First Corinthians 11:2-16: On orderly worship and heirarchy

Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God:

Paul is simply interpreting and applying Genesis 2 to the current issues that the Corinthian church faces. The specific issue here is one of appropriate worship and prayer. Paul believes there is a created order in Genesis 2 that we should follow when approaching God. God is over all, and Christ is directly over God's creation (not in Genesis 2, but accepted by Paul as understood by Genesis 2), and that man was intended to be over woman in the created order of things. His point is that God is to be exalted in an appropriate manner, and that all of us must go through Jesus to worship.

Where applicable, in Paul's mind, the woman also must go through the husband or authority figure because this is the created order of things. He reasons that the man was made directly by God’s breath, and thus man directly relates to God. He then reasons that the woman was made from and for man, as a helper and complementary portion. In Paul's mind, the first to be created is the one who exercises authority (This is rabbinic logic). Yes, Paul is from a male-dominated society, and his perspective reflects that. However, we cannot simply dismiss it because it does not fit our egalitarian perspective. Does it mean that a woman is less than a man? No. It means, though, that there are different ways to relate to God, and that the woman and man are created uniquely. Is it necessary for a woman to have a husband so that she may communicate with God? No. However, God’s original intent was to communicate in an orderly fashion with his creation, and Genesis 2, according to Paul, reveals that order to be God, Christ, man, woman.

It would be easier to explain this line of reasoning away if Paul had not appealed to Genesis. Instead, he focuses on scripture, and thus we must deal with the fact there is a created order, an ideal, that many of us find difficult to live up to. When we do not follow the ideal, we open ourselves up to chaos in worship and family. Apparently Paul feels the need to go back to the very order of creation because the Corinthians had no order in their worship, and the women in the congregation were a big part of the problem. Can I reason, then, that Paul would not expect such restrictions if a church was living in an orderly way that reflected God’s creative purposes? We cannot have utopia, but we also should not endure chaos when it is on our power to control it. So, Paul’s strict words to men and women are an attempt to bring order to a chaotic worship experience.

I think that his words also apply to the specific circumstances at Corinth and apply to churches today that struggle with chaotic worship circumstances. If a church can have real, authentic worship within an egalitarian framework, I don’t think that Paul would mind. His issue is reverence before God Almighty. It was so bad in Corinth he appealed to the ultimate Old Testament authority: creation. You can’t trump creation when you are arguing from the Old Testament—unless you bring up New Creation.