Christian head covering

Christian head covering, also known as Christian veiling, is the traditional practice of women covering their head in a variety of Christian denominations. Some Christian women, based on historic Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, and Plymouth Brethren teaching, wear the head covering in public worship and during private prayer at home (though some women belonging to these traditions may also choose to wear the head covering outside of prayer and worship),[1][2][3] while others, especially traditional Anabaptist Christians, believe women should wear head coverings at all times, based on Saint Paul's dictum that Christians are to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17),[4] Saint Paul's teaching that women being unveiled is dishonourable, and as a reflection of the created order.[upper-alpha 1][15][16][17] In Oriental Orthodox Christian and Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches, certain theologians teach the same doctrine that it is "expected of all women to be covered not only during liturgical periods of prayer, but at all times, for this was their honor and sign of authority given by our Lord",[13] while other clerics have held that headcovering should at least be done during prayer and worship.[14][18] Genesis 24:65[19] records the veil as a feminine emblem of modesty.[20][21][1] Manuals of early Christianity, including the Didascalia Apostolorum and Pædagogus instructed that a headcovering must be worn by women during prayer and worship, as well as when outside the home.[22][23]

An Eastern Orthodox Christian woman wearing a headcovering at church; behind her is an icon of the early Christian virgin martyr Saint Tatiana of Rome, who is depicted with her head covered.
Women who belong to the Hutterite Church, an Anabaptist Christian denomination, wear their headcovering (usually in the form of an opaque hanging veil) throughout the day.
Christian women wearing headcoverings at an Easter church service in Saint Petersburg, Russia

The practice of Christian head covering for "praying and prophesying" is taught in the traditional interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:2-10[24] in the New Testament of the Bible.[25] The majority of Biblical scholars have held that "verses 4-7 refer to a literal veil or covering of cloth" for "praying and prophesying" and verse 15 to refer to the hair of a woman given to her by nature.[26][27][28][29] Christian headcovering with a cloth veil was the practice of the early Church, being universally taught by the Church Fathers and practiced by Christian women throughout history,[26][2][30][31] continuing to be the ordinary practice among Christians in many parts of the world, such as Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, and South Korea;[1][32][33] additionally, among Conservative Anabaptists such as the Conservative Mennonite churches and the Dunkard Brethren Church, headcovering is counted as an ordinance of the Church, being worn throughout the day by women.[10][11] When Saint Paul commanded women to be veiled in 1 Corinthians (which was addressed to all Christians everywhere), the surrounding pagan Greek women did not wear headcoverings; as such, the practice of Christian headcovering was countercultural in the Apostolic Era, being a biblical ordinance rather than a cultural tradition.[upper-alpha 2][38][39][40][41] The style of headcoverings worn by Christian women varies by region, though the early Church's Apostolic Tradition specifies that Christian headcovering is to be observed with an "opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen".[42]

History

Bible and the Early Church

The biblical figure Ruth depicted wearing a head covering in the field of Boaz (painting by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld)

During the time of Moses, the Bible records that it was normative for women to wear a head covering (cf. Numbers 5:18).[1] In Numbers 5:18, the sotah (meaning "one who goes astray") ritual, in which the head of a woman accused of adultery is uncovered (made parua), is explicated, implying that normally a woman's head is covered; the Talmud thus teaches that the Torah (Pentateuch) commands women to go out in public with their heads covered.[43][44] This headcovering worn during biblical times was a veil or headscarf.[45]

In the Old Testament's Book of Daniel, Susanna wore a headcovering and wicked men demanded that it be removed so that they might lust after her (cf. Susanna 13:31–33).[1] Genesis 24:64–65 records that Rebecca, while traveling to meet Isaac, "did not flaunt her physical beauty" but "veiled herself, increasing her allure through an outward display of modesty."[1] The biblical book Song of Songs records "the erotic nature of hair from the verse, 'Your hair is as a flock of goats' (Song of Songs, 4:1), i.e., from a verse praising her beauty."[46] Jewish law around the time of Jesus stipulated that a married woman who uncovered her hair in public evidenced her infidelity.[47]

Fresco in the Catacomb of Priscilla showing a veiled woman praying in the gesture of orans, supposed to be a consecrated virgin, 3rd century

Christian head covering was universally practiced by the women of the Early Church, which continued the biblical ordinance.[1] This was attested by multiple Church Fathers throughout the first centuries of Christianity who taught that because the hair of a woman has sexual potency, it should only be for her husband to see and covered the rest of the time.[48] Saint Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:2–6, teaches: "… keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered."[29][49] In his explication of Saint Paul's command in 1 Corinthians 11:10, the Church Father Irenaeus (c.130 – c.202), the last living connection to the Apostles who penned Against Heresies, explained that the "power" or "authority" on a woman's head when praying and prophesying was a cloth veil (κάλυμμα kalumma).[50] The Church Father Hippolytus of Rome (c.170 – c.235) while giving instructions for church gatherings said "… let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering."[26][51] The early Christian apologist Tertullian (c.155 – c.220) likewise held that the covering should be a substantial one (cf. headscarf):[52]

Because you can't avoid wearing a veil, you should not find some other way to nullify it. That is, by going about neither covered nor bare. For some women do not veil their heads, but rather bind them up with turbans and woollen bands. It's true that they are protected in front. But where the head properly lies, they are bare. Others cover only the area of the brain with small linen coifs that do not even quite reach the ears. … They should know that the entire head constitutes the woman. Its limits and boundaries reach as far as the place where the robe begins. The region of the veil is co-extensive with the space covered by the hair when it is unbound. In this way, the neck too is encircled. The pagan women of Arabia will be your judges. For they cover not only the head, but the face also. … But how severe a chastisement will they likewise deserve, who remain uncovered even during the recital of the Psalms and at any mention of the name of God? For even when they are about to spend time in prayer itself, they only place a fringe, tuft [of cloth], or any thread whatever on the crown of their heads. And they think that they are covered![52]

In addition to praying and worshipping, the ancient Christian Didascalia Apostolorum directed that Christian women should wear headcoverings in public: "Thou therefore who art a Christian [woman] … if thou wishest to be faithful, please thy husband only, and when thou walkest in the market-place, cover thy head with thy garment, that by thy veil the greatness of thy beauty may be covered; do not adorn the face of thine eyes, but look down and walk veiled; be watchful, not to wash in the baths with men."[22] In the same vein, Clement of Alexandria (c.150 – c.215), an early Christian theologian, instructed in Paedagogus that "Woman and man are to go to church decently attired  … Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be entirely covered, unless she happen to be at home. For that style of dress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled.”[53][54] Clement of Alexandria says: "Because of the angels". By the angels he means righteous and virtuous men. Let her be veiled then, that she may not lead them to stumble into fornication. For the real angels in heaven see her though veiled.[55] Clement of Alexandria explicated this: "It has also been commanded that the head should be veiled and the face covered, for it is a wicked thing for beauty to be a snare to men. Nor is it appropriate for a woman to desire to make herself conspicuous by using a purple veil."[30] Tertullian explains that in his days, the women of the Corinthian church from the age of puberty onwards (unmarried and married) were practicing Christian headcovering despite the fact that non-Christians in the region did not observe this ordinance; as such, the practice of Christians was countercultural.[upper-alpha 3][41][39][57][58][38] In his deliberative treatise De virginibus velandis ("On the Veiling of Virgins") Tertullian argumented from scripture, natural law and Christian disclipline that from puberty virgins ought to be veiled when in public.[59] The custom of some Carthaginian consecrated virgins not being veiled when the church gathered was sharply criticised as being contrary to the truth. This is only 150 years after the Apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. He said, "So, too, did the Corinthians themselves understand [Paul]. In fact, at this day the Corinthians do veil their virgins [and married women]. What the apostles taught, their disciples approve."[60][39][61] "Early church history bears witness that in Rome, Antioch, and Africa the custom [of wearing the head covering] became the norm [for the Church]."[62] The historian Cory Anderson stated that the reason for this is because the early Church understood Saint Paul's instruction to apply to the whole church.[60] Origen of Alexandria (c.185 – c.253) wrote, "There are angels in the midst of our assembly … we have here a twofold Church, one of men, the other of angels … And since there are angels present … women, when they pray, are ordered to have a covering upon their heads because of those angels. They assist the saints and rejoice in the Church." In the second half of the third century, women praying with their heads covered is mentioned as church practice by St. Victorinus in his commentary of the Apocalypse of John.[63] The early Christian Acts of Thomas, written in Syriac Aramaic, assigns Hell as the fate of women who did not wear a headcovering, stating:[28]

And he took me unto another pit, and I stooped and looked and saw mire and worms welling up, and souls wallowing there, and a great gnashing of teeth was heard thence from them. And that man said unto me: These are the souls of women which forsook their husbands and committed adultery with others, and are brought into this torment. Another pit he showed me whereinto I stooped and looked and saw souls hanging, some by the tongue, some by the hair, some by the hands, and some head downward by the feet, and tormented (smoked) with smoke and brimstone; concerning whom that man that was with me answered me: The souls which are hanged by the tongue are slanderers, that uttered lying and shameful words, and were not ashamed, and they that are hanged by the hair are unblushing ones which had no modesty and went about in the world bareheaded.[28]

"The Apostolic Constitutions [4th century AD] … expressly commanded that the women should have their heads covered in the Church."[40] In the same era, the Early Church Father John Chrysostom (c.347  407) delineated Saint Paul's teaching, explaining that Christian women should wear a cloth headcovering when in public in view of Saint Paul's comparison of a woman not wearing a veil to being shaven, which he states is "always dishonourable":[64][16]

Well then: the man he compelleth not to be always uncovered, but only when he prays. "For every man," saith he, "praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head." But the woman he commands to be at all times covered. Wherefore also having said, "Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head unveiled, dishonoureth her head," he stayed not at this point only, but also proceeded to say, "for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven." But if to be shaven is always dishonourable, it is plain too that being uncovered is always a reproach. And not even with this only was he content, but he added again, saying, "The woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels". He signifies that not at the time of prayer only but also continually, she ought to be covered. But with regard to the man, it is no longer about covering but about wearing long hair, that he so forms his discourse. To be covered he then only forbids, when a man is praying; but the wearing of long hair he discourages at all times.[16][64]

John Chrysostom held that to be disobedient to the Christian teaching on veiling was harmful and sinful: "…  the business of whether to cover one's head was legislated by nature (see 1 Cor 11:14–15). When I say 'nature', I mean 'God'. For he is the one who created nature. Take note, therefore, what great harm comes from overturning these boundaries! And don't tell me that this is a small sin."[65] Jerome (c.342 – c.347  420) noted that the hair cap and the prayer veil is worn by Christian women in Egypt and Syria, who "do not go about with heads uncovered in defiance of the apostle's command, for they wear a close-fitting cap and a veil".[66] Augustine of Hippo (354  430) writes about the head covering, "It is not becoming, even in married women, to uncover their hair, since the apostle commands women to keep their heads covered."[67] Early Christian art also confirms that women wore headcoverings during this time period.[68][39]

Middle Ages and Modern Era

A wimple as shown in Portrait of a Woman, circa 1430–1435, by Robert Campin (1375/1379–1444), National Gallery, London. The wimple features four layers of cloth, and the pins holding it in place are visible at the top of the head.

Until at least the 19th century and still extant in certain regions, the wearing of a head covering, both in the public and while attending church, was regarded as customary for Christian women, in line with the injunction to do so in 1 Corinthians 11, in the Mediterranean, European, Indian, Middle Eastern, and African societies.[69][70][71][72][73][74][49] With the custom of Christian headcovering being practiced for centuries, in the Middle Ages, a woman who did not wear a head covering was interpreted to be "a prostitute or adulteress", though this was not the case in the preceding Ante-Nicene period during which pagan Greek women went about in public and prayed bareheaded (in contrast to the Christian women who veiled themselves).[69][75][39][56]

Christian literature, with respect to demonology, has documented that during exorcisms, possessed women have attempted to tear off their headcovering, as with the case of Frances Bruchmüllerin in Sulzbach.[76][77]

The practice of headcovering continues to be the ordinary practice among Christian women in many parts of the world, such as Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, and South Korea.[1][32][33] In the West, "up until World War I, a woman slipped on a white cap immediately upon arising…and some type of hat or bonnet was worn every time she left the house."[70][78] The custom has declined in America and Western Europe, though certain Christian denominations (such as those of Conservative Anabaptism) continue to require it and many Christian women continue to observe the ancient practice.[18][3] David Bercot, a scholar on early Christianity, noted that relatively recent interpretations in the Western World that do not necessitate the wearing of headcoverings by women, in contrast to the historic practice of female Christian veiling, are linked with the rise of feminism in the 20th century.[79][80][81] In 1968, American feminist group — the National Organization for Women — released a "Resolution on Head Coverings”:[82]

WHEREAS, the wearing of a head covering by women at religious services is a custom in many churches and whereas it is a symbol of subjection within these churches, NOW recommends that all chapters undertake an effort to have all women participate in a "national unveiling" by sending their head coverings to the task force chairman immediately. At the Spring meeting of the Task force on Women in Religion, these veils will then publicly be burned to protest the second class status of women in all churches.”[82][83]

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1969, fifteen women from the Milwaukee chapter of the National Organization for Women protested in St. John de Nepomuc Catholic Church; after taking their place at the communion rail, the women removed their hats and placed them on the communion rail.[84] The following week, the Milwaukee Sentinel published a letter to the editor from “Mrs. M. E., Milwaukee,” who felt that the protest was “immature exhibitionism.”[82][85]

Nevertheless, in the 21st century, the practice of headcovering is being revived in the Western World among some women belonging to various Christian congregations where the practice lapsed, though other denominations have practiced the biblical ordinance perpetually, as with Dunkard Brethren or Conservative Mennonites, the latter of which count headcovering among the seven ordinances of the Church.[10][86][87][88] The sociologist Cory Anderson stated that for those Christian women who continually wear it, such as Conservative Anabaptists, the headcovering serves as a outward testimony that often allows for evangelism.[60]

Current practices

Styles

With respect to the early Church, Tom Shank concluded that there were a variety of headcoverings worn by the early Christians, ranging from shawls to kapps: "William McGrath (1991) found that etchings in the Catacomb of Domitila in Rome — dating as far back as A.D. 95 — show 'modestly dressed sisters wearing the cap style veiling.' Warren Henderson, writing about the catacombs, also observed that women covered their heads, but emphasized the cloth styles."[60] In the present-day, various styles of headcoverings are worn by Christian women:

Region Headpiece worn as Christian headcovering Image
Eastern Europe headscarf[89]
Southern Europe, Latin America, Spain, Philippines, Ireland, Argentina, Russia mantilla[90]
Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Russia shawl[91]
West Africa, Caribbean, North America head tie[92]
India, Pakistan dupatta[93]
Romania maramă[94]
Ethiopia, Eritrea Netela
North America kapp, sometimes with a bonnet (among many Mennonites, Amish, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, and Conservative Quakers)[95]
hanging veil (among many Mennonites, Hutterites and Charity Christians)[96][97][98]
church crown (in the Southern United States)[99][12]
kapp
hanging veil
church crown

Western Christianity

Headcovering in the Restored Reformed Church of Doornspijk
Female dieners in the Moravian Church serving bread to fellow members of their congregation during the celebration in a lovefeast are seen wearing headcoverings.

Continuing the historic Christian practice since the time of the Apostolic era, in Western Europe and North America at the start of the 20th century, it was commonplace for women in mainstream Christian denominations to wear head coverings during church services, with female members of certain denominations (chiefly Anabaptist Churches) wearing them throughout the day — an ordinance that is still enjoined in many traditional Anabaptist fellowships.[100][101] These included Anabaptist (inclusive of the Mennonite, Hutterite, Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren, Apostolic Christian,[102] Amish, and River Brethren traditions),[103][98] Anglican,[104] Catholic,[105] Lutheran,[106] Methodist,[107] Moravian,[108] Plymouth Brethren,[88] Quaker,[109] and Reformed (inclusive of the Congregationalist, Continental Reformed and Presbyterian traditions) Churches.[110][3]

Mantillas made of white lace, during a Holy Week procession in Spain

In Roman Catholicism, headcovering for women was unanimously held by the Latin Church until the 1983 Code of Canon Law came into effect. A headcovering in the Catholic tradition carries the status of a sacramental.[111][112] Historically, women were required to veil their heads when receiving the Eucharist following the Councils of Autun and Angers.[113] Similarly, in 585, the Synod of Auxerre (France) stated that women should wear a head-covering during the Holy Mass.[114][115] The Synod of Rome in 743 declared that "A woman praying in church without her head covered brings shame upon her head, according to the word of the Apostle",[116] a position later supported by Pope Nicholas I in 866, for church services."[117] In the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) said that "the man existing under God should not have a covering over his head to show that he is immediately subject to God; but the woman should wear a covering to show that besides God she is naturally subject to another."[118] In the 1917 Code of Canon Law it was a requirement that women cover their heads in church. It said, "women, however, shall have a covered head and be modestly dressed, especially when they approach the table of the Lord."[119] Veiling was not specifically addressed in the 1983 revision of the Code, which declared the 1917 Code abrogated.[120] According to the new Code, former law only has interpretive weight in norms that are repeated in the 1983 Code; all other norms are simply abrogated.[121] In certain countries, such as in India, the wearing of a headscarf by women remains the norm and sacraments, such as the Eucharist, have been refused to ladies who present themselves to receive the elements without wearing a headcovering in church.[122]

Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer and father of Lutheranism, encouraged wives to wear a veil in public worship.[123] The General Rubrics of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, as contained in "The Lutheran Liturgy", state in a section titled "Headgear for Women": "It is laudable custom, based upon a Scriptural injunction (1 Cor. 11:3-15), for women to wear an appropriate head covering in Church, especially at the time of divine service."[106]

In the Reformed tradition, both John Calvin, the founder of the Continental Reformed Churches, and John Knox, the founder of the Presbyterian Churches, both called for women to wear head coverings.[124][125] John Calvin taught that headcovering was the cornerstone of modesty for Christian women and held that those who removed their veils from their hair would soon come to remove the clothing covering their breasts and that covering their midriffs, leading to societal indecency:[126]

So if women are thus permitted to have their heads uncovered and to show their hair, they will eventually be allowed to expose their entire breasts, and they will come to make their exhibitions as if it were a tavern show; they will become so brazen that modesty and shame will be no more; in short they will forget the duty of nature…Further, we know that the world takes everything to its own advantage. So, if one has liberty in lesser things, why not do the same with this the same way as with that? And in making such comparisons they will make such a mess that there will be utter chaos. So, when it is permissible for the women to uncover their heads, one will say, ‘Well, what harm in uncovering the stomach also?’ And then after that one will plead for something else; ‘Now if the women go bareheaded, why not also bare this and bare that?’ Then the men, for their part, will break loose too. In short, there will be no decency left, unless people contain themselves and respect what is proper and fitting, so as not to go headlong overboard.[127]

Furthermore, Calvin stated "Should any one now object, that her hair is enough, as being a natural covering, Paul says that it is not, for it is such a covering as requires another thing to be made use of for covering it."[126] Nevertheless, some Reformed figures of the 16th and 17th centuries held that head covering was a cultural institution, including Theodore Beza,[128] William Whitaker,[129][130] the commentary within the Geneva Bible,[131] Westminster Divines Daniel Cawdry,[132] and Herbert Palmer,[133] Matthew Poole,[134] and Francis Turretin.[135][136]

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, held that a woman, "especially in a religious assembly", should "keep on her veil".[137][138][139] All early Methodist divines, including Thomas Coke, Adam Clarke, Joseph Sutcliffe, Joseph Benson and Walter Ashbel Sellew, reflected the same historic position of 1 Corinthians 11 — that veils are enjoined for women, while caps are forbidden to men while praying.[139][140]

Roger Williams, the founder of the first Baptist church in North America, taught that women should veil themselves during worship as this was the practice of the early Church.[141]

In nations in regions such as Eastern Europe and the Indian subcontinent, nearly all Christian women wear head coverings while praying at home and during church services.[142][32][143] In the United Kingdom, it is common for women to wear a Christian headcovering while attending formal religious services, such as church weddings.[144][145][146] At worship, in parts of the Western World, many women started to wear bonnets as their headcoverings, and later, hats became predominant.[147][148] However, eventually, in North America and parts of Western Europe, this practice started to decline,[100][149][2] with some exceptions including Christian women who wear plain dress, such as Conservative Quaker women,[12] and many Anabaptist women (including those who are Mennonites {such as the Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites}, River Brethren {such as the Old Order River Brethren and Calvary Holiness Church},[150] Hutterites,[151] Bruderhof,[103] Schwarzenau Brethren {such as the Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren and Dunkard Brethren Church},[152] Amish, Apostolic Christians and Charity Christians).[97][95] Headcovering is among the seven ordinances of Conservative Mennonites.[10] Furthermore, certain Conservative Methodist women, such as those belonging to the Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, also wear headcoverings,[153] as do Traditional Catholic and Plain Catholic women,[154][155] in addition to Plymouth Brethren women,[156] and women with church membership in conservative Reformed and Presbyterian churches, such as the Heritage Reformed Congregations, Netherlands Reformed Congregations, Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, Free Presbyterian Church of North America and Presbyterian Reformed Church.[157][158][159][110] Some female believers in the Lutheran Churches, as well as the Churches of Christ, cover too.[160][161] Certain Pentecostal Churches, such as the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Ukrainian Pentecostal Church, and the Christian Congregation observe the veiling of women as well.[162][163][164] Female members of Jehovah's Witnesses may only lead prayer and teaching when no baptized male is available to, and must do so wearing a head covering.[165][166]

Nuns of the Roman Catholic, Western Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican traditions often wear a veil as a part of their religious habit. Likewise, Moravian females wear a lace headcovering called a haube, when serving as dieners in the celebration of lovefeasts.[167] Deaconesses in certain Methodist connexions, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the Pillar of Fire Church, wear a deaconess cap.[168]

Eastern Christianity

Women of the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church wearing headcoverings

Among the churches of Eastern Christianity (including the Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Lutheran traditions), it is customary for women to cover their heads with a headscarf while in church (and oftentimes in the public too); an example of this practice occurs in the Russian Orthodox Church.[169][170][171] In Albania, Christian women often wear white veils, although their eyes are visible; moreover, in that nation, in Orthodox church buildings, women are separated from men by latticework partitions during the church service.[172] An ancient Orthodox Christian prayer titled the "Prayer for binding up the head of a woman" has been used liturgically for the blessing of a woman's headcovering(s), which was historically worn by an Orthodox Christian woman at all times with the exception of sleeping:[13]

O God, you who have spoken through the prophets and proclaimed that in the final generations the light of your knowledge will be for all nations, you who desire that no human created by your hands remain devoid of salvation, you who through the apostle Paul, your elected instrument, ordered us to do everything for your glory, and through him you instituted laws for men and women who live in the faith, namely that men offer praise and glory to your holy name with an uncovered head, while women, fully armed in your faith, covering the head, adorn themselves in good works and bring hymns and prayers to your glory with modesty and sobriety; you, O master of all things, bless this your servant and adorn her head with an ornament that is acceptable and pleasing to you, with gracefulness, as well as honour and decorum, so that conducting herself according to your commandments and educating the members (of her body) toward self-control, she may attain your eternal benefits together with the one who binds her (head) up. In Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom to you belongs glory together with the most holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever (and unto the ages of ages).[13]

Alexei Trader, the Eastern Orthodox bishop of the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska, delineated the teaching of the Church on a Christian woman's headcovering:[173]

In the Orthodox Church, the act of placing something under or behind a veil sets it apart as special, as something to be revered and respected, similar to the role played by the temple veil of the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem. Thus, there is a connection between a woman’s veil with covering and revering that which is precious, such as the chalice that contains the wine that will become the Most-pure blood of Christ. And those coverings themselves also become holy. We can see this in the account of the Byzantine Empress Eudokia who donated her personal veil/head-covering to a monastery for use as an altar cloth. Of all articles of clothing, only a woman’s head-covering could become a vestment for the holy altar, for it is already a kind of vestment.[173]

Women belonging to the community of Old Believers wear opaque Christian headcoverings, with those who are married keeping a knitted bonnet known as a povoinik underneath.[174]

In other cases, the choice may be individual, or vary within a country or jurisdiction. Among Eastern Orthodox women in Greece, the practice of wearing a head covering in church gradually declined over the course of the 20th century.

Eastern Orthodox clergy of all levels have head coverings, sometimes with veils in the case of monastics or celibates, that are donned and removed at certain points in the services. In U.S. churches they are less commonly worn.

Eastern Orthodox nuns wear a head covering called an apostolnik, which is worn at all times, and is the only part of the monastic habit which distinguishes them from Eastern Orthodox monks.

Oriental Christianity

Coptic Orthodox Christian woman wearing a head covering and harabah (1918)

In Oriental Orthodox Christianity, Coptic women historically covered their head and face in public and in the presence of men.[175] During the 19th century, upper-class urban Christian and Muslim women in Egypt wore a garment which included a head cover and a burqa (muslin cloth that covered the lower nose and the mouth).[176] The name of this garment, harabah, derives from early Christian and Judaic religious vocabulary, which may indicate the origins of the garment itself.[176] Unmarried women generally wore white veils while married women wore black.[175] The practice began to decline by the early 20th century.[175]

Women in the Believers Eastern Church, an Oriental Protestant denomination, wear head coverings.[177] Its Metropolitan Bishop, K. P. Yohannan teaches that “When a woman wears the symbol of God’s government, a head covering, she is essentially a rebuke to all the fallen angels. Her actions say to them, ‘You have rebelled against the Holy God, but I submit to Him and His headship. I choose not to follow your example of rebellion and pride.'”[2]

Scriptural basis

A Slavic woman wearing a headcovering during Christian worship
Women belonging to the Samoan Assemblies of God Church, a Pentecostal denomination, are seen wearing hats during worship.

Old Testament (including the Apocrypha/Deuterocanon)

Passages such as Genesis 24:65,[178] Numbers 5:18,[179] Song of Solomon 5:7,[180] Susanna 13:31–32,[181] and Isaiah 47:2[182] indicate that believing women wore a head covering during the Old Testament era.[1][183] Song of Songs 4:1[184] records that hair is sensual in nature, with Solomon praising its beauty.[46]

New Testament

Amish women wearing headcoverings in the form of kapps

1 Corinthians 11:2–16[185] contains a passage referring to the use of headcoverings for women (and the uncovering of the heads of men).[25][186]

Paul introduces this passage by praising the Corinthian Christians for remembering the "ordinances" (also translated as "traditions"[187] or "teachings")[188] that he had passed on to them (verse 2).[36] Included in these apostolic ordinances that Paul is discussing in 1 Corinthians 11 are the headcovering and the Eucharist.[189]

Paul then explains the Christian use of head coverings using the subjects of headship, glory, angels, natural hair lengths, and the practice of the churches.[1][190] This led to the universal practice of headcovering in Christianity.[26][1] Theologians David Lipscomb and J. W. Shepherd in their Commentary on 1st Corinthians explicate the theology behind the traditional Christian interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11, writing that Paul taught that "Every man, therefore, who in praying or prophesying covers his head, thereby acknowledges himself dependent on some earthly head other than his heavenly head, and thereby takes from the latter the honor which is due to him as the head of man." In the Old Testament, priests (who were all male) wore turbans and caps as Jesus was not known in that era, establishing "the reason why there was no command to honour Him by praying or prophesying with heads uncovered."[79] With the revelation of Jesus to humanity, "Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonours his head (Christ)."[79] In light of 1 Corinthians 11:4, Christian men throughout church history have thus removed their caps when praying and worshipping, as well as when entering a church.[191][192][193] As the biblical passage progresses, Paul teaches that:[79]

God's order for the woman is the opposite from His order for the man. When she prays or prophesies she must cover her head. If she does not, she disgraces her head (man). This means that she must show her subjection to God's arrangement of headship by covering her head while praying or prophesying. Her action in refusing to cover her head is a statement that she is equal in authority to man. In that case, she is the same as a woman who shaves her head like a man might do. Paul does not say that the woman disgraces her husband. The teaching applies to all women, whether married or not, for it is God's law that woman in general be subject to man in general. She shows this by covering her head when praying or prophesying.[79]

Ezra Palmer Gould, a professor at the Episcopal Divinity School, noted that "The long hair and the veil were both intended as a covering of the head, and as a sign of true womanliness, and of the right relation of woman to man; and hence the absence of one had the same significance as that of the other."[194] This is reflected in the patristic teaching of the Early Church Father John Chrysostom, who explained the two coverings discussed by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:[56]

For he said not merely covered, but covered over, meaning that she be with all care sheltered from view on every side. And by reducing it to an absurdity, he appeals to their shame, saying by way of severe reprimand, but if she be not covered, let her also be shorn. As if he had said, "If thou cast away the covering appointed by the law of God, cast away likewise that appointed by nature."[56]

John William McGarvey, in delineating verse 10 of 1 Corinthians 11, suggested that "To abandon this justifiable and well established symbol of subordination would be a shock to the submissive and obedient spirit of the ministering angels (Isaiah 6:2) who, though unseen, are always present with you in your places of worship (Matthew 18:10-31; Psalm 138:1; 1 Timothy 5:21; ch. 4:9; Ecclesiastes 5:6)".[195] Furthermore, verse 10 refers to the cloth veil as a sign of power or authority that highlights the unique God-given role of a Christian woman and grants her the ability to then "pray and prophesy with the spiritual gifts she has been given" (cf. complementarianism).[161] This was taught by Early Church Father Irenaeus (120-202 A.D.), the last living connection to the Apostles, who in his explication of Saint Paul's command in 1 Corinthians 11:10, delineated in Against Heresies that the "authority" or "power" on a woman's head was a cloth veil (κάλυμμα kalumma).[50] Irenaeus' explanation constitutes an early Christian commentary on this biblical verse.[196] Related to this is the fact that Verse 10, in many early copies of the Bible (such as certain vg, copbo, and arm), is rendered with the word "veil" (κάλυμμα kalumma) rather than the word "authority" (ἐξουσία exousia); the Revised Standard Version reflects this, displaying the verse as follows: "That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels".[197][196] Similarly, a scholarly footnote in the New American Bible notes that presence of the word "authority (exousia) may possibly be due to mistranslation of an Aramaic word for veil".[198] This mistranslation may be due to "the fact that in Aramaic the roots of the word power and veil are spelled the same."[199] Ronald Knox adds that certain biblical scholars hold that "Paul is attempting, by means of this Greek word, to render a Hebrew word that signifies the veil traditionally worn by a married Jewish woman."[200] Nevertheless, the "word exousia had come at Corinth, or in the Corinthian Church, to be used for 'a veil,' or 'covering'…just as the word 'kingdom' in Greek may be used for 'a crown' (compare regno as the name of the pope's tiara), so authority may mean a sign of authority (Revised Version), or 'a covering, in sign that she is under the power of her husband' (Authorized Version, margin)."[201][202] Jean Chardin's scholarship on the Near East thus notes that women "wear a veil, in sign that they are under subjection."[201][202] In addition to Irenaeus, Church Fathers, including Hippolytus, Origen, Chrysostom, Epiphanius, Jerome, Augustine, and Bede write verse 10 using the word "veil" (κάλυμμα kalumma).[196][203]

Relevant texts

Russian woman putting a headscarf on before entering her church
Assyrian Christian women wearing headcoverings and modest clothing praying in Mart Maryam Church in Urmia, Iran.

2I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you. 3But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ. 4Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head, 5but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head — it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved. 6For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil. 7For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man. 8Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. 10For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman. 12For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman; but all things come from God. 13Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? 14Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him, 15but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16But if anyone is disposed to be contentious — we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.

1 Corinthians 11:2-16, New Revised Standard Version

2Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 3But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 5But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 6For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 7For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man 9Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 11Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 16But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

1 Corinthians 11:2-16, Authorized King James Version

Certain denominations of Christianity, such as traditional Anabaptists (e.g. Conservative Mennonites), combine this with 1 Thessalonians 5 ("Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances")[204] and hold that Christian women are commanded to wear a headcovering without ceasing.[205][15] Anabaptist expositors, such as Daniel Willis, have cited the Early Church Father John Chrysostom, who provided additional reasons from Scripture for the practice of a Christian woman wearing her headcovering all the time — that "if to be shaven is always dishonourable, it is plain too that being uncovered is always a reproach" and that "because of the angels…signifies that not at the time of prayer only but also continually, she ought to be covered."[64][8][16] A Conservative Anabaptist publication titled The Significance of the Christian Woman's Veiling, authored by Merle Ruth, teaches with regard to the continual wearing of the headcovering by believing women, that it is:[9]

… worn to show that the wearer is in God's order. A sister should wear the veiling primarily because she is a woman, not because she periodically prays of teaches. It is true that verses 4 and 5 speak of the practice in relation to times of praying and prophesying. But very likely it was for such occasions that the Corinthians had begun to feel they might omit the practice in the name of Christian liberty. The correction would naturally be applied first to the point of violation. Greek scholars have pointed out that the clause "Let her be covered" is the present, active, imperative form, which gives the meaning, "Let her continue to be veiled."[9]

The biblical passage has been interpreted by Anabaptist Christians and Orthodox Christians, among others, in conjunction with modesty in clothing (1 Timothy 2:9-10 "I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God").[206] Genesis 24:65[207] records the veil as a feminine emblem of modesty.[20][21][1] The wearing of headcoverings in public by Christian women was commanded in early Christian texts, such as the Didascalia Apostolorum and the Pædagogus, for the purpose of modesty.[22][53]

Verse four of 1 Corinthians 11 uses the Greek words kata kephalēs (κατάIn κεφαλῆς) for "head covered", the same Greek words used in Esther 6:12[208] (Septuagint) where "because he [Haman] had been humiliated, he headed home, draping an external covering over his head" (additionally certain manuscripts of the Septuagint in Esther 6:12 use the Greek words κατακεκαλυμμένος κεφαλήν, which is the "perfect passive participle of the key verb used in 1 Corinthians 11:6 and 7 for both a man’s and a woman’s covering his or her head [κατακαλύπτω]") — facts that New Testament scholar Rajesh Gandhi states makes it clear that the passage enjoins the wearing of a cloth veil by Christian women.[209][210] Biblical scholar Christopher R. Hutson contextualizes the verse citing Greek texts of the same era, such as Moralia:[211]

Plutarch's phrase, "covering his head" is literally "having down from the head" (kata tes kephales echon). This is the same phrase Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 11:4. It refers to the Roman practice of pulling one's toga up over the head like a hood. … Romans also wore their togas "down from the head" when they offered sacrifices. This is the practice to which Paul refers.[211]

Verses five through seven, as well as verse thirteen, of 1 Corinthians 11 use a form of the Greek word for "veiled", κατακαλύπτω katakalupto; this is contrasted with the Greek word περιβόλαιον peribolaion, which is mentioned in verse 15 of the same chapter, in reference to "something cast around" as with the "hair of a woman … like a mantle cast around".[38][212][213][214] These separate Greek words indicate that there are thus two headcoverings that Paul states are compulsory for Christian women to wear, a cloth veil and her natural hair.[27][210] The words Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 11:5 are employed by contemporary Hellenistic philosophers, such as Philo (30 BC–45 AD) in Special Laws 3:60, who uses "head uncovered" (akatakalyptō tē kephalē) [ἀκατακαλύπτῳ τῇ κεφαλῇ] and "it is clear that Philo is speaking of a head covering being removed because the priest had just removed her kerchief"; additionally, akatakalyptos [ἀκατακάλυπτος] likewise "means 'uncovered' in Philo, Allegorical Interpretation II,29, and in Polybius 15,27.2 (second century BC)."[215] 1 Corinthians 11:16[216] concludes the passage Paul wrote about Christian veiling: "But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God's other churches."[36] Michael Marlowe, a scholar of biblical languages, explains that Saint Paul's inclusion of this statement was to affirm that the "headcovering practice is a matter of apostolic authority and tradition, and not open to debate", evidenced by repeating a similar sentence with which he starts the passage: "maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you".[36]

Interpretive issues

Orthodox Christian woman in Ukraine. Female believers are required to cover their head when entering churches and monasteries.

There are several key sections of 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 that Bible commentators and Christian congregations, since the 1960s, have held differing opinions about, which have resulted in either churches continuing the practice of wearing headcoverings, or not practicing the ordinance.[80][217]

  • Gender-based headship: Paul connects the use (or non-use) of headcoverings with the biblical distinctions between each gender. In 1 Corinthians 11:3,[218] Paul wrote, "Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman." He immediately continues with a gender-based teaching on the use of headcoverings: "Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head."[36]
  • Glory and worship: Paul next explains that the use (or non-use) of headcoverings is related to God's glory during times of prayer and prophesy. In 1 Corinthians 11:7,[219] he states that man is the "glory of God" and that for this reason "a man ought not to have his head covered." In the same verse, Paul also states that the woman is the "glory of man." He explains that statement in the subsequent two verses by referring to the woman's creation in Genesis 2:18,[220] and then concludes, "Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head" (verse 10). In other words, the "glory of God" (man) is to be uncovered during times of worship, while the "glory of man" (woman) is to be covered.[36]
  • Angels: In 1 Corinthians 11:10,[221] Paul says "Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels" (NASB), also rendered "That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels" (RSV). Many interpreters admit that Paul does not provide much explanation for the role of angels in this context. Some popular interpretations of this passage are:
    1. An appeal not to offend the angels by disobedience to Paul's instructions of women wearing a veil (and men praying with their heads uncovered) as the angels take part in spiritual exercises (Tobit 12:12-15, Revelation 8:2-4)[222][223][224][195][1]
    2. a command to accurately show angels a picture of the created order (Ephesians 3:10,[225] 1 Peter 1:12),[226]
    3. a warning for mankind to obey as a means of accountability, since the angels are watching (1 Timothy 5:21),[227]
    4. to be like the angels who cover themselves in the presence of God (Isaiah 6:2),[228][9] and
    5. to protect against the fallen angels who lust after mortal women and did not stay in the role that God created for them (Jude 1:6).[229][230]
  • Nature and hair lengths: In 1 Corinthians 11:13-15,[231] Paul asks a rhetorical question about the propriety of headcoverings, and then answers it himself with a lesson from nature: "Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering." The historic interpretation of this passage, for example seen in Homilies of John Chrysostom, an Early Church Father, reiterates Paul's teaching that since a woman naturally "covers" her head with her natural hair, she likewise ought to cover it with a cloth headcovering while praying or prophesying (cf. conditional sentence).[27][56]

Thus, in the beginning he simply requires that the head be not bare: but as he proceeds he intimates both the continuance of the rule, saying, "for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven," and the keeping of it with all care and diligence. For he said not merely covered, but "covered over," meaning that she be carefully wrapped up on every side. And by reducing it to an absurdity, he appeals to their shame, saying by way of severe reprimand, "but if she be not covered, let her also be shorn." As if he had said, "If thou cast away the covering appointed by the law of God, cast away likewise that appointed by nature." — John Chrysostom[232]

Michael Marlowe, a scholar of biblical languages, explicates the reductio ad absurdum that Paul the Apostle used in the passage:[36]

In the appeal to “nature” (φύσις) here Paul makes contact with another philosophy of ancient times, known as Stoicism. The Stoics believed that intelligent men could discern what is best in life by examining the laws of nature, without relying on the changeable customs and divers laws made by human rulers. If we consult Nature, we find that it constantly puts visible differences between the male and the female of every species, and it also gives us certain natural inclinations when judging what is proper to each sex. So Paul uses an analogy, comparing the woman’s headcovering to her long hair, which is thought to be more natural for a woman. Though long hair on men is possible, and in some cultures it has been customary for men to have long hair, it is justly regarded as effeminate. It requires much grooming, it interferes with vigorous physical work, and a man with long hair is likely to be seized by it in a fight. It is therefore unmanly by nature. But a woman’s long hair is her glory. Here again is the word δόξα, used opposite ἀτιμία “disgrace,” in the sense of “something bringing honor.” Long and well-kept hair brings praise to a woman because it contributes to her feminine beauty. The headcovering, which covers the head like a woman’s hair, may be seen in the same way. Our natural sense of propriety regarding the hair may therefore be carried over to the headcovering.[36]

Paul's discussion of hair lengths was not to command any specific hair measurement, but rather, a discussion of "male and female differentiation" as women generally had longer hair than men; while the males of Sparta wore shoulder-length hair, the hair of Spartan women was significantly longer.[233]

  • Church practice: In 1 Corinthians 11:16,[234] Paul responded to any readers who may disagree with his teaching about the use of headcoverings: "But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God." This may indicate that headcoverings were considered a standard, universal Christian symbolic practice (rather than a local cultural custom). In other words, while churches were spread out geographically and contained a diversity of cultures, they all practiced headcovering for female members.[36]

Interpretive conclusions and resulting practices

Shawls have been used as a headcovering by Christian women in various parts of the world, such as in Russia; they were worn by the females at the church in Corinth during the era of early Christianity.[91]
Filipino Catholic women about to attend mass in 1905

Due to the aforementioned issues (such as those listed above), Bible commentators and Christian congregations since the 1960s have either advocated for the continued practice of wearing headcoverings, or have discarded the observance of ordinance as understood in its historic sense.[2][217] While many Christian congregations, such as those of the Conservative Anabaptists, continue to enjoin the wearing of headcoverings for female members, others do not.[235][236][217]

  • Some Christian denominations, such as Anabaptist Churches and Orthodox Churches, view Christian headcovering as a practice that Paul intended for all Christians, in all locations, during all time periods and so they continue the practice within their congregations. This view was taught by the early Church Fathers and held universally by undivided Christianity for several centuries afterward.[26][2] This historic interpretation is linked with the God-ordained order of headship.[237] Conservative Anabaptists and Old Order Anabaptists hold that because "the testimony of headship and the angels apply to all times of the believer's life, not only church services", in addition to biblical injunctions to "pray often, even continually (Acts 6:3-4, 6; 12:5; Romans 1:8-10; Ephesians 1:15-19; 6:18-20; Colossians 1:3-4; 5:17; 2 Timothy 1:3-6)", women are called to wear the headcovering throughout the day.[60] The sociologist Cory Anderson stated that for those Christian women who continually wear it, the headcovering serves as a outward testimony that often allows for evangelism.[60]
  • A modern interpretation is that Paul's commands regarding headcovering were a cultural mandate that was only for the 1st-century Corinthian church. This view states that Paul was simply trying to create a distinction between uncovered Corinthian prostitutes and godly Corinthian Christian women, and that in the modern era, headcoverings are not necessary within a church.[235]
  • A recent interpretation, first formulated in 1965 by the Scandinavian theologian Abel Isaakson, purports that Paul stated that the "hair" (specifically "long hair") is the sole covering mentioned in the entire passage; 1 Corinthians 11:15 (NRSV) reads "but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering."[238][239][26][139] However, some have taken issue with the fact that the Greek word used for covering in verse 15 (περιβόλαιον) is a different word than the form of the word used for veiling/covering in verses 5-7 and 13 (κατακαλύπτω), the latter of which means "to cover wholly" or "to veil".[27][212][210][213][240] Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) John W. Keddie contended that if simply any hair were the covering Paul was talking about, then verse 6 would read "For if the women have no hair on her head, let her also be shorn", rendering the passage to be nonsensical.[27][239]

See also

References

Notes

  1. Anabaptist Churches include the Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren and Apostolic Christians, as well as other smaller denominations.[5][6][7] This traditional Anabaptist viewpoint is explicated by expositor Daniel Willis, who cites the Early Church Father John Chrysostom's explication of Saint Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 11 as the basis for continual headcovering (during worship and in public) among women, particularly Saint Paul's assertion that women being unveiled is dishonourable and by consequence, Christian women should cover their heads with a veil continually.[8] Merle Ruth in The Significance of the Christian Woman’s Veiling states that Anabaptist doctrine holds that the biblical "clause [authored by Saint Paul] 'Let her be covered' is the present, active, imperative form, which gives the meaning, 'Let her continue to be veiled.'"[9] To this end, Anabaptists of the Conservative Mennonite and Dunkard Brethren traditions hold headcovering to be among the ordinances of the Church.[10][11] Conservative Friends follow the same practice of wearing a headcovering during worship and when outside the home.[12] In Oriental Orthodox Christian and Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches, certain theologians teach the same doctrine that it is "expected of all women to be covered not only during liturgical periods of prayer, but at all times, for this was their honor and sign of authority given by our Lord",[13] while other clerics have held that headcovering should at least be done during prayer and worship.[14]
  2. The First Epistle to the Corinthians, authored by Saint Paul, is addressed to "… all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours" (see 1 Corinthians 1:1–3). Jesus is Lord is the first creed of Christianity,[34] and by addressing those who affirm it, Saint Paul is addressing the universal Church everywhere, not just the local church in Corinth.[35] Likewise, 1 Corinthians 1:16 concludes Saint Paul's instructions on Christian headcovering: "But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches."[36][37] Biblical language scholar Michael Marlowe cites 1 Corinthians 14:37 to demonstrate that the Paul the Apostle taught the traditions he delivered, such as headcovering with a cloth veil, "are a commandment of the Lord" to be followed by those who are "spiritual".[36]
  3. Writing on the practice of the pagan Greek customs (that surrounded the Corinthian church there), the Early Church Father John Chrysostom (c.347  407) stated: "Their women used both to pray and prophesy unveiled, and with their head bare, (for then women also used to prophesy;) but the men went so far as to wear long hair, as having spent their time in philosophy, and covered their heads when praying and prophesying, each of which was a Grecian custom."[56]

Citations

  1. Gleason, Joseph (4 June 2018). "Why Russian Women Still Cover Their Heads in Church (Hint: It's in the Bible)". Russian Faith. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  2. Gordon, Greg (31 August 2015). "Are Head Coverings Really for Today?". Evangelical Focus. Retrieved 2 May 2022. Hippolytus an early Church Father wrote, "Let all the women have their heads covered." Others who taught this practice in the Church were, John Calvin [father of the Reformed tradition], Martin Luther [father of the Lutheran tradition], Early Church Fathers, John Wesley [father of the Methodist tradition], Matthew Henry [Presbyterian theologian] to name just a few. We must remind ourselves that until the twentieth century, virtually all Christian women wore head coverings.
  3. Barth, Paul J. (15 July 2019). "Head Coverings in Worship?". Purely Presbyterian. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  4. 1 Thess 5:17
  5. Gertz, Steven (2004). "Outsider's Guide to America's Anabaptists". Christianity Today. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  6. "What about Old Orders, Hutterites, Conservatives, River Brethren and Others?". Third Way. 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  7. Huffman, Jasper Abraham (1920). History of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church. Bethel Publishing Company. p. 59.
  8. Willis, Daniel (1 May 2022). "14 Objections to the Head Covering Answered". Sound Faith. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  9. Ruth, Merle (2022). The Significance of the Christian Woman's Veiling. Christian Light Publications. p. 17.
  10. Hartzler, Rachel Nafziger (30 April 2013). No Strings Attached: Boundary Lines in Pleasant Places: A History of Warren Street / Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-62189-635-7.
  11. Dunkard Brethren Church Polity. Dunkard Brethren Church. 1 November 2021. p. 6.
  12. "Q: So what about the funny clothes? Do you dress like the Amish?". Stillwater Monthly Meeting of Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2022. Women usually wear long-sleeved, long dresses, and a head-covering such as a scarf, bonnet, or cap.
  13. Nektarios, Subdeacon (4 October 2022). "Veiling of Orthodox Christian Women According to the Fathers and in the History of the Church". Orthodox Ethos. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  14. Nadian, Jacob. "Why Should Women Cover Their Heads During Prayers?" (PDF). St. Bishop Coptic Orthodox Church. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  15. Almila, Anna-Mari; Almila, David (6 July 2017). The Routledge International Handbook to Veils and Veiling. Taylor & Francis. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-317-04114-6. Amish women who wear it at all times except when sleeping. This is based on the notion that women should 'pray without ceasing'.
  16. Schaff, Philip (1889). A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church: St. Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians. The Christian Literature Company. p. 152. Well then: the man he compelleth not to be always uncovered, but only when he prays. "For every man," saith he, "praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head." But the woman he commands to be at all times covered. Wherefore also having said, "Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head unveiled, dishonoureth her head," he stayed not at this point only, but also proceeded to say, "for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven." But if to be shaven is always dishonourable, it is plain too that being uncovered is always a reproach. And not even with this only was he content, but he added again, saying, "The woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels". He signifies that not only at the time of prayer, but also continually, she ought to be covered. But with regard to the man, it is no longer about covering but about wearing long hair, that he so forms his discourse. To be covered he then only forbids, when a man is praying; but the wearing of long hair he discourages at all times.
  17. Hole, Frank Binford. "F. B. Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary". StudyLight. Retrieved 6 February 2016. There is no contradiction between 1 Corinthians 11:5 of our chapter and 1 Corinthians 14:34, for the simple reason that there speaking in the assembly is in question, whereas in our chapter the assembly does not come into view until verse 1 Corinthians 11:17 is reached. Only then do we begin to consider things that may happen when we "come together." The praying or prophesying contemplated in verse 1 Corinthians 11:5 is not in connection with the formal assemblies of God's saints.
  18. "The Ultimate Guide to Christian Head Coverings". Saint John the Evangelist Orthodox Church. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  19. Genesis 24:65
  20. Arquilevich, Gabriel (1995). World Religions. Teacher Created Resources. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-55734-624-7. The origins of the veil go back to the matriarch Rebekah, who, when she saw Isaac for the first time, "took her veil and covered her face." (Genesis 24:65). The veil is symbolic of Jewish traditions of modesty.
  21. The Complete Works of St. Ambrose. Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing. 5 October 2021. Was it a small sign of modesty that when Rebecca came to wed Isaac, and saw her bridegroom, she took a veil, [Genesis 24:65] that she might not be seen before they were united? Certainly the fair virgin feared not for her beauty, but for her modesty.
  22. Gibson, Margaret Dunlop (1903). The Didascalia Apostolorum in English. C.J. Clay. pp. 9–10.
  23. Adams, Edward (24 October 2013). The Earliest Christian Meeting Places: Almost Exclusively Houses?. A&C Black. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-567-15732-4.
  24. 1 Corinthians 11:2–10
  25. Osburn, Carroll D. (1 July 2007). Essays on Women in Earliest Christianity, Volume 1. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 208. ISBN 9781556355400.
  26. Bercot, David W. (1992). Common Sense: A New Approach to Understanding Scripture. Scroll Publishing Co. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-924722-06-6. The historical evidence is strikingly clear. The record reveals that the early churches all understood Paul to be talking about a cloth veil, not long hair. … Hippolytus, a leader in the church in Rome around the year 200, compiled a record of the various customs and practices in that church from the generations that preceded him. His Apostolic Tradition contains this statement: "And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering." This written evidence of the course of performance of the early Christians is corroborated by the archaeological record. The pictures we have from the second and third centuries from the catacombs and other places depict Christian women praying with a cloth veil on their heads. So the historical record is crystal clear. It reveals that the early generation of believers understood the head covering to be a cloth veil — not long hair.
  27. Lee, Allan R. (19 March 2018). The Local Church Today and Tomorrow: A Back to the Future Handbook on New Testament Principles. WestBow Press. ISBN 978-1-9736-1615-3. Nature itself is therefore a divine confirmation of the constitutional sense of the impropriety of women appearing in the assembly without a head covering (v. 13). The words "for her long hair is given to her as a covering" (v. 15) "do not mean that the woman's hair is her covering and that she needs no veil, a view vitiating the force of 11:2-14." For example, if hair were the only covering referred to in this passage (11:1-16), then verse 6 would have to be translated "If a woman does not wear her hair, she should have to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should wear her hair," which is quite ludicrous. Two coverings are spoken of in the passage. This is established by the fact that two different Greek words …
  28. Marlowe, Michael D. "The Woman's Headcovering". Bible Research. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  29. Bernard, David (1985). Practical Holiness. Word Aflame Press.
  30. "Veil". Early Christian Dictionary. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  31. Earle, Alice Morse (1903). Two Centuries of Costume in America, Vol. 2 (1620–1820). The Macmillan Company. p. 582. One singular thing may be noted in this history, – that with all the vagaries of fashion, woman has never violated the Biblical law that bade her cover her head. She has never gone to church services bareheaded.
  32. Mingus, Elaine (19 May 2015). "Christian Headcovering in India". The Head Covering Movement. There were many times that a woman would be called into prayer while preparing a meal. Instead of running to get a head scarf, she would grab a readily available dish towel to cover her head instead.
  33. "Easter conversions confirm South Korean Church's striking growth: EWTN News". www.ewtnnews.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16.
  34. Harn, Roger van (2004). Exploring and Proclaiming the Apostles' Creed. A&C Black. p. 58. ISBN 9780819281166.
  35. Lee, Witness (1990). Life-Study of 1 Corinthians: Messages 1-23. Living Stream Ministry. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-87083-140-9. In verse 2 Paul also says, "With all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theires and ours." Notice that here he does not say "and all those," but with all those." This indicates that a local church, like the church in Corinth, is composed only of those believers in that locality, not of all believers in every place. It also indicates that this Epistle was intended not only for the believers in that one church in Corinth, but for all believers in every place. First Corinthians is for all believers of whatever place and time.
  36. Marlowe, Michael D. "The Woman's Headcovering". Bible Research. Retrieved 27 April 2022. 16But if anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. He thus brings the matter to a conclusion. In addition to the theological and moral reasons for the headcovering, there is also the fact that if the Corinthians were to allow their women to remove the headcovering, this new practice or custom (συνήθειαν) would go against the established custom of Paul and his fellow-workers, the custom which was observed in all the other churches, and which he has delivered to them as one of the παραδόσεις "traditional practices" of the faith (verse 2) … Paul has devoted some time to this subject because it is important to him, not a matter of indifference; and it makes little sense to speak of a custom of being contentious (φιλόνεικος, lit. "loving strife"), because contentiousness is an attitude or temper, not a custom. There is a good parallel to Paul's usage of the word φιλόνεικος in Josephus' work Against Apion. Josephus concludes a series of arguments with the sentence, "I suppose that what I have already said may be sufficient to such as are not very contentious (φιλόνεικος)," (19) and then he continues with even stronger arguments for those who are very contentious. In the same way, Paul reserves the clinching argument for the end. It is an argument from authority. The headcovering practice is a matter of apostolic authority and tradition, and not open to debate. His concluding rebuke of the contentious people in Corinth is meant to cut off debate and settle the issue, not to leave it open. It is quite wrong to say of this last argument of Paul's that "in the end he admits" that he was merely "rationalizing the customs in which he believes," (20) as if Paul himself put little store by custom. Rather, Paul considers this to be his strongest point. At the end he harks back to the words with which he opened the subject ("maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you" in verse 2), and the whole section is thus framed between explicit invocations of tradition.
  37. Gordon, Greg (31 August 2015). "Are Head Coverings Really for Today?". Evangelical Focus. Retrieved 2 May 2022. Clement of Rome in AD 96 said, "Then let us gather together in awareness of our concord" speaking of the holy angels when we worship. The Church is to gather and worship God in the Spirit (John 4:24) doing things that the world considers foolish but for the Lord there is great significance. Paul speaking as inspired by the Holy Spirit said, "We have no other practice — nor do the churches of God" (1 Corinthians 11:16). It was not just a local custom or practice but all the Churches were practicing this as they were practicing water Baptism and Holy Communion. This was not an optional thing as the default was all the Churches were doing it. It is interesting that the same apostle who warns against legalism and exhorts us to walk in the Spirit is the very same apostle who says, "If a woman does not cover her head, she should cut off her hair …"
  38. Payne, Philip Barton (5 May 2015). Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul's Letters. Zondervan Academic. ISBN 978-0-310-52532-5. Furthermore, Greek women, including women in prayer, were usually depicted without a garment covering the head. It does not make sense that Paul would assert something was disgraceful that in their culture was not considered disgraceful. Concerning Greek customs A. Oepke observes: … It is quite wrong [to assert] that Greek women were under some kind of compulsion to wear a veil. … Passages to the contrary are so numerous and unequivocally that they cannot be offset. …Empresses and goddesses, even those who maintain their dignity, like Hera and Demeter, are portrayed without veils.
  39. "The Head Covering or Prayer Veil: 1 Corinthians 11:1-16". Scroll Publishing Company. Retrieved 5 April 2022. Around the year 200, at Carthage, North Africa, Tertullian wrote a tract entitled, "The Veiling of Virgins." Tertullian makes the argument that the passage applies to all females of age — not just to married women. … Earlier in his tract, Tertullian testified that the churches that were founded by the apostles did insist that both their married women and their virgins be veiled: Throughout Greece, and certain of its barbaric provinces, the majority of churches keep their virgins covered. In fact, this practice is followed in certain places beneath this African sky. So let no one ascribe this custom merely to the Gentile customs of the Greeks and barbarians. Moreover, I will put forth as models those churches that were founded by either apostles or apostolic men. … The Corinthians themselves understood him to speak in this manner. For to this very day the Corinthians veil their virgins. What the apostles taught, the disciples of the apostles confirmed. [Tertullian, The Veiling of Virgins The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 4 pp. 27-29,33] … In summary, the early Christians practiced exactly what 1 Cor. 11 says: Men prayed with their heads uncovered. Women prayed with their heads veiled. Nobody disputed this — regardless of where they lived — Europe, Mid-East, North Africa, or the Far East. This written evidence of the course of performance of the early Christians is corroborated by the archaeological record. The pictures we have from the second and third centuries from the catacombs and other places depict Christian women praying with a cloth veil on their heads. Some of those pictures are shown below. So the historical record is crystal clear. It reveals that the early generation of believers understood the head covering to be a cloth veil — not long hair. As Tertullian indicated, even the women who did not wish to follow Paul's teaching were not claiming that Paul was talking about long hair. Rather, they simply wore a small cloth in minimal obedience to his teaching. Nobody in the early Church claimed that Paul's instructions were merely a concession to Greek culture. Nobody claimed that they had anything to do with prostitutes or pagan priestesses.
  40. Phillips, David (13 August 2014). Headcovering Throughout Christian History: The Church's Response to 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. Lockman Foundation. As Paul's instructions were counter-cultural, this passage is "a remarkable proof of the Apostle's courage and honesty." Paul teaches that going without a headcovering means a loss of "dignity, power, and grace, which God had given to women, especially under the Gospel." The idea that "a woman who casts off the covering of her head, casts off her dignity … involves a moral truth … Thus the divine Apostle has left a lesson to women in every age." Beyond the practice of the local Corinthian church, the author cites Early Church writers on this topic. He also notes that "the Apostolic Constitutions [4th century AD] … expressly commanded that the women should have their heads covered in the Church."
  41. Ben Witherington III (24 January 1995). Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 235–238. ISBN 978-0-8028-0144-9. Paul is not simply endorsing standard Roman or even Greco-Roman customs in Corinth. Paul was about the business of reforming his converts' social assumptions and conventions in the context of the Christian community. They were to model new Christian customs, common in the assemblies of God but uncommon in the culture, thus staking out their own sense of a unique identity. …In light of Roman practice, it is very believable that some Christian Roman males were covering their heads when they were about to pray or prophesy. Paul is not interested in baptizing the status quo or normal Roman practice. He is setting up new customs for a new community, and these customs are deeply grounded in his theological understanding of creation, redemption, their interrelation, and how they should be manifested in worship.
  42. "On Head Coverings". Classical Christianity. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2022. And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering. (Apostolic Tradition Part II.18)
  43. Barash, Nechama Goldman (18 June 2022). "Women, hair covering and sotah". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 October 2022. In its ensuing discussion of the Mishnah, the Talmud asserts unequivocally that going out bareheaded violates biblical law. In Ketubot 72a, it states, "And who is considered a woman who violates dat yehudit? One who goes out and her head is uncovered." The Talmud asks, "The prohibition against a woman going out with her head uncovered is not merely a custom of Jewish women. Rather, it is by Torah law, as it is written, 'And he shall uncover the head of the woman'" (Numbers 5:18). The biblical verse cited as textual support for hair coverings is found in the Talmud in the context of a woman accused by her husband of adultery without the support of witnesses. In rabbinic texts, such a woman is referred to as a sotah (one who goes astray) and this is the common term used to reference the biblical text, as well. There is no certain way to determine whether this woman has sinned or whether her husband has been overcome by jealousy. Given the severity of the accusation and the lack of evidence, the woman is brought before the High Priest to undergo a ritual that will establish her guilt or her innocence. One of the steps involves a ritual that uncovers her head or dishevels her hair. In Numbers 5:18, it says, "After he has made the woman stand before the Lord, the priest shall uncover/dishevel/unbind the woman's head and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance, which is a meal offering of jealousy. And in the priest's hands shall be the water of bitterness that induces the spell."
  44. "Ketubot 72a-72b". The William Davidson Talmud (Koren - Steinsaltz). Sefaria. The mishna stated: And who is considered a woman who violates the precepts of Jewish women? One who goes out and her head is uncovered. The Gemara asks: The prohibition against a woman going out with her head uncovered is not merely a custom of Jewish women. Rather, it is by Torah law, as it is written with regard to a woman suspected by her husband of having been unfaithful: "And he shall uncover the head of the woman" (Numbers 5:18). And the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: From here there is a warning to Jewish women not to go out with an uncovered head, since if the Torah states that a woman suspected of adultery must have her head uncovered, this indicates that a married woman must generally cover her head. The Gemara explains: By Torah law, if she covers her head with her basket [kilta], it seems well and is sufficient. But by precepts of Jewish women, i.e., custom, even if her head is covered by her basket this is also prohibited; she requires a substantial head covering.
  45. Baskin, Judith R. "Covering of the Head". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 6 March 2022. In biblical times, women covered their heads with veils or scarves. The unveiling of a woman's hair was considered a humiliation and punishment (Isa. 3:17; cf. Num. 5:18 on the loosening of the hair of a woman suspected of adultery; III Macc. 4:6; and Sus. 32).
  46. Ellinson, G. (September 1992). Women and Mitzvot: The Modest Way. Feldheim Publishers. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-58330-148-7.
  47. Weitz, Rose (12 January 2005). Rapunzel's Daughters: What Women's Hair Tells Us About Women's Lives. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 20. ISBN 9781429931137. The Hebrew word for bride, kalah, derives from a word meaning "to cover," and the Latin word for "to marry" — nubere, the source of the English word "nuptials" — literally means to veil, as clouds (nubes) cover the sky. Following the same logic, by the time of Jesus, Jewish law permitted a man to divorce a woman by uncovering her hair. In addition, if a woman ever uncovered her own hair in public, the law took this as evidence of her infidelity and permitted her husband to divorce her without returning her dowry or paying her alimony. For centuries thereafter, Christian and Jewish married women throoughout most of Europe wore their hair long, bound, and covered. Most Muslim cultures, which share some of their roots with Christianity and Judaism, still require women to wear veils outside the home.
  48. Milliken, Roberta (10 December 2020). A Cultural History of Hair in the Middle Ages. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-350-10303-0.
  49. Phillips, David (13 August 2014). Headcovering Throughout Christian History: The Church's Response to 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. Lockman.
  50. Price, Greg. "Headcoverings in Scripture - Chapter Five: What Does Church History Teach?". SABB. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  51. Hippolytus, and Easton, B. (1934). The Apostolic tradition of Hippolytus. New York: Macmillan, p.43.
  52. Bercot, David W. (1992). Common Sense: A New Approach to Understanding Scripture. Scroll Publishing Co. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-924722-06-6.
  53. "On Head Coverings". Classical Christianity. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  54. Clement of Alexandria. (1885). The Instructor. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), Fathers of the Second Century: Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, and Clement of Alexandria (Entire) (Vol. 2, p. 290). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
  55. Fragment from the Books of the Hypotyposes in Oecumenius from Book III. On 1 Corinthians 11:10.
  56. Pusey, Edward Bouverie (1842). A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Anterior to the Division of the East and West. J.H. Parker. pp. 349, 357.
  57. Daniel-Hughes, C. (10 October 2011). The Salvation of the Flesh in Tertullian of Carthage: Dressing for the Resurrection. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-33807-4.
  58. Shank, Tom (1992). "…Let Her Be Veiled.": An in-depth study of 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. Eureka: Torch Publications. p. 8. The [male] Jews of this era worshipped and prayed with a covering called a tallith on their heads.
  59. Geoffrey D. Dunn. Rhetoric and Tertullian's 'De virginibus velandis' . Centre for Early Christian Studies, Brisbane, 2005
  60. Anderson, Cory A. (2013). The Ornament of a Spirit: Exploring the Reasons Covering Styles Change. Stoneboro: Ridgeway Publishing. p. 14-21, 29-30, 85.
  61. Tertullian. (1885). On the Veiling of Virgins. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), S. Thelwall (Trans.), Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second (Vol. 4, p. 33). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
  62. Johnson, Lewis (1962). The Wycliffe Bible Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press. pp. 1247–1248.
  63. Head Covering in First Christianity – Context, AnonymousChristian, 24 July 2018, retrieved December 5, 2018
  64. "On Account of the Angels: Why I Cover My Head". Orthodox Christian Information Center. Retrieved 8 April 2022. St. John Chrysostom thought that Paul, in admonishing women to wear a covering "because of the angels", meant it "not at the time of prayer only, but also continually, she ought to be covered." Fr. Rhodes agrees: "The veil can be the constant symbol of the true woman of God … a way of life … a testimony of faith and of the salvation of God, not only before men, but angels as well."
  65. L. Kovacs, Judith (2005). The Church's Bible (1 Corinthians). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 180.
  66. Jerome. (1893). The Letters of St. Jerome. In P. Schaff & H. Wace (Eds.), W. H. Fremantle, G. Lewis, & W. G. Martley (Trans.), St. Jerome: Letters and Select Works (Vol. 6, p. 292). New York: Christian Literature Company.
  67. Augustine of Hippo. (1886). Letters of St. Augustin. In P. Schaff (Ed.), J. G. Cunningham (Trans.), The Confessions and Letters of St. Augustin with a Sketch of His Life and Work (Vol. 1, p. 588). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
  68. Bercot, David. "Head Covering Through the Centuries". Scroll Publishing. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  69. Hunt, Margaret (11 June 2014). Women in Eighteenth Century Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 58. ISBN 9781317883876. Today many people associate rules about veiling and headscarves with the Muslim world, but in the eighteenth century they were common among Christians as well, in line with 1 Corinthians 11:4-13 which appears not only to prescribe headcoverings for any women who prays or goes to church, but explicitly to associate it with female subordination, which Islamic veiling traditions do not typically do. Many Christian women wore a head-covering all the time, and certainly when they went outside; those who did not would have been barred from church and likely harassed on the street. … Veils were, of course, required for Catholic nuns, and a veil that actually obscured the face was also a mark of elite status throughout most of Europe. Spanish noblewomen wore them well into the eighteenth century, and so did Venetian women, both elites and non-elites. Across Europe almost any woman who could afford them also wore them to travel.
  70. Anderson, Cory; Anderson, Jennifer (2019). Fitted to Holiness: How Modesty is Achieved and Compromised among the Plain People. Millersburg: Acorn Publishing. p. 129. Throughout the nineteenth century, hats were a cultural necessity; women were never seen in public without one. Up until World War I, a woman slipped on a white cap immediately upon arising, unless she was in mourning, and some type of hat or bonnet was worn every time she left the house.
  71. Balzani, Marzia; Besnier, Niko (29 November 2021). Social and Cultural Anthropology for the 21st Century: Connected Worlds. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-57178-0. Head covers are generally associated with Islam, but until recently Christian women in Mediterranean countries also covered their heads in public, and some still do, particularly in religious contexts such as attending mass.
  72. Hammond, Laura C. (6 August 2018). This Place Will Become Home: Refugee Repatriation to Ethiopia. Cornell University Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-5017-2725-2. Inside her house a Christian woman usually did not cover hear head and only wore a netsela (ነጠላ, a shawl made from white, usually homespun cotton and often with a colorful banner woven into its edges) when working in the sun or going out of her compound.
  73. Ramdin, Ron (April 2000). Arising from Bondage: A History of the Indo-Caribbean People. New York University Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-8147-7548-6. As a mark of respect, Indian women were expected to cover their heads. And over the years, most rural Hindu, Muslim and Christian women have done so with the Orhni, a thin shawl-like head covering.
  74. Walsh, Harper (1 November 2019). Saudi Arabia Undercover: Includes Bahrain, Bangkok and Cairo. Monsoon Books. ISBN 978-1-912049-61-5. There are Christian women in the Middle East who cover their hair and heads daily. Some wear burkas too.
  75. Safran, Linda (21 March 2014). The Medieval Salento: Art and Identity in Southern Italy. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780812245547.
  76. Evans, Hilary; Bartholomew, Robert E. (2009). Outbreak!: The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior. Anomalist Books. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-933665-25-2.
  77. The Month, Volume 161. 1933. p. 352.
  78. Fischer-Mirkin, Toby (1995). Dress Code: Understanding the Hidden Meanings of Women's Clothes. Clarkson Potter Publishers. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-517-59329-5.
  79. Williams, Paul K. (2005). The Head Coverings of I Corinthians 11. pp. 6–10.
  80. Gordon, Greg (31 August 2015). "Are Head Coverings Really for Today?". Evangelical Focus. Retrieved 2 May 2022. One of the most questioned practices in the New Testament in the modern day Western Church is the practice of Head Coverings for women. Yet to get perspective we need to look over the panoply of God's Church for 2000 years and see that this is not something new but old — and has been practiced diligently over the ages. It is hard to imagine but since the 1960s the Church almost entirely practiced this tradition. The influence of secular reasoning, feminism and liberal theology have led to the questioning and, ultimately, the casting aside of this practice in the Church at large in the evangelical world.
  81. Mooney, Myron (18 May 2020). "Head Covering: A Forgotten Christian Practice for Modern Times". Free Presbyterian Church of North America. Retrieved 26 February 2023. The National Organization of Women (NOW) was founded and presided over by Betty Friedan. ... In 1968, as an agnostic activist, Friedan led her organization in a nationwide hat burning event. They touted the event's purpose, "To protest the second-class status of women in all churches. Because the wearing of a head covering by women at religious services is a symbol of submission" (p 16).
  82. Katzenstein, Mary Fainsod (12 January 2021). Faithful and Fearless: Moving Feminist Protest inside the Church and Military. Princeton University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-691-22323-0.
  83. "Resolution on Head Coverings" (PDF). National Organization for Women. 1968. p. 277. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  84. "15 Women Defy Church 'Hat Law'". Milwaukee Sentinel. April 7, 1969. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  85. "'Exhibitionism'". Milwaukee Sentinel. April 14, 1969. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  86. Tomlinson, Heather (7 October 2014). "My Headcovering Experiment". Premier Christian Radio. Retrieved 10 April 2022. Recently, there has been a head covering revival in certain wings of the US Church: especially the ultra-reformed and those calling themselves 'Torah-observant'. Lobbying in favour of the practice is The Head Covering Movement, set up last year by a man called Jeremy Gardiner, who cites the theologically conservative Gospel Coalition in his profession of faith. The movement's website features personal stories of women who are usually the only head coverers in their churches, as well as arguments from scripture to support the practice. It cites Martin Luther, William Tyndale and Thomas Aquinas, among others.
  87. Harmon, Katharine E. (25 October 2018). "Fashion Trend Alert: Chapel Veils are Back!". PrayTellBlog. Retrieved 10 April 2022. In turn, the 1983 Code of Canon Law did not reissue the canon, and by doing so, effectively nullified the previous 1917 code. While some women continued to wear hats (I distinctly recall a gray-haired woman who wore a weird woolen stocking cap covered with wooden beads in my 1980's grade school parish experience), the practice was relatively limited to older parishioners, and was no longer stipulated or encouraged amongst the faithful.
  88. Loop, Jennifer (12 May 2020). "Why I Keep My Headcovering". N. T. Wright. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  89. Yegorov, Oleg (11 December 2019). "Why do women cover their heads in Orthodox churches?". Russia Beyond. In the Orthodox tradition, this is a big no-no. Of course, no one would kick a bareheaded woman out of an Orthodox church, should she walk in, but she is very likely to face some disapproving and judging looks, especially from the local babushkas (you'll always find a few babushkas inside an Orthodox church in Russia). The reason is simple: in an Orthodox church, a woman should wear a headscarf.
  90. The Pacific, Volume 50. J.W. Douglas. 1901. p. 227.
  91. Zuck, RoyCheck B. (5 September 2006). Vital New Testament Issues: Examining New Testament Passages and Problems. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-59752-684-5.
  92. Lum, Kenneth Anthony (18 January 2000). Praising His Name In The Dance: Spirit Possession in the Spiritual Baptist Faith and Orisha Work in Trinidad, West Indies. Routledge. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-136-76630-5.
  93. Flinn, Isabella (1 May 2014). Pinpricks in the Curtain: India Through the Eyes of an Unlikely Missionary. WestBow Press. p. 234. ISBN 9781490834313.
  94. Shaw, Stanford J. (27 July 2016). The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic. Springer. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-349-12235-6. … Christian women wore the marama shawl over both their heads and necks.
  95. Schrock, Anna (19 February 2022). "Why Do Amish Women Wear Head Coverings?". Amish Heritage. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  96. Hochstetler, Ernest (2002). "The Covering/Headship Veil" (PDF). BeachyAM. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  97. Scott, Stephen (1 January 1996). Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups: People's Place Book No. 12. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-68099-243-4. Many Charity women wear the usual cape dress worn by most conservative Mennonites, but a jacket type upper garment is also very common and is worn with a very long skirt. The type of head covering is not specified, but most women wear a large, opaque, white veiling.
  98. Hume, Lynne (24 October 2013). The Religious Life of Dress: Global Fashion and Faith. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85785-363-9. Following the general Anabaptist worldview, Hutterite dress not only emphasizes modesty but also separation from the world. … The women wear ankle-length skirts or dresses with a blouse, a kerchief-style head covering with polka dots (tiechle), usually black and white, and solid comfortable shoes.
  99. "What are Church Hats?". Southern Living. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2018. Church hats have been a key part of churchgoers' Sunday best for years, and are still an important aspect of dress in some churches today. The practice of covering one's head for church originally came from 1 Corinthians 11:15. The simple head covering has been adapted and expanded to become a stylish part of Southern women's churchgoing attire. At the turn of the century, many Southern ladies wore simple hats to church out of respect, reverence for the service, and continuity with passed-down traditions. The church hat tradition continues today, with hats — sometimes called "crowns" — in bright colors, bold patterns, and eye-catching styles at Sunday services across the South.
  100. Kraybill, Donald B. (5 October 2010). Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. JHU Press. p. 103. ISBN 9780801896576. Retrieved 13 November 2012. During the 20th century, the wearing of head coverings declined in more assimilated groups, which gradually interpreted the Pauline teaching as referring to cultural practice in the early church without relevance for women in the modern world. Some churches in the mid-20th century had long and contentious discussions about wearing head coverings because proponents saw its decline as a serious erosion of obedience to scriptural teaching.
  101. Kidder, Nicole (29 September 2017). "History of Black Women Wearing Hats at Church". Classroom. Retrieved 10 May 2022. Prior to the 20th century, most American Christian women commonly followed Corinthians 1:11 and covered their heads in worship.
  102. Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches 2012. Abingdon Press. 2012-04-01. p. 131. ISBN 9781426746666. Retrieved 13 November 2012. The holy kiss is practiced and women wear head coverings during prayer and worship.
  103. Bronner, Simon J (March 4, 2015). Encyclopedia of American Folklife. Routledge. p. 492. ISBN 9781317471950.
  104. "Fœderatio Internationalis Una Voce: Positio N. 22 - HEADCOVERINGS IN CHURCH IN THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM" (PDF). The Latin Mass Society of England & Wales. 2014. p. 6. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  105. Henold, Mary J. (2008). Catholic and Feminist: The Surprising History of the American Catholic Feminist Movement. UNC Press Books. p. 126. ISBN 9780807859476. Retrieved 13 November 2012. At that time, official practice still dictated that Catholic women cover their heads in church.
  106. The Lutheran Liturgy: Authorized by the Synods Constituting The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1941. p. 427.
  107. Morgan, Sue (2010-06-23). Women, Gender and Religious Cultures in Britain, 1800–1940. Taylor & Francis. p. 102. ISBN 9780415231152. Retrieved 13 November 2012. Several ardent Methodist women wrote to him, asking for his permission to speak. Mar Bosanquet (1739–1815) suggested that if Paul had instructed women to cover their heads when they spoke (1. Cor. 11:5) then he was surely giving direction on how women should conduct themselves when they preached.
  108. Levering, Joseph Mortimer (1903). A History of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1741-1892. Times Publishing Company. p. 617.
  109. Levine, S. E. Jihad (9 January 2022). "Religious Head Coverings and Face Veils - Exotic or Oppressive?". The Daily Item. Retrieved 10 April 2022. Bonnets are worn by many traditional Quaker women, and here in Pennsylvania, we're accustomed to seeing Amish and Mennonite women wearing prayer coverings and veils which can vary in style and color according to their communities.
  110. Murray, John (15 January 1992). "The Use of Head Coverings in the Worship of God". Presbyterian Reformed Church. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  111. Bandzuch, Nancy (19 August 2019). "J1ST 084: Chapel Veil". Catholic Sprouts. Retrieved 9 April 2022. Today, we're diving into another sacramental of our Faith: the Chapel Veil.
  112. Lamontagne, Kyla (15 March 2017). "Dear Edith: Why do some women wear veils at church?". FemCatholic. Retrieved 9 April 2022. Fr. Mike [Schmitz] … did a Q&A about Chapel veils that I feel explains what they are, why they are worn, and the history behind them. One of my favorite parts is when he describes it as sacramental, the same way a rosary or a scapular is.
  113. McClintock, John; Strong, James (1891). Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. Harper & Bros. p. 739. A white veil or coif, called velamen dominicale, was worn by females at the time of receiving the eucharist during the 5th and 6th centuries These veils were ordered by the councils of Autun 578 and Angers.
  114. "The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church". The Church Quarterly Review. 10: 78. 1880.
  115. Schmidt, lvin (1989). Veiled and Silenced. Mercer University Press. p. 136.
  116. Synod of Rome (Canon 3). Giovanni Domenico Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio (Page 382)
  117. Schmidt, Alvin (1989). Veiled and Silenced. Mercer University Press. p. 136.
  118. Aquinas, Thomas. "Super I Epistolam B. Pauli ad Corinthios lectura". Dominican House of Studies. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  119. Peters, Edward (2001). The 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law. Ignatius Press. p. 427.
  120. Canon 6 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law
  121. Harmon, Katharine E. (25 October 2018). "Fashion Trend Alert: Chapel Veils are Back!". PrayTellBlog. Retrieved 10 April 2022. The practice of head-covering has deep roots in religious practices of the ancient world, as well as continued traditions of cultural piety in Euro-North American contexts. For Catholics, veil-wearing has also officially been articulated in canon law, most recently, within the 1917 Code of Canon Law at canon 1262 §2: "Men, in a church or outside a church, while they are assisting at sacred rites, shall be bare-headed, unless the approved mores of the people or peculiar circumstances of things determine otherwise; women, however, shall have a covered head and be modestly dressed, especially when they approach the table of the Lord." … In turn, the 1983 Code of Canon Law did not reissue the canon, and by doing so, effectively nullified the previous 1917 code. While some women continued to wear hats (I distinctly recall a gray-haired woman who wore a weird woolen stocking cap covered with wooden beads in my 1980's grade school parish experience), the practice was relatively limited to older parishioners, and was no longer stipulated or encouraged amongst the faithful.
  122. Shaju, Anne Mary (25 November 2021). "Headscarves Were Outlawed In 1983, But The Church Still Insists Women Wear Them. Why?". FII Media. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  123. Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Merry E. Wiesner, ed. (2003-03-13). Luther on Women: A Sourcebook. Cambridge University Press. p. 31. ISBN 9780521658843. Otherwise and aside from that, the wife should put on a veil, just as a pious wife is duty-bound to help bear her husband's accident, illness, and misfortune on account of the evil flesh.
  124. Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (17 March 2015). World Clothing and Fashion: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social Influence. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-45166-2. During the Protestant Reformation, reformers John Calvin and John Knox interpreted Saint Paul's New Testament worship styles as requiring women to cover their heads on holy ground. In Germany, the typical white modesty shield trailed from the head to the heels. For peasant women in Terni, Italy, the embroidered linen veil projected over the forehead on a whalebone eyeshade.
  125. Reasoner, Mark (24 August 2021). Five Models of Scripture. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4674-6272-3. What about head coverings for women? On the basis of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, Calvin taught that all women should have their heads covered when meeting in public worship. This practice is continued by some within Reformed, Anabaptist, and Catholic communities today.
  126. Calvin, Jean; Pringle, John (1848). Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. Calvin Translation Society. p. 356.
  127. John Calvin. Seth Skolnitsky (ed.). Sermon on 1 Cor 11:2-3. Presbyterian Heritage Publications. pp. 12–13.
  128. Beza, Theodore (1599). The New Testament of our Lord Iesus Christ: translated out of Greeke by Theod. Beza; with brief summaries and expositions upon the hard places by the said authour, Ioac. Camer., and P. Lofeler Villerius; Englished by L. Tomson. p. 74. It appeareth that this was a politike law serving onely for the circumstances of the time that Paul lived in, by this reason, because in these our daye, for a man to speake bare-headed in an assembly, is a signe of subiection.
  129. Whitaker, William (1588). A Disputation on Holy Scripture, Against the Papists, Especially Bellarmine and Stapleton. p. 549. He desires men to pray with uncovered, women with covered heads: which injunctions are not of a perpetual obligation; for they are not now observed even by the papists themselves; so as to make it plain that all churches are not bound to the same ceremonies.
  130. Muller, Richard A. (2003). Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of reformed orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725. Vol. 2: Holy Scripture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic. p. 482. Given the representative character of Whitaker's treatise and the use of Whitaker's work as a point of reference for sound doctrine throughout the seventeenth century, the following discussion adopts it as an outline and references other theologians in the course of the discussion, both filling out Whitaker's argument from other late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century sources and manifesting the broad applicability of Whitaker's rules and categories of interpretation.
  131. The Bible. Translated according to the Hebrew and Greeke, and conferred with the best translations in diuers languages. London: Robert Barker. 1606. p. 514 [1108]. This tradition was observed according to the time and place that all things might be done in comelines and edification.
  132. Cawdrey, Daniel (1645). Vindiciae clavium: or, A vindication of The keyes of the kingdome of heaven, into the hands of the right owners. London: T. H. p. 57. Question: "Whether the Synod has power to enjoy things both in their nature and use indifferent." …I answer: that for men to pray or prophesy with their heads covered, or with long hair, and women uncovered, were things in their own nature indifferent (unless you make it necessary, as a moral duty for men to pray or prophesy uncovered, and women contra; which no interpreters upon that text do)…
  133. Cawdrey, Daniel; Palmer, Herbert; Members Of the Assembly of Divines. (1645). Sabbatum Redivivum: or, The Christian Sabbath Vindicated. London: Robert white. p. 463. Divine Apostolicall Institutions (that we may draw to our purpose) were again of two sorts: First, variable, or temporary, which were such injunctions as were prescribed, either for some speciall ends, as that law for abstaining from blood, and things strangled, Acts 15.1, for avoiding offence to the Jews, or to some special nations, or persons, as agreeable to the customs of those places and times, as that of women being vailed in the congregations, and some other the like. Secondly, invariable and perpetual: such as concerned the whole Church…
  134. Poole, Matthew (1700). Annotations Upon the Holy Bible. p. 577. Interpreters rightly agree, that this and the following verses are to be interpreted from the customs of countries… Nothing in this is a further rule to christians, than that it is the duty of ministers, in praying and preaching, to use postures and habits that are not naturally, nor according to the custom of the place where they live, uncomely and irreverent, and so looked upon.
  135. Turretin, Francis (1679–1685). Institutio Theologiae Elencticae [Institutes of Elenctic Theology]. Retrieved 3 Mar 2023. XIV. Although certain ordinations of the apostles (which referred to the rites and circumstances of divine worship) were variable and instituted only for a time (as the sanction concerning the not eating of blood and of things strangled [Acts 15:20]; concerning the woman's head being covered and the man's being uncovered when they prophesy [1 Cor. 11:4, 5]) because there was a special cause and reason for them and (this ceasing) the institution itself ought to cease also…
  136. Muller, Richard A. (2003). Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics : The Rise and Development of reformed orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725. Vol. 2: Holy Scripture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic. pp. 489–90. 4. The "circumstances" and general context of the text. Here Whitaker comes to what must be considered the fundamental literal and grammatical procedure of Protestant exegesis: the right understanding of the actual use of a word in a particular text comes front consideration of'-'the occasion, scope, preceding and following context, and the other circumstances of [the] passage"… Examination of occasion and context also led the annotators of the Geneva Bible to recognize that the Pauline statement, "Everie man praying or prophecying having any thing on his head, dishonoreth his head" (1 Cor. 11:4) as reflecting a customary rather than an apodictic standard… Nor was the importance of the historical context of these verses forgotten in the seventeenth century: Poole comments on the problem of covering the head in prayer and prophesy indicated by 1 Cor. 11:4… Poole also notes the variety of customs in his own rime and indicates that, even in the case of the following verses concerning the covering of a woman's head, that the Pauline text so reflects a historical situation that it cannot provide a rule for contemporary practice.
  137. Wesley, John (1987). Wesley's Notes on the Bible. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. p. 570. ISBN 9781610252577. Therefore if a woman is not covered — If she will throw off the badge of subjection, let her appear with her hair cut like a man's. But if it be shameful far a woman to appear thus in public, especially in a religious assembly, let her, for the same reason, keep on her veil.
  138. Dunlap, David (1 November 1994). "Headcovering-A Historical Perspective". Uplook Ministries. Retrieved 24 June 2019. Although women were allowed to preach in the Methodist ministry, the veil covering a woman's head was required as a sign of her headship to Christ. Concerning the theological significance of the veil, Wesley wrote, "For a man indeed ought not to veil his head because he is the image and glory of God in the dominion he bears over the creation, representing the supreme dominion of God, which is his glory. But the woman is a matter of glory to the man, who has a becoming dominion over her. Therefore she ought not to appear except with her head veiled as a tacit acknowledgement of it."
  139. Brown, A. Philip (2011). A Survey of the History of the Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. Aldersgate Forum. p. 12.
  140. Sellew, Walter Ashbel (14 April 1903). Hogue, Wilson T. (ed.). Woman in the Public Service. Chicago: Free Methodist Church. p. 232-233.
  141. Pestana, Carla Gardina (18 March 2004). Quakers and Baptists in Colonial Massachusetts. Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-521-52504-6. The concern for church purity that underlay both of these views also led Williams to advocate the veiling of women at worship service, which he believed was a practice of the primitive churches.
  142. Reagan, David R. (1 January 1994). Trusting God: Learning to Walk by Faith. Lamb & Lion Ministries. p. 164. ISBN 9780945593034. One thing that fascinated me about the Eastern European churches was the "sea of white" that I saw every time I got up to preach. This was because most of the churches practiced head covering for women.
  143. Haji, Nafisa (2011-05-17). The Sweetness of Tears. HarperCollins. p. 316. ISBN 9780061780103. Retrieved 13 November 2012. I went to church, something I'd never expected to do in Pakistan. Sadiq told me that his grandfather's nurse, Sausan, was Christian. Presbyterian. My second Sunday in Karachi, I went to services with her. I was glad of the clothese that Haseena Auntie had helped me shop for, because all the women in church covered their heads, just like Muslim women, with their dupattas.
  144. Barrett, Colleen (21 February 2011). "Why Do British Women Wear Hats to Weddings?". PopSugar. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  145. Cathcart, Laura (25 May 2017). "A milliner's guide to wearing hats in church". The Catholic Herald. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  146. Hodgkin, Emily (29 January 2018). "Kate Middleton to be forced to do this at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's wedding?". Daily Express. Retrieved 20 May 2018. However, as the Royal Family are known to be sticklers for tradition, hats will no doubt be required for Harry's wedding. The wearing hats to church by all women is traditionally a requirement of the Anglican church. This is due to the writing of St Paul in Corinthians, where he has some pretty strong feelings about women wearing hats. In 1 Corinthians 11:1-34 he said: "I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonours his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven."
  147. Courtais, Georgine De (1 February 2006). Women's Hats, Headdresses And Hairstyles: With 453 Illustrations, Medieval to Modern. Courier Dover Publications. p. 130. ISBN 9780486448503. Retrieved 13 November 2012. Although hats were not considered sufficiently respectable for church wear and very formal occasions they were gradually taking the place of bonnets, at least for younger women.
  148. Mark, Rebecca; Vaughan, Robert C. (2004). The South. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 175. ISBN 9780313327346. Retrieved 13 November 2012. The red and orange turban described by the anonymous observer also looks forward to the flamboyant Sunday hats worn by African American middle-class women into the twenty-first century, hats celebrated stunningly by Michael Cunningham and Graig Marberry in Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats.
  149. Elisabeth, Hallgren Sjöberg (24 September 2017). "Såsom en slöja : Den kristna slöjan i en svensk kontext". Diva.
  150. Lewis, James R. (2002). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Prometheus Books. p. 151. ISBN 9781615927388.
  151. Hostetler, John (1997). Hutterite Society. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8018-5639-6.
  152. Thompson, Charles (2006). The Old German Baptist Brethren: Faith, Farming, and Change in the Virginia Blue Ridge. University of Illinois Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-252-07343-4.
  153. The Manual of the Calvary Holiness Church. Calvary Holiness Church. 1986. p. 12.
  154. DeMello, Margo (14 February 2012). Faces around the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 303. ISBN 9781598846188. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  155. Longenecker, Dwight Longenecker (26 February 2013). "Living Little and Local". Aleteia. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  156. "Why do Brethren ladies wear head scarves?". Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. Retrieved 9 April 2022. Scripture enjoins that every woman praying with uncovered head causes herself shame and for this reason Brethren women wear head scarves whilst attending church services. It is common for Brethren ladies to wear a ribbon or headband when out amongst the general public.
  157. Mooney, Myron (18 May 2020). "Book Review – Head Covering: A Forgotten Christian Practice for Modern Times". Current. Free Presbyterian Church of North America.
  158. Yin, Simon (2018). "Church Evangelism: Heritage Reformed Congregation, Grand Rapids, Michigan" (PDF). Heritage Reformed Congregations. p. 6. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  159. "Visiting for the First Time?". Netherlands Reformed Church Of Sioux Falls. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  160. Koopman, John Henry (August 3, 2022). A Defense of Headcoverings in the Lutheran Church. Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy. p. 9-10.
  161. Kercheville, Brent (11 January 2006). "The Head Covering (1 Corinthians 11:1-16)". West Palm Beach Church of Christ. Retrieved 7 April 2022. Prophecy was only by the power of God, and was only done through spiritual gifts. And this prophecy is tied to prayer. So it seems that Paul is talking about the spiritual gifts of prayer and prophecy. We know that women were praying and prophesying and had the power of spiritual gifts. See the four virgin daughters who prophesied in Acts 21:9. … It would be shameful for a woman to take upon herself such power as the gift of prophecy and not cover her head to show that she has authority from God for this action. The order of creation is to be remembered and where the authority is needs to be remembered. Verse 10 makes this statement clear because it is the explanation of verses 6-9, when it says "for this reason women ought to have authority on their head." Women were to have this sign of authority for what they were doing, otherwise they would be bringing shame upon the Lord for being uncovered. It is important to notice a few things in verse 10. First of all, the word there for "authority," means authority. Many commentators including conservative ones have tried to make this mean a symbol of subjection. Literally the text reads "For this reason the woman ought to have authority on her head because of angels." So we cannot state that the covering is a symbol of subjection. We cannot treat the covering as a symbol of subjection. It is a symbol of God's authority for a woman to pray and prophesy with the spiritual gifts she has been given in public.
  162. Bendroth, Margaret Lamberts; Brereton, Virginia Lieson (2002). Women and Twentieth-century Protestantism. University of Illinois Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-252-06998-7.
  163. "Headcoverings". Ukrainian Pentecostal Church. Retrieved 9 April 2022. 1 Corinthians 11 We interpret 1 Corinthians 11 quite literally. "4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved." Why don't you interpret hair as being the covering? We do not interpret hair as being the covering because if hair is the covering the Bible is referring to then that must mean that men are not allowed to have hair or he dishonors his head. If a distinction is made between long hair as being the covering (in contrast to short hair) then in that case this piece of scripture must mean that women must have long hair as their covering. What is the purpose of headcovering? Some believe that the headcovering is an extension of other modesty guidelines found in the Bible. We believe that wearing the headcovering is about more than just modesty for women. Women are to cover their heads for angel's sake (1 Corinthians 11:10). "Through head coverings our women show all present that their position as a woman is also redeemed. No longer are they at war usurping and longing for the man's position of authority (Gen 3:16). Instead they're content in the role God ordained for them in Genesis 2."
  164. Luke, Shelton (2016). "Statement of Apostolic Policy". The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith. You are cordially invited to The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith regardless of race, creed, color or place of national origin. We ask however, that you abide by our Apostolic rules and the women have head covering and not wear pants.
  165. "Head Coverings — When and Why?". Keep Yourselves in God's Love. Watch Tower. 2008. pp. 209–12.
  166. "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, July 15, 2002, page 27.
  167. Crump, William D. (30 August 2013). The Christmas Encyclopedia, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 298. ISBN 9781476605739.
  168. Hunt, Beverly W. Deaconess Handbook: Walking in the Power of Purpose. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
  169. Gdaniec, Cordula (1 May 2010). Cultural Diversity in Russian Cities: The Urban Landscape in the Post-Soviet Era. Berghahn Books. p. 161. ISBN 9781845456658. Retrieved 27 October 2012. According to Russian Orthodox tradition women cover their heads when entering a church.
  170. Mitchell, Laurence (2007). Serbia. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-84162-203-3. Further north, in Vojvodina, some older Slovak women still regularly wear the headscarf, pleated skirt and embroidered apron that is their national dress. All across Serbia, as elsewhere in eastern Europe, many older women wear headscarves
  171. Babudro, Angelo (1997). "On Account of the Angels: Why I Cover My Head". Orthodox Christian Information Center. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  172. Dillon, Paul (1903). "An Out of the Way Land". The Irish Ecclesiastical Record. Browne and Nolan. p. 370. Near Alessio, further south, the women wear dresses all finged and tasselled; and their sisters in central Albania have white veils and high head-dresses.
  173. Trader, Alexis (18 October 2022). "Modesty, History, Veils, and Head-coverings". Orthodox Church in America.
  174. Basenkov, Vladimir (10 June 2017). "Vladimir Basenkov. Getting To Know the Old Believers: How We Pray". Orthodox Christianity. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  175. Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge (1902). The Nile: Notes for Travellers in Egypt. T. Cook & Son, (Egypt). p. 207.
  176. El Guindi, Fadwa; Zahur, Sherifa (2009). Hijab. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001. ISBN 9780195305135.
  177. "About Believers Church: Practical Distinctives". Gospel for Asia. Retrieved 31 July 2016. In our church services, you will see that the women wear head coverings as is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16. In the same way, we adhere to the practice of baptism as commanded in Matthew 28:19, and Holy Communion, which is given to us in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26. These are all part of the traditions of faith of Believers Church.
  178. Genesis 24:65
  179. Numbers 5:18
  180. Song of Songs 5:7
  181. Susanna 13:31–33
  182. Isaiah 47:2
  183. Anderson, Cory A. (2013). The Ornament of a Spirit: Exploring the Reasons Covering Styles Change. Stoneboro: Ridgeway Publishing. p. 13. …the Bible, as well as "nature," demonstrates that a head covering must be worn out of modesty. This is recognized by cultures all over the world today, as well as Jewish texts from ancient Israel: "The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me" (Song of Solomon 5:7). The watchmen added insult to injury, forcibly unveiling the woman. Women were to have a proper shame of being unveiled in the company of others.
  184. Song of Songs 4:1
  185. 1 Corinthians 11:2–16
  186. Safran, Linda (21 March 2014). The Medieval Salento: Art and Identity in Southern Italy. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780812245547. Many Christian women also covered their hair, as enjoined by Saint Paul (1 Cor. 11:5) and as suggested by numerous medieval representations.
  187. "Paradosis – New Testament Lexicon". Paradosis – New Testament Lexicon – New American Standard. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  188. "1 Corinthians 11:2 – KJV". 1 Corinthians 11:2 – KJV. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  189. Zerbe, Gordon (10 July 2018). Reclaiming the Old Testament: Essays in Honour of Waldemar Janzen. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-5326-5821-1.
  190. Witherington III, Ben (1995). Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians. Eerdmans. p. 236. Paul's view is that the creation order should be properly manifested, not obliterated, in Christian worship, especially because even angels, as guardians of the creation order, are present, observing such worship and perhaps even participating in it.
  191. Damrosch, Leopold (1996). The Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus: James Nayler and the Puritan Crackdown on the Free Spirit. Harvard University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-674-82143-9.
  192. Yarborough, Kaitlyn (20 May 2022). "How To Know When It's Rude To Wear Your Hat Indoors, According to Etiquette". Southern Living. Retrieved 1 February 2023. Hat etiquette also has roots in Christianity, as it's long been considered customary for men to remove their hats upon entering a church. As we all know, however, church hats are a historic tradition for women to wear in the South.
  193. Neusner, Jacob; Armistead, M. Kathryn (1 September 2010). Introduction to World Religions: Communities and Cultures. Abingdon Press. ISBN 978-1-4267-1976-9. In most forms of Christianity, however, men remove their hats as a sign of deference to the deity. The bareheadedness derives from the comments of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:4 that "a man who keeps his head covered when he prays or prophesies brings shame upon his head" (NEB). … Higher Roman Catholic clerics wear a skullcap, customarily called a zucchetto, as a sign of office — but they remove it at various points during the Mass as a gesture of respect to God.
  194. Gould, Ezra Palmer (1887). Commentary on the Epistles To the Corinthians. American Baptist Publication Society. p. 94.
  195. McGarvey, John William; Pendleton, Philip Yancy (1916). Thessalonians, Corinthians, Galatians and Romans. The Standard Publishing Company. p. 112.
  196. Garland, David E. (1 November 2003). 1 Corinthians (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament). Baker Academic. ISBN 978-1-58558-322-5.
  197. 1 Corinthians 11:2–10
  198. The Catholic Study Bible. Oxford University Press. 15 April 2016. ISBN 978-0-19-026726-1.
  199. Farrell, Heather (2014). Walking with the Women of the New Testament. Cedar Fort Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4621-0872-5. … that the word translated in verses 5 and 13 as "uncovered" is akatakaluptos and means "unveiled" and the word translated in verse 6 as "covered" is katakalupto which means to "cover wholly, [or] veil." The word power in verse 10 may have also been mistranslated because the fact that in Aramaic the roots of the word power and veil are spelled the same.
  200. Peter Kwasniewski (13 November 2019). "The Theology Behind Women Wearing Veils in Church". OnePeterFive.
  201. Donald Spence Jones (1899). Pulpit Commentary. Funk & Wagnalls Company. p. 362.
  202. Tuck, Robert (1891). A Handbook of Scientific and Literary Bible Difficulties. Thomas Whittaker. p. 559.
  203. Williams, Frank, ed. (2009). The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis: Book I (Sects 1-46). Brill Academic Publishers. p. 196. ISBN 978-90-04-17017-9.
  204. 1 Thessalonians 5
  205. The Brethren Encyclopedia. Brethren Encyclopedia, Incorporated. 1983. p. 1062.
  206. Young, Serinity (1999). Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion: A-K. Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN 978-0-02-864859-0. Christianity , beginning with the New Testament (in passages such as Corinthians 11: 2–16 or 1 Timothy 2:8– 15) preserves the admonition for women to assume modest attire and to cover their heads.
  207. Genesis 24:65
  208. Esther 6:12
  209. Elliott, Neil (1 February 2005). Liberating Paul: The Justice of God and the Politics of the Apostle. Fortress Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-4514-1511-7. If we look instead to the order of Paul's argument, we observe that he wants the Corinthians to know, first of all, that "the head of every man is Christ" (11:3); and that the practical consequence of this teaching is, first of all, that "any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head," that is, Christ (11:4). That gesture on the part of a pious man was common enough, indeed ubiquitous, in Roman religion. Pulling his toga up over his head (in Latin praying capite velato; in Greek, perhaps, kata kephalēs echōn) was "the iconographic mark of a sacrificant presiding over a specifically Roman ritual," whether the emperor, a Roman priest, or a layman (Richard Gordon). This, several scholars have recently argued, is the most plausible context for the practices addressed by Paul in 1 Cor. 11:4. This suggestion, which reverses the more conventional reading of the passage as restricting women's behavior, also arrives at a clearer logic. Paul discusses accepted cultural norms concerning hair (11:13-15) and women's head adornment in public (11:5-6), not because he wants to impose his own cultural standards (Jewish? Greek? Roman?) or the Corinthian women, but in order to establish a principle he regards as basically uncontroversial: that customs of head adornment bring honor or dishonor to one's social "head."
  210. Gandhi, Rajesh (24 August 2011). "Haman, Head Coverings, and First Corinthians 11:1-16". A People for His Name. Retrieved 7 April 2022. Esther 6 records the dramatic reversal that resulted in Haman's humiliation. Hearing the king speak of one whom he desired to honor, he thought that surely the king intended to honor him (6:6). To his great chagrin, he learned that the king ordained that Haman himself was to honor Mordecai, whom he greatly despised (6:10). After he had fulfilled the king's directives to honor Mordecai publicly (6:11), "Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered" (6:12). Plainly, this text is not declaring that he went to his home having hair on his head. Nor is it asserting either that he had long hair on his head as he went home or that he somehow miraculously grew his hair long. Rather, this verse records that because he had been humiliated, he headed home, draping an external covering over his head. Furthermore, the LXX rendering of the verse reads as follows: BGT Esther 6:12 ¶ ἐπέστρεψεν δὲ ὁ Μαρδοχαῖος εἰς τὴν αὐλήν Αμαν δὲ ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὰ ἴδια λυπούμενος κατὰ κεφαλῆς LXE Esther 6:12 And Mardochaeus returned to the palace: but Aman went home mourning, and having his head covered. … The exact phrase κατὰ κεφαλῆς found here occurs in only one other passage in the Bible in Greek: BGT 1 Corinthians 11:4 πᾶς ἀνὴρ προσευχόμενος ἢ προφητεύων κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων καταισχύνει τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ. SCR 1 Corinthians 11:4 πᾶς ἀνὴρ προσευχόμενος ἢ προφητεύων, κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων καταισχύνει τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ. KJV 1 Corinthians 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. … Moreover, Hatch and Redpath (κατακαλύπτειν, 733) report that another hand of the Septuagint for Esther 6:12 reads, κατακεκαλυμμένος κεφαλήν. This variant reading has the perfect passive participle of the key verb used in 1 Corinthians 11:6 and 7 for both a man's and a woman's covering his or her head (κατακαλύπτω): BGT 1 Corinthians 11:6 εἰ γὰρ οὐ κατακαλύπτεται γυνή, καὶ κειράσθω• εἰ δὲ αἰσχρὸν γυναικὶ τὸ κείρασθαι ἢ ξυρᾶσθαι, κατακαλυπτέσθω. SCR 1 Corinthians 11:6 εἰ γὰρ οὐ κατακαλύπτεται γυνή, καὶ κειράσθω• εἰ δὲ αἰσχρὸν γυναικὶ τὸ κείρασθαι ἢ ξυρᾶσθαι, κατακαλυπτέσθω. KJV 1 Corinthians 11:6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. NAU 1 Corinthians 11:6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. BGT 1 Corinthians 11:7 Ἀνὴρ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ὀφείλει κατακαλύπτεσθαι τὴν κεφαλὴν εἰκὼν καὶ δόξα θεοῦ ὑπάρχων• ἡ γυνὴ δὲ δόξα ἀνδρός ἐστιν. SCR 1 Corinthians 11:7 ἀνὴρ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ὀφείλει κατακαλύπτεσθαι τὴν κεφαλήν, εἰκὼν καὶ δόξα Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων• γυνὴ δὲ δόξα ἀνδρός ἐστιν. KJV 1 Corinthians 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. … This evidence from the LXX therefore supports holding that the covering in view in 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 is an external head covering for both a man and a woman.
  211. Hutson, Christopher R. (29 July 2013). 1 Corinthians: A Commuity Not of This Age. ACU Press. ISBN 978-0-89112-984-4.
  212. Barnes, Allen; Barnes, Patti (1995). Christian Apparel. TEACH Services. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-57258-029-9. The argument is also raised that the hair is sufficient for the covering. Paul says in verse 15 that "her hair is given her for a covering." Let us not suppose, however, that with a single sentence Paul is canceling out everything he has so clearly stated prior to it. The Greek word for covering in verse 15 is peribolaion, not katakalupto as used before for the veiling. In other words the hair is a type of covering, but the veiling used in the previous verses is to wholly cover the head and hair.
  213. Abel, Ron (11 October 2014). "Question: Is her hair the covering?". Antiaps. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  214. Mounce, William D. (2006). Interlinear for the Rest of Us: The Reverse Interlinear for New Testament Word Studies. Zondervan. p. 875. ISBN 978-0-310-26303-6.
  215. Schreiner, Thomas R. (1991). Grudem, Wayne; Piper, John (eds.). 1 Corinthians 11:2-16: Head Coverings, Prophecies, and the Trinity. Crossway. pp. 124–139, 485–487.
  216. 1 Corinthians 11:16
  217. Anderson, Cory A. (2013). The Ornament of a Spirit: Exploring the Reasons Covering Styles Change. Stoneboro: Ridgeway Publishing. p. vii. Few New Testament teachings are as clearly taught and yet flatly refused by modern Western Christians as the woman's headcovering.
  218. 1 Corinthians 11:3
  219. 1 Corinthians 11:7
  220. Genesis 2:18
  221. 1 Corinthians 11:10
  222. Tobit 12:12–15
  223. Revelation 8:2–4
  224. Marlowe, Michael (2005). "What does 'because of the angels' mean in 1 Corinthians 11:10?". Bible Researcher. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  225. Ephesians 3:10
  226. 1 Peter 1:12
  227. 1 Timothy 5:21
  228. Isaiah 6:2
  229. Jude 1:6
  230. "Head coverings "because of the angels"". Unam Sanctam Catholicam. Archived from the original on 15 October 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  231. 1 Corinthians 11:13–15
  232. "Popes, Saints and Devout Souls: on Modesty and Purity - Part II". Saints' Works. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  233. John Walvoord; Roy B. Zuck (1 March 2018). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Acts and Epistles. David C. Cook. ISBN 978-0-8307-7287-2.
  234. 1 Corinthians 11:16
  235. Bercot, David W. (1992). Common Sense: A New Approach to Understanding Scripture. Scroll Publishing Co. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-924722-06-6. … one of the popular understandings today of 1 Corinthians 11 is that this was simply a first century cultural problem. Paul gave his instruction about the head covering because prostitues didn't wear headcoverings, and if the Christian women weren't veiled, they would be thought of as prostitutes. … Yet, it is not based on any historical evidence whatsoever from the writings of the early Church. It is someone's sheer conjecture.
  236. Stenson, Esther (6 April 2010). "Veiled and free". Anabaptist World. Retrieved 24 May 2022. I grew up, like most Amish Mennonites, believing the wearing of a veiling a nonnegotiable command in Scripture (1 Corinthians 11) that is somehow disconnected from cultural context. Since the Bible teaches the practice, women should do it — no questions permitted. Church authorities interpreted women's wearing of a veiling as a requirement for coming into God's presence in prayer and a sign of acceptance of God's order of creation (in terms of gender). Additionally, the idea that women were to have a symbol of authority on our heads "because of the angels" (v. 10) meant that if we wanted their protection, we'd better be veiled.
  237. MacDonald, William (1995). Believer's Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers. p. 1786. ISBN 9780840719720. Paul teaches the subordination of the woman to man by going back to creation. This should forever lay to rest any idea that his teaching about women's covering was what was culturally suitable to his day but not applicable to us today.
  238. 1 Corinthians 11:14–15
  239. Keddie, John W. (22 January 2019). The Church: Its Nature, Ordinances and Offices. p. 227-229. ISBN 978-1-326-83069-4.
  240. Beetham, Christopher A., ed. (14 December 2021). The Concise New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Zondervan Academic. ISBN 978-0-310-59848-0. κατακαλύπτω G2877 (katakalyptō), to cover up, veil; ἀκατακάλυπτος G184 (akatakalyptos), uncovered

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