Women in the Church

Here's something written by a friend of mine that I found very thought-provoking.

Imagine if Paul said (which he does) “there is now no Greek nor Jew, for you are all one in Christ” but then in another book he says only Jews may be teachers and preachers and sayers of prayers, and only Jews may become elders/deacons, but Greeks may teach and pray if they teach and pray in front of other Greeks only and not in front of Jews. It is shameful for a Greek to speak in church. That is blatantly obviously not equality then, is it?

and

We have also watered down the “anti-woman” passages to make them more palatable. So instead of women really keeping quiet in church, we allow them to make a comment or two so long as it is in the Bible study and not the main Worship service and so long as it does not contradict what the preacher says. IF it really is shameful for a woman to speak in church, then why are we allowing it at all?