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A Response to Mary Mohler on Christian Headcovering

In this clip I respond to a video posted on Christianity.com from Mary Mohler. Mary directs the Seminary Wives Instutite at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where her husband, Albert Mohler serves as president. In this video Mary answers the question “Should women wear head coverings in church services?” I’ll let you watch her answer in its entirety, while I interject with some thoughts on her main points.

Note: In case you’re wondering, I highly respect the Mohlers and think S.B.T.S. is a fantastic seminary. Though I see this issue differently than them, we agree on far more than we disagree. This is a friendly response to help you, the viewer, think through common objections to this practice.

What the Early Christians Believed About The Head Covering

 What was Paul referring to in 1 Corinthians 11 when he said: “Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head”? Was he referring to a cloth veil? Was he talking about long hair? Was this just a local custom that applied only to the Corinthians? Were women who didn’t wear veils mistaken to be prostitutes? David Bercot takes his readers to the early Christian writings to get the facts.

Great introduction to Christian head covering with a special focus on what the early church believed about the practice. This is an audio lecture posted on YouTube. Running time is 1 hour and 7min.

Losing Baptism: How the “Meaningful Symbol” view of Headcovering undermines Christian Symbolism

The “Meaningful Symbol” view teaches that we can replace the “headcovering” in 1 Corinthians 11 with a different symbol and still be faithful to the passage. We believe that if this hermeneutic is embraced, we may lose precious doctrines like Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

This video is based on an article we wrote here.

How Gay Rights Advocates use Head Covering to Support their Position

The head covering passage (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) is a battleground for one of the most important issues of our day. Those who advocate for the normality of same-sex relationships by appealing to the Bible, use this passage to garner support for their position. As Christians we must understand their argument and get consistent in our theology if we are going to faithfully defend biblical sexuality.

This video is based on a section of an article we wrote here.

Principle vs. Custom (Renewing your Mind Broadcast)

On October 14th, Ligonier Ministries broadcasted “Principle vs. Custom” by R.C. Sproul. In this video, Sproul spent the entire 30 minutes speaking about the topic of head covering.  You can watch the broadcast below. If you’re can’t see the video click here to watch it on their site.

Here’s a description of this video from their website:

Looking at various customs described throughout Scripture, how are we to understand the application of them in our modern setting? Is there deeper meaning rooted in these teachings, or are they simply cultural issues? Dr. Sproul helps us recognize the difference between temporal local customs and universal principles in the Bible as he wraps-up this study of biblical interpretation.

From the teaching series Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul.

What Kind of Head Covering does the Bible Command?

In this video we discuss what is an appropriate and biblically faithful head covering. Does the Bible say anything about the size or type? Does it have to cover all your hair or can some be exposed? We answer these questions and debunk the myth that Paul was talking about veils that covered a woman’s face.

This video is an adaptation of an article we wrote here.

What is a Head Covering? Is it a Woman’s Long Hair or a Veil?

In 1 Corinthians 11, the Apostle Paul instructs women to cover their heads while praying or prophesying. For 1900 years, the church understood Paul to be speaking of an artificial covering such as a veil or scarf. However, in the 20th century, a view began to gain popularity which argued that Paul wasn’t speaking about veils, but hair lengths. In this video we’ll overview this debate and provide 5 reasons for why we believe a woman is to cover her long hair with an artificial covering when praying or prophesying.

This video is an adaptation of an article we wrote here.

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