Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 6
When he reads 1 Corinthians 11, he says his brain initially “walked away with everything the world walked away with,” and he suspects Anabaptist practice might be more tradition than Scripture; what were the specific interpretive obstacles he names (men only uncovered when praying, women covered “all the time,” “hair is given…as a covering”), and which of those obstacles do you still find strongest?
Another way to ask: He lists problems with understanding 1 Corinthians 11 (like when men are uncovered, women being covered all the time, and “hair is given as a covering”). Which of these problems still seems hardest for you to answer, and why?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
He names three main obstacles: the apparent prayer-only timing for men, the all-the-time expectation for women in his community, and the phrase “her hair is given…as a covering,” which seems to make a separate covering unnecessary. The transcript doesn’t tell us which obstacle you personally should find strongest, but it highlights “hair as covering” and timing as the major stumbling blocks.
- He says he didn’t “see what y’all saw” and walked away with “everything the world walked away with.”
- Obstacle 1: “How come the woman has to cover her head all the time, but the men only when they pray? Doesn’t seem like that’s what it says to me.”
- Obstacle 2: “Is it not evident…rules for women while they’re in the church? Why is the hair not the covering when…the verses specifically say the hair is given…as a covering?”
- He questioned tradition vs text: “how much…practice is coming from these scriptures versus…tradition.”
- He reports weak defenses he heard: appeal to “pray without ceasing,” and practicality (“hard to take off a head covering”), concluding, “I’m not going to let that be my defense.”
- In the Chrysostom section, he addresses the “hair is covering” objection by arguing Paul’s logic would become “absolute nonsense” if hair alone were the covering.