When we read 1 Corinthians 11, our minds usually wonder about the culture of Corinth and the general customs of that time. “Maybe this was peculiar to the situation in that city? Maybe women wearing head coverings were normative back then? Maybe a man with his head covered stood for something bad in that culture?” When these questions are raised, the interpreter often concludes that since in our time and culture coverings aren’t normative and men wearing hats are not frowned upon, that we are free to abandon or change the symbol to something more meaningful to us. Though there are exegetical reasons for not taking this route, there are also cultural reasons for why that simply doesn’t work. See, behind this assumption is a belief that what Paul laid out regarding head covering was culturally normative, familiar, and meaningful. That’s just simply not true. Read more