You probably don't need to cover your head based on 1 Corinthians

Monna said:

likewise.



One modern day reading of this would be "if you think that you speak prophetically or spiritually, please acknowledge that what I write is every bit what I receive from the Lord..." Personally, I think his emphasis here, as is his argument in many other places, that he has just as much right as Peter and James and the other 11 apostles of Jesus, to claim apostleship.

At the same time, I have no doubt that in most if not all of the letters he wrote to church congregations that he had founded, he wrote with great care, and with a lot of listening to news he had received from those congregations, and with a lot of prayer. When Elijah announced to Ahab that there would be no more rain until he (Elijah) said so, he spoke by the power of God's promises given in the wilderness before the people even made it to Canaan. He also spoke, in that sense, the commandments of the Lord. That is quite different from writing with the attitude "I am now writing Scripture." He was a Jewish scholar, and knew that there were writings considered very very special in the older Hebrew literature, but which were not yet fully accepted into the inner core of what we call the OT today. His OT did not look like ours. From this perspective, I imagine that he saw and adhered to the rabbinical system of writings being progressively sifted through time and applicability before they were given the full status that we refer to as canon.

It was a couple hundred years later that a group of men (almost certainly no women) got together and tried to agree on what literature was authoritative, and what was not. And they were not in full agreement. But I'm sure that even you believe that there have been Christians through the centuries that have written by the inspiration of God, to teach and encourage fellow believers, in all kinds of circumstances.

However, this is a bit off topic, so I will stop.

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NeedyFollower said:

I do think Paul had an understanding that was beyond our understanding .

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NeedyFollower said:

Is it necessary for a woman to cover her head while praying?

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Monna said:

Totally agree-

I would also postulate that his "understanding"/concept of angels is quite likely different from ours. As to your comment

... depending on one's understanding of prayer, making this a condition, would mean a woman should ALWAYS have her head covered. So the question also becomes one of whether or not the issue Paul is addressing is women praying when there are men present, as when a mixed group of believers meet for worship.

Elsewhere Paul (and Jesus) made a very clear distinction between outward/physical demonstrations (circumcission, public giving, public prayer, etc.) and inward attitudes (circumcission of the heart, giving and praying in secret, murder and adultery in the heart, etc.) Man sees the outward, God focuses on the inward. (Maybe the angels also see primarily the outward? - how would we know - they certainly didn't know God's plans for our salvation before they were being implemented in time and space.)

Today I see a lot of young men coming to church and keeping the baseball caps on throughout worship services, even when there is prayer. I wonder how strict church leaders are in expecting/demanding that they take their hats/caps/wigs off, as compared to how they expect/demand women to cover their heads in accordance with these passages of scripture. Just an honest question.

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