(meanwhile...........back to the topic)
One thought I have is that some of the confusion concerning the Apostle Paul and his writings/teachings may well arise from the fact that he wrote in two specific styles.
1) Thus sayeth the Lord........when writing in this style, Paul was stating that there was no room for debate whatsoever, it was thus sayeth the Lord, and that was how was to be.
2) It would be better that/I would rather that.......when writing in this style, Paul was giving advice on how those new believer's he was writing to could/should live in order to have a more rewarding and less troubled life in Christ. He was not writing these as "thus sayeth the Lord," in other words, these writings were not commandments from God, rather they were inspired "advice."
If believers would approach the reading of Paul's Epistles with this in mind, I think there would be far fewer misunderstandings of what he was saying, and how it was to be taken.
One simple example of "I would rather that...." was when Paul wrote about marriage......Everyone should know that Paul started off saying that he would rather that men and women did not get married........This sounds as if he is teaching against what Jesus taught [if we take it as thus sayeth the Lord], but it really isn't. What Paul was saying is that if a new believer dedicated himself/herself to the service of God, and He alone, there would be far fewer earthly problems arise to cause him strife in his earthy life......Goodness, all we have to do is consider the door we open up when we marry, and while we marry one woman/man, we get far more! In-laws! For while it may not suppose to be true, the reality is that we not only marry the woman/man, we marry their family as well, and all the baggage that comes with them. And this can and usually is/proves to be a distraction from our dedicating our lives to serving God.........Children come into play as well.........WHILE I THANK GOD FOR MY DAUGHTER AND GRANDSON, I also am aware that at times my concentrating on their earthly needs was a true distraction.........no, I am not perfect......I would think others here could identify with this.
So, trying to keep this short, so that it will actually be read........We must, when reading Paul's Epistles, identify when he was writing in what style to assure that we understand the difference between "thus sayeth the Lord," and "I would rather that...."
God bless.