Veils and Long Hair

While there is some debate over exactly what St. Paul means here, I think one of the more fascinating things he says in this passage is found in verse 16:

"If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God."

What does the Apostle mean?

I take it to mean that the matter of head coverings and hair length aren't a matter of divine command, and that such a thing isn't apostolic nor widespread ecclesiastical practice. So if one is contentious, i.e. does not agree with the matter of head coverings and the like, that's fine, because that isn't mandated Christian practice.

So what Paul is doing is providing a local, culturally relevant custom that the predominantly Greek Corinthians can relate to; not establishing universal command and practice.

Hair length and head coverings are in and of themselves adiaphora, matters of indifference.

You should feel free to wear your hair however you like, or to cover your head or not.

We should remember that Paul himself was a Jew, and Jewish custom and practice is actually that men do cover their heads in prayer. That's why, even today, Jewish men wear a kippah or yarmulke, a head covering during prayer and while in the synagogue. So in Jewish practice men covered their heads, not women; but in Greek cultural practice women, not men, covered their heads--so Paul is speaking of cultural, Greek custom when he talks about these things.

Further, if the length of our hair were a matter of Divine command, how should we know what length our hair should be when we aren't told? What is "short" and what is "long" are subjective. And throughout the history of Christianity hair length, hair style, etc has varied wildly depending on time and culture.

So, again, these things are adiaphora.

What matters isn't what you wear or don't wear on your head, or how long or short your hair is. What matters is good order in worship. That is, fundamentally, the point being made, as Paul is talking about gathered Christian worship. An area of Corinthian Christian life that has been deeply fragmented by the ridiculous faction-making they've engaged in. Which is going to also be the context of discussing the charismata of 1 Corinthians 12, the central importance of love in 1 Corinthians 13, and general good order in 1 Corinthians 14.

-CryptoLutheran

I've tried to exegete this passage a number of times in recent years, and each time I examine it, I take away that Paul was equating long hair as being a covering in and of itself (1 Corinthians 11:15), so a veil isn't necessary so long as the hair is long. I had my hair very short a few times when I was younger, but after looking at this passage more carefully, I've never had it short again. Even if it's not taken as a mandate (and Lutherans don't take it that way), at the very least Paul is saying it's better for a woman's hair to be long in verse 15.