Should Christian women cover their head because of the angels?
Should Christian women cover their head because of the angels?
Apostle Paul purposefully brings crucial instructions about head covering to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 11. This context is primarily a God-given order of spiritual submissiveness in fear of God.
The three main reasons according to Paul are -
a) Because of Divine order - God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man, and Man is the head of woman (v.3-6)
b) Because of Creation design - "For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man" (v.7-9).
c) Because of the Angels - Angels are the spectators of the church (v.10)
Many believers at Corinth struggled with division and disunity (1 Corinthians 1:10) because many in the church exerted their arbitrary standards above that of God - 1 Corinthians 4:6. As a result, there was increasing confusion regarding what God intended. Because of this reason, Paul explains that head covering in submission to their head is not a misogynistic argument that males and females are not equal in God's eyes. Instead, Paul asserts that men and women are interdependent, as they are ontologically equal.
Paul's argument is correct. If he truly meant that man is essentially superior to woman, he would also have meant that Christ is inferior to God, which is wrong because Christ himself is God (Titus 2:13 and Philippians 2:6–7). Therefore, it is clear Paul is not asserting the inequality of male and female, God the Father and Son. Instead, he asserts the different roles and functions of humanity within God's design as of in triune God. For instance, the Holy Spirit reveals the Son (John 16:13–15), the Son glorifies the Father (John 17:4), and the Father glorifies the Son with Himself (John 17:5). Though Jesus acknowledged his submission to the Father in Matthew 26:39, it didn't make him less important than the Father.
When Paul said, "The woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels," in 1 Corinthians 11:10, he meant that man should take his headship seriously as the woman should take heed of hearty submission to her husban according to the "order" established by God because we need to reflect the picture God intended (Ephesians 5:33). Moreover, the good angels, who are present during worship services are watching and learning the form of hearty submission to the head (authority) from the relationship of God with men (1 Peter 1:12).
Some conclude that women naturally have long hair as a head covering (v15). Therefore, they can wear an extra head covering or use their hair to illustrate their hearty submission to their headship (authority). On the other hand, some assumed this issue was customary. Therefore, they conclude that head covering for Christian women is no longer crucial.
In response to the above conclusions, Paul intends that the order of submission established by God is not due to the reflection of the Instead, it is the original intention of God from the beginning and not customary, so the significance does not change.
Therefore, women must wear extra head coverings, not their hair as a covering, when they pray or prophesy because if the hair is their head cover, then it seems men must always shave their heads. This is due to instructions given to man and woman are different v.6-7.
It is pretty clear that head covering is not by hair but by extra material things. Here, if the hair is the head cover, the author will not ask a woman to cover her head or to shave it off.
Similarly, v7 "A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but a woman is the glory of a man"
exemplifies that if the hair is the head cover, it seems man ought to cut off his hair and stay bald (hairless) throughout.
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