On Covering the Head in Worship: 1 Cor 11:2-16, pt 18

“Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.”

There are (at least) two questions that often emerge in reading this portion of the passage that I’d like to address in this and the following blog post. They are: 1) Is this passage, in addition to giving instructions about headship and head covering, also teaching against short hair lengths in women, and long hair lengths in men? and, 2) Based on verse 15, is long hair an adequate head covering for women in a worship setting?

Let’s address the first one now.

Is this passage, in addition to giving instructions about headship and head covering, also teaching against short hair lengths in women, and long hair lengths in men?

 

I’ll start by saying that I think it’s possible that Paul is saying something authoritative about hair lengths in Christian men and women. Would that be strange to me? Yes. Would I have lots of questions about it? Yes. Would I be tempted to feel a little embarrassed to explain such a teaching to non-believers at times? Absolutely. However, none of these would be good reason for me to ignore or “write off” this part of (what I ought to see as) inspired Scripture. (By the way, to those who respond to a passage like this one we’ve been discussing with: “But Paul sometimes wrote things that he qualified as his own thoughts, rather than God’s,”–I say, “Yes, he certainly knew the difference between the two! And if he was writing from his own cultural, limited understanding here in 1 Corinthians 11, he would certainly have been able to warn us of that.)

Though I think it’s possible that Paul was saying something authoritative about hair length, I do not think it is likely.

Here’s why:

1. This passage is addressing a practice only meant within a specific and limited context–a worship setting; when “praying or prophesying”. It does not forbid men from ever wearing a hat, nor does it command women to always have their head covered at all times. It is setting-specific. Hair length, on the other hand, is not something that is setting-specific. For Paul to teach a practice that is meant in specific settings, and then to command something which is not situation-specific (like how long my hair is) would at least seem nonsensical, and perhaps even undermine a practice which is meant to express something in a particular setting only.
2. Paul, in his reasoning, uses hair length as an illustration and support for his main point; it is clearly not itself his main point. Paul has been teaching about a practice that is really an expression of a principle–“the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is man, the head of Christ is God”. Headship and submission are at issue here, and the practice of head covering (or otherwise) in worship is a visible expression of contentment with God’s designed order, as it relates to male and female–one of the most basic distinctions given us by God. After having given a couple of arguments (from Creation, “because of the angels”) Paul then seems to want to appeal to something his brethren in Corinth can all observe themselves: what has generally, almost universally, been one of the most obvious distinctions between male and female since the beginning of time–hair length. He points out that though long hair is glorious and beautiful for a woman, it is not for a man. What is graceful on a woman is disgraceful on a man (and the other way around). Men ought to be, and look like, men; women ought to be, and look like, women.

Let’s continue this in the next post…I have some grocery shopping to do before having friends over tonight!