Ninro Ruiz Peña
We go by part, especially when cutting the hair. Jesus never spoke on this issue. In Matthew 10.30 it says: “and even the hairs of your head are all numbered”. What the Master wanted to emphasize here was God’s care for us, about to know how many threads of hair we have in our heads. The use of this verse as justification for prohibiting the cutting of hair it is at least a complete hermeneutical ignorance. And there is more, if we cut the hairthe number of threads will remain the same, although shorter, thus making this theory succumb.
In I Corinthians 11.4-6; 15: «Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors his head; because it is the same as if he had shaved his head. Because if the woman does not cover herself, let her also cut her hair; and if it is embarrassing for a woman to cut her hair or shave her head, she should cover herself.
… On the contrary, it is honorable for a woman to let her hair grow; because instead of a veil she is given her hair.
Why the use of the veil for Jews and Greeks
We need to understand: Why did Jewish women wear the veil? Why didn’t Greek women wear it? Why was it not honorable, back in Corinth, for Christian women in the days of the Apostle Paul to have shaven heads?
Corinth was a cosmopolitan port city, that is, people from almost every country in the known ancient world came to it, mainly Greeks, Romans and Jews. There was also in the city a very large miscegenation of races and cultures, as well as religions.
The city provided a number of entertainment options and cultural manifestations. There was an amphitheater built by the Romans there that allowed about 20,000 spectators. The famous temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of sensuality, lasciviousness, and cultural prostitution, housed more than 1,000 prostitutes.
As it was seen, the culture of Corinth did not have a Jewish bias, but a Greek one and was highly influenced by the Roman travelers who passed through there. That being the case, the way the Corinthians dressed, ate, and acted were completely different from the Jews.
From the Jewish point of view the use of the veil It dated back to ancient times, which was related to the decency of women to the submission of women.
But Greek women did not have this custom, they wore long hair, did not wear a veil and were not prostitutes. But in Corinth there was a custom of the prostitutes (priestesses of the temple of Aphrodite) to use the shaved heads. These priestesses from the temple of Aphrodite scratched their heads and obeying a local religious determination, these women should have a sexual relationship with a stranger once a year.
This analogy made by Paul was intended to show that a woman without a veil symbolized, in Jewish culture, the same thing that the woman with a shaved head symbolized in Greek society. Prostitute or unfaithful. We conclude, then, that the main objective that led the apostle Paul to record this matter in the Corinthian church was to safeguard and protect the sisters, members of the church in the city, who had short hair, and avoid outrage from being confused with the prostitutes (priestesses) who worshiped. Because just as a woman without a veil was considered a prostitute by the Jews, in the same way a woman with a shaved head was considered a harlot by the Greeks.
Another point that needs to be made clear is that Paul was not teaching eternal moral principles in this biblical passage, (he was not linking long hair or the veil to salvation), but circumstantial, that is, it was a cultural focus in the city of Corinth. In no other epistle does the apostle deal with this matter again.
The teaching was that, as a matter of logic and coherence, those who choose to maintain the tradition of Jewish veiling should also preserve the use of long hair present in Greek culture.
Therefore, “it’s not a sin to cut your hair«. The cultural and religious context in which the faithful is inserted must be respected. However, it is good to note that no norm established by local culture, tradition, political or religious ideology, etc., can be superimposed on the Holy Scriptures.
As for painting hair We do not have biblical references that prohibit us from this practice. It is concluded that “It’s not a sin to dye your hair«. But, if it is known that you and I are the Temple of the Holy Spirit of God and that if God has made me with black hair, what is the motivation that leads me to want to paint it “blonde?”
Dissatisfaction and uprising against God? Well, I hate the color and texture of my hair. Make me sexy? Do I want to look like an idol that I would like to be?
Am I going to paint it “blue, purple and green” to attract attention or show my dissatisfaction with my leaders?
Am I going to paint it just to contradict my parents and show that I am my own master?
Am I going to paint them just to shock?
Am I going to paint them to be the center of attention?
If your motivation is not framed with the above, stay in peace, whatever you do, let it be for the glory of God. Always remember, the Lord has called us to freedom, but let us be careful so that our freedom does not serve as a scandal for our little brothers who are weak, because if “eating meat” will scandalize them, it is better that we abstain and do not do to the weak fall, sin and die.
May the Lord bless us.
By Armando Taranto Neto: Writer, master in sociology of religion, graduate and post-graduate in biblical theology.
Post Visitors:248