In I Corinthians 11:2-16, the Apostle Paul comments on the head-coverings and hairstyles for both men and women in ancient Corinth, which demonstrates Paul’s historical context of living in the Roman Empire. Paul’s opinion is not a moral commandment; instead, it was merely a suggestion or advice for the Christian Corinthians to live a sanctified life among the pagan unbelievers.
Discovering archeological artifacts to unearth the biblical context of this passage, Cynthia L. Thompson wrote a fascinating article, “Hairstyles, Head-coverings, and St. Paul: Portraits from Roman Corinth” for the Biblical Archeologist journal in June 1988. Particularly, Thompson uses portraits, such as coins, marble and small clay statues. She is academically honest, nevertheless, with her research and mentions several problems she dealt with while examining the portraits to determine the historical context of Paul’s experience in Corinth as he advised the believers there how to dress.
She mentions there is a problem in looking at portraits to see how people dressed regularly since different classes wore different styles, people of different trades wore certain garments, and the weather could determine changes in clothing. There is also a problem of knowing when to date the portraiture, especially if it is not clearly marked. Additionally, the size and worth of the portraitures varied because marble statues were tall and expensive, clay statues were small and inexpensive, and coins were even smaller and commonplace. Paul visited Corinth over several years, from about 50-60 A.D., and artifacts from before and after his visit show that culture changes were slow. Therefore, Thompson admits issues archeologists face, but artifacts are still good tools to reveal historical context.
Thompson says that Paul admonished men not to wear head-coverings because doing such was a sign of paganism based on the portraitures she unearthed. Some of the statues portrayed men with togas over their heads, which had a religious connection. Additionally, some coins displayed emperors wearing wreaths on their head, another pagan religious symbol of emperor worship.
Caesar Augustus
Paul recommends that Corinthian Christian women wear their hair up in simple styles because many of the pagan women wore their hair in ostentatious styles. Paul also suggests that the Christian women should not cover their hair with veils as the pagans did for religious purposes, but he leaves the matter for women to decide if they want to cover their heads. While Paul recommends that they do not cover their heads, he leaves the matter open to personal choice, as the issue is one of preference and not morality.
Through using archeology, such as portraitures on coins and statues, Cynthia L. Thompson sheds some light onto what Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians regarding how they dressed while living in a pagan culture. He largely leaves the issue up to individuals' scruples. The Christians in Corinth dressed somewhat differently from their pagan counterparts but still wore hairstyles and head coverings that were culturally acceptable. Paul wanted to provide some guidelines and suggestions for believers; thus, Paul is not giving theological commandments in this passage, as some people interpret I Corinthians 11:2-16.
Bibliography
Thompson, Cynthia L. “Hairstyles, Head-Coverings, and St. Paul: Portraits
from Roman Corinth.” The Biblical Archaeologist 51:2 (June 1988): 99-115.
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