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The History of Head Coverings – it’s useful but be careful
One of the things people ask about head covering is “What has the church has said down the centuries?” This is a valuable question, but it is also a tricky one to answer because so much can be lost when quoting them. You can see this in an excellent little book by David Phillips called, Headcovering Throughout Christian History. David Phillips brings together a whole host of quotes from history to show how consistently head covering has been practiced. It is a very helpful book for that purpose, but if you rely on his book to prove more specific points, you will find the quotes can actually be quite misleading. A…
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Head Covering in the Bible – An Overview
1 Corinthians 11:2-16 is where the Bible talks about head covering. The passage was written by a man named Paul. Paul was writing to the church in the city of Corinth during the first century AD/CE. This is it. 2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it…
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Why do we dislike head covering?
It’s said that the first step towards solving a problem is to admit we have one. We have one. We don’t like head covering. In fact, we dislike it so much, that we approach this passage of Scripture trying to find ways to avoid applying it. But if we are to give this passage a fair shake, we need to hear what Paul is saying here with a heart leaning toward obedience. So before we even get to the passage, let’s quickly turn an eye toward ourselves. Why do we dislike head covering? The reason we don’t like head covering is not just because it is not normal in our culture…
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How is head covering going today?
Head covering is a biblical tradition that has existed in the church since the beginning. For centuries it represented the different callings of Christian men and Christian women. That was the purpose of the tradition. And then, approximately 1950 years later, it went out of fashion. If you ask most people in churches today why it is no longer practiced, the vast majority will not really be able to tell you. “It was a cultural thing,” they’ll say, despite the fact that over almost 2000 years the church has existed in many different cultures and places and still kept the custom. The truth is, of course, it is a cultural…
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1 Corinthians 11:16 – The Churches of God.
If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice–nor do the churches of God. (1 Corinthians 11:16) After giving in-depth reasons for the tradition of covering and uncovering from verse 1 to verse 15, Paul ends with this sentence. There are two things to note. 1. The word “other”. The word “other” in the NIV, NLT, NASB, CSB, NET and many other translations is actually incorrect. The ESV, KJV, and NKJV translate the Greek word τοιαύτην correctly as “such”. That creates an apparent problem. When Paul says, “we have no such practice”, it appears that Paul is reneging on his 15-verse exposition of the head covering…
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1 Corinthians 11:13-15 – Natural Covering.
1 Corinthians 11:13-15 13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. **My apologies in advance: Usually Christian men preserve women’s modesty by “covering” references to womanly body parts, i.e. speaking indirectly. On this occasion, however, I will need to be a bit more direct, in places embarrassingly so.** Let’s see if I can make this short and sharp.…
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1 Corinthians 11:13 – Returning to the main point.
Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? (1 Corinthians 11:13) The main point: This verse supports the position that the head covering tradition is for church meetings. After the aside in 1 Corinthians 11:11-12, Paul restates the main point of the passage, i.e. a woman should wear a covering on her head when she prays. Yet, this time, Paul reduced the parameters of head covering. No longer is Paul talking about covering or uncovering when praying and prophesying, he now speaks only of praying. A synecdoche, you say? Of course. Paul is not now denying that women should cover (and…
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1 Corinthians 11:11-12 – We Rely on Each Other, Ah Ha.
And we rely on each other, ah-ha,From one human to another, ah-ha. Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb Sung by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (Lyrics approximate only). So, this is what Paul has said so far (paraphrased of course): Women should wear a head covering. Women should wear a head covering. Women should wear a head covering. Women should wear a head covering. And then we come to verses 11-12. In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. And the streamers and…
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1 Corinthians 11:10 – What does “because of the angels” mean?
“It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.”(1 Corinthians 11:10 NIV Bible) What’s that stuff about the angels? I’d like to suggest that head covering is a sign of the authority of man over woman to remind the church of God’s created purposes for man and woman in the face of spiritual attack from fallen angels. Here are my reasons: Paul rarely, if ever, drops ideas into his writing out of the blue. Instead, he moves from one idea to another, even if the particular meaning is not 100% clear (e.g. 1 Corinthians 15:29). Therefore, it seems likely…
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1 Corinthians 11:10 – What does “for this reason” mean?
1 Corinthians 11:10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her* head, because of the angels.[*The NIV2011 inserts “own” in this verse. I took it out.]There are three main questions people ask about verse 10: What did Paul mean by, “for this reason”? What did Paul mean by, “a woman ought to have authority over her head”? What did Paul mean by, “because of the angels”? Today I’m just looking at the first question: What did Paul mean by “For this reason”?10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her head, because of the angels. Is Paul talking about the…
