Question Concerning Head Covering:

What does the bible teach? Is it important? If so, why? If not, why not? Please share your conviction on this matter.

Greetings 4Given1

This topic has been discussed in past threads, if you are interested you could also do a search and pull up the older threads as well to read through:)

Krispy: after reading what you posted about a woman's hair being her covering I got to thinking, do you think then it would be sinful for a woman to cut her hair? I mean if it is her covering? This is a question that has been on my mind and that I have thought about.
God Bless
mj

5But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

6For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

then what do these verses mean with hair being the covering?
they sure dont seem to imply that hair is the covering

4GIVEN1,

I understand your point and agree.

In the history of the church it was understood to be this way. Headcoverings were worn by Christian women regardless of denomination. It has only been in the recent 60 +/- years that this practice has been abandoned by Christian woman. And with its abandonment it has exposed females to all kinds of grief.

ginnyrose

I started covering my head a few months ago. The first two articles that you can find here really helped my husband I see that head coverings were appropriate for this day and age.

The first article is an expository look and the passage and the second article goes into the historical use of head-coverings in the first century.

We found the articles not overly biased in one direction. It seems as though the author carefully looked at the facts and came to conclusion that woman were to cover their head today.

If you read the verses more closely, it says " when praying or prophesying" twice. I had never read this until a couple of months ago. It gave me such peace and now I know if I'm praying or prophesying what to do!

Krispy, I know what you mean about context. So many have been in agony about wearing dresses, but when you read the scriptures concerning this, ( someone help me please with the verses), it also points out that men are not to wear women's apparel as well. When I read the entire thing, I realized that it was in reference to dressing as to appear as a man or woman by the opposite sex which is an abomination. We must remember that people have been sinning in this manner for a long time. There is nothing new under the sun!

I wear woman's clothing, and also needed peace about this because I am a mail carrier and had to wear slacks for this job. My route is my ministry so this is important.

Alas though, the Word says, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." Please forgive me if I have gotten this scripture a bit off; I'm just home from work.

The most important thing is that I fully respect anyone for the choices that they make and have peace with. If I am round anyone that wears a headcovering or skirts, I will abide by their desires. I have a very dear sister in the Lord who is a Mennonite who insists that I dress as I feel, only with modesty.

I hope this blesses someone.

My suggestion is to read the text in 1. Cor 11 with the intention wanting to observe what is says. The text is not hard to understand, you do not have to be a theologian or greek scholar. If you want to contextualize it before you want to obey it, you will not understand it properly. I do believe head-covering is an ordinance that expresses a biblical understanding of headship. God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man, man the head of women. It is a small commandment, not meant to oppress women, but a privilege.

My wife observes it and I do not judge all the others in our church who don't. It does not make her more spiritual.
Here is an extensive study about it from G.W. North

http://mp3.biblebase.com/pdfs/signofauthority.pdf

Hi
For me I have prayed about this and I feel strongly that it is a heart issue. I believe it is all about having a willing heart to be submissive to the covering/authority God has placed over you. I agree that it is a heart issue, if you feel convicted to wear an actual hat or some kind of cloth then you should do so. For me I do feel that a woman hair is her covering and so I do not wear a hat or other outer covering, my hair is my covering.

As far as a woman cutting her hair, I do think that its fine to cut your hair and again its a heart issue. I do not think that women should cut their hair so short that they appear to be a man. I think you should still be able to see that she is a female:) I have had really long hair in the past and then had some cut off, just recently I had my hair cut up to the top of my shoulders to get some of the weight off for summer. I do not feel that this is going against scripture because you can still easily see that I am a woman(at least I hope so:)

For those sisters who feel the Lord is leading them to wear a covering I say that is awesome and walk in what the Lord has for you ladies!

in Him
ellie

Hello...

I have looked into this issue intently and prayerfully several times. I looked at the Scriptures about this and the history of both the Church and society. I arrived at a personal conclusion that this passage is speaking about a natural covering of hair and not an earthly, material covering made my people.

I just can't find enough Scripture to actually base a definitive doctrine on such a matter. I Corinthians 11 is the passage that is often quoted as the proof for such a practice. However, the passage itself concludes, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: FOR HER HAIR IS GIVEN HER FOR A COVERING" (I Corinthians 11:14-15). Thus, it appears that this covering is...a woman's hair.

I am interested in the claim that woman have historically covered their heads. I have heard this argument before. However, outside of sectarian practice, I have never found a specific, credible reference that reinforces the idea that this was universally embraced by the people of God around the world. Rather, the entire passage seems to consider NATURE. It was unnatural for women to shave their heads. It is unnatural for men to wear their hair like a woman.

Now, I will admit that I could be wrong about this -- as is true with any practice or view that is not clearly spelled out by Scripture. This brings up something that I think we should consider. There are many sects that take a single passage and turn it into an "indisputable doctrine." In fact, cults like the Mormoms have taken a single passage about "baptism for the dead" (I Corinthians 15:29) and turned it into a central practice.

Other cults and some legitimate sects and local congregations have done the same. They take a personal view about a matter in Scripture and then surround themselves by others with the same view. Some churches literally make such things a mandatory practice. I have been to congregations where certain peculiar doctrinal views or practices were a REQUIREMENT to continue fellowship in that particular congregation.

I have no problem with a woman who chooses to cover her head with a manufactured material covering. However, I think that it is unwise to demand such adherence from others...or make such practice a criteria for fellowship. My brother-n-law and his family attended a congregation like this. The pastor and congregation were eager to get them involved in the various ministries of the local church. However, after a few months passed where they still didn't embrace those particular doctrines, they were politely told that they no longer could permit their involvement. I don't think that our love for one another -- and a condition for fellowship -- should be based upon something so unclear from God's Word.

Yes Frank, we must be persuaded for own conscience sake. My prayer and research on these things were for my personal benefit, because I so desire to please the Lord.

To love my neighbor as myself should be the plumbline to measure things by.

Some of the most cold, judgemental people I've met had all of the physical standards honed to perfection. The problem was that their hearts gave them away. His meaning of holiness and our holiness are often opposed to each other.

Hi Brother Frank...

I don't see this as a "cultural" argument.

I simply don't think that this is enough in Scripture to make it a required practice or a standard that must be upheld to participate in a congregation. Further, I think that it is unwise to break fellowship with a believer (or a congregation) over something as silly as whether or not a woman wears a manufactured piece of cloth on her head.

God knows the heart, if their is any other reasons why the ladies would not want to cover their heads in church, then He knows the things of the heart.

I suppose that we could also see the reverse as true too. There are some women who do not cover their heads with a manufactured cloth simply because they see nothing in Scripture that indicates that they would need to. The majority of believing women in the Church do NOT feel compelled to wear such material atop their hair BECAUSE they don't see such a mandate in Scripture. It has little-to-nothing to do with culture and everything to do with seeing a Scriptural mandate.

Unfortunately, there are some congregations (including one that I visited last year) where they equate the cloth covering as a mandate of "apostolic Christianity." They make it clear that a lack of such a cloth is a "rejection" of a tenet of the apostolic faith.

The Scriptures say that something is established in the testimony of two or three witnesses. Perhaps the same is true of doctrines and practices in the Church. Are there other New Testament passages that would specifically support any such mandate? I know of the I Corinthians 11 reference (which I feel is speaking about a woman's hair as a covering -- as explained in I Corinthians 11:15), however, are there any other passages?

Many years ago "Christianity Today" printed an article dealing with this issue. As I recall the writer made a very interesting point that I would like to share.

If 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 is not asking godly ladies to wear a head covering, then how are you going to deal with the headship issue as pertaining to God, Christ, and men?

ginnyrose

Hi Sister Ginny...

I think that the answer to your question is that Christians do believe in spiritual coverings (God, Christ and men)...but that most Christian women believe that the physical covering in I Corinthians 11 refers to their hair.

"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: FOR HER HAIR IS GIVEN HER FOR A COVERING."

- I Corinthians 11:14-15

My issue with the idea that the woman's hair is all that Paul is talking about in this passage is found in this verse:

"Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head."

This makes zero sense if we're simply talking about hair. For the sake of making my point, let me re-word these verses with the hair as a covering interpretation in mind:

"Every man who prays or prophesies with his hair long dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with short hair dishonors her head--it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will cut her hair short, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her keep her hair long."

Read like this it is absolutely nonsensical.

I think that Paul is talking about two coverings, one that nature give (ie. hair) and one that is of fabric, that we put on to show our place. I think that he uses the natural covering of long hair to point out how natural the fabric head covering truly is.