There is in some congregations a move to have women covering their heads during the divine service and some members are making it an issue. What do we learn from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy? The verse in Scripture that is used for this is found in 1 Corinthians 11. Covering the head or wearing a veil in the first century was very different from wearing a hat today. The sign of a prostitute in Corinth, for instance, may well have been an uncovered head. When a woman covered her head she was given respect and shown courtesy. In some countries today women do not appear in public unveiled. A Christian woman in Corinth who ignored the propriety of a head-covering probably gave a false impression concerning the nature of her Christian freedom and may have been a stumbling block to others. She could be viewed as someone who did not recognise her proper relationship to her husband. Our concern must be to discern the general principles and to apply them to our own culture. Much more important than some form of head-covering is Paul’s establishment of the code that should govern men and women’s relationship.
There seems to be two schools of thought about this passage of Scripture. The first is that the head covering does not refer to something physical, but only to hair. The “covering” of the head in this chapter is seen as referring to the hair and has nothing to do with a physical covering[1]. Women had long hair which served as her covering on her head and men had short hair. In the second explanation of this chapter we find that the covering of the head is seen as a cultural matter. Just as Moses showed his reverence for God by, in his culture, taking off his shoes, in just the same way as we still show our reverence by other means without taking off our shoes. “The principle of proper reverence still stands inviolate, but the method of expressing such reverence may vary greatly with countries and times”[2]. This same principle now applies to this section where we find Paul is reasoning with the Corinthians as to the principle of propriety and religious decorum. Wiersbe also writes about this in the following way[3]: “I do not think that Paul meant for all women in every culture to wear a shawl for a head-covering; but he did expect them to use their long hair as a covering and as a symbol of their submission to God’s order. This is something that every woman can do”.
If we look at the Spirit of Prophecy, there seems to be no real issues with either the wearing of a head covering or not. The only quotations found about head covering is that it should not be outrageous, but rather modest without attracting too much attention[4]. As wearing of a hat in church for women was common in her day, there is just this admonition and no issue with either wearing it or not.
It seems to be clear from both the views above, as well as the writings of Ellen White, that we in our day are not admonished to either wear or not wear a head covering. It is left to the culture to determine what it prefers. Let us also abide by this rule in how we dress and carry ourselves on a Sabbath.
[1] Derek Prime, Opening Up 1 Corinthians (Leominister: Day One Publications, 2005), 100-01.
[2] Francis, D Nichol (Ed), The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol 6 (MD; Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980, 754.
[3] Warren, W Wiersbe, 1 Corinthians, Be Wise (Amersham on the Hill, England; Scripture Press, 1983), 122.
[4] Ellen, G White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol 3 (Mountain View, California; Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1948), 379.
