Theophan the Recluse Fan

Not the real Theophan but a recluse
Orthodox Christian neophyte ☦️
MA Theology, MDiv
Ecumenically exclusivist
The greatest struggle is the struggle against self

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

Principles for Orthodox apologetics.

1 - Before anything, revere God in your heart. This involves prayer, attending services, and seeking God with all your heart. This is only found on your knees in prayer.

2 - Be prepared.

For Protestants this "preparation" centers around knowing the Bible very well. If you are going to debate a Sola Scriptura person you need to be prepared to answer them on their terms - from Scripture, not tradition. And Scripture supports Orthodoxy because it came out of the Church.

But the Bible also tells us that we are not to prepare a defense in advance.

Luk 21:14-15 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

This means we are to be guided by the Spirit.

3 - When apologetics is done right, it's done with ""gentleness and respect". Pride and arrogance are the downfall for all of us.

Talking over the other person is one evidence you are not acting with respect. The other person is allowed to be rude. The Orthodox Christian is not. They are allowed to be arrogant. The Orthodox Christian is not.

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

Following the patristic tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Theophylact explains that the two passages are talking about entirely different types of speech and situations:

• Prophecy as a Divine Exception: In Chapter 11, when a woman prophesies, she is acting under the direct movement and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In that specific moment, it is the Spirit speaking through her, which is permitted provided she maintains order and proper decorum (symbolized by the head covering).

• Ordinary and Unseasonable Speech: In Chapter 14, Paul is dealing with practical order and the correction of noise and disruption during worship. Theophylact notes that women in the Corinthian church were initiating casual conversations, asking unseasonable questions, or attempting to teach or chat during the service. It is this type of autonomous, disruptive speech—or speaking out of turn—that the Apostle forbids.

• The Mandate to Learn at Home: This distinction is reinforced by the very next verse (1 Cor 14:35), which instructs: "And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home." Theophylact emphasizes that the church assembly is a place for attentive listening and receiving instruction, not a classroom for basic inquiries or casual debate.

Ultimately, in Theophylact's Commentary, the prohibition is not an absolute denial of a woman’s spiritual gifts. Rather, it is a localized restriction targeting a lack of discipline and a lack of subjection to the liturgical order. It draws a line between a person being moved exceptionally by God to speak, versus a person speaking on their own authority out of turn.

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

John Chrysostom (late 4th century) places the command in the larger context of order: after regulating tongues and prophecy so no one speaks out of turn, Paul turns to “the disorder which arose from the women, cutting off their unseasonable boldness of speech.”

Even those with gifts may not speak inconsiderately; still less may women “prate idly and to no purpose.” They are not to speak at random or even ask questions in the assembly - “let them ask their own husbands at home” - because “the woman is in some sort a weaker being and easily carried away and light minded.”

He grounds the subjection in Genesis 3:16 and notes that the practice was the same “in all the churches of the saints” (Homily 37 on 1 Corinthians).

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@SatinaLamore @joshxhowie Weak, Josh.

Have some self-respect.

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@smolenskksenia I get to choose for my PA Governor between Josh Shapiro who volunteered for the IDF when he was in college and a candidate who took over $50 million dollars of PA taxpayer money to buy Israeli junk bonds during the war on Gaza.

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@smolenskksenia I get to choose for my PA Governor between Josh Shapiro who volunteered for the IDF when he was in college and a candidate who took over $50 million dollars of PA taxpayer money to buy Israeli junk bonds during the war on Gaza.

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@KingOffX_

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@onedrunkpirate

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@lastkafir

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@DeeWaynee94

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@buckthebigguy77 Not a buried manuscript.

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@Shawn_Farash

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@MarkMeckler @hollis11572 Is Netanyahu reading the Bible correctly?

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@MarkMeckler The lesser of two evils is still evil.

Don't vote for evil.

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@thatthingido2 @DailyMail

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@packingpatriot_ Always was

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@ScottRoberts

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@AnonWeaponry3 scholars change views and occasionally go in the right direction

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@DrGladd

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@gehrig38 @DailyMail

[Theophan the Recluse Fan @LowStudies]

@eruphim @OrdotsarIC In the Russian Primary Chronicle, Vladimir's emissaries described Western (German) Christian services as lacking glory while praising Constantinople's liturgy as heavenly in splendor and beauty, leading to the choice of Orthodoxy.