Those who insist on the absolute, unqualified subjection of women to the
opposite sex, and place them in a subordinate place in the Christian
Church, persistently quote the writings of St. Paul as authority for the
position which they take. We apprehend that the great apostle to the
Gentiles is as wrongfully misapprehended and misrepresented by certain
classes of believers now, as he was by the Jews at the memorable time
when he was brought before Felix. Paul, therefore, must "answer for
himself in the things whereof he is accused."
In I Cor. xi, 3-5, he says to the Church at Corinth: "But I would have
you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman
is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or
prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every
woman that prayeth or _prophesieth_ with her head uncovered, dishonoreth
her head." Here is a positive direction given to a _woman_, as to the
manner of her procedure when she either prayed or prophesied in public,
and not a prohibition of either act, as we might expect from the
rendering given by many divines.
Christ is the head of the man, because he is the first-born from the
dead--the Redeemer of mankind--and because "he was before all things,
and by him all things consist." Having made provision for the life of
the world, he is therefore entitled to the love, devotion, and fidelity
of man.
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