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Lv 4

Christians.....?

1 corinthians 11:6.

"For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head"

Please explain.

Now the closest bunch of Christians that I have seen cover their hair are those Catholic Nuns while in Italy.

What about the rest of you Christian women.

Please No Spam.

I love reading but it is a late night on a Friday.

10 Answers

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  • 6 years ago

    Most Christian's don;t follow the Bible at all. When I was growing up, it had been whittled away that there was really only a few cardinal no-no laws about sexuality. Now they're starting to get a lot more lax about it...even the Pope says 'Who am I to judge?'

    To me (atheist), the most hypocritical are the conservative Christians...whether they are Catholic or Protestant. Of course, the Bible is contradictory...especially the OT v NT, but if a person is going to call themselves a Christian (meaning Christ-like), then the should bother to try. And conservatives certainly do not.

  • 6 years ago

    Actually, quite a lot of religious denominations require, or at least encourage, women to cover their heads, if only by wearing a hat. When my mother decided not to wear a hat to church (she was a Catholic) she felt very daring. I think that must have been in the 1950s.

  • 6 years ago

    The hair of the woman is considered glory. Woman is the glory of man. She was made from man, for man. Man is the glory of God. therefore, when a woman enters the holy places, she is to cover her glory in honor & submission to God & man. Again, this was the doctrine or practices of the older generations. They are no longer remembered by our youths because it is not taught by the parents as a show of respect.

  • 6 years ago

    That was the fashion of the day, sort to speak. Only prostitutes had unbound, uncovered hair. Nowadays it is not required of women, and women in general hold a most more equal status in churches than men. Paul was a notorious hater of women, most biblical scholars agree with that. that is why many of his exhortations regarding women in churches are no longer followed.

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  • Lynn
    Lv 7
    6 years ago

    I'm shorn. Truthfully, my hair isn't much to look at, I comb it once in a while and cut it with a Flowbee. It's not my glory. And I'm fine with the authority over my life. If I could go to church, hubby is with me.

    (The verse is out of context. The idea is that we're not supposed to upstage men or God.)

  • ?
    Lv 6
    6 years ago

    Who's head and hair are we talking about? What "right" do we have judge the hair styles of others? Christians who think otherwise are self indulgent nerds!

  • 6 years ago

    the hair on a womans head is a covering.

  • Anonymous
    6 years ago

    I think Amish women cover their heads as well.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    6 years ago

    All Christian women had worn veils over their heads in showing their obedience to God, the veil representing God's authority over them. In fact the 1917 Code of Cannon Law it was mandatory for women to cover their heads while within a Roman Catholic Church. But of course because of feminist civil rights movement and Protestantism which deemed wearing veils as being an outdated tradition and even accused of being sexist placed pressure upon the Catholic Church to revise the 1917 Code of Canon Law in which this mandate for women having to keep their heads covered while within a Roman Catholic Church was removed from the 1983 Code of Canon Law. In matters of countries which women wearing veils is part of the culture they still wear them and there is nothing which prohibits women from wearing veils within churches. In fact the first time a girl wears a veil is when they receive their first communion remnant proof that it had always been a Christians tradition.

    1 Corinthians 11:3-16

    But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and a husband the head of his wife, and God the head of Christ. Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered brings shame upon his head. But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame upon her head, for it is one and the same thing as if she had had her head shaved. For if a woman does not have her head veiled, she may as well have her hair cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should wear a veil.

    A man, on the other hand, should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; nor was man created for woman, but woman for man; for this reason a woman should have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. Woman is not independent of man or man of woman in the Lord. For just as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; but all things are from God.

    Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears his hair long it is a disgrace to him, whereas if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because long hair has been given [her] for a covering? But if anyone is inclined to be argumentative, we do not have such a custom, nor do the churches of God.

  • 6 years ago

    1 Corinthians 11:3-16 addresses the issue of women and head coverings. The context of the entire passage of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 is submission to the God-given order and "chain of command." A "covering" on a woman's head is used as an illustration of the order, headship, and the authority of God. The key verse of this passage is 1 Corinthians 11:3 "But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." The implications of this verse are found in the rest of the passage. The order is: God the Father, God the Son, the man or husband, and the woman or wife. The veil or covering on the head of a believing Corinthian wife showed that she was under the authority of her husband, and therefore under submission to God.

    Within this passage is also verse 10: "For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels." Why is that important to angels? The relationship of God with men is something that angels watch and learn from (1 Peter 1:12). Therefore, a woman's submission to God's delegated authority over her is an example to angels. The holy angels, who are in perfect and total submission to God, expect that we, as followers of Christ, be the same.

    This covering not only means a cloth but also can refer to a woman's hair length. How can we say that? We must take this verse in the context or the setting in which it is presented. "Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering" (1 Corinthians 11:14-15). Therefore, in the context of this passage, a woman who is wearing her hair longer marks herself out distinctively as a woman and not a man. The Apostle Paul is saying here that in the Corinthian culture, when a wife's hair was longer than her husband's, it showed her submission to his headship. The roles of the male and female are designed by God to portray a profound spiritual lesson, that is of submission to the will and the order of God.

    But why is hair an issue in this passage? The apostle Paul is addressing an issue related to the Corinthian culture that was being allowed to disrupt the church. For a woman to have a shaved head was a disgrace (and, in Jewish thinking, a sign of mourning, Deuteronomy 21:12). Her hair was her “glory” (1 Corinthians 11:15). In the Corinthian culture, women normally wore a head covering as a symbol of their submission to their husbands. Paul affirms the rightness of following that cultural mandate—to dispense with the head coverings on women would send the entirely wrong signal to the culture at large. In fact, Paul says that, if a Christian woman refuses her head covering, she might as well shave her hair off, too (verse 6). A woman who refused to wear a covering in that culture was basically saying, “I refuse to submit to God’s order.” Therefore, the apostle Paul is teaching the Corinthians that hair length or the wearing of a “covering” by the woman was an outward indication of a heart attitude of submission to God and to His established authority.

    God's order is that the husband is the head of the wife as God is the head of Christ, but there is no inequality or inferiority implied. God and Christ are equal and united, just as the husband and the wife are one. This is not a passage that teaches the woman is inferior to man or that she should be submissive to every man. It is teaching God's order and spiritual headship in the marriage relationship. In the Corinthian culture, a woman who covered her head during worship or when she was in public displayed her submission to authority.

    In today's culture, we no longer view a woman's wearing of a head covering as a sign of submission. In most modern societies, scarves and hats are fashion accessories. A woman has the choice to wear a head covering if she views it as a sign of her submission to the authority of her husband. However, it is a personal choice and not something that should be used to judge spirituality. The real issue here is the heart attitude of obedience to God's authority and submission to His established order “as to the LORD” (Ephesians 5:22). God is far more concerned with an attitude of submission than an outward display of submission via a head covering. First Timothy 2:9-10, "I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God."

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