Christians, please give me your views on...?

Question

womens head coverings in the church...i was bought up in the brethren who do have women wear head coverings and don't talk during the meetings. Now I'm at New Frontiers church and wear jeans and grown a lot more spiritually :) But I've recently felt quite strongly convicted about headcoverings...are we just interpreting the bible to suit our needs or should we take things that are in black and white (i.e. corinthians) literally?

Answer 1

As I recall from the days when I was being brainwashed, the bible has a tendency to contradict itself, and you can infer anything you want if you read it 'the right way'.

Covering your head? Only if there's a leak in the ceiling. Otherwise, I was always taught that it's rude to wear a hat indoors.

Answer 2

Do you remember the vision Peter had when the sheet came down from heaven full of unclean foods and the voice told him to eat? That was a lesson to all of us about legalism.

When I am convicted about something that may be interpreted as legalism, I ask myself, "What does this have to do with my salvation? Will this have an effect on others that I am a witness to?" For example, I don't drink. I grew up in a denomination (Southern Baptist) that teaches it is a sin to consume alcohol. When I fell away from the church, the first thing I did was get drunk. Now I am no longer a back slider, . but I don't think it is a sin to drink alcohol. The reason I don't drink is that I don't want to be a bad example to someone who is weaker in their faith and who might have a problem with alcohol.

Paul said that to Christians, all things are permissible, but not all things are good.

If you really feel a strong need to wear a head covering, do it. But I don't think it has anything to do with your salvation. And you should wear it in a church where it is an acceptable custom. If you wear it where you now attend, people may judge you or think you are being full of pride in your spirituality.

Answer 3

I think we have completely misinterpreted 1Cor11 because it is based a Jewish cultural tradition no-one has noticed. When a Jewish man prays he wears a phylactery on his head. This is a small box with some folded up quotations from the bible inside. God's holy name is included in these quotations. For this reason, Jesus taught that it is wrong to swear by your head, (see Mt5v36). He said this because of the NAME of God located there and the Jews were using this device to make oaths they later intended to break. In just the same way, when a woman marries she takes the NAME of her husband, so the wife is afterward known by her husbands surname. In just the same way, when someone follows Jesus they bare his NAME in the world and Jesus bore the NAME and identity of God - two points made in 1Cor11v3 and Gal5v23.

Now, coming to what Paul taught in 1Cor11. This church was a Greek church. In the Greek culture, women were often rich and very powerful people, used to having things their own way. Paul was interpreting and applying a Jewish tradition to the Corinthian church in an attempt to balance things a bit better between the sexes. The principle of mutual submissiveness and humility between Christ's followers is part of the gospel. No believer has any God-given right to impose their will on another.

Answer 4

Nope, they are unnecessary. That passage in Corinthians clearly states that a woman's hair is her covering. If your hair is long (and I'm pretty sure the original word used there implies "long enough to flip" so we're talking a good 4 or 5 inches at least), that is your covering! And Paul even says in one verse that this wasn't just a cultural custom (gee, it's almost like God knew when He inspired Paul to write that, one day, people would discount the Bible as being all about ancient customs that don't apply anymore!). It was and is something that God expects of His daughters. It's so easy to follow this one, too, because most women have long (or long-ish) hair anyways. Anyways, study it out on your own! My mom went through this struggle recently and became quite confused over the whole issue. In the end she realized that she was taking some things out of context, and inferring other things that weren't outright stated in the Bible. She doesn't cover her head with a veil or hat. She has lovely curly long hair instead.

I know what you mean about interpreting to suit our needs though....when I thought that maybe she was right and we should wear veils I panicked because I SO don't want to wear a veil! LOL I really like my hair, it's one of my only features I like, and I didn't like the thought of covering it and standing out in public. I think that it is wise of us to take such black and white things (like the Corinthians passage) literally. If it says long hair is our covering...what else could it possibly mean?

Answer 5

Yes, we are supposed to take the laws literally. However, context is equally important, if not more so.

I would suggest you keep reading and prayerfully studying 1 Corinthians 11 before you come to any conclusions. The problem with legalism in the churches is that they take half a passage and build their doctrine around that. You can't DO that with the Bible!

For example, the idea that women aren't allowed to teach (1 Timothy 1:21). The key word in that passage is that women are not allowed to USURP authority (KJV). In other words, if a church has a man as a preacher/pastor/priest, a woman is not allowed to rule over him. That whole passage is about keeping order in the churches, which in those days was one of the most important issues facing the burgeoning Christian church.

This is apparent from other passages as well. Like the "women should keep silent in the church" passage (1 Corinthians 14). It was all about orderly worship. It had nothing to do with a misogynist attitude as some have implied.

Paul was actually quite the feminist for his time:
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.
(1 Corinthians 7:3,4)

Answer 6

I do believe in women covering their heads when ever they are praying aloud, or prophesying, because this is what the Bible says. I don't believe that women should not speak during services, because that simply doesnt make sense. If God calls a woman to be an apostle, an evangelist, a prophet, a pastor or a teacher, then how could she and not speak in a church setting? Ask God to give you direction on whether or not you should cover your head. Religious conviction and Holy Spirit conviction are often not the same thing. Interpretation comes from the Spirit of God, just ask Him and He will show you exactly what He means. Be encouraged and keep your hand in His. :o)

Answer 7

To understand the Bible correctly, rules of that society must be taken into account. In the Middle East, that is the custom. That does not necessarily mean that it is today.

To not delve into controversial issues which really do not relate to the text at hand, I believe Paul's viewpoint was that there should be order in church, and respect for God.

First of all, there were Corinthian women leaders (see 1 Corinthians 16). In the temple, men sat in front, and women in back. Women are told not to ask questions in church -- this would be because they'd be yelling across the temple to their husband while the person in front tried to preach. It is a throwback to order in the church.

The Corinthians were having "orgies" for communion. Paul reminded them that this is a respectful remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice, not a time to "eat, drink and be merry."

All of this is the context of 1 Corinthians 11. What Paul is saying, is "Respect God." The headcoverings were the way the Middle East women showed respect to one greater than themselves -- not necessarily MEN, but GOD. There are other contexts elsewhere, but that is the context of this passage.

SO, when it comes to the context, the thing you need to decide, in my opinion, is how does THIS generation -- and you in particular -- wish to show your respect to God?

Answer 8

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."

Recommended Resource: Women and Men In Ministry: A Complementary Perspective by Saucy & TenElshof.

Answer 9

Wow! God was really leading me toward your question and now I know why.

I'm dealing with the same thing right now. Should we take 1 Corinthians 11 literally or just as a sign or symbol. I actually have found some sermons on this and I encourage you to listen to them... I'm actually feeling that in worship it is a command.

here is just one sermon series on the subject by Pastor John Greer (Ballymena Free Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland)...
part 1: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=5210175219
part 2: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12270551529
part 3: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=617011896
part 4: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12270517559

this is a sort-of "written form" on a sermon series by Pastor Brian Schwertley (Westminster Presbyterian Church, WPCUS): http://www.entrewave.com/view/reformedonline/Headcoverings%20in%20Public%20Worship2.htm


I would love to stay in contact with you to see what you think about these... my email is [e-mail]

In Christ,
Juli

Answer 10

Ask yourself this - does covering your head bring you closer to God or make you a better christian/muslim? Of course not!

Why are women forbidden to contribute to religious meetings? Muslim women are told to wear the burkha but the men can strut their stuff in designer wear and expensive aftershave.

Some interpretations - or MISinterpretations are over trivial things!!

Did God really mean that you must hate your mother and father before you can enter the kingdom of God?? No!

Church or the Mosque isn';t about what you wear!

Answer 11

You need to look at the Jewish cultural setting in which Paul's letter to the church in Corinth was written and who it was originally written to.

We do not live in that kind of culture, so that particular ruling would not apply to us today.

In Acts, it is pointed out that if gentiles would abstain from eating blood, or eating meat from animals that were strangled, (and several other things), they don't need to be circumcised or follow the Jewish Law in order to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

There are some things that are for all people in all times, but there are other things that are very specific. For instance, do we go to Jerusalem three times during the year in order to present our sacrifices to the high priest? That IS part of the Jewish Law, and when Messiah Jesus returns and sets up His earthly kingdom for 1,000 years, they WILL be required to keep that part of the Law, but without a temple, and without a high priest, even the Jews realize that they can't keep that part of the Law.

Does my example make any sense? Or am I just muddying up the waters?