Headcovering - Cultural Context

[pitbull]

III. CULTURAL CONTEXT

Is There Any Cultural Context That Needs To Be Understood?

There is the idea that this was a common practice of the Middle East, especially among the Islamic women. There is a major flaw in this theory. Julius Caesar refounded this formerly Greek city as Colonia laus Iulia Corinthiensis in 44 BC shortly before his assassination. Under the Romans it became the seat of government for Southern Greece or Achaia (Acts 18:12-16). It was noted for its wealth, and for the luxurious, immoral and vicious habits of the people. It had a large mixed population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews.

1st Corinthians was written from Ephesus (16:8) about the time of the Passover in the third year of the apostle's sojourn there (Acts 19:10; 20:31), and when he had formed the purpose to visit Macedonia and then return to Corinth (probably AD 57). The problem is that Islam, which is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, was established in the 7th century.

The second idea is that the temple prostitutes used to shave their heads and this was influencing the ladies of Corinth. The problem with this is that many of the temple prostitutes actually had long hair and/or veils. Many would wear veils over their faces even. So, even if they did have prostitutes with shaved heads, it was not due to the rules and regulations at the temple, but rather a cultural influence of the city on them.

Also remember that this was a Roman colony with a Hellenistic culture. There was a very big women’s liberation movement. This fell into many forms. For example, many of the Roman women were either cutting their hair short or shaving their heads. This was influencing some of the women at this congregation.

Just like you find many cultures and styles in New York or Los Angelos, the same was in Corinith and other Roman cities. Read 1 Timothy 2:9 – “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;”

Another common practice among the women was to do their hair in an elaborate fashion, especially to make them more attractive for men. This would draw attention to this part of their head rather than to their face or countenance. Hence, this became an issue of modest as well as gender distinction for the women at this congregation.
Also, we need to look at the terms used in 1 Timothy 2:9.
• Modest – Means limited, well arranged, of good behavior, restrained, and not lewd.
• Apparel – Means to put down, to lower, to put or keep down one who is roused or incensed, to repress, restrain, appease, quiet. This denotes a long [lowered] and flowing [dress-like] garment and is definitely not like breeches in any fashion. This also corresponds to Matthew 5:28 and 1 Corinthians 8:9-13.
Hence the head covering should cover all the head, except the face as well as concealing the hair, but should be long and flowing.

Hence, this is why Paul is addressing this congregation, especially the women, about this. Paul wanted them to be set apart from their pagan neighbors, just like the Jewish customs of the Old Testament.
* “After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.” [Leviticus 18:3]
* “When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” [Deuteronomy 12:29-32]
* “Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.” [2 Kings 17:13-15]
* “And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.” [Zephaniah 1:8]

Take into account also, that Paul said at the beginning of this passage a warning against the men covering their heads in verse 4 – “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.”

Some of the Jewish members of this predominately Gentile congregation were trying to get the non-Jewish members to practice wearing the Jewish tallit [for prayers] and/or kippah [for worship]. This was a practice that was started in memory of the veil that Moses wore. Paul is rebuking them for doing this, which concealed the representation of the glory of God.

So, the women at this congregation were being influenced by worldly styles of a Hellenistic society and the men were being influenced by Jewish members of the church. Both were guilty of extra-Biblical traditions or customs. Hence, Paul had to rebuke them and remind them:
16But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

Is There Any Evidence Of This Since Biblical Times?
* Various early “Church Fathers” mentioned head coverings as a common practice among believers.
Hermas (AD 150)
"A virgin meets me, adorned as if she were proceeding from the bridal chamber...her head was covered by a hood."
Clement of Alexandria (153-217 a.d.)
Clement also understands the words in 1 Corinthians 11:5 to refer to a veil of fabric and not to a woman's hair.
"And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled" [1 Corinthians 11:5 GLP].
"It has also been commanded that the head should be veiled and the face covered. For it is a wicked thing for beauty to be a snare to men.
Tertullian (AD 198)
"…Why do you uncover before God what you cover before men? Will you be more modest in public than in Church? Be veiled virgin."
"How severe a chastisement will they likewise deserve, who during the psalms—and at every mention of God—remain uncovered."
Hippolytus (170-236 a.d.)
To Hippolytus, a church father from Rome, is wrongly ascribed the following canon for worship (though perhaps wrongly ascribed to Hippolytus, it appears to represent the practice of the church of that time in worship).
"Canon Seventeenth. Of virgins, that they should cover their faces and their heads."
John Chrysostom (340-407 a.d.)
Chrysostom was the great preacher of Antioch. The following excerpts are taken from Homily XXVI (1 Corinthians 11:2-16). Chrysostom identifies the problem Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 as
"Their women used to pray and prophesy unveiled and with their head bare." Especially to the point of a woman needing a separate head covering other than her long hair (cf. 1 Cor. 11:15) is the following remark: "' And if it be given her for a covering,' say you, 'wherefore need she add another covering?' That not nature only, but also her own will may have part in her acknowledgment of subjection. For that thou oughtest to be covered nature herself by anticipation enacted a law. Add now, I pray, thine own part also, that thou mayest not seem to subvert the very laws of nature; a proof of most insolent rashness, to buffet not only with us, but with nature also."
"It follows that being covered is a mark of subjection and authority. For it induces her to look down and be ashamed and preserve entire her proper virtue. For the virtue and honor of the governed is to abide in his obedience." (Chrysostom.HOMILY XXVI. ON THE VEILING OF WOMEN.)
Apostolic Constitutions (AD 390)
"When you are in the streets, cover your head. For by such a covering, you will avoid being viewed by idle persons…."
Jerome (345-429 a.d.)
"Though Scripture does not endorse the practice of virgins shaving their heads (rather the Scripture condemns such a practice in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15), nevertheless Jerome is quoted here because he clearly understood Paul to be teaching that a woman ought to wear a fabric head covering upon her head (this is especially obvious in this case for the virgin's head was shaved of all hair).
"It is usual in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria for virgins and widows who have vowed themselves to God and have renounced the world and have trodden under foot its pleasures, to ask the mothers of their communities to cut their hair; not that afterwards they go about with heads uncovered in defiance of the apostles command" [1 Corinthians 11:5]."
Augustine (354-430 a.d.)
Augustine, perhaps the greatest post-apostolic theologian prior to the Reformation, quotes 1 Corinthians 11:4,7 with regard to men as follows:
"'Every man praying or prophesying with veiled head shameth his head;' and, 'A man ought not to veil his head, forsomuch as he is the image and glory of God.'"Now if it is true of a man that he is not to veil his head, then the opposite is true of a woman, that she is to veil her head. "We ought not therefore so to understand that made in the image of the Supreme Trinity, that is, in the image of God, as that same image should be understood to be in three human beings; especially when the apostle says that the man is the image of God, and on that account removes the covering from his head, which he warns the woman to use, speaking thus: 'For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man.'" Augustine - (Cited in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Schaff, ed. vol. 3, 523):
"...especially when the Apostle says that the man is the image of God, and on that account, removes the covering from his head, which he warns the woman to use, speaking thus..." (quoting 1 Cor. 11:7.)
* Early Christian art, from about the year 200 to about the year 500, shows women wearing head coverings.
* Katharina von Bora, Martin Luther’s wife, wore a head covering.

[pitbull]

* John Knox, John Calvin, and George Gillespie called for women to wear a head covering.
John Knox (1505-1572)
"First, I say, the woman in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey man, not to rule and command him. As saint Paule doth reason in these wordes: 'Man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. And man was created for the cause of the woman, but the woman for the cause of man; and therfore oght the woman to have a power upon her head,' (that is, a coverture in signe of subjection)."
John Knox, First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous [i.e., against nature] Regiment [i.e., governing authority] of Women, in Works of John Knox, David Lang, ed. vol. 4, p 377: "...and therefore ought the woman to have a power on her head, that is, a coverture in signe of subjection."
And again (p. 392): "Even so, (saith he) oght man and woman to appeare before God, bearing the ensigns of the condition whiche they have received of him. Man... oght he to appear before his high Majestie bearing the signe of his honour, havinge no coverature upon his heade...Beware Chrysostom what thou saist! thou shalt be reputed a traytor if Englishe men heare thee... He procedeth in these wordes, "But woman oght to be covered, to witnesse that in the earth, she had a head, that is man. Trewe it is, Chrysostom, woman is covered in both realmes, but it is not with a signe of subjection, but it is with the signe of superioritie, to witte, with the royal crowne." (Lest it bears saying, his "warning" to Chrysostom was sarcastic. In context, Knox agrees with Chrysostom and is quoting him against the Royalists.)
John Calvin (cited in Men, Women, and Order in the Church: 3 Sermons by John Calvin, by Seth Skolnitzky. Presbyterian Heritage Pub.):
John Calvin (1509-1564)
The great theologian of the Reformation preached three sermons from 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 from which the following excerpts are taken.
"So if women are thus permitted to have their heads uncovered and to show their hair, they will eventually be allowed to expose their entire breasts, and they will come to make their exhibitions as if it were a tavern show; they will become so brazen that modesty and shame will be no more; in short they will forget the duty of nature….So, when it is permissible for the women to uncover their heads, one will say, 'Well, what harm in uncovering the stomach also?' And then after that one will plead [for] something else: 'Now if the women go bareheaded, why not also [bare] this and [bare] that?' Then the men, for their part, will break loose too. In short, there will be no decency left, unless people contain themselves and respect what is proper and fitting, so as not to go headlong overboard."
"Hence we infer that the woman has her hair given her for a covering. Should any one now object, that her hair is enough, as being a natural covering, Paul says that it is not, for it is such a covering as requires another thing to be made use of for covering it. And hence a conjecture is drawn, with some appearance of probability — that women who had beautiful hair were accustomed to uncover their heads for the purpose of showing off their beauty. It is not…" (John Calvin's Commentary on Head Coverings)
George Gillespie (1613-1648)
Gillespie, the youngest and one of the most brilliant commissioners at the Westminster Assembly, addresses the issue of women speaking as a voice of one in the public worship services of the church when he says:
"But where find we that women who were prophetesses, and immediately inspired, were allowed to deliver their prophecy in the church? I suppose he had a respect to 1 Cor. xi:5, 'But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoreth her head,' which is meant of the public assembly, for the Apostle is speaking of covering or uncovering the head in the church. . . . So that the Geneva annotation upon ver. 5, gives a good sense of that text, 'That women which show themselves in public and ecclesiastical assemblies, without the sign and token of their subjection, that is to say, uncovered, shame themselves.'"
* Commentators such as Matthew Henry, A. R. Fausset and A. T. Robertson wrote that women should wear a head covering.
* Here are some other comments from more recent history:
Henry Alford (1810-1871)
"[1 Corinthians 11] 2-16. The law of subjection of the woman to the man (2-12), and natural decency itself (13-16), teach that women should be veiled in public religious assemblies."
Frederick Godet (1812-1900)
"The phrase [in 1 Corinthians 11:4], "'having down from the head,' that is to say, wearing a kerchief in the form of a veil coming down from the head over the shoulders. And since the woman does not naturally belong to public life, if it happen that in the spiritual domain she has to exercise a function which brings her into prominence, she ought to strive the more to put herself out of view by covering herself with the veil, which declares the dependence in which she remains relatively to her husband."
In the 1830s Women kept their heads modestly covered most of the time. They wore "day caps" of fine linen or cotton, with ruffles around the face, and chin ties. These were even worn under the cape hood, or under the summer straw bonnet or winter quilted bonnet. Ladies of fashion wore elaborately decorated bonnets when they left home: flowers, feathers, lace, ribbons, ruchings and ruffles abounded.
A. R. Fausset (1821-1910)
Fausset co-authored with David Brown and Robert Jamieson the work, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New Testaments.
"In putting away the veil, she puts away the badge of her subjection to man (which is her true 'honor'), and of her connection with Christ, man's Head. Moreover, the head covering was the emblem of maiden modesty before man (Gen. xxiv: 65), and chastity (Gen. xx: 16). By its unlawful excitement in assemblies is avoided, women not attracting attention. Scripture sanctions not the emancipation of woman from subjection: modesty is her true ornament."
"It hath a threefold use, For decoration, as in Isa. iii. 23. 2. For a sign of modesty, pleaded for by the apostle, 1 Cor. xi. 6. 3. And mainly a sign of women's subjection to their own husbands..." (Banner of Truth reprint of 1840 edition; originally published posthumously in 1668. p 280. James Durham - Commentary on the Song of Solomon:Though Durham puts emphasis on it as a sign for wives, he notes the second use as a sign of modesty, which would be applicable to all Christian ladies.)
M. R. Vincent (His Word Studies in the New Testament was published in 1886)
"The head-dress of Greek women consisted of nets, hair-bags, or kerchiefs, sometimes covering the whole head. A shawl which enveloped the body was also often thrown over the head, especially at marriages or funerals. This costume the Corinthian women had disused in the Christian assemblies, perhaps as an assertion of the abolition of sexual distinctions, and the spiritual equality of the woman with the man in the presence of Christ. This custom was discountenanced by Paul as striking at the divinely ordained subjection of the woman to the man."
G. G. Findlay (no specific date cited for his work on 1 Corinthians in The Expositor's Greek New Testament, but it was written in the late 19th century)
"For a woman to discard the veil means to cast off masculine authority, which is a fixed part of the Divine order, like man's subordination to Christ (3 f.)."
A. T. Robertson (His Word Pictures in the New Testament was published in 1931)
In commenting on 1 Corinthians 11:4 ("having his head covered"), he points out:
"Literally, having a veil (kalumma understood) down from the head." Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 11:6, "Let her be veiled. . . . Let her cover up herself with the veil (down, kata, the Greek says, the veil hanging down from the head)."
William Barclay, 1954
"The problem was whether or not in the Christian Church a woman had the right to take part in the service unveiled. Paul's answer was bluntly this the veil is always a sign of subjection; it is worn by an inferior in the presence of a superior; now woman is inferior to man, in the sense that man is head of the household; therefore it is wrong for a man to appear at public worship veiled and it is equally wrong for a woman to appear unveiled."
John Murray (1898-1975) was Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary
These excerpts are taken from a letter to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Australia) concerning the matter of women being veiled in worship.
"Since Paul appeals to the order of creation (Vss. 3b, vss 7ff), it is totally indefensible to suppose that what is in view and enjoined had only local or temporary relevance. The ordinance of creation is universally and perpetually applicable, as also are the implications for conduct arising therefrom."
"I am convinced that a head covering is definitely in view forbidden for the man (Vss 4 & 7) and enjoined for the woman (Vss 5,6,15). In the case of the woman the covering is not simply her long hair. This supposition would make nonsense of verse 6. For the thought there is, that if she does not have a covering she might as well be shorn or shaven, a supposition without any force whatever if the hair covering is deemed sufficient."
In 1970, Pope Paul VI promulgated the Roman Missal, ignoring mention of women’s veils. But at the time the missal was published, it didn’t seem necessary to keep mandatory such an obvious and universal practice, even if it no longer had a "normative" value (Inter insigniores, # 4). (THE VEIL Derived from a book in progress called: "The Unveiled Woman" by Jackie Freppon.)
J. Vernon McGee (1904-1990)
"Apparently some of the women in the church at Corinth were saying, 'All things are lawful for me, therefore, I won't cover my head.' Paul says this should not be done because the veil is a mark of subjection."
Charles Caldwell Ryrie (The Role of Women in the Church was published in 1958)
"If angels desire to look into things pertaining to salvation, then they should see as they look at veiled women in the assembly of Christians the voluntary submission of a woman to her head. Thus the early church (for this was the custom of the churches generally) while offering religious equality in spiritual privilege insisted on showing in public worship the principle of subordination of women by their being veiled."
Albrect Oepke (A contributor to the highly acclaimed Theological Dictionary of the New Testament which was published in 1965)
"The veiling of women is a custom in Israel. A disgraced woman comes veiled to judgment (katakekalummene, Sus.32). Yet one may suspect that a woman muffled up (katekalupsato to prosopon) and lurking by the wayside is a harlot (Gn. 38:15). This opens the way for an understanding of the relevant NT passage. The veiling of women in the NT and the contemporary world."
During the second Vatican Council, a mob of reporters waited for news after a council meeting. One of them asked Msgr. Annibale Bugnini, then secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship, if women still had to wear a headcover in the churches. His response was that the Bishops were considering other issues, and that women’s veils were not on the agenda. The next day, the international press announced throughout the world that women did not have to wear the veil anymore. A few days later, Msgr. Bugnini told the press he was misquoted and women must still had to wear the veil. But the Press did not retract the error, and many women stopped wearing the veil as out of confusion and because of pressure from feminist groups.
Robert H. Gundry (A Survey of the New Testament was published in 1970)
"Paul's instructions concerning the veiling of women also demand knowledge of prevailing ancient customs. It was proper in the Roman Empire for a respectable woman to veil herself in public.
Bruce Waltke ("1 Corinthians 1:2-16:An Interpretation" was published in Bibliotheca Sacra in 1978)
"Although Paul does not use the word veil [kalumma GLP], it seems reasonable to suppose that he has this article of apparel in view. . . .To appear at the public assembly, then, with inappropriate headdress would disgrace one's head."
Before the revision in 1983, Canon law had stated that women must cover their heads "...especially when they approach the holy table" (can.1262.2). But in order to reduce such a growing collection of books, the new version of Canon law was subjected to concise changes. In the process, mention of head coverings was omitted.
Noel Weeks (The Sufficiency of Scripture was published in 1988)
"There is something ludicrous about being the head or authority while one at the same time hides one's physical head. It follows therefore that praying and prophesying are authoritative functions which call for an unveiled head, unshrouded head. Hence any woman engaging in those activities must also be bare-headed. Consequently Paul turns to what such unveiling must mean for the woman. In contrast to the man, when she prays or prophesies, the unveiling of her head must be dishonorable to her. What does it mean for a woman to be bare-headed? As Paul says, it is equivalent to being shaved or having her hair shorn off. That of course is dishonouring for a woman. Hence she should not uncover her head."
Robert D. Culver (Contributed "A Traditional View" to Women in Ministry Four Views which was published in 1989)
"God distinguishes sharply between the sexes as to appearance and activity in formal Christian assemblies. A man's hair is to be short and his head uncovered by hat or shawl, while a woman's hair is to be uncut and, in visible recognition of submission to God's order, she is to wear an additional head covering in order to veil, not her face, but head."

It was not until during the 1900’s that the head covering gradually disappeared from churches. Why? Consider some of the other historical events at the last half of the 19th Century that influenced this as well as other liberal views to influence Christians during the 20th Century.
1830 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially organized on April 6th.
1831 – The H.M.S. Beagle set sail on December 27 on her 5 year voyage, with Charles Darwin onboard, who would later write Origin of the Species based on his research on this voyage.
1848 – Karl Marx (1818-1883) completed the manuscript of the Manifesto of the Communist Party and sent it to London to be printed.
1863 – Seventh-day Adventist “denomination” was officially organized May 21st.
1860’s – Formation of the Ku Klux Klan in post-Civil War southern states.
1872 – Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) is born. He is a British philosopher, logician, essayist, and renowned peace advocate that was influenced by the Modernist era of this era and helped to encourage the “modern” form of dating.
1879 – Charles T. Russell started his own magazine, Zion's Watchtower and Herald of Christ's Presence (now known as The Watchtower), to promote his doctrines.
1881 – Two men, Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton J. A. Hort, brought forth a very different version of the Greek New Testament – one which differed from the Textus Receptus (the underlying Greek text of the KJV) in over 5,700 places.
1885 – English Revised Version was published as the first Bible “version” using the Westcott-Hort Greek.
1879 – Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) was born. She was a radical feminist monthly that advocated militant feminism, including the right to practice birth control. She founded the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
1879 – Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) was born in Georgia. He was second [and brutal] leader of USSR [after Lenin].
1883 – Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), a German socialist, edited the complete second and third volumes of Marx's Das Kapital.
1889 – Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was born in Austria. He went on to found the Nazi Party in Germany.
1897 – Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) begins publishing seven volume Studies in the Psychology of Sex (finished publishing in 1928). His teachings helped lead to the end of Christian courtship and the reintroduction of pagan concept of dating.
1898 – First Jewish ruling body in Palestine to meet since Sanhedrin [decided on flag and national anthem]
1901 – American Standard Version published using the Westcott-Hort Greek.
1901 – The modern Pentecostal movement began on January 1, 1901, in Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, operated by Charles Parham, a minister with a background in the Holiness movement. The students began to seek the baptism of the Spirit with tongues, and Agnes Ozman was the first student to experience speaking in tongues. She claimed she spoke in several languages immediately. She is the first woman in North America to “speak in tongues”!

Does This Apply To Me Today And If So How?
1. The Bible does say that a woman is to have a covering for her head.
2. The Bible says that God gives a woman long hair to serve as a covering but not the only covering.
3. The Bible says that the long, flowing fabric head covering is to be a symbol of distinction and separation from the worldly customs and traditions and fads.
4. The Bible says that this is an issue of modesty so that the hair should be covered.
5. This is an outward token of submission to God and His will, such as hierarchy of the home/family. This is an issue of authority rather than about appearance.
6. The Bible never says that this is just a cultural aspect that applied to only the church at Corinth but to all churches and believers. [1 Corinthians 1:2; 11:16]
“Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” [Romans 14:5b]
“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” [Philippians 2:12b]