Wow. 1 Corinthians 11 dives into some messy stuff. Scholars say Paul wrote 3 letters to the church in Corinth. They say 1 Corinthians is actually his second letter, and 2 Corinthians his third. Apparently he was offering correction to the body of believers in that city. It's cool how one letter could apeak to that many people. Like his epistle to the church in Galatia, this letter seems to be one of his more frustrating experiences in his role as an apostle.
I remember asking a pastor at a charismatic church once, "A prophet prophesies, an evangelist evangelizes, a pastor pastors, and a teacher teaches, but what do you think an apostle does?" His response was interesting: "He has a keen sense of church government, with the ability to walk into a situation and see what organizational things and structure are out of order. Paul seemed to excel in this office. His letters to Corinth's church exemplify this well.
It's weird to read his correction about women praying with their heads covered, or else it was a shame for them; and a man with long hair was a shame, as was a woman with short hair. He spoke directly to the situation and didn't waffle on his opinion one bit. It seems contradictory, though, to the Nazarite vows some of God's men took in the Old Testament (not letting a razor touch their hair and thus growing it long). It also seems to contradict his treatise about the law and its ceremonial regulations (found in Romans and Galatians). This discussion follows the chapter about laying down liberties for the sake of those with weaker faith, so its context seems to place it in the cultural setting of adapting to the customs and practices. If it were a new set of regulations and laws that he was permanently placing on Christians the world over and for all time to follow, you'd think that he'd make it clear that this was the case, and that he'd also repeat it in other letters.
Some say he wrote about this because temple prostitutes that made sex part of the spiritual worship of false gods in the city of Corinth had their head shaved, and any women that looked like that were obviously identified as prostitutes, and that women of the body should avoid confusing people about this. Paul ends this confusing chapter with the line, "And when I come I will give you further instructions."
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at December 24, 2005 08:31 AM