Long hair on men

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cynic

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Paul says that it is against nature for a man to have long hair. Yet I can imagine many men of that period having shaggy hair due to a lack of …scissors. Medieval representations of Jesus generally show him with long(ish) hair also. Is it, er sinful?
 
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cynic:
Paul says that it is against nature for a man to have long hair. Yet I can imagine many men of that period having shaggy hair due to a lack of …scissors. Medieval representations of Jesus generally show him with long(ish) hair also. Is it, er sinful?
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No, its not sinful. Why would it be??
 
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thistle:
No, its not sinful. Why would it be??
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because Paul says that nature teaches (“natural law”) that if a man has long hair, it is a shame to him. Didn’t I just say that?

It might be regarded as effeminate, blurring gender lines etc…
 
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cynic:
because Paul says that nature teaches (“natural law”) that if a man has long hair, it is a shame to him. Didn’t I just say that?

It might be regarded as effeminate, blurring gender lines etc…
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Could you please provide a scripture reference?
 
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cynic:
because Paul says that nature teaches (“natural law”) that if a man has long hair, it is a shame to him. Didn’t I just say that?

It might be regarded as effeminate, blurring gender lines etc…
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Our sins are measured against the 10 Commandments. Where in any of the Commandments does it say anything about long hair??
 
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beckyann2597:
Could you please provide a scripture reference?
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**Corinthians 11:14-15 **

4Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.
 
4Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
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The nature of things could also mean the “things” that were acceptable by society.

In the 60/ 70s men started to wear their hair long. (Thank you Beatles) society slowly began to change their views about men in long hair.

It’s not the hair that makes the man. The length of hair on a person does not make a person moral or immoral.
 
I can’t even imagine why St Paul would say that, at the time of Jesus it was against Levitical law to cut ones hair.
 
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levi86:
I can’t even imagine why St Paul would say that, at the time of Jesus it was against Levitical law to cut ones hair.
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Paul was writing to the Corinthians, who were probably more Greek converts than Jewish converts. They would not have followed Levitical law, but rather their own customs which seemed “natural” to them: that men wore short hair while women wore long hair.
 
JB.:
Paul was writing to the Corinthians, who were probably more Greek converts than Jewish converts. They would not have followed Levitical law, but rather their own customs which seemed “natural” to them: that men wore short hair while women wore long hair.
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Ah I see. I wonder….would Paul have had long hair, seeing as he was still bound by Levitical law, or would he have cut his hair to make his appearance more acceptable to the gentiles?
 
Then again, the hair we consider “long” today when looking at images of Jesus was not what “long hair” meant for most of history. For most of history, due to lack of scissors, hair on men probably did go down to around their shoulders. This was considered short. The hair on women that was considered “long” probably went down to the small of their back.
 
JB.:
Paul was writing to the Corinthians, who were probably more Greek converts than Jewish converts. They would not have followed Levitical law, but rather their own customs which seemed “natural” to them: that men wore short hair while women wore long hair.
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This is a good point. If you remember, Paul also wrote about women wearing head coverings, that too was a social custom. I think his point was to not make waves and be a radical when it comes to personal appearance. That would have only alienated the Christians and hindered their ministry of spreading the Gospel
 
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batteddy:
Then again, the hair we consider “long” today when looking at images of Jesus was not what “long hair” meant for most of history. For most of history, due to lack of scissors, hair on men probably did go down to around their shoulders. This was considered short. The hair on women that was considered “long” probably went down to the small of their back.
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exactly - if you look at ancient greek paintings a lot of the men actually do have shoulder-length hair or thereabouts
 
well what I get from that is that paul is saying that men should in no way look like woman, and woman should in no way look like men. Hair is given to women as a covering, but men should be uncovered. Considering there is a whole debate on whether woman should wear pants, I think it would be ridiculous to then regard men with long hair as a “non-issue”.
 
I think these points were each made seperately, but to sum up. Short was a lot longering in the first century. In fact during the English Civil War (mid-1600s), when the Puritians decided to follow this passage literally the had their hair cut to shoulder length.

Paul’s real message is for men to act like men and women to act like women. So, a woman could have short hair up to point where it makes her look boyish and man long hair up to the point where it makes him look like a woman.
 
I am male, with shoulder length hair (w00t!)
Nothing wrong with long (or short) hair inherently, however it can cause problems with vanity. and many people will often look bewildered when they see me or automatically think negatively of me.
I can almost hear them thinking “o look at that hippie, prolly does all sorts of drugs”
little do they know, he’s a very orthodox Catholic 🙂

o, and you can’t leave out the countless “you look like Jesus!” remarks.

and to those I always say “whelp, if I can’t always act like Him, I might as well try to look like Him!”

PEACE,
Mordocai
 
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Mordocai:
I am male, with shoulder length hair (w00t!)
Nothing wrong with long (or short) hair inherently, however it can cause problems with vanity. and many people will often look bewildered when they see me or automatically think negatively of me.
I can almost hear them thinking “o look at that hippie, prolly does all sorts of drugs”
little do they know, he’s a very orthodox Catholic 🙂

o, and you can’t leave out the countless “you look like Jesus!” remarks.

and to those I always say “whelp, if I can’t always act like Him, I might as well try to look like Him!”

PEACE,
Mordocai
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I don’t have that problem seeing as how I shave my head, instead I get “hey, look at the neo Nazi”, I’m not sure the tats. help either 😉

Getting back to the issue at hand, doesn’t anyone else think it’s strange that Paul would depart so dramatically from Levitical law? I’m sure not all of the Apostles would have agreed with him, this is hinted at in Acts at the council of Jerusalem. And don’t our Eastern brothers still wear their hair long?
 
“Getting back to the issue at hand, doesn’t anyone else think it’s strange that Paul would depart so dramatically from Levitical law?”

Paul (and other Jews) was not forbidden to cut his hair, unless he had taken a Nazarite vow. This was a special, and usually temporary, vow of consecration.

According to the Mishna, the normal time for keeping a Nazarite vow was thirty days; but sometimes a double vow was taken, lasting sixty days. In fact, a vow was sometimes undertaken for a hundred days.

During the time of his vow, a “Nazarite” was required to abstain from wine and every kind of intoxicating drink. He was also forbidden to cut the hair of his head or to approach a dead body, even that of his nearest relative. If a “Nazarite” accidently defiled himself, he had to undergo certain rites of purification and then had to begin the full period of consecration over again.

—Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words

Hope this clears it up for you, Levi.
 
I think it’s rather funny that someone is worried about long hair being a sin. If that’s what you are thinking about then perhaps you have too much time on your hands
Kathy
 
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