Quote:
Originally Posted by Esaias
Paul does not state as the condition or basis of his doctrine any supposed "customs" or "instincts" or "traditions of the pagan Greek culture". Rather, the basis for his doctrine is the assertion in verse 3 concerning a divinely ordained hierarchy of headship. Since a God-ordained hierarchy of headship is not dependent on any social culture, but instead flows from the will of God Himself for His people, then Paul's teaching is not to be viewed as him simply affirming a continuation of a pagan Greek cultural practice,...
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I want to point something out about this particular subject. A lot of people are under the impression that there is A "cultural practice" in view here. That Paul is affirming the Corinthians to maintain the social norms of the day so as not to be viewed as rebellious or antisocial or anarchistic.
But this is entirely wrong, and unhistorical.
In 1st century Greco-Roman culture, a variety of religious customs prevailed concerning head covering. In some cults, men and women both uncovered their heads in worship. In other cults, both men and women covered their heads. In yet other cults, men covered and women uncovered. And in yet other cults, men uncovered and women covered. To put it bluntly,
there was no standard cultural norm regarding head covering in worship in Corinth or the rest of the Roman Empire.
Paul however establishes a very specific practice - the man is to be uncovered and the woman is to be covered when praying or prophesying. This is a specific practice, which he affirms to be the preferred practice for the Corinthian church, as preferred by him and his apostolic ministry team. He also asserts the uniformity of his practice with that of the rest of the churches of God, wherever they may be, whether in Judea, or Greece, or Asia, or Rome, or wherever.
It is therefore undeniable that Paul is asserting a particular practice common to all the churches of God, irrespective of the "social norms" and common practices of any other particular cultures.
In other words,
1 Cor 11 presents a particular CHRISTIAN practice, regardless of what any other culture may or may not do or think. Therefore, the practice is universal for the churches of God, regardless of time or place or "local custom".