This document discusses passages from the New Testament epistles related to the role of women in the church and homosexual practices. It notes that letters are occasional and there may be cultural differences, and outlines a two-stage process of first understanding what the text meant to the original audience through exegesis, and then determining appropriate application. It cautions against proof-texting and emphasizes thinking about paragraphs rather than isolated verses. The document also examines areas where the New Testament attitude may vary, such as women in positions of authority evidenced elsewhere, and whether prohibitions against homosexual acts concern morality or specific practices.

1. Epistles (Letters)

2. Women should remain silent in the
churches. They are not allowed to speak,
but must be in submission, as the law
says. If they want to inquire about
something, they should ask their own
husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for
a woman to speak in the church.
1 Corinthians 14: 34-35

3. Two Difficulties…
1. Letters are occasional

4. Now for the matters you wrote about…
1 Corinthans 7: 1
Now about virgins: I have no command
from the Lord, but I give a judgment as
one who by the Lord’s mercy is
trustworthy…
1 Corinthans 7: 25

5. Two Difficulties…
1. Letters are occasional
2. Cultural difference

6. …every woman who prays or prophesies
with her head uncovered dishonors her
head - it is the same as having her head
shaved.
1 Corinthians 11: 5

9. …bring the cloak that I left with Carpus
at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the
parchments.
2 Timothy 4: 13
…all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God
Romans 3: 23

10. Women should remain silent in the
churches. They are not allowed to speak,
but must be in submission, as the law
says. If they want to inquire about
something, they should ask their own
husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for
a woman to speak in the church.
1 Corinthians 14: 34-35

11. When & how does it apply to us?
1. Notice our own attitude

12. …use a little wine because of your
stomach and your frequent illnesses.
1 Timothy 5: 23

13. When & how does it apply to us?
1. Notice our own attitude
2. Think paragraphs not verses

14. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of
peace—as in all the congregations of the
Lord’s people.
Women should remain silent in the
churches. They are not allowed to speak,
but must be in submission, as the law
says. If they want to inquire about
something, they should ask their own
husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for
a woman to speak in the church.
1 Corinthians 14: 34-35

15. When & how does it apply to us?
1. Notice our own attitude
2. Think paragraphs not verses
3. Do exegesis before application

16. Two-stage process:
1. What did text mean to the original
hearers/readers? (exegesis)
2. How does this meaning apply to us?

17. The basic rule:
‘The text cannot mean to us what it
could never have meant to the
original hearers’

18. For we know in part and we prophesy in
part, but when completeness comes,
what is in part disappears.
1 Corinthians 13: 9-10

19. When & how does it apply to us?
1. Notice our own attitude
2. Think paragraphs not verses
3. Do exegesis before application
4. What is clearly seen as moral?

20. When & how does it apply to us?
1. Notice our own attitude
2. Think paragraphs not verses
3. Do exegesis before application
4. What is clearly seen as moral?
5. Where does NT attitude vary?

21. Two examples
1. Women in authority in the church

22. A woman should learn in quietness and
full submission. I do not permit a woman
to teach or to assume authority over a
man; she must be quiet.
1 Timothy 2: 11-12

23. Two examples
1. Women in authority in the church
2. Homosexual practice

24. Because of this, God gave them over to
shameful lusts. Even their women
exchanged natural sexual relations for
unnatural ones. In the same way the men
also abandoned natural relations with
women and were inflamed with lust for one
another. Men committed shameful acts with
other men, and received in themselves the
due penalty for their error.
Romans 1: 26-27

25. Women in authority
1. Exegesis
2. Is NT consistent?

26. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they invited him to their home and
explained to him the way of God more
adequately.
Acts 18: 26

27. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a
deacon of the church in Cenchreae.
Romans 16: 1
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow
Jews who have been in prison with me.
They are outstanding among the
apostles, and they were in Christ before I
was.
Romans 16: 7

28. Homosexual practice
1. Exegesis
2. Matter of morality

29. Or do you not know that wrongdoers will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: Neither the sexually immoral
nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male
prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals
nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards
nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit
the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6: 9-10

30. Homosexual practice
1. Exegesis
2. Matter of morality
3. Is NT consistent?

31. Two examples
1. Women in authority in the church
2. Homosexual practice