Why do so many husbands allow their wives to worship without a hat?!?

[FatherSebastian]

I am a husband and my wife wears a veil. I also happen to be a married priest. Check out the video on the font page of our website to see the veil in action steliasmelkite.org

 

[Ray_the_pastor]

Most of the time, I feel like the Bible is a very serious thing – a great educational tool, actually.

But then I read something like 1 Corinthians 5-7…

And I start to wonder, where do you guys draw the line? There’s so many rules in the Bible… and you make it so you believe you can ignore those in the Old Testament, because they are dietary and not divine.

Umm… OK. So what about the New Testament?

Basically, Paul doesn’t care for the dietary rules/laws, so he abolishes them more or less, saying that Christ Jesus has freed us from these “shackles”. But Paul also believes that women should cover their heads during worship. And if she doesn’t cover her head, then Paul believes she should shave her head… which would be a shameful thing.

I dunno about you guys, but I find Paul to very OPINIONATED. Even tho he understands that Christ Jesus rewrote all the laws for us, he still wants to believe that men should have short hair, women should have long hair [and wear a hat!]. Did Jesus die on the Cross for my right, as a man, to have long hair? … or, as a woman, to NOT wear a hat to worship?

I knew of one elderly woman who went to church with a hat. One woman. That was it!

So I repeat… how could you husbands allow your wife to worship without a hat??? HOW DARE YOU!!

St. Paul would also say that women are not allowed in the Temple. St. Paul would say that women are property, owned by the husband.

Yet, today in the marriage ceremony, the church states that husband and wife are equal.

We believe in the Holy Spirit that continues to guide and instruct us. That Spirit continues to reveal God more fully to us, and allows us to understand God’s desires more fully.

The Church today does not have the same teachings as it did on the day of Pentecost.

The Church 50 years after Pentecost, did not have the same teachings.

St. Paul, in all his writings… wrote Brothers… he never mentioned sisters. Yet today, when St. Paul is read at Mass, we say Brothers and Sisters. Why, because in St. Paul’s time, only men were listening to his words, and today men and women are listening to his words.

Jesus did not die to give us the right to have long hair… He died for the forgiveness of our sins, for our salvation.

 

[Wesrock]

St. Paul would also say that women are not allowed in the Temple. St. Paul would say that women are property, owned by the husband.

Yet, today in the marriage ceremony, the church states that husband and wife are equal.

We believe in the Holy Spirit that continues to guide and instruct us. That Spirit continues to reveal God more fully to us, and allows us to understand God’s desires more fully.

The Church today does not have the same teachings as it did on the day of Pentecost.

The Church 50 years after Pentecost, did not have the same teachings.

St. Paul, in all his writings… wrote Brothers… he never mentioned sisters. Yet today, when St. Paul is read at Mass, we say Brothers and Sisters. Why, because in St. Paul’s time, only men were listening to his words, and today men and women are listening to his words.

Jesus did not die to give us the right to have long hair… He died for the forgiveness of our sins, for our salvation.

This comes down too harshly on Saint Paul. Would he have had a modern idea of man and woman relations? No, probably not. But I doubt he’d ever have labeled women as property if asked. He’d have spoken up regarding equal dignity before God, even if worldly duties and roles were different or even unequal due to the worldly order of things. And the lack of inclusive language does not mean he only wrote to men. He traveled with women, spoke with women, sent women to evangelize and speak on his behalf in certain situatioms, recognized prominent women in the early Church, etc…

 

[PluniaZ]

This was honestly a sincere concern I had when I was a protestant evangelical. I could not find an evangelical church that took every verse in the Bible literally, in particular the rules on women speaking in church and covering their heads.

The inescapable conclusion was that the Church had authority to interpret and apply such verses, which naturally led me to ask: which Church has the best claim for such authority?

 

[Arizona_Fat_Gir]

Why indeed?

Do men still believe it’s OK to boss their wives around?

Live and let live.

 

[Mary_Estelle]

Of all things to fuss over: Vail or no vail. There are more important matters to consider. such as world hunger, extreme poverty, illness and death of children and the defenseless, war and the abuses of war. I don’t think God cares one whit what we wear as long as it is modest and that our intentions are for adoration and not self adoration/vanity. We worship with our hearts and souls, not with the hair on our heads. Cover if that is your desire, but don’t judge others. Peace.

 

[lanman87]

Actually, the problem comes with the English translation. In Greek the word for woman and wife is the same. That’s because there was no such thing as teenage years back then. You were a child, then you were married. Same with the word for man and husband, they are the same word. So, in the present passage (1 Cor 11), Paul is referring to a custom among the Jews, of married women wearing some sort of head covering while in public. This was the equivalent of our modern day engagement/wedding ring. It let people in the market place know that this woman is unavailable. A woman, therefore, seen in the market place without a veil on was either not yet married or a prostitute. The remnant of this custom is still seen in our wedding services even here in the US were a wedding veil is considered part of the wedding outfit for the woman. Traditionally, from that day forward, the woman would always put some sort of scarf or cloth on her head when she went out of the house to indicate that she was now married.

The Jews also had in their Law the rules about public distinction of men and women. Men were to dress like men, keep their hair no longer then shoulder length, and well, be men. A man that dressed like a woman or had long hair would be considered a homosexual. Women were to dress like women, keep their hair longer then shoulder length, and well, be women, etc.

In Corinth, however, things were different. Married women did not cover their heads when in public. In Greek society, education was a major status symbol. A sign that a man was educated was to have long hair.

Imagine the problem in the Church in Corinth. One Sunday a Christian Jew arrives from Jerusalem. He is shocked to find upon entering that all the women in the church appear to be unmarried and available. But then he realizes why when he sees that all the men appear to be homosexuals…

Fr. Sebastian
steliasmelkite.org

This is exactly what was taught about this passage at my baptist church when we studied 1 Corinthians last year.

 

[JanetF]

Just discover (through my wonderful wife of 36 years and 1 day) that Jackie Kennedy DID wear a veil! My childhood is a lie! Woe is me! Moving on, will the Cubs win another world series?

I was going to say, every picture I remember ever seeing of her was with a black veil, but I didn’t want to pick a fight over it.

 

[Padres1969]

My wife would have to worship before I’d be able to chastise her for doing so without a hat

Presuming I was so inclined.

 

[FatherSebastian]

I was going to say, every picture I remember ever seeing of her was with a black veil, but I didn’t want to pick a fight over it.

Traditionally, a married woman wore any color she liked, but back was for mourning. That’s why widows in the old days always wore black veils as a sign that they were mourning their husband’s death.

 

[ReaganEve]

Actually, the problem comes with the English translation. In Greek the word for woman and wife is the same. That’s because there was no such thing as teenage years back then. You were a child, then you were married. Same with the word for man and husband, they are the same word. So, in the present passage (1 Cor 11), Paul is referring to a custom among the Jews, of married women wearing some sort of head covering while in public. This was the equivalent of our modern day engagement/wedding ring. It let people in the market place know that this woman is unavailable. A woman, therefore, seen in the market place without a veil on was either not yet married or a prostitute. The remnant of this custom is still seen in our wedding services even here in the US were a wedding veil is considered part of the wedding outfit for the woman. Traditionally, from that day forward, the woman would always put some sort of scarf or cloth on her head when she went out of the house to indicate that she was now married.

The Jews also had in their Law the rules about public distinction of men and women. Men were to dress like men, keep their hair no longer then shoulder length, and well, be men. A man that dressed like a woman or had long hair would be considered a homosexual. Women were to dress like women, keep their hair longer then shoulder length, and well, be women, etc.

In Corinth, however, things were different. Married women did not cover their heads when in public. In Greek society, education was a major status symbol. A sign that a man was educated was to have long hair.

Imagine the problem in the Church in Corinth. One Sunday a Christian Jew arrives from Jerusalem. He is shocked to find upon entering that all the women in the church appear to be unmarried and available. But then he realizes why when he sees that all the men appear to be homosexuals…

Fr. Sebastian
steliasmelkite.org

This was very interesting! I never cared much for Paul; he seemed kind of misogynistic to me. But, this makes me see things from a different perspective. Perhaps I just don’t understand the context surrounding some of the things he said. Thank you!

 

[FatherSebastian]

Paul is very misunderstood in a number of ways. Once someone understands the context, historical and literary, they usually see Paul is a very different light. If you want to hear a bit more about that, take a look at our parish bible study on Faith Alone steliasmelkite.org/userfiles/pdf/1479250359.mp3

In Christ,
Fr. Sebastian

 

[Roseeurekacross]

No wonder I don’t wear a head covering in Mass. I am living the single life!

What should I do?

 

[Rosebud77]

Really? There’s a difference between individual Protestant churches you know. The Lutheran and Anglican (Episcopalian) have a liturgical structure very similar to the Catholic church. There are norms in these churches and similar ones.

 

[HelenRose]

I have given this permission to my husband to. He treads very carefully on this issue however.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Paul is very misunderstood in a number of ways. Once someone understands the context, historical and literary, they usually see Paul is a very different light. If you want to hear a bit more about that, take a look at our parish bible study on Faith Alone steliasmelkite.org/userfiles/pdf/1479250359.mp3

In Christ,
Fr. Sebastian

Father Sebastian, thank you so much for your links. They are very informative! God bless you.