AGAIN a correspondent asks the oft-repeated question, What is the meaning of 1 Tim. 2:11, 12? Like other books, the Bible must be interpreted according to its evident meaning and in harmony with its fundamental doctrines. Local or individual passages must not be explained or understood as contradicting general principles. A notable feature of the gospel is the elevation of all mankind to an equal standing and to equal privileges. The Bible teaches equal accountability to God, of both male and female. That in which the religion of the Bible differs from all others is in making women equal in all respects to men, and certainly the great apostle would not teach anything contrary to this, the general tenor of the Scriptures. By referring to 1 Cor. 14:34, 35, we learn that there were special abuses in that church with which the apostle had to deal, and in his labor with the churches, Timothy would be likely to meet similar evils. This instruction given by the apostle was undoubtedly designed to prepare him for such emergencies. But when we come to consider how Paul regarded the relation of women to the church and the work of the gospel, we cannot think that he intended to teach that women should have nothing at all to say in the church or in the meetings. Indeed, other Scriptures show that the apostle himself recognizes the sexes as equal in their relation to God. He said, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3:28. And in Acts 16:13 we read: "On the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Again, in Phil. 4:3, the apostle, writing to his co-laborers, says, "I entreat thee also, to help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with my other fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life." Also, in 1 Cor. 11:5, we find this direction: "Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoreth her head; for that is even all one as if she were shaven." And in verse 12 we read, "Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither is the woman without the man in the Lord." Specifying that a woman should not pray or prophesy with her head uncovered, was a tacit admission that she might pray or prophesy with her head covered, and certainly these texts are sufficient to show that the apostle never intended to teach that a woman should not be permitted to speak in public assemblies. Other Scriptures might be introduced to show the important part women have had in the work of God to which they have been called by the providence and Spirit of God; but it is unnecessary to pursue the subject further. C. P. B.