please read scripture for the context it was written.
as much as some churches are following to the word, the passage quoted, scripture were written for a specific audience in a specific era. Sometimes because of cultural changes, the requirement for these verses may not be practical.
there are obvious lessons to be learned from such scripture, such lessons may not be to blindly follow whatever that is written.
The context of 1 Timothy should be taken as a senior person (Paul) instructing his young protege on how to be a pastor....
If we are to take all scripture in an extreme literal sense, you will still be wearing linen.
I am not familliar with your churches.
Are women equal to your priests or are they prohibited.
Regards
DL
I do not agree with the statement that it is "chauvinistic", but neither do I agree with Chin Eng's comment that the quote passage should be deemed obsolete.
If you read the lines quoted, they make no reference to any cultural standings, but rather are stated matter-of-factly.
Also, note that Genesis 3:16-19 states:
Then the LORD said to the woman, "You will suffer terribly when you give birth. But you will still desire your husband, and he will rule over you." The LORD said to the man, "You listened to your wife and ate fruit from that tree. And so, the ground will be under a curse because of what you did. As long as you live, you will have to struggle to grow enough food. Your food will be plants, but the ground will produce thorns and thistles. You will have to sweat to earn a living; you were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil." (Gen 3:16-19)
Man may have biases due to their own backgrounds, experiences, knowledge and view of things, but God does not. From the beginning, after the original sin was committed, God has already proclaimed that man and woman shall encounter different difficulties in life, and have different way of feeling things. Not only that, God had defined the roles of both genders.
Notice that for the woman, God focused on the domestic side of things, and for the man, the external side of things. It is thus apparent that since the fall of Man, the role of woman is within the home and man's is with the outside. Teaching and leadership outside of the home is thus the role of the man, which is why the woman should not interfere, but at home, the woman makes the decision. Neither one is more important, or higher in stature than the other. It is simply different roles. Our bodies are built differently, our natures, our emotions, our ways of expressing what we feel or think. It's all perfectly designed in God's purpose for the individual genders.
Don't bother about it if you are not a christian.
Oh yeah, just to clarify my above statements, when I refer to 'leadership' outside of the home, I mainly refer to church leadership. Woman are free to hold leadership positions in other areas of work, such as being managers and directors, of course.
So to answer some of your original questions, since it refers only in a church-teaching aspect, no, women cannot be relegated to the rear seats in a bus, etc.
In fact, Jesus taught his disciples to always choose the worse seats for themselves, and leave the best seats for others.