Sárospataki Füzetek 19. (2015)

2015 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Enghy Sándor: Ézsaiás és Jeruzsálem. Jeruzsálem jelene és jövője az Úr szava és az Úr napja tükrében (Ézs 2-4)

van Houwelingen, Rob

ophers of his time, like Seneca and Musonius Rufus, also advocated. The stipulation that women ought to be silent in church was consistent with the accepted and prevailing social situation of his time (aside from a libertarian women’s movement coming from Rome). In our time, this command runs counter to the accepted social siuation.

c. A great difference between the culture in New Testament times and ours is that then people thought collectively, while today we are much more inclined towards individualism. People lived more strongly as part of one single community, while today we participate in a range of social contexts. Today, we much more easily make our own decisions in all sorts of situations, and we are much less likely to be led by established moral tradition.

d. Mediterranean culture in the time of the New Testament (and to a certain extent still today) was stamped by the polarity of honour and disgrace or shame, in which the distinction between men and women played a key role. In our culture, equality comes first (compare Gal. 3:28). Hence: whoever behaved in a ‘disorderly’ manner, especially in the relationship between men and women, brought disgrace upon the whole community. The same thing was true within the church, the familia of God.

e. Since the separation of church and state, the church has been pushed aside, out of the public domain. Paul, with his prescriptions in the first century AD, was still able to make links with a non-Christian environment. In the 21st century however, with these same prescriptions we create or strengthen an isolation from society that might unnecessarily hinder the progress of the proclamation of the Gospel.

Paul appears to have a two-fold drive in motivating his prescriptions. On the one hand, he draws on the account of creation, explicitly referring to the history of Genesis 1-3. We should keep in mind that in doing so he aims to preserve the established order, both in the church and in society. On the other hand, he also uses practical arguments that play a more implicit role. He has regard for the internal structure of the church (peace and order) as well as its external, missionary influence (its public image, what is honourable/shameful).

We can therefore distinguish two kinds of motivations, and in the concrete application of Paul’s instructions in ever-changing contexts, it is important that we understand what drives him. Apparently, Paul was sufficiently flexible in his thinking (pastorally, rhetorically and theologically) that for him the various motivations were not mutually exclusive but supported and complemented each other.13 In our context as regards man-woman relationships, these motivations could easily become

13 Compare Spanje, T.E. van: Inconsistency in Paul? A Critique of the Work ofHeikki Räisänen, Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 1999.

66 Sárospataki Füzetek 19. évfolyam 2015-4