. And to read Paul rightly is to hear the Spirit calling all people—women and men, young and old—to be bold witnesses to the gospel, clothed not in hierarchy, but in love.
Works Cited:
Bruce W. Winter, Roman Wives, Roman Widows: The Appearance of New Women and the Pauline Communities. Eerdmans, 2003.
Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT). Eerdmans, 1987.
Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. John Knox Press, 1997.
Cynthia Long Westfall, Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ. Baker Academic, 2016.
Margaret Y. MacDonald, Early Christian Women and Pagan Opinion: The Power of the Hysterical Woman. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Ben Witherington III, Women in the Earliest Churches. Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Our Mother Saint Paul. Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
The Book of Enoch. Translated by R.H. Charles. Public Domain.
Tertullian, On the Veiling of Virgins. Early Christian Writings, www.earlychristianwritings.com.
Also check out Karen Armstrong’s work St Paul: The Apostle We Love to Hate or relate more of her broader writings—The Gospel According to Woman
