of women in worship because he has heard about problems, because the Corinthians have written to him asking for advice, or because there is confusion in Paul’s teaching on these matters? In places like this where all we have is Paul’s writing and no quotation from the Corinthians or direct interaction with things they may have said, all interpreters have to remain judiciously agnostic. The problem of “mirror reading,” as it has been called, is always present. There is no reason why a careful reconstruction