*ATTENTION: We will not be having church at the Conway, Fairfield Inn & Suites on February the 16th. Instead, we will be having church on the 16th at the Pottery Landing neighborhood Clubhouse, located at the end of Wahee Place, Conway (in the Pottery Landing Community). If you have any questions or need further directions, please reach out to Pastor Andrew at (843)-424-0002 or at [email protected]. Please see our Calendar page for more details about the Clubhouse and directions.

a man standing next to a painting of a woman

Firm Traditions and Held Practices: “Are Headcoverings For Today?”


– 35 Min Read

Preface & Table of Contents

The topic of headcoverings presents many challenges to work through given our culture. I plan to keep this as brief as possible, knowing that several other resources work through the issue much better than I will be able to. Given my plan is to keep this as more of a summary, feel free to go see Resources and look through some more thorough works by other authors. Upon looking at how long this “article” is, (if you can call it that), please pace yourself and feel free to use the Table of Contents list to jump around if you lose your place or decide to return later (they are hyperlinks to their sections).

Because there will be a ton of sources cited from church history, if you wish to skip over the church history section (Traditions Firmly Held) and get right into the explaining of 1st Corinthians 11:2-16, feel free to go to Held Church Practices. But, I would strongly encourage you to read through this section and see some of the things our forefathers of the faith have said. It may very well benefit you in your study of this topic.

  1. Introduction
  2. Traditions Firmly Held
  3. Held Church Practices
  4. Hair or Fabric
  5. A Word of Encouragement
  6. A Word of Caution

brown painting of people beside buildings

Introduction


A few years ago my wife and I took our kids to The Ark Encounter and while there we saw several Amish families enjoying the biblically themed attraction alongside us. My oldest daughter came up and started to ask me about the dress of the Amish family, particularly the women. It was a short and sweet conversation. My daughter thought that the dresses and the bonnets were pretty, it probably reminded her of an old American Girl character. I briefly explained to her Amish customs and dress code starting from the concept to the practice itself, but when I got to the bonnet I found myself at a loss. I knew that in 1st Corinthians 11, Paul addressed headcoverings but I was frankly unfamiliar with it.

After our short talk, we went on about our day enjoying “Noah’s Ark” with the rest of our family and didn’t think any more of it. I did not know it but this would be the start of a journey in the Seeley home. As I sat down to write this introduction I asked myself, “When was the first time we started to discuss headcoverings in our family?” After taking some time to think, I remembered this day. It is funny how the small details, or what we may deem as insignificant moments, get overlooked in our overall analysis of something, but it is important to be aware that they do play a role in the big picture. Everything makes an impression on us whether good or bad and to approach any biblical study without first acknowledging our presuppositions runs the risk of us not giving God’s truth a fair shake.

It is kind of that way with headcoverings. This has to be one of the most unpopular, unwanted, and unlikely topics for someone to consider biblically. For the most part, I think Christians ignore the topic and altogether ignore 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, I know that I did. We have been trained, or simply conditioned, to chalk the whole thing up to a cultural phenomenon in Corinth during the first century. But are we confident in that answer? Are we deep down satisfied with having that as our assessment of God’s word revealed in 1st Corinthians 11? I would like to assert that most Christians are probably not, but if they are it is likely because they have grown comfortable with not studying the other arguments.

Let’s be honest, studying the interpretation we don’t agree with is sometimes wearisome. But, let us remember that God has brought us where we are by this very thing. Whether it be our understanding of “Predestination” or “Total Depravity,” at one point we did not agree with these doctrines and yet, by God’s grace, here we are. The Scriptures were too convincing and the Holy Spirit would not allow us to ignore them any longer. God is kind to His children when they wrestle in His word and maybe you will experience His kindness in your study of headcoverings.

Let me be clear about my goals here; I do not wish to convince any of you that headcoverings are the right practice for women in the church or that it is a wrong practice. This kind of work is reserved for the Holy Spirit. With that said, we understand that the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to accomplish these ends. My goal is not to lay out every single argument for both sides. Maybe upon reading this, you will be prompted to further study the arguments. My goal is to give a brief history of the church and then to simply walk you through 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 with a “fresh” set of eyes, (I use the word “fresh” but as we will see, these eyes are not fresh at all but very old). That is my goal. My hope is that you will read this with your guard down (1 Cor. 13:4-7) and your biblical ears on (Matt. 11:15; 13:9; Mark 4:9).


a painting of a woman sitting by a fountain

Traditions Firmly Held


“Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and
hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.”

1 Corinthians 11:2 (LSB)

To call headcovering a “tradition” of the church would be appropriate considering that it has always been practiced. It was not until the last 70 years or so that the tradition of headcovering became up for grabs. As we begin a brief survey through church history it is important to remember that the Apostle Paul praises the Corinthians for remembering the traditions he delivered to them and how they held them “firmly”. This appears to resonate with Christ’s church throughout history because as we will see, the bride of Christ, (the church), did hold to this tradition “firmly”.

The first and earliest church father we have a record of commenting on headcoverings is Irenaeus. Irenaeus lived from A.D. 130 – 220 and was the bishop of modern-day Lyon, France. What is fascinating about Irenaeus is that he was the disciple of Polycarp, who was martyred in A.D. 155, and Polycarp was the disciple of the Apostle John according to Jerome. In other words, we may very well have a direct connection back to the apostles from the early church fathers concerning the issue of headcoverings in the church. But what we do not have is Irenaeus articulating his view and position of headcoverings, rather it is something that he says in passing when quoting 1 Corinthians 11:10; “A woman ought to have a veil upon her head, because of the angels.” [1]

Though nothing is known about Irenaeus’ extent of application of headcoverings or his expository teaching on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, what is known is that Irenaeus affirmed the tradition of headcoverings and believed it was more than just the woman’s hair. When quoting the passage he chooses to use the word “veil” instead of “authority”, meaning he believed it was an artificial fabric for a covering. This is truly fascinating and cannot be ignored (we will come back to this). Clement of Alexandria was a theologian who lived in A.D. 150 – 215. He wrote;

“Woman and man are to go to church decently attired, with natural step, embracing silence, possessing unfeigned love, pure in body, pure in heart, fit to pray to God. Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be entirely covered, unless she happen to be at home. For that style of dress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. 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.”

[2]

Jerome (approx. A.D. 347 — 420), the Christian scholar and theologian who translated the Bible into Latin, documented that the women in Egypt and Syria do not “go about with heads uncovered in defiance of the apostle’s command, for they wear a close-fitting cap and a veil.” [3]

When it comes to church fathers and ancient theologians, St. Augustine the Bishop of Hippo is one that all evangelical scholars rush to consult with when examining any theological or biblical issue. Augustine lived in A.D. 354 – 430 in Roman Africa. Concerning women and covering their heads he said; “It is not becoming, even in married women to uncover their hair, since the apostle commands women to keep their heads covered.” [4]

Notice here that Clement, Jerome, and Augustine are united on one thing, what Paul said in 1st Corinthians chapter 11. Clement refers to the “wish of the word” and Jerome and Augustine refer to “the apostle[‘s] command.” In their view, God commanded through Paul that women are to cover their heads when they participate in divine worship. This would stay the course in church history as we enter into Roman Catholicism. In the 6th century, the Synod of Rome (743 A.D.), in Canon 3, stated that “women praying in church without her head covered brings shame upon her head, according to the word of the Apostle”.

As we come to the era of the Protestant Reformation it is interesting to note that headcoverings were never part of the Reformation agenda. In fact, the “father” of the Reformation himself, Martin Luther (1483 – 1546), had several things to say about headcoverings. Luther wrote; “The wife… shall not rule over her husband, but be subject and obedient to him. For that reason the wife wears a headdress, that is, the veil on her head.” About 1 Corinthians 11:10, Luther commented; “the women should… be covered with a veil for the sake of the angels.” [5]

The Lutheran church’s doctrinal statement, The Augsburg Confession (1530), states in Article 28:54-55; “Paul ordains, 1 Cor. 11:5, that women should cover their heads in the congregation… It is proper that the churches should keep such ordinances for the sake of love and tranquility.” Scotland and England would follow this tradition in their churches as well. Men like David Dickerson (Scottish theologian; 1583 – 1663), John Cotton (English clergyman & colonist; 1584 – 1652), Matthew Henry (famous British Nonconformist; 1662 – 1714), John Owen (English theologian and Congregationalist; 1616 – 1683), Jeremiah Burroughs (English Puritan preacher; 1600 – 1646), and Thomas Watson (Puritan writer and preacher; 1620 – 1686) all affirmed the practice of women covering their heads in church.

William Tyndale (1494 — 1536) who translated the Hebrew Pentateuch and the Greek New Testament into English, said; “I answer, that Paul taught by mouth such things as he wrote in his epistles. And his traditions were… that a woman obey her husband, have her head covered, keep silence, go womanly and Christianly appareled.” [6]

Like Luther, there is not enough time to properly introduce John Bunyan. Bunyan was a pastor and writer in England. He lived from 1628 – 1688 and is well known for his work “The Pilgrim’s Progress” and suffering in prison for 12 years for his faith. When speaking against private women’s prayer meetings, Bunyan writes this; “‘For this cause ought the woman to have power’, that is a covering, ‘on her head, because of the angels’. . . Methinks, holy and beloved sisters, you should be content to wear this power or badge.” [7]

On this side of the pond, in America, Jonathan Edwards (1637 – 1716) also affirmed the apostolic tradition of women covering their heads in public worship. He said;

“Paul’s will is that the Corinthian men, who were converts and saints, should be bare-headed in their religious assemblies. And from St. Paul all Christians generally have received and practiced this usage… The Christian Churches at this day conform to this usage… That which the Apostle delivers in this chapter concerning women’s behavior in the churches did not only oblige the women of that time, but is obligatory to this very day. All Christian women are engaged by virtue of what the Apostle here saith, to be always with their heads covered in time of prayer and other religious exercises… But it will be said, ‘The argument of the Apostle will not hold now, covering the head being not a sign of subjection [in our culture]’. . . I answer, Christian women may… observe the Apostle’s injunction [for reasons beyond the issue of submission, because]. . . there are other reasons, which will always hold… [Regarding Paul’s mention of ‘angels’ in v.10,] this reason is perpetual.”

[8]

Charles Spurgeon (1834 – 1892), the “prince of preachers,” said; “The reason why our sisters appear in the House of God with their heads covered is ‘because of the angels.’ The apostle says that a woman is to have a covering upon her head because of the angels.” [9]

Martyn Loyd Jones was another famous English preacher who believed in the tradition of women covering their heads when they participated in divine worship along with the late R.C. Sproul. Sproul was another who affirmed head coverings and can be found on several occasions stating his unpopular position. He said at one time; “It does disturb me, that the… tradition of the women covering her head in America did not pass away until we saw a cultural revolt against the authority of the husband over the wife.” [10]

His son, R.C. Sproul Jr. said; “The church has rejected this practice in the last thirty or forty years, not because of new interpretive insights, but because of pressure from the world.” He makes a compelling observation that generally “until 50 years ago, every woman – in every church – covered their head… What has happened in the last 50 years? We’ve had a feminist movement.” This is something worth noting because of what a famous Reformer predicted. John Calvin warned the church of the very chaos we find ourselves in today in America.

John Calvin (1509 – 1564) was a second-wave Reformer who served most of his life in Geneva, Switzerland. He is beloved by many in Reformed Evangelicalism for his brilliance in theology and excellence in preaching. John Calvin had much to say about headcoverings but in one instance during a sermon on 1 Corinthians 11:2-3 he said this;

“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… Further, we know that the world takes everything to its own advantage. So, if one has liberty in lesser things, why not do the same with this the same way as that? And in making such comparisons they will make such a mess that there will be utter chaos. 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.”

[11]

Many people remarked that Calvin was a prophetic preacher but this takes it to a whole new level. Considering where we currently are in our culture this warning from Calvin should make us stop and think. He was dead on the bullseye about this. In 1968 the National Organization for Women (NOW) rallied together to have what they called a “national unveiling.” They said;

“Because the wearing of a head covering by women at religious services is a symbol of subjection with many churches, NOW recommends that all chapters undertake an effort to have all women participate in a “national unveiling” by sending their head coverings to the task force chairman. At the spring meeting of the task force of women and religion, these veils will be publicly burned to protest the second class status of women in all churches.”

[12]

Concerning the decline and shutdown of millinery in America, The New York Times published an article that said; “But as the beehive hairdo gained popularity in the 1960s and the feminist movement made it acceptable for women to leave their hats at home, the industry faded.” [13]

Today in the American church we find ourselves thinking that headcoverings are weird. But if we look through the last 2,000 years of church history we will find that we are the weird ones. Christian women historically have always covered their heads while participating in divine worship on the Lord’s Day. It is only within the last 70 years or so that this tradition has stopped. And it has stopped because of a feminist movement, which then steered to a sexual revolution, which is where we find ourselves in the current tailspin that we are in. Jeremy Gardiner (Starter of the Head Covering Movement) said;

“Egalitarian thought has permeated the church, popularizing the beliefs that: Men and women serve no functional difference in the home. The man does not have a God-given responsibility to lead and the woman does not need to submit to her husband. Within the church, all offices are open to women. This belief system, along with pressure from the culture, made the symbol of head covering fall out of favor until it was abandoned. Head covering was not innocently lost in North America, but is tied to the rejection of the biblical roles of men and women.”

[14]

people sitting on chair painting

Held Church Practices


“But if one is inclined to be contentious,
we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.”

1 Corinthians 11:16 (LSB)

As we have studied in the previous section, the church not only firmly received the tradition of headcovering from the Apostle Paul, but it also practiced it. Paul concludes his exhortation on headcoverings by stating that if any people are contentious about headcoverings then they should know that, “we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.” In Paul’s understanding and the historical church’s understanding, the tradition of headcovering in the church is a “practice” or “custom” of the church. The word used here is the Greek word συνήθειαν (synētheia), and it is elsewhere seen when Pilate is explaining the “custom” of releasing a prisoner at Passover, which this time would be Barabbas;

“But you have a custom (συνήθειαν) that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?”

John 18:39 (LSB)

According to Paul, the practice, or custom, of women covering their heads when they prayed and prophesied in the church was not only to be observed in Corinth but was being observed in all the other “churches of God.” According to v.16 this is not a cultural practice exclusive to Corinth.

Many commentators and scholars, however, like to try and build a case that Corinth was a city infested with prostitution and that these prostitutes would shave their heads. This comes from the fact that in Corinth was the Temple of Aphrodite and in this temple there were 1,000 temple prostitutes. Because of this, Paul was instructing the Corinthian, Christian women to be countercultural in this regard because of the mere appearance of being evil. In other words, the Christian women covering their heads in Corinth is a cultural mandate only for them to observe given their pagan society.

There are several problems with this. 1) The Temple of Aphrodite was destroyed over 200 years before Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. 2) The historical evidence and data are contrary to this proposed thesis. Roman men often wore headcoverings when they participated in religious activities and Roman women rarely ever covered their hair but would do elaborate braids and decorate their hair with gold bands and jewels.

Gordon Fee, New Testament scholar, and theologian, expresses the overuse of this attempt to chalk up Paul’s prescription of headcovering to Corinthian culture in his commentary on 1st Corinthians.

“The sexual vice“ of Corinthian life, however, has tended to be overplayed by most NT scholars… It was commonly suggested that short hair or a shaved head was the mark of the Corinthian prostitutes… But there is no contemporary evidence to support this view (it seems to be the case of one scholar’s guess becoming a second scholar’s footnote and a third scholar’s assumption).”

[15]

David Garland expresses similar frustration with this popular theory in his commentary on 1st Corinthians;

“The old view that made Corinth almost synonymous with prostitution should be abandoned… [These references are] to Greek Corinth, destroyed in 146 B.C., not in Corinth after it had been resettled and rebuilt as a Roman colony. It is anachronistic to apply the epithets to the Corinth of Paul’s day.”

[16]

Some scholars even go as far as to overlook Tertullian (A.D. 160 – 240 early church father), who specifically noted that the practice of women covering their heads in worship did not come from the pagan Gentiles but originated in the Christian Church. [17]

Paul tells the hypothetical, contentious Corinthian that this custom, (or practice), would be seen in all the “churches of God” in their day (1 Cor. 11:16). This has nothing to do with culture in Paul’s view. In fact, according to Paul, women covering their heads in the church is transcultural. Paul grounds headcovering in five things that transcend culture;

  1. Creationv.8-9, 12.
  2. Naturev.4-6, 13-15.
  3. Headshipv.3, 7.
  4. Angelsv.10.
  5. Practice of The Universal (New Testament) Churchv.2, 16.

This would be a good place to read the entire text together. While you are reading it you can feel free to look at the above outline and highlight for yourself the reasons Paul argues for headcoverings in the church. We cannot afford to explain away headcoverings at the cost of removing one of these timeless truths that Paul grounds headcovering in. If we make the custom cultural then we have to make the truths the custom is grounded in cultural as well.

“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, shames his head. 5 But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, shames 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 short. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut short 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 Nevertheless, 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, but 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.”

1 Corinthians 11:2-16 (LSB)

See the problem? It is a problem that does not stop here either. Often people will be too hasty and explain away headcoverings with the cultural argument, meanwhile, they also throw out creation ordinances with it. This is a necessary evil in their view but where does it stop and how do you stand in judgment of others who do the same? Let’s take 1 Timothy 2:12 for example.

“A woman must learn in quietness, in all submission. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13 For it was Adam who was first formed, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into trespass.”

1 Timothy 2:11-14 (LSB)

Conservative evangelicals have been waging war against the egalitarianism, feminism, and liberalism that has been eroding at the church for the past few decades. The argument is women cannot preach in the pulpit, cannot teach men in the church, and cannot be pastors (elders) because Paul grounds this rule in Creation. (Really two things, Creation and Headship).

But this is no problem for the egalitarians, feminists, and liberals. Most of them do not accept biblical creation but subscribe to evolution, that Adam was not a historical man, or that Genesis chapters 1 – 3 are just poetry. In other words, they are okay with removing the creation ordinance from the text for the sake of removing headship and gender roles from the church. Will we do the same with 1 Corinthians 11:2-16? There are a lot more transcendent truths headcovering is grounded in than there are for roles in the church. There is a cost to quick exegesis and in this case, it is a major one.


girl in white dress standing on brown soil surrounded by green plants

Hair or Fabric


“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.”

1 Corinthians 11:14-15 (LSB)

Usually, after someone who opposes headcoverings has been shown what we have studied so far, the next objection is about 1 Corinthians 11:15, “for her hair is given to her for a covering.” This is a legitimate objection because when one reads this text it appears that there should be no fuss over headcoverings as long as the woman has long hair and if she does then she is covered.

The answer is that the woman’s hair is a permanent type of covering. The hair of the woman is also her glory, but it does not make it equivalent to the artificial covering mentioned in v.3-13. Never is the covering Paul is speaking of in v.3-13 referred to as the woman’s glory. Let me further explain by pointing out that we are dealing with two different Greek words.

Why is this important? Well, because they mean slightly different things. To be clear, “cover” is a fine translation for both words, but the translators of our English Bibles should have gone with a different word for one or the other to avoid this confusion. Because it is obvious that if Paul was talking about the same thing he would have chosen to use the same word. There is a reason Paul uses a different word when referring to the woman’s hair.

The word translated “cover” in v.6 is κατακαλύπτεται (katakalyptō). Κατακαλύπτεται (pronounced: “kat-ak-al-oop’-to”) occurs three times, twice in v.6 and once in v.7. It is a verb and its etymology is from the Greek word κατά, which means “to“, and καλύπτω, which means “cover” or “hide.” This is an action performed by someone or something. A good translation of this word would be “to cover up” or “to veil one’s self.” In our context that is exactly what Paul is commanding these women to do, “to cover up” or “to veil” themselves. It is an active participation on their part to obey the command. They must do something, they must place a “symbol of authority” on their head.

The other word which is translated as “cover” in v.15 is περιβολαίου (peribolaion). περιβολαίου, (pronounced: “per-ib-ol’-ah-yon”), is a noun that means “mantle,” “a covering thrown around,” or “a wrapper.” It is found in one other place in the New Testament; the book of Hebrews. Paul uses this word to explain the hair of the woman. The author of Hebrews uses the word in his translation and quote of Psalm 102:25-27;

“You, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth,
And the heavens are the works of Your hands;
11 They will perish, but You remain;
And they all will wear out like a garment,
12 And like a mantle (περιβολαίου) You will roll them up;
Like a garment they will also be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.”

Hebrews 1:10-12 (LSB)

So, what we have is as we expected, the woman’s hair is her natural or permanent covering crowning the woman. It forms a natural “mantle” or something “thrown around” the woman and also communicates the glory of womanhood; “Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering” (1 Cor. 11:14-15). A woman is to have long hair according to her nature and that is glorious. This long hair is something thrown around her and naturally “covers” her with the glory of womanhood, but it is not the same cover Paul is speaking about in the previous verses. Paul is using the hair of the woman as a contrast to the artificial covering that he is commanding the women to wear.

It is as if Paul is pointing out that, “Yes, you women do have a ‘type’ of ‘covering’ around you; your hair which is per your nature. But, that is the glory of womanhood thrown around you, it does not mean you can go without your head covered. You must ‘cover’ with a ‘symbol’ of being under authority.” Even though it is confusing with both the Greek words rendered the same in our English translations, just simply going back and studying what Paul said in v.4-6 makes it clear that the hair of the woman cannot be the covering he is speaking of.

“Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, shames his head. 5 But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, shames 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 short. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut short or her head shaved, let her cover her head.”

1 Corinthians 11:4-6 (LSB)

This text makes no sense unless we understand it as an artificial covering. If someone wants to go from v.15 and read back into the previous verses the idea of the hair being the covering, they are up against many challenges. The text begins to not make any sense if that is the interpretation one decides to go with. Paul says that if a woman does not cover her head then she is the same as a woman “whose head is shaved” (v.5).

Again, this doesn’t make any sense if the hair is the covering or symbol of authority. If the hair of v.15 is the covering of v.5 and the woman does not have it, meaning she has no hair, then why does Paul say she is the same as a woman who has no hair? It just doesn’t make any sense. We know it’s not the same because the Greek word for covering that is used in v.5 is different from the one in v.15 as we have already discussed.

In v.6 we read Paul say; “For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut short. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut short or her head shaved, let her cover her head” (LSB). This is not a very accurate translation of the Greek. The word translated here as “cut short” is keirō and it does not mean cut short but means “cut off or be shorn” like you would shear a sheep. The best translation I have found of v.6 is the NET (New English Translation);

“For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head.”

1 Corinthians 11:6 (NET)

Now everything we are learning here is nothing new to us. Nature does teach us these things. When women lose their hair during chemotherapy they typically cover their heads with a bandana or a beanie because they feel some sort of shame. The fact that Locks of Love exists tells us that this is something everyone is aware of. (Locks of Love is a nonprofit charity that provides custom-made hair wigs to children who have suffered hair loss as a result of medical conditions and cancer treatment.)

No one has a problem or is offended when a man removes his ball cap from his head when he prays. This is still a cultural practice to this day (though some churches are pushing the envelope). When we sing the National Anthem we remove our hats. Does that make us legalists? No; come on. Of course, it does not. And yet, when someone practices headcovering in the church on the Lord’s Day they are thought of as a Pharisee.

So, why is it that this practice is still somewhat held onto in our society? Why do we remove our hats during these societal customs? This is because headcoverings are a symbol of authority and everyone knows it; “Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels” (1 Cor. 11:10).

The Greek literally reads “a symbol of power” and some translations like the KJV render it this way. “Authority” is a good translation as well, for they both mean the same thing. The woman has to have a “symbol” on her head. This means, again, it cannot be hair but must be some kind of artificial covering placed upon the woman’s head. (I address the angels in another article)

This symbol of authority points back to the man who is over her, either her father or her husband. Paul explained that; “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” (1 Cor. 11:7). There is a flowing stream of glory here I wish us to understand. Since the woman is the glory of man, her hair should be covered because her glory is her hair and since the man is “the image and glory of God”, his head should not be covered.

What Paul appears to be saying is that God’s glory is the most important thing to be considered and not our own. For the man, his glory is the woman, therefore, she should be covered with a sign of authority on her head. Because the woman’s glory is her hair, it should be covered, again, so that God’s glory is chiefly displayed; and His glory is displayed in man, who should be uncovered.


child and woman at the gate near cabin and trees painting

A Word of Encouragement


When I first started studying headcoverings and 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, I was immediately thinking about my wife. As I was reading the books, studying the arguments, and researching the Greek, I was continually asking myself; “How am I going to bring this up with my wife?” “What is she going to think of this?” “If I am convinced this is right but she is not, what on earth is going to happen to our marriage?” These are ordinary thoughts to have, and maybe you are having some of these thoughts right now. I want to share a word of encouragement with you by telling our story.

After praying and thinking deeply about how to bring this up with my wife, I realized that I was not being loving toward her. My anxious thoughts were framed in such a way that it made her come off as if she didn’t know how to discern truth, that she didn’t know how to study the Bible properly, or that she didn’t have good theology. In other words, I was not confident in my wife and was not trusting her to come to a right understanding. I want you to know, (and if you know my wife you already know), that my wife is a godly, brilliant, Christian woman. Why I was having these anxious thoughts, I do not know!

Because the Holy Spirit is in her just as He is in me, I thought it would be best to just let her go through the study herself, without my assistance. Now, before I continue on let me say; this might not be the best move for you. I am just sharing my personal story and experience, so do not feel like you need to copy and paste this into your situation.

I remember that I ordered a book on headcoverings, which I had not yet read, and when it came in I opened up the package, pulled it out, and sat it on our bookshelf. At some point, I said, “Hey honey, check out this book I ordered about headcoverings. It looks interesting. You should check it out and tell me what you think about it.” She didn’t receive this as me assigning her homework or pushing my agenda upon her, for we are both avid readers and love to study theology together. It is not uncommon for her to read a book about different views of Christian parenting, the Lord’s Supper, or church polity, so this was nothing out of the ordinary for we both love to learn.

But what did I do here? I put my trust in my wife. She would then go on to read that book when she had free time between her busy schedule of being a mom of three and I remember when she was halfway through the book she said to me; “I don’t know about this headcovering book babe.” I replied with something like, “What in the world?” To which she replied, “It kind of makes sense, and I do not know how to feel about it.

She shared with me a little bit about what she was reading and what she was thinking. I encouraged her not to stress out about it and to keep reading it. By the time she got to the end of the book her uneasy thoughts had not gone away. She said she wanted me to read the book, or at least certain portions of the book that she had the most questions about, to see what I thought. I believe this was my wife returning the favor to me. I believe that deep down my wife had already decided in her heart that headcovering was the right thing to do, she just wanted to see what I would say and how I would lead.

After I read over everything she had pointed out to me in the book we started to talk about it. Honestly, it was one of the greatest experiences of our marriage. What an odd thing to say! But it is true. Having you and your wife together studying, praying, seeking truth in God’s Word, and meditating upon it, is an incredible thing for your marriage. For some couples it is wrestling over the gospel itself, for others, it is struggling through the doctrines of grace; but for us, it was headcoverings in 1 Corinthians 11.

We started to spend more time talking about the practice of headcovering, in other words, we had decided that this was the right thing to do without there being some decisive moment. We never declared that this was the right thing to do, we just arrived there somehow. This is a testament to God’s grace. We didn’t have a hard landing, we hit the ground running. I look back now and I am so thankful that God took us both through one of the more major shifts in our biblical understanding with such painless ease.

Now, I am not promising that this is going to be the case for everyone. Truly, God does give a variety of blessings and hardships to chosen people He deems fit for them in their time and place. But He did this for us and He could do it for you. We will get to some warnings and concerns to take note of in the next section but for now, let me continue with our story.

After my wife and I had been discussing her covering her head for some days now, we arrived at a point where our conscience couldn’t take it any longer. Going to church and participating in the Lord’s Day worship with the saints was getting harder. My wife was feeling like she couldn’t continue to assemble and worship without covering, so we set a date.

This is where I think we messed up but by God’s grace, He still blessed us. Before I get to the date debacle I need to first mention my precious daughters. What played a part in choosing a date was our conversation with them. At dinner one night I led us in prayer and then began to explain to them what God said in 1 Corinthians 11. I by no means did an in-depth exegesis of the text, but simply walked them through it step by step. It took about 2 – 3 minutes.

After that, I then confessed to them my sin of leading them astray with my ignorance. I explained to them that since I am their father it is my job to lead them, teach them, and train them in the things of God (Eph. 6:4) and that I had failed them. I asked them to forgive me and to continue to place their trust in me as I try again to lead them, teach them, and train them again. They received my repentance and forgave me. It was a wonderful moment.

Then, my wife and I pulled out the laptop and showed them different styles of headcoverings. My wife also logged onto a website and asked the girls which ones they liked. They were all very excited. My wife and two girls chose their headcoverings and placed the order, the lead time was about two weeks. This is when we picked a date. We chose the Sunday following the expected arrival of the new headcoverings.

This is when we messed up. We chose when we were going to start obeying God and it wasn’t immediate, it was based on our convenience. God humbled us when the headcoverings did not show up the week we expected. We were now faced with the decision again; “Are we going to obey God now or are we going to wait when it’s convenient for us?” This time, by His grace, we did the right thing. We drove to Walmart, each girl picked out a bandana, and we went to church the next day.

It took some time for my wife and girls to get used to it, and by that, I mean figuring out how exactly to wear them. As far as enjoying it, my daughters never once complained about it, and to this day they love wearing their headcoverings. For my wife, it took some time. The biggest hurdle for her would be the perception of it. Remember the questions I was asking myself while worrying over what my wife would think about headcoverings? Well, those are similar to the questions my wife would be asking herself. “Do people now think that I am a legalist?” “Does my church family think that we are weirdos now?” “I wonder if they are making fun of me?” All of these questions have the same root as the questions I was asking. They assume the worst in others instead of the best. We cannot be this way towards other Christians (1 Cor. 13:4-7).

My wife would eventually conquer these fears and thoughts by God’s grace and become ready to discuss the topic and explain it with joy to anyone who may ask her. What is interesting is that hardly anyone did ask her about it. Only a handful of people would ask about the headcoverings, while the rest of the church never brought it up. It was almost as if they avoided it. This is probably because they were just being polite and did not want to offend us by bringing attention to it or asking probing questions. But we were ready to give an answer if asked.

In a brief nutshell that is our story. There are many things that I skipped over, summarized, and probably forgotten but that is the gist. Why I share it is that I hope that you will find it encouraging. God was extremely kind to us through this process by His grace. As a family, He brought us closer together. As husband and wife, He strengthened our marriage in a remarkable way. God is kind to those who trust in Him and lean on Him instead of their own understanding. If you are convinced that headcoverings are indeed what God is commanding upon women in the church and are nervous about what to do next; that is okay. I was too. But God’s grace is sufficient for you and He will guide you.


a painting of a landscape with people and animals

A Word of Caution


Let me now take some time to talk about how not to do it. This section is not for those who need encouragement to obey the practice but for those who need to take a deep breath before they force their entire family to obey it. There are some Christians, particularly men, who when they gain a new grasp of theological understanding or doctrine, take it and beat over the heads of others who don’t know it. This is commonly seen amongst newborn Calvinists. They are the reason we came up with the term, “Cage Stage Calvinists.” This is because they need to be locked in a cage until they have had time to calm down so they do not harm anyone.

Headcoverings could be used in the same way. The last thing you need to do is beat your wife into spiritual submission or torment others with something that is designed to be so beautiful. There is a right way to handle truth and then there is a wrong way to handle it. We want to make sure that we put God’s Word, His truth, in the most positive light possible. We also need to display confidence in God and His divine work of illumination. The Holy Spirit opens our minds and eyes to understand the Scriptures. This is simply something we cannot do by our own strength. All we can do is walk others through the Scriptures and pray.

Remember the part in our story when I mentioned that hardly anyone in our church asked us about it? Did you notice I didn’t say, “So we went to every single one of them and tried to convince them headcoverings are biblical for today!” My wife and I agreed to not bring up headcoverings unless we were asked about it and to this day we have honored that decision. The last thing we want to do is play into the hands of being labeled a peddling legalist with our laws. There is a kind way to do it.

Now, if I was teaching through 1st Corinthians and got to chapter 11, guess what I am going to do? Faithfully exegete, explain, and teach what I believe God has spoken and I will do it unapologetically. But that is much different than going to everyone in your church and cramming your newfound doctrine or theological understanding down their throats. Please, do not do this. But treat others the way you would want to be treated.

If the desire is to have your wife or daughter accept headcoverings as a biblical practice then the goal is to be patient. Have them read 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. Ask them what they think about it. Ask them if they would read articles or books on the topic. Start there before coming home, sitting your wife or daughter down on the couch and then telling her she is wearing a headcovering come Sunday. Remember this could be a slow process and that is okay. Pray for them and trust in the Lord in all things.

I hope this has been helpful and I will try my best to write more articles on this subject because we have only scratched the surface of this thing. “What about the angels in v.10?” “When is the woman supposed to cover her head, all the time or only in church?” “What about the difference in the translations, like the ESV?” “How much hair should be covered?” What about all the other arguments you didn’t cover in this post?” But until then let me share some resources with you.

Resources

*Disclaimer: I do not condone, accept, or promote all content ever produced by the individuals above. I am merely sharing some selected resources you may find helpful in your study. I do not agree with every single thing in these resources but for the most part, they are helpful.

Works Cited

[1] Irenaeus of Lyons. Irenaeus Against Heresies. Edited by A. Roberts, et al., vol. 1, New York, Christian Literature Company, 1885. Page 327.

[2] Clement. Ante-Nicene Fathers. vol. 2, Book Five, The Instructor, Book 3, Chapter 11.

[3] Jerome. “The Letters of St. Jerome”. Edited by P. Schaffer, et al., St. Jerome: Letters and Select Works ed., vol. 6, New York, Christian Literature Company, 1893. Page 292.

[4] St. Augustine. Epistula CCXLV.

[5] Susan Karant-Nunn, and Merry Wiesner. Luther on Women: A Sourcebook. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003. Page 95 & 31.

[6] William Tyndale. Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures. Edited by H. Walker, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1848. Page 219.

[7] Henry Stebbing. A Case of Conscience Resolved (Women’s Prayer Meetings). The Entire Works of John Bunyan ed., vol. 4, London, City Road and Ivey Lane, 1860. Page 418.

[8] Johnathan Edwards. An Enquiry Into Four Remarkable Texts of the New Testament. Edited by J. Hayes, 1692. Page 125 & 130-135.

[9] Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Spurgeon’s Sermons on Angels. Kregel Academic, 1996. Page 98.

[10] R.C. Sproul. “To Cover or Not To Cover.” The Hard Sayings of the Apostles.

[11] John Calvin. Sermon on 1 Cor 11:2-3. Edited by Seth Skolnitsky, Philadelphia, Presbyterian Heritage Publications. Page 12-13.

[12] National Organization for Women. The Power of the Positive Woman by Phyllis Schlafly, Dec. 1968. New Rochelle, NY, Arlington House, 1977. Page 207.

[13] Carrie Budoff. “Headgear as a Footnote to History.” New York Times, 6 April 1997.

[14] Jeremy Gardiner. Head Covering: A Forgotten Christian Practice for Modern Times. Edmonton, AB, The Head Covering Movement, 2016. Page 17.

[15] Gordon D. Fee. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. New International Commentary on The New Testament ed., Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans Publishing, 1987. Page 2-3, 511, 496.

[16] David E. Garland. 1 Corinthians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on The New Testament ed., Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Academic, 2003. Page 240.

[17] Tertullian. “On the Veiling of Virgins”. Ante-Nicene Fathers ed., vol. 4. (Book One, Part Three) vols.