N
nodito
Guest
Rudy,
The problem that I have with your premise is that the “plainness” of the Scriptures is also the argument that fundamentalists use to justify all kinds of beliefs that Catholics do not necessarily subscribe to. For example, in Genesis, God clearly says that the world was created in six days:
Likewise, when I read the passage in 1 Corinthians that you reference, it does not at all become apparent to me that God considers short hair on women to be sinful. Here is the passage (1 Cor. 11:10- 16 as written in the New American Bible that the US Catholic Bishops have on their website:
I read the footnotes on the USCCB’s website. For better or worse, I don’t find this passage so clear as you do, and I often rely on Christian scholars to indicate what this might mean. The eighth footnotes reads:
Furthermore, I wonder, if it really is so shameful for a woman to have short hair, and since it is so prevalent for women in the United States to have short hair today, why is it that the Church hasn’t spoken definitely on this? Why isn’t there something in the catechism that explains in current vernacular why short hair is sinful, just as it explains why divorce, adultery, and theft are sinful (even though these latter sins are spelled out very clearly in Scripture). The reason I think it does not include “short hair” as a sin in the catechism is not that Scripture speaks so plainly that we don’t need interpretation, but rather that the Church does not consider short hair to be sinful and feels even less inclined to spell out everything that isn’t a sin.
Lastly, and for the record, I am a woman with very long hair, so your theory that only women with “manly” haircuts object to your interpretation is false.
God bless.
The problem that I have with your premise is that the “plainness” of the Scriptures is also the argument that fundamentalists use to justify all kinds of beliefs that Catholics do not necessarily subscribe to. For example, in Genesis, God clearly says that the world was created in six days:
I don’t know how much plainer it can get. God created the entire world in exactly six days. And yet, as Catholics, we’re permitted to believe that this was allegorical, that perhaps this passage is meant to convey a deeper truth than simply a historical account of how the world began.
Likewise, when I read the passage in 1 Corinthians that you reference, it does not at all become apparent to me that God considers short hair on women to be sinful. Here is the passage (1 Cor. 11:10- 16 as written in the New American Bible that the US Catholic Bishops have on their website:
I find this a bit confusing, actually. I don’t think nature teaches us that long hair on a man is disgraceful; how could it? Nature naturally makes the hair on men’s heads grow long. Why is it that long hair on a man is disgraceful, but should be considered the glory of a woman?
I read the footnotes on the USCCB’s website. For better or worse, I don’t find this passage so clear as you do, and I often rely on Christian scholars to indicate what this might mean. The eighth footnotes reads:
In other words, the rules that this passage is trying to convey might be that Church-goers ought to exercise propriety current to their contemporary culture. So, for example, it is commonly thought that when Paul was writing, only prostitutes and lesbians had their hair cut short. It makes sense, then, that he would tell women not to cut their hair; to do so would be immodest. But today this might not be the case, since short hair no longer indicates one’s status or sexual preference in American culture. I don’t see why you should consider this interpretation to be selfish. It makes perfect sense to me.
Furthermore, I wonder, if it really is so shameful for a woman to have short hair, and since it is so prevalent for women in the United States to have short hair today, why is it that the Church hasn’t spoken definitely on this? Why isn’t there something in the catechism that explains in current vernacular why short hair is sinful, just as it explains why divorce, adultery, and theft are sinful (even though these latter sins are spelled out very clearly in Scripture). The reason I think it does not include “short hair” as a sin in the catechism is not that Scripture speaks so plainly that we don’t need interpretation, but rather that the Church does not consider short hair to be sinful and feels even less inclined to spell out everything that isn’t a sin.
Lastly, and for the record, I am a woman with very long hair, so your theory that only women with “manly” haircuts object to your interpretation is false.
God bless.
