Don't Call It Feminine, It May Be Masculine

If the man's prior creation gave the man authority over the woman, we wouldn't talk about how men and women are different, for no reason would be needed. All that would have to be said is, "the man was created first." But because it just doesn't sound right, we have come up with all kinds of different reasons the man should have authority over the woman. One of them are the abstract ideals of "masculine" and "feminine."

What is masculine and what is feminine? Well, no one really knows. What we do know is that men are considered masculine, and women feminine. In addition, anything positive is usually found in the masculine department, and anything negative is found in the feminine department. For example, courage, strength, logic and reason are usually said to be masculine, and gullibility, weakness, and emotionality are thought to be feminine qualities. Hence, men are said to be courageous, strong, and rational, whereas women are said to be easily deceived, weak, and emotional. In the real world, however, real men and women do not fit neatly into these categories, wherefore we talk about feminine men and masculine women, and not with a positive tone. But if men were created to be masculine, if it is an innate instinct nurture cannot override, how can they be anything but masculine?
 
Because the one-verse-explanation doesn't cut it anymore in a world where men and women are technically (although not always practically) equal, hierarchical theology has become obsessed with the ideals of femininity and masculinity. Pink is for girls, blue is for boys; cheer leading is a girly activity, sports are for boys; writing is for girls, math is for boys, and so on. But only two generations ago little boys wore pink, a little older ones were cheer leaders, and yet a little older ones aspired to write the Great American Novel. 

Maybe we shouldn't call a trait feminine, for it may actually be masculine.

Masculinity and femininity are as versatile as water; they can take many shapes, and often they are thought to be something they aren't. Steam can look like smoke, ice can look like glass, snow resembles cotton candy. If we look only to the appearance, we will be deceived to believe to have found the real thing.

Or perhaps masculinity and femininity are versatile because there really are no strict ideals that all men and women must adhere to. Maybe we all invent femininity and masculinity as befits us;
maybe we will one day realize that being a man and woman has little to do with being feminine or masculine, for we are always men and women, but sometimes more feminine/masculine than other times; maybe we'll realize that it's ok for a girl to throw a ball like a boy and a boy to cry like a girl, for if you can do it, why not?

Matt Chandler and Acts 29: How to Perfect the Body of Christ Without Perfecting It

According to Matt Chandler, the president of the Acts 29 Network, pastors should preach only to men.
 

"I've said it publicly: I teach to men... that's how I understand the Scripture. ...it's just been applauded. ...and women who go, I don't want a neat Christian guy, I want a godly man.... so if you teach that, then I want to hang out here."

(Listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c6ytPdZYec)

This all begs the question: what if a man wants a godly woman? 
Does he have to go another church to find a pastor who teaches women biblical truth, since Chandler won't?

A lot of things can be deducted from Chandler's statement.

1. Women should be taught by their parents and later their husbands; women do not need to learn in the church
2. Women do not need to learn biblical truth because their parents and later husbands make all the decisions for them

But what about the young woman who was orphaned as a child?
What about the numerous women who will never marry? 
What about widows, single mothers, and divorcees? 

Who will teach these women? 

Not Matt Chandler.

The assumption behind Chandler's theology is so outrageous that it almost needs no rebuttal - had it not been made into ecclesiastical law by Tertullian in the third century. 

Karen Jo Torjesen describes Tertullian’s vision of the church as an essentially Roman institution.

Tertullian’s description of the Christian community dramatically marks the transition of the model of the church from the household or private association to the body politic. With him the church became a legal body (corpus or societas, the term the Romans used for the body politic) unified by a common law (lex fidei, “the law of faith”) and a common discipline (disciplina, Christian morality). For Tertullian the church, like Roman society, united a diversity of ethic groups into one body under the rule of one law… Tertullian conceived the society of the church as analogous to Roman society, divided into distinct classes or ranks, which were distinguished from one another in terms of honor and authority.[1]

Only those who were full members of the political body could possess ius docendi (the legal right to teach) and ius baptizandi (legal right to baptize). Women could not be full members and therefore they were excluded from the clergy. But Tertullian excluded women also from the laity, for although the laity could perform the legal functions in the absence of the clergy, women could not.

“It is not permitted to a woman to speak in the church; but neither (is it permitted her) to teach, nor to baptize, nor to offer, nor to claim to herself a lot in any manly function, not to say (in any) sacerdotal office.”[2]

There was an attempt to remove women from the church already in the third century, and the attempt, although never successful, has found a new champion in Matt Chandler. How sad isn't that.

---

[1] Torjesen, 162-3.

[2]  Tertullian, On the Veiling of Virgins, Ch. IX.

[3] Piper and Grudem, 273.

Colossians 2: The Head and the Unspiritual Mind

Hierarchical theologians have taught us to read "authority" when we see the word "head," but the concept of authority doesn't fit in the context of Colossians 2:

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow (Col 2:16-19, NIV).

Clearly the word "head" in Colossians 2:16-19 refers to a literal head that is connected to a literal body. But how does a part of the body lose the connection to the head, and why?

Paul refers to the "head" in chapters 1 and 2 of the letter to the Colossians:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Col 1:15-20, NIV).

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead (Col 2:9-12, NIV).

Jesus is the head of the body, the church, for God's fullness is in him.
Jesus is the head of every power and authority, and we have been given God's fullness in Jesus. 
Clearly fullness has something to do with the "head."

The "fullness" of God refers to everything God is: instead of found wanting, poor, and in need, God is "full," rich, and able to give to others from his overflow. Hence, when the Bible says the fullness of the Godhead is in Jesus, it means Jesus is "full" of God, not wanting in any respect of the divinity he shares with God the Father and God the Spirit. And because all the fullness of God was in Jesus, he was able to bless us with salvation:

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:16-17, NIV).

The law of Moses didn't include grace; the law required Israel to keep the clean/unclean laws in order to remain holy and receive the blessing of life on earth; those who failed were cursed. The grace that came with Jesus gives us eternal life freely because the Holy Spirit sanctifies us (Acts 26:18); all who are in Christ have received the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:8).

Since the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, we no longer need to observe the Law of Moses in order to become holy. Yet, holiness is not just a singular passive moment of reception in the New Covenant; we must manifest the holiness of God in all that we are and do:

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy"  (1 Peter 1:13-16, NIV).

When we lived in ignorance of God's truth, we conformed ourselves to the desires of the "flesh." But now that we have come to know the truth, we should no longer live the way we used to, but transform our minds to recognize God's will:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom 12:1-2, NIV).

Once we have renewed our minds to think with God, and recognize God's will, we know we ought to set aside the desires of the "flesh," or the "old self," and put on the "new self":

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all (Col 3:5-11, NIV).

This "new self" is the mystery Paul so often spoke of: Christ in us, us in Christ, the head and the body united, joined together (Col 1:26-27, Eph 2:14-18). The church, as the body of Christ, is the fulness of Jesus, the visible manifestation of the head, who fills all things:

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way (Eph 1:22-23, NIV).

It is here that we find the key to understanding the meaning of the word "head" in Colossians 2: we cannot be the fulness of Christ unless we are holy in body and mind.

Because we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we are baptized in the body of Christ the moment we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9-10):

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (1 Cor 12:12-13, NIV).

Being part, a member, of the Body of Christ is the birthright of every child of God, but we can disconnect ourselves from the head if we allow our minds to remain unspiritual. The unspiritual mind seeks that which the "flesh" desires; the spiritual mind seeks that which the Spirit desires.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other (Gal 5:16-26, NIV).

  
The unspiritual mind is puffed up, it delights in false humility, human regulations, and traditions. It has every appearance of wisdom, but it cannot restrain the "flesh." Instead, the unspiritual mind seeks to please the "flesh," and by doing so, it disconnects the worshiper from the source of its spiritual growth.

Paul uses all kinds of metaphors when he speaks of our spiritual walk with God, but all metaphors have one thing in common: they all speak of growth. Whether we are part of a body, a building, a family, or a nation, we are meant to grow until we reach maturity in size and knowledge.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:11-13, NIV).

The fulness of Christ has a measure (Greek: metron) that we can attain. By disconnecting itself from the head, the source of growth, the worshiper will remain a perpetual infant in Christ.

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? (1 Cor 3:1-4, NIV).

The Corinthians were still "fleshly" instead of having become spiritual; they hadn't transformed their minds to think with Christ (1 Cor 2).

In order to grow into maturity, we must remain connected to the head, for all wisdom and knowledge is found in Jesus (Col 2:1-8). As we grow in knowledge, our minds are transformed to recognize the will of God; as we grow in wisdom, we learn to restrain the flesh and live according to God's will (Jas 3: 13-18).

Instead of authority, the "head" in Colossians 2 speaks of spiritual growth. Paul wished that none would become puffed up and disconnected from the head; instead he wished that all of the members of the body would grow into the head with all humility, for without Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5).

We Are One: Galatians 3:28 and 1 Corinthians 7

Christ is not divided; his Body is one. We are all one in Christ, and Christ is all in all. Nevertheless, we are still male and female, Jew and Gentile, slave and free. How do we reconcile this with our oneness in Christ?

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:

To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you-although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to (1 Cor 7:10-24, NIV).

Since 1 Corinthians 7 mentions the same three categories as Galatians 3:28 (Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female), the chapter should give us more information about how we should understand our oneness in the light of our differences.

The first question is, why does Paul mention only marriage as far as men and women are concerned? Why do we find Paul talking only about an authority husbands and wives share with each other? Why does he not mention teaching, ruling, or governing in the church?

Paul doesn’t mention anything other than marriage, for Genesis 2 mentions only marriage as far as the relationship between men and women is concerned; Genesis 1 speaks about the common work of both men and women to care for the created world as humans created in the image of God. Note that Paul does not mandate marriage for all; he considers it necessary for some, but because he considers our work for the Lord (Gen 1) more important than marriage (Gen 2), he considers those who choose singleness to be particularly blessed.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul recommends all to remain in the same station they occupied when they first believed. Why does he do so? Because earthly differences give us no special privileges in the body of Christ. Are you a Jew? Rejoice, but do not become conceited. Are you a slave? Take heart, for your freedom has already been paid for. 

Although we are different, we shouldn’t allow our difference define who we are in Christ, for in Christ, all that matters is keeping the commandments of God; we must love our neighbors the way we love ourselves and serve one another through love.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (1 Cor 12:12-13, NIV).

In the body of Christ, we love, serve, and submit to one another through our spiritual gifts. The Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to whom he wishes, whether that person is male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile. 

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines (1 Cor 12:7-11, NIV).

All believers have the same rights, privileges, and duties, as sons and daughters of God, for we have all been baptized into Christ, and Christ is not divided into Jew and Gentile, Male and female, free and slave.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, or all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:26-29, NIV).

Re-reading 1 Corinthians 11: Image and Glory

1 Corinthians 11 is one of the chapters we are taught early on to read through the patriarchal lens: the man is the head of the woman, the way God the Father is the head of Christ; the line of authority flows without interruption from God to man. The woman is created from the man and for the man, and as a result she must wear a sign of the man's authority on her head. The end.

It is neat little package, too neat, for what does it mean that the man is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man? And why are men and women not independent from each other in the Lord?

Paul refers to Genesis 1-3 in Corinthians 11:3-16:

Genesis 1: Humans are created in the Image of God (11:7)
Genesis 2: The woman is created from the man (11:7-8)
Genesis 3: The woman becomes the mother of all the living (11:12)

All of this is straightforward and needs no explanation. But why is the woman the man's glory? And why is it so important for Paul that the woman was created from the man, and for the man?

Let's begin with the details 1 Corinthians 11 doesn't mention, but that are important for a proper understanding of the text.

The woman is created in the image of God:

So God created [hu]man[kind] in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27, NIV).

Jesus is the Image of God:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Col 1:15, NIV).

Jesus is also the glory of the Father:

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs (Heb 1:1-4, NIV).

 The glory of the image reveals its origin, where it is from:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:14, KJV)

When we look at Jesus, we see the Father:

Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (John 14:9, NIV).

Yet, we say image of God, not clone of God. The image is a separate entity, which distinct features its archetype doesn't possess.

Faith is profitable, therefore, when her brow is bright with a fair crown of good works.

This faith—that I may set the matter forth shortly—

Is contained in the following principles, Which cannot be overthrown.

If the Son had His origin in nothing, He is not Son;

If He is a creature, He is not the Creator;

If He was made, He did not make all things;

If He needs to learn, He hath no foreknowledge;

If He is a receiver, He is not perfect;

If He progress, He is not God.

If He is unlike (the Father) He is not the (Father’s) image;

If He is Son by grace, He is not such by nature;

If He have no part in the Godhead, He hath it in Him to sin.

“There is none good, but Godhead.”

- Ambrose[1]

  

 

The Son is not the Father; he is the only begotten of God, wherefore he is the Image of God. Although the Son is not identical with the Father, he shares in the Father's glory, power, and holiness. If the Son didn't share the Father's glory, he wouldn't be God. 

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Rom 1:22-23, NIV).

Idols do not possess God's glory, nor are they God's Image, for they didn't come from God.

All creation glorifies God, but only the image is the glory of God; God the Son radiates the glory of God for he possesses the glory of God, being himself God. This glory was given to the first man as he was created in the image of God, wherefore the man is said to be the image and glory of God. 

***

All humans, born or created, are in the image of the first human. Seth, for example, was in the likeness and image of Adam, his father:

When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth (Gen 5:3, NIV).

The woman, taken from the man, was in the likeness and image of the first human.

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven (1 Cor 15:49, NIV).

All created things have also their own glory.

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory (1 Cor 15:40-41, KJV).

The human has glory, and it is this glory that the woman shares with the man.

***

Paul writes that Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ. This is usually interpreted to mean that Christ has authority over every man, the man has authority over the woman, and God the Father has authority over the Son. But consider, Paul has already said earlier in the same letter that a wife doesn't have authority over her own body, nor does a man have authority over his own body. Why would a man have authority over the woman's mind if in the realm of the body they share the same authority? Or perhaps Paul is referring to men and women in general? But how logical would it be for all men to have authority over all women, if they had to relinquish it as soon as they marry? And if this is the case, what does the word "head" refer to in Ephesians 5? The labyrinth keeps on growing around us.

What if instead of authority we looked for another meaning for the word "head"? What if Paul was referring to the chain of origin?

There are two parallel passages in 1 Corinthians:

So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God (1 Cor 3:21-23, NIV). 

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live (1 Cor 8:5-6, NIV).

We are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

All things come from God, and all things come through Christ.


Let's add these to the text and see what happens.

Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ (you are of Christ), and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God (Christ is of God). .... In the Lord (through whom all things came and through whom we live), however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God (from whom all things came and for whom we live) (1 Cor 11:3, 11-12, NIV).

All things come from God: God the Son is the only begotten Son of the Father, the man was created from the dust by God, and the woman was formed from the man by God.

God is the beginning, before him nothing existed. The only begotten Son is the image of the Father, through whom the man was created, making the man the image of God. The woman was created from the man, through the Son, making her the image of God. All three find their origin in God.

Because the image is not a clone, the Son is different from the Father, the man has a human body, the woman's body is different from the man's body. They all possess and reflect the glory of their origin, while they have their own glory. The Son is the glory of God, and radiates the glory of being the only begotten Son. The man is the glory of God, and radiates the glory of humanity. The woman is the glory of God, and the glory of the man, and she has her own glory: her long hair.

[B]ut that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory (1 Cor 11:15, NIV).

Shame and glory are connected in the Bible; glory can be transformed into shame.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame (Hos 4:6-7, KJV).

The Corinthians were doing something that transformed the women's glory into shame:

Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors [himself]. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors [herself]-it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.... Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering (1 Cor 11:4-6, 13-15, NIV).

It has been suggested that the woman let their hair down. But if this was the case, why does Paul say it is long hair that is the woman's glory? And why does he say women should shave off all of their hair if they were uncovered? It makes little sense to say a woman should shave off her hair if she doesn't tie it up. But it does make sense if the women cut their hair short. If this was the case, Paul is telling them to go ahead and shave it all off. The English translation doesn't quite convey the meaning of the original. The Greek says: if the woman is not covered, let her be shorn, but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. In other words, being uncovered is equivalent to not having long hair.

Paul appeals to nature. Nature itself teaches that a man should look like a man, and a woman should look like a woman. In an era in which women wore their hair long and men their hair short, a woman was recognized to be a woman by her long hair. Cutting it short would make her resemble a man, and by doing so, she would bring shame and dishonor upon herself, for she would have removed her own glory. 

***

The woman was created from the man and for the man. In Genesis 2 we find that the man's loneliness was the reason for the woman's creation; the help the man needed was the woman. Hence we know the woman was created to be with the man. But if the woman was created to be with the man, she must by necessity be what the man is for her to share his glory.

The image of God reflects the glory of its origin. The greater the likeness, the greater the glory. 

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit ( 2 Cor 3:18, NIV).

 We were created by Jesus, and for Jesus:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Col 1:15-17, NIV).

Jesus calls us his friends:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15, NIV).

Paul calls us God's co-workers:

For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building (1 Cor 3:9, NIV).

If we, who are created for Jesus, are his friends and co-workers, why isn't this true of the woman who was created for the man?

An image shares the abilities and capabilities of its origin.

God is holy, wherefore we must be holy.
The man was created to be free, wherefore the woman must be free.

In order to share the man's glory, the woman must have authority over herself to pray and prophesy before God as a woman. If she is the man's subject, she needs permission, but if she was born free, with free will, she has the right to act in her own person, as a woman.

Paul writes:

 For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have authority over herself (1 Cor 11:10, NIV). 

Exousían échein epí teés kefaleés. 

A similar grammatical construction is found in 1 Corinthians 7:37-38, "But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will (exousia de echei peri tou idiou theleematos), and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin-this man also does the right thing." And Matthew 7:28-29, "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority (exousian echoon), and not as their teachers of the law."

Clearly this is authority that the person in question possesses, not as sign of someone else's authority.

Were the women in Corinth cutting their hair in order to resemble men to have the right to pray and prophesy in the church? Was this the custom no other church had? If it was the case, Paul is telling the Corinthians to allow women to pray and prophesy as women.

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Because the man's prior creation may cause some to believe men are of more worth than women, or think that men and women should exist independently from each other, Paul adds that men are not independent from women, nor are women independent from men, for although the woman was formed from the man, the man is born of the woman (1 Cor 11:11-12). Even here Paul find the common origin of both men and women with God, for God created the man, from whom he formed the woman, from whom men are born. Neither would exist without God.

In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul celebrates our common humanness. Because the woman was created from the man, and men are born from women, we all share one blood.

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation (Acts 17:26, KJV).

Or as Paul put it:

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Cor 4:6-7, NIV)  

We have all received our lives from God; we belong to God.