Why do Catholic and Orthodox leaders

[Tra Phull]

wear such bizarre and outlandish headgear?

 

[redleghunter]

Short answer...It is tradition.

 

[redleghunter]

 

[Tra Phull]

dunce caps are tradition too

 

[Albion]

The "headgear" that draws the most attention is the bishop's mitre--the "pointy hat." It initially was more like a cap but like other appointments in the churches, that was gradually elaborated upon until it reached the current look. Some bishops go for the bigger ones but some today prefer not to wear them at all.

Incidentally, these mitres are divided into two sections at the top, if you notice, and this is representative of the cloven tongues of fire that settled on the heads of the Apostles (the first bishops) while they were in the upper room following Christ's ascension. To that extent, the symbolism is understandable. Mitres have two streamers at the back; these symbolize the Old and New Testaments which bishops are charged with preaching to all peoples.

 

[Tra Phull]

Thx, Albion.

So, it's a CHARISMATIC THING - then, I'm ok with it.

 

[Albion]

Thx, Albion.

So, it's a CHARISMATIC THING - then, I'm ok with it.

That particular item does relate to an event in the Bible which is important to all Charismatic Christians, yes. In a way, it is similar to the imagery of a descending dove which all Charismatics are familiar with.

 

[ViaCrucis]

wear such bizarre and outlandish headgear?

What's bizarre and outlandish about it?

But the answer to your question is that clerical attire, including head wear, are descended from common clothing items from many centuries ago. While the common people don't dress like that, or wear head wear like that any more, the ministers of the Church didn't change their attire to conform with our ever-changing culture. The result is a distinctive attire that represents their vocation as ministers of Christ's Church.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Phronema]

Short answer...It is tradition.

Agreed, tradition. I'd just add that the word Miter is derived from the Greek μίτρα, meaning a 'headband' or 'turban'.

A head-covering, as a mark of position of certain religious and secular officials, has a long history. In ancient Israel the Jewish high priest (Kohen Gadol) wore a headdress called the Mitznefetthat that wound around the head to form a broad, flat-top topped turban.

So, it's something we Christians got from Judaism.

 

[Tra Phull]

The descending dove is important.
The scene at Christ's baptism has all 3 members of the Trinity doing different things at the same time, which smashes Modalism.

But some charismatics, like Oneness Pentecostals, definitely believe in the Holy Ghost, but don't believe in Trinity...

Could the "split-top mitre" represent a split between normal Nicene charismatics and t h e Oneness bunch?

 

[ViaCrucis]

The descending dove is important.
The scene at Christ's baptism has all 3 members of the Trinity doing different things at the same time, which smashes Modalism.

But some charismatics, like Oneness Pentecostals, definitely believe in the Holy Ghost, but don't believe in Trinity...

Could the "split-top mitre" represent a split between normal Nicene charismatics and t h e Oneness bunch?

It has nothing to do with the Pentecostal tradition, which began at Azuza Street in the 20th century.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Tra Phull]

Well, ViaCrucis, it is MY OPINION that these hats are bizarre and outlandish, and everyone has opinions.

I am widening my phylacteries right now in an attempt to assimilate more Jewish customs into my psyche.

 

[Tra Phull]

I never made it to Azuza street.

 

[Albion]

Could the "split-top mitre" represent a split between normal Nicene charismatics and t h e Oneness bunch?

No. It (meaning the split element, not the headgear itself) simply represents the cloven tongues of fire.

 

[Tra Phull]

George on Seinfeld LIKED the hats, or so he told the Latvian Orthodox clergy.

But I feel George was just making stuff up.

 

[Tra Phull]

Okay, the cloven tongues of FIE-YUH represent the charismatic experience itself, and not any divisions like those between Nicene charismatics and Oneness Pentecostals.

 

[dzheremi]

Evidence from ancient rubrics for the investiture of bishops in the Syrian and Coptic traditions strongly suggest that the use of the mitre started in Alexandria, before the Chalcedonian schism (as both the Copts and Greeks maintain it). See here the second volume of Butler's Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt (1884) for a review of the evidence and various theories on what it means for the adoption of the mitre and its spread to other places.

Outside of the mitre, some of the 'eastern' headgear comes from Ottoman times, when such things were prescribed by the government in order to keep track of the populations of various confessions found within their empire. This is how Syriac Orthodox ended up in the black turban, for instance. That was an Ottoman thing that I guess by the time the Ottomans went away had already been in place for many years, and so they just kept doing it. (Same with the cross tattoos on Coptic peoples' forearms; this used to be a mark placed there by Muslim rulers in Egypt so that no Copt could disingenuously claim to be something else to avoid paying the jizya/non-Muslim tax or to receive better treatment or get a particular job from which Christians were barred by a certain point. Later, after the abolition of the jizya as part of the Tanzimat reforms in the 1860s, the Christian population kept the tattoo tradition going, this time under the new paradigm of proudly but stealthily declaring their Christianity, as well as embracing their history as a persecuted people, so that people could not later claim that history had been other than it was. Of course they still try to, but at least the Coptic community itself will not forget.)

Pictured: HH Moran Mor Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II signs a document that officially establishes the Syriac Orthodox Church as a recognized, legally-registered church in Germany, flanked by a few of his brother bishops from Germany and Sweden. Note the headgear.

 

[Tra Phull]

Tell us of this "Chalcedonian schism", if you will, dzheremi, for I have only the barest notion of why some do not see Christ as fully God and fully Man.

Is Butler's 1884 book online?

 

[ViaCrucis]

Okay, the cloven tongues of FIE-YUH represent the charismatic experience itself, and not any divisions like those between Nicene charismatics and Oneness Pentecostals.

Not a "charismatic experience", but what happened on Pentecost as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Since bishops are the successors of the apostles, it would--if anything--be a symbol of that apostolic authority.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[dzheremi]

Tell us of this "Chalcedonian schism", if you will, dzheremi, for I have only the barest notion of why some do not see Christ as fully God and fully Man.

Nobody on either side -- neither the Chalcedonians nor the non-Chalcedonians -- sees Jesus Christ as anything other than fully God and fully man. The dispute is over whether it is right to speak of Him as being in two natures after the incarnation or not, i.e., whether we say that the incarnation united the natures into one nature, which is the non-Chalcedonian position, or whether we say they remain separate, which is the Chalcedonian position. In either case, Christ is fully God and fully man.

Is Butler's 1884 book online?

Yes. You can find it on Google Books. I can't think of the exact page, but I believe you can do a word search for 'mitre' within the text and it will bring you to the relevant sections.