Hard Texts in I Corinthians

The following is one of series of posts that are taken from email responses I have given to one of our members who is wrestling with various questions about Jesus, the Bible and faith. This question deals with a couple of "hard texts" from I Corinthians.

Re: Speaking in Tongues

Speaking in tongues is the ability, given by the Holy Spirit, to speak a language that one has never studied, for the purpose of communicating the gospel, especially in cross-cultural settings. The reason we don’t see this occurring in our culture is because we simply don’t have the need for it that other culture’s do. However, this still occurs, especially in missionary contexts, to this day.

Re: Women being Silent and Head Coverings

What Paul is arguing for in these verses is for women to behave in culturally appropriate ways that demonstrate the universal and timeless value of male headship. We believe that God has called men to provide leadership in the home and in the church and has called women to affirm and submit to the leadership of worthy men. Paul is encouraging the women of Corinth to live out these universal values in the culturally appropriate ways of their society (i.e. silence and head coverings). In our culture these are no longer appropriate expressions of that value. But modest dress and a humble disposition to male leadership are modern expressions of the universal and timeless value of male headship.