Question:
1 Corinthians 11:5 says: “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with [her] head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.”
I noticed that most Roman Catholic women cover their heads before kneeling to pray, and most Islamic women customarily have their heads covered at all times. Why do women of the Protestant denomination not cover heads when praying; why has this practice been abandoned? Thank you.
Tony
Bible Answer Team:
Tony, your question has stimulated a debate amongst the Bible Answer Team that has lasted for quite some time. Obviously, you have touched on an issue that required some intense research to come up with an answer that was neither “cultural,” or “fashionable” but one that accurately depicts what the author was attempting to accomplish. To do that we need to review some of the basic rules of proper interpretation lest we get caught up in subjective opinions or biased viewpoints as was apparent in some of our discussions to arrive at the root of what Paul was trying to accomplish. The first rule is to “Always let the author explain himself” and the second rule is to “Don’t take Scriptures out of context.” We can observe both rules by reading it in context, so let’s do that again:
1 Corinthians 11:1-22
1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
2 Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.
3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
4 Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.
5 But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.
6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head.
7 For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
8 For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man;
9 for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.
10 Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11 However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
12 For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.
13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him,
15 but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
16 But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.
17 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it.
19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.
20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,
21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk.
22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
Notice what the main theme is here in this passage? Don’t stay on the surface and say it is about the length of a woman’s hair or praying with the head covered or uncovered, it is deeper than that and it rings throughout the entire passage although the “examples” change. The theme here is authority. Who is the head of whom and why? The answer: Jesus is the head of the church and we are here to honor him and not focus on the traditions. To focus on the traditions would be to fall into the same trap the Pharisees did instead of “worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth” and then to make the traditions into unbreakable law for which they were condemned. Again, the answer can be found when we observe another rule of proper interpretation: Ask the “who, what, when, where, why and how” questions of a true journalist or sleuth. So let’s do just that.
To whom was this letter written? To the Corinthians. What ethnic group did they belong to? Jews? Arabic? Or Roman? Since Corinth was located in the country what is now known as Greece, they were not Jewish nor Arabic whose women’s traditions did pray with their heads covered. No, they were European, who were not accustomed to covering their heads. What traditions did Paul introduce to these Europeans? Obviously since his objective was to further the Church (which started out as completely Jewish (Acts 1-9) and to blend as many Gentiles into the one church that did not cause a division within the once completely Jewish Body of Christ. Remember Acts 15? The Jews made some major concessions to incorporate the Gentiles within their midst without completely upsetting their “bedrock traditions” by allowing them to be themselves with four major exceptions that would deeply offend any Jew and thus requesting them to refrain from those four things (read Acts 15 to see what they were).
How do these “traditions” (that they were glad to adopt) play into this theme of authority? Go back to verse 3.
3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
Paul is establishing a God-given structure for authority in nature to the Gentiles and these traditions (head covered, length of hair, etc.) were training tools to drive that point home. Notice the repeated emphasis on honoring and dishonoring our head? Contentiousness, division, lack of harmony are all issues that dishonors our Head – Christ. When you look at the bigger picture of the entire book of 1 Corinthians you will see chapter after chapter of issues that dishonor our Head that Paul is addressing for them to change or to correct. 1 Corinthians 11 is no different, we are focused on the authority of Christ and how we honor Him. Did you also catch the purpose of our meeting together? Holy Communion, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper are all terms of the very purpose of WHY we meet. It is the focal point of our meeting for as you might have seen in the previous chapter (10:15-17) it is a two directional joining of hearts, minds and thoughts which Paul is about to conclude that thought in the next few verses of chapter 11. When we “examine ourselves and so let us eat” we examine if we have anything that breaks that harmony between each other before we commune with the Blood of Christ. This honors our Head.
Do you see the deeper issue at hand than just whether a person prays with their head covered or uncovered? As to you question as to when the “protestant” woman abandoned that tradition, we are not sure that they ever adopted it in the first place. While it is true that hats were worn through different periods of time, they were more “fashion” oriented than religious oriented. The length of the hair has been more at forefront of discussion from chapter 11 because of the Authority issue than hats.