Church and Culture? : exploring the reception of women's ministries in the Reformed Church in Zambia in view of 1 Corinthians 14:26-40

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Reformed Church in Zambia (RCZ) was established in 1899 through the missionary work of the Dutch Reformed Church of the Orange Free State in South Africa. After its establishment, the church maintained its ministries through the leadership of male deacons, elders and ministers/reverends who served in all the (official) ministries of the church. This was mainly because of how the Bible was understood and interpreted (literally). In the process, the socio-cultural context of the Bible was mostly disregarded. One example of such a one-sided history of interpretation in the RCZ is that of 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, according to which women were not allowed to take up leadership roles in the church. However, things changed when the Synod of the RCZ took a decision (during its 1989, 1998 and 2000 synod meetings) to allow women into all the ministries of the church – as deaconesses, elders and reverends. This went along with serious challenges to understanding the Bible in new ways. A major implication was that biblical texts were now to be read from different perspectives, which included taking into account the socio-cultural world behind these texts. This inevitably led to questions regarding the authority of the Bible. This research explores the RCZ general membership's reception of the Synod's decision, in view of the members' understanding of 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. Through a multidimensional analysis of the text, the study argues that the ban on women speaking in church in 14:34 has to be understood primarily within the Greco-Roman socio-cultural and political contexts as well as the value systems of the first-century Mediterranean world. It concludes by saying that Paul was addressing a context-specific issue in the Corinthian faith community which prevailed at the time, and that it was not meant to serve as a general ban on all subsequent generations of women in every time and place. The challenge of interpreting the Bible (specifically with regard to women's leadership in the RCZ) is, however, not only about reading the Bible in context, but also about accounting for the contexts within which the Bible has been and is still being received. In the case of the RCZ, the challenge concerns how (patriarchal) indigenous cultural traditions and values have been upheld for a long time, thereby oppressing and marginalising women as baptised members of the church, created equally and affirmed by God. While the RCZ is challenged to appreciate these traditions and values, it is called to bring its entire life, including its culture, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In this way, cultural traditions and values are profoundly challenged to be liberated, healed and transformed by Christ, and should not be allowed to dictate or dominate the ethos of a Christian community. In the end, the study challenges the RCZ to account for, and take responsibility for, their interpretation of this text when appropriating it in today's context. In the final analysis, it seems that 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 may be seen as a text of terror unless one applies a multidimensional exegetical reading to it and identifies the aspects that are socio-culturally defined. Once these aspects have been identified, this text can be read as a text that radically calls Christian believers, men and women, to the unity of the body of Christ while recognising that they are equally gifted and empowered to carry out all the ministries of the church – for the purpose of its edification, strengthening and growth as the ekklēsia of God in the world.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University