First Epistle to the Corinthians: Difference between revisions

=== Head covering ===

{{main|Christian headcovering}}

1 Corinthians 11:2–16 contains an admonishment that Christian women cover their hair while praying and that Christian men leave their heads uncovered while praying. These practices were [[countercultural]]; the surrounding pagan Greek women prayed unveiled and Jewish men prayed with their heads covered.<ref name="Payne2015">{{cite book |last1=Payne |first1=Philip Barton |title=Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul's Letters |date=5 May 2015 |publisher=Zondervan Academic |isbn=978-0-310-52532-5 |language=English |quote=Furthermore, Greek women, including women in prayer, were usually depicted without a garment covering the head. It does not make sense that Paul would assert something was disgraceful that in their culture was not considered disgraceful. Concerning Greek customs A. Oepke observes: [...] It is quite wrong [to assert] that Greek women were under some kind of compulsion to wear a veil. [...] Passages to the contrary are so numerous and unequivocally that they cannot be offset. [...] Empresses and goddesses, even those who maintain their dignity, like Hera and Demeter, are portrayed without veils.}}</ref><ref name="Shank1992">{{cite book |first=Tom|last=Shank |year=1992 |title="...Let Her Be Veiled.": An in-depth study of 1 Corinthians 11:1–16 |publisher=Torch Publications|quote=The [male] Jews of this era worshipped and prayed with a covering called a tallith on their heads.|location=[[Eureka, Montana|Eureka]]|page=8}}</ref>