I was asked recently,
“How do we distinguish in Scripture what is literal and what is cultural? For example, we say head coverings is a cultural thing yet we say women not being able to preach is a literal thing even though when that was written women did not have the same rights or status as they do now. What are your thoughts?”
I believe the Apostle Paul supplies the answer to this question himself when he says in 2 Timothy 2:11-14,
11. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Verse 13, in particular, is your answer. Man (Adam) was first formed, and he was not deceived. That has nothing to do with one's culture. It is just the way it is. Additionally, Genesis 3:16 still applies everywhere, regardless of culture. "Unto the woman He said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'" Do women still have excruciating pain during childbirth? Yes, they do, and since they still do, then men are to rule over them, and the women are not to usurp authority over them.
As for the head covering, I do not believe that is cultural, either, because I believe the head covering in question is the woman's hair. Culturally, it was men who wore a head covering in the Jewish synagogues, called a sudarium, which is a white linen cloth. Today, they wear what is called a Yarmulke, or "Kippa" in Hebrew. So to believe Paul was telling the men in Corinth it was a shame for them to be covered with a Kippa is without merit.
It is just as equally fallacious to believe that Paul was telling the women it was a shame for them to pray uncovered without a hat or veil. Once again, this is not a cultural issue, either. It has to do with how God has always wanted men to be men, and women to be women. Look at what Paul says in this chapter:
“How do we distinguish in Scripture what is literal and what is cultural? For example, we say head coverings is a cultural thing yet we say women not being able to preach is a literal thing even though when that was written women did not have the same rights or status as they do now. What are your thoughts?”
I believe the Apostle Paul supplies the answer to this question himself when he says in 2 Timothy 2:11-14,
11. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Verse 13, in particular, is your answer. Man (Adam) was first formed, and he was not deceived. That has nothing to do with one's culture. It is just the way it is. Additionally, Genesis 3:16 still applies everywhere, regardless of culture. "Unto the woman He said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'" Do women still have excruciating pain during childbirth? Yes, they do, and since they still do, then men are to rule over them, and the women are not to usurp authority over them.
As for the head covering, I do not believe that is cultural, either, because I believe the head covering in question is the woman's hair. Culturally, it was men who wore a head covering in the Jewish synagogues, called a sudarium, which is a white linen cloth. Today, they wear what is called a Yarmulke, or "Kippa" in Hebrew. So to believe Paul was telling the men in Corinth it was a shame for them to be covered with a Kippa is without merit.
It is just as equally fallacious to believe that Paul was telling the women it was a shame for them to pray uncovered without a hat or veil. Once again, this is not a cultural issue, either. It has to do with how God has always wanted men to be men, and women to be women. Look at what Paul says in this chapter:
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. 8. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 9. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the Angels. (1 Corinthians 11:7-10)
13. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14. Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. (1 Corinthians 11:13-15) So there you have it. Paul says the woman’s hair is her covering, not a hat or a veil. Her hair is her glory.
Some people claim Paul was going back and forth here, talking about hair in one verse, and then talking about hats in others. That, too, is an inaccurate conclusion to draw because Paul was not schizophrenic and confused, going back and forth between hats and hair as if he had no idea what he was teaching. Hair is the covering. What Paul is doing is condemning the practice of androgyny in which men try to dress and look and act like women, and women try to dress and look and act like men. Paul says this goes against nature itself (verse 14). Women should have feminine hair styles, and men should have masculine hair styles. Man is the glory of God, and woman is the glory of man (verse 7). Again, this has nothing to with culture at all, but with the very fact of how God created us, and that has never changed.
May the Lord bless you and your family!
13. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14. Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. (1 Corinthians 11:13-15) So there you have it. Paul says the woman’s hair is her covering, not a hat or a veil. Her hair is her glory.
Some people claim Paul was going back and forth here, talking about hair in one verse, and then talking about hats in others. That, too, is an inaccurate conclusion to draw because Paul was not schizophrenic and confused, going back and forth between hats and hair as if he had no idea what he was teaching. Hair is the covering. What Paul is doing is condemning the practice of androgyny in which men try to dress and look and act like women, and women try to dress and look and act like men. Paul says this goes against nature itself (verse 14). Women should have feminine hair styles, and men should have masculine hair styles. Man is the glory of God, and woman is the glory of man (verse 7). Again, this has nothing to with culture at all, but with the very fact of how God created us, and that has never changed.
May the Lord bless you and your family!
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