You may be thinking about why you are required to wear a head covering in the meetings of the ecclesia or indeed have decided to stop wearing one. When your behaviour is challenged (as it undoubtedly will be), don’t panic! Your mind will probably go blank and your heart will start to race. Here are some short responses to try and commit to memory that may help you to make a reasoned and calm response.
Firstly, always thank the person for coming and talking to you, rather than discussing it behind your back. Explain that you really appreciate the opportunity to talk to them about something that is very important to you.
- Explain that you have been thinking about and exploring the topic of head coverings for several years and it is not something that you are doing on a sudden whim. You wanted to ensure that you fully explored the context and theology behind the Bible verses concerning head coverings for sisters, before you took any action.
- It is not the usual Christadelphian practice to base a key teaching on one isolated passage. John Thomas made this very clear when he published the following statement: "No doctrine should be predicated upon mere inference, neither upon one isolated text of Scripture. Any true doctrine will be found interspersed throughout the whole Bible"(see endnote 1). As requirement for head covering is mentioned only once in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, this is probably why Roberts concluded that: "it does not matter much one way or other" ("Female Head-dress", The Christadelphian, April 1895, p.140 (see endnote 2)). Are we wise to enforce a practice based on only one mention in the scriptures?
- We know that we are commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ to be baptised into his saving name and to break bread regularly to remember his sacrifice for us symbolised in the bread and wine. As far as I am aware, these are the only two rituals with a symbolic meaning attached that we are asked to continue to observe by the Lord Jesus. However, Jesus said nothing about head covering for women being necessary during any form of worship. Are we wise to make head covering a first principle when the Lord Jesus has not commanded it? Could we be in danger of falling away from grace, as those who enforced circumcision did (Galatians 2:11-21), if we insist that a head-covering is necessary for fellowship and salvation?
- This instruction for head covering is one of at least twenty other instructions given in the New Testament. However, we do not insist that these commands transcend time and should be literally applied today. We acknowledge that these were relevant for that time and place and take the principle, not the practice. Some examples include; washing feet, greeting with a holy kiss, holding up hands to pray, anointing with oil.
- I’m sure you would agree that 1 Corinthians 11 is a very difficult chapter to understand, but what is clear is that Paul is talking about head covering for both men and women who pray and prophesy publicly in a church service. Verse 5 talks about women speaking and praying out loud during the service and therefore, in Corinth, needing to have her head covered. As I do neither, then on that score alone, head covering does not apply to me.
- Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth deals with significant discord and issues that the new Christians had fallen into (1Cor 1.10), including questioning his own authority as Christ’s messenger. Paul, in chapter 7, refers to a letter he had received with questions regarding living a new life as a Christian. Chapter 11, I believe, is his reply to such a question about worship. We do not know the question and so we are not entirely sure what has prompted his response. However, we do know that the fledgling church would have been made up of Jews and Greeks and that these two cultural backgrounds were colliding in several ways. One of which would be the issue of veils and head coverings - Jewish women always covered heads in worship and Greek women usually didn’t. Paul’s instructions are specifically answering this problem and providing a solution for this point in time that promotes unity and mutual submission and humility in the church.
- Paul concludes this section in chapter 11 verse 13 -16 with a series of questions that I believe are appealing to the Christian to exercise their own conscience in this matter. His questions are culturally loaded as we know that a man taking a Nazarite vow did not cut his hair! There is even some evidence that in Corinthian culture prostitutes had short hair or shaved heads! We don’t know exactly what Paul is saying here, but it seems clear that he is intimating that we should avoid appearances and behaviour that detract from being witnesses for Christ and might cause offense and disrepute amongst the local community.
- As with other practices referred to in the scriptures that we no longer literally apply today, we should observe the spirit of Paul’s words and ensure our attitude and behaviour during worship reflects that. In the first century, by not dressing in what was deemed respectable clothing, women appeared to dishonour their husbands. Today we have different cultural norms, but the principle of all who partake in worship being respectful and humble in their service still applies.
- I would not presume to contradict the apostle Paul, but I do believe we should confirm scripture with scripture. In the case of 1Cor 11:7 where he states that man is made in God’s image; Genesis 1:27 explicitly states that God created male and female in His image. Whilst this equal status and authority may have been lost after the fall, with women being placed in subjection to their husbands, as disciples of Christ and part of the new creation through baptism, this equality is restored. In Galatians 3 we read that we are all now ‘sons of God’ and equal heirs to salvation.
- Finally, there are many more questions and imponderables arising from the arguments in this chapter that we can only speculate about the meaning. For example, what does ‘because of the angels mean?’ Or in what way is woman the glory of man? Or why does a woman need a sign on her head? We could go on. The point is that this chapter is a very difficult one upon which to base a blanket ruling upon sisters to head cover for all meetings of the church.
Endnotes
- From "Principles of Biblical Interpretation" by Brother James Foreman, and published in 1859 by Brother John Thomas in The Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come.
- For more from Robert Roberts on headcoverings, see: https://moreperfectly.blogspot.com/2019/12/robert-roberts-on-head-coverings.html
