Hey Andy, what’s with Paul telling women that if they don’t cover their heads, they might as well cut all their hair off? Also, why did he and Timothy tell women to keep quiet in church and that they were inferior to men?
Hi, wow, since those are big questions, I’m going to answer them individually.
Was Paul Against Women in Ministry?
First off, Paul was never against women in ministry. In fact, he often talked of women who were equals to him on the mission fields. You also have to recognize the context in which Paul was talking when he said all this. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is a good example of this: “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.“
See, when you look at it out its original context, it looks like Paul’s basically telling the women to shut up and never talk in worship service. However, if you look at the context around it, you see that he’s not just talking to the women, but also to people who were speaking in tongues without interpreters and people speaking prophecies out of turn. See? But if you take that little paragraph out of context, then it looks like Paul’s just jumping on the women’s rights.
Teenagers In Many Cases
You also have to understand the culture back then. Often times, the wives were young – teenagers in many cases – and the husbands would be grown men in their 30s who were established in their businesses. If you’ve ever watched teen girls in church today, they’re often passing notes, texting, not paying attention, or confused. Well, in this passage, they were asking other men (probably guys they knew, other people’s husbands even) about what was going on in the middle of the service, and this was disrupting the service and others’ worship. So Paul’s telling these young girls to shut up during worship, but also encourages them that if they should have any questions, they should ask their OWN husbands later on after worship (see this above?).
Nip This In the Bud
Now, in Timothy’s letter, Paul’s telling the women to shut up because there happened to be a popular cult in those days – much like feminism today – that was targeting women, and many were susceptible to being converted, and these women would then come into the Christian worship and begin preaching such beliefs. So to nip this in the bud, Paul tells Timothy not to let them talk.
It Was A Cultural Thing at That Time
Another point on this, as explained in the notes section of my study Bible, is that “Public teaching, which involves making authoritative statements of doctrine, is improper for a woman to exercise over males who have reached the age of religious responsibility in the church.” – In other words, it was a cultural thing at that time. However, it’s not in our culture today, for we have women today who are teachers in schools, women who are CEOs of corporations, women who are managers and supervisors of businesses, women who are heads of households, women politicians, heck, etc. So culturally-speaking, this instruction against women preaching/teaching in the church shouldn’t really pertain to us today, or at least it should not be the deciding factor against them.
Now For the Head Coverings:
1 Corinthians 10 recalls sexual immorality as a problem at that time (as it is also now). It was also popular among the local cults (and cults were a problem at the time, as they are today, also).
Chapter 11 is talking about public prayer, not a church service.
Long Hair Was A Woman’s Pride and Joy
Long hair was a woman’s pride and joy – she keeps it up and takes care of it. Hair also helps make a woman look attractive. Prayer puts the focus on God. If a woman dresses up her hair all pretty for public prayer, then the focus comes off God and onto the women (think of all the guys checking out the pretty woman walking in, or who want to sit next to the pretty woman who just walked into church). But the place was for public prayer, not a dating service. Therefore, in order for everybody to keep their focus on God (men not looking at the women, the women not wondering if a guy’s looking at them, etc.), Paul told the women to cover their hair.
Shave All Her Hair Off
In response, Paul also went so far as to say that if a woman was to go to the extreme of this order, and shave all her hair off, yeah, she wouldn’t be seen as attractive anymore, but the shock from all who see it would still distract them from keeping their focus on God in prayer. Therefore, Paul’s not saying to go to extremes, but for the sake of everybody being able to keep their focus on God in prayer, a woman should therefore cover her head.
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