Friday, 17 March 2006
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I have a question that I thought of tonight. It involves our good old Mennonite covering.
Some chalk up the 1Cor11 covering as simply being a cultural thing of back then. In fact, most people do. A Mennonite will say, in response to that, that you can't define right and wrong by culture, which is also true. If something is a sin, it's a sin no matter what culture you're in.
Now, my question. It says in 1Cor11 that for a man to pray with his head covered, or a woman uncovered is a shame. Are things that are a shame defined by culture?
For example, in Yemen it's a shame for a woman if she can't have children or if she has children but only daughters. In Kenya, it's a shame if you make a decent income and you don't let your relatives freeload off of you. Here, neither of those is a shame, and isn't thought of as being bad. Is there a difference between sin and shame, what is that difference, and how does our covering doctrine fit into that?
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Comments (4)
good post, good points.
i can't really say what i think here and now. in fact i've probably said too much already. (not over the internet, obviously, but otherwise. i'll quit)
That said, how valid is this teaching for our day? i've talked to various people and many different pastors about why or why not this is believed/practiced. i've been told that the arguments against it are basically "manufactured" and not based on actual history. Does anyone have any evidence to the contrary? As i've been told there was no culture at the time of Paul's writing, except among the early Christians, that required that women be veiled and men be unveiled for worship. Supposedly, the Jewish men were covered - as in the yarmulke - and the priests had specific head "gear" according to the law God gave them. When you look at that Scripture closely it appears that it has to do with worship and God's order, not culture. There is also no evidence that only prostitutes in Corinth were unveiled, as goes another argument. And think about it - if only prostitutes in a certain culture were unveiled why would new believers choose to abandon their cultural veiling and adopt that of the prostitutes? Consider also that it wasn't all that long ago that American women wore something on their heads and it is only in the last 50 or so years that Catholics no longer require their women to be veiled in public.
This is what i've come up with in researching this so far. i would be interested in anyone that has studied it more and has another explanation that would possibly shed light on the veiling practice as it relates to today and why the major part of the Church doesn't practice it.
If we delete the veiling practice can we then also delete the short hair for men and long hair for women? i am not in favor of being "different" only for the sake of being different or hanging onto something simply for the sake of culture/tradition. However, if God wants me to do something, i want to do it wholeheartedly and be proud of it. Another thing that i think of is what a great opportunity the veiling gives me for witnessing. If anyone has any good thoughts/insights/evidence on this please feel welcome to post on my blog. This is something that i've really been thinking about a lot.
I have to say amen to Darrell's comment even though I don't know him. I also have done a lot of thinking on all the different ideas and opinions on the covering. First of all I noticed in 1 Cor. 11:10 that is says that " the women ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. The angels do not go away or change when culture does. I believe that the covering is a tool that the angels use in order to know that we are daughters of God. I also believe that there is a lot of protection in the covering. I don't think the covering had anything to do with culture. The truth is that at the time of Paul's writting, the Chrisitans believed that it meant they needed to wear a covering on thier heads. Only God knows each person's heart and I think it must go deeper then outward apprience if it is to be of any value. The covering needs to symbolize an inner submision and surrender to God. If it is just obeying a rule I think people should work on why their hearts aren't in obeying the Bible rather then taking it off. Rather then needing conviction for every individual thing in the Bible, I think it is important to have the conviction to obey the Bible. These are just some of the conclusions I have come to. Please feel free to agree or disagree. God Bless you and I hope you find the true answers to your questions.