Does I Corinthians 11 Command Women to Wear Head Coverings?

Let’s tackle one of the questions today that no Sunday School teacher wants to get: are Christian women supposed to wear “head coverings” according to I Corinthians 11? 

Because when you read it very simply and plainly, it certainly feels like they should. 

I Corinthians 11:5 says

But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head

Yikes! We don’t follow that one these days. Christians have all kinds of reasons to disregard some of the bizarre commandments and customs in the Law of Moses. But this one is a New Testament command. And it tells women that they should have some kind of covering over their heads.

It’s pretty clear. And yet almost no churches today follow this, at least in the Western world. 

And if you ask your pastor or your Sunday School teacher why, they probably aren’t too sure. I mean, it’s right there in the Bible in the New Testament, but we don’t do it.

I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.

Turn to I Corinthians 11, and let’s get weird.

0:00 - Introduction

1:30 - I Corinthians 11 

6:00 - What is a Covering?

16:30 - What This Says about Gender and Nature

25:30 - Closing Thoughts

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Hosted by Luke Taylor