CorneL 辶 5Wa,n PAUL'S ATTITUDE TOWARD WOMEN I t seems l i kel y t ha t Paul i s no t as much a male chauv i n i s t as man y have re p re- sen t ed h i m as be i n g. In f ac t, he d i d much t o enhance t he s t a t us o f women i n t he church. Le t us...
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CorneL 辶 5Wa,n PAUL'S ATTITUDE TOWARD WOMEN I t seems l i kel y t ha t Paul i s no t as much a male chauv i n i s t as man y have re p re- sen t ed h i m as be i n g. In f ac t, he d i d much t o enhance t he s t a t us o f women i n t he church. Le t us look a t some o f t he s p ec i f i c p assa g es wh i ch have been t roubl i n g t o women over t he y ears. 1) In I Cor i n t h i ans 11, t he cul t ural backg round and curren t p roblems i n t he church mus t be anal y zed. The church a t Cor i n t h was l i cen t i ous, p la g ued wi t h such p roblems as p ros t i t u t i on, sexual p ervers i ons and quarrel i n g. Paul f e l t t he need t o deal wi t h t hese wi t h a f i rm hand. The church a t Cor i n t h was i n f luenced b y a s y s t em o f my s t i cal rel igious and p h i loso p h i cal doc t r i nes called Gnos t i c i sm. The Gnos t lcs were o pp osed t o women cov- er i n g t he i r heads. Th i s was i n d i rec t con t ras t t o t he J ew i sh cus t om where res p ec
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