Early Christian Views on Long Hair
Early Christian writers usually tied hair to modesty, sex distinction, and self-control. Clement of Alexandria and the Apostolic Constitutions urged men not to wear their hair long and told women to keep their hair simple and modest. 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 is the main Bible passage on long hair, with other texts like Numbers 6:5 and Leviticus 19:27 giving background rather than a direct rule for all Christians.
84 early-church witnesses · 163 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about long hair?
Early Christian writers did not treat long hair as a simple one-size-fits-all issue. Clement of Alexandria and the Apostolic Constitutions press for short hair on men and modest, simply arranged hair on women, while Tertullian and Cyprian speak against elaborate styling and use 1 Corinthians 11 as their main guide. The Bible passages most directly tied to the topic are 1 Corinthians 11:14-15, along with smaller background texts like Numbers 6:5 and Leviticus 19:27.
The evidence is broad for modesty and sex-distinction in hair, but it is mixed on whether long hair is always wrong for women and thin on long hair as a standalone doctrine apart from dress, modesty, and worship order. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 is the clearest Bible text on long hair for men and women.
- Clement, Tertullian, Cyprian, and the Apostolic Constitutions connect hair with modesty and proper gender order.
- The strongest early Christian case is against stylish, attention-seeking hair, not against every form of long hair in every setting.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians think long hair was shameful for men?
The clearest evidence says men should not wear long hair, especially when styled or arranged in a way seen as effeminate or indecent. Early Christian writers repeatedly echo this moral reading and tie it to modest appearance.
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1 Corinthians 11:14 Direct teaching
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching
About hair, the following seems right. A man's head should be shaved, unless his hair is curly. But he should keep the hair on his chin. Twisted locks should not hang far down from the head, falling into womanish ringlets. A full beard is enough for men. And if a man also shaves part of his beard, he must not make it completely bare, because this is a disgraceful sight. Shaving the chin down to the skin is blameworthy. It comes close to plucking out the hair and smoothing the skin. For example, the Psalmist, taking delight in the hair of the beard, says, "Like the ointment that comes down on the beard, the beard of Aaron."
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
... man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor for the sake of fine appearance, to arrange his hair at the mirror, to shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them, how womanly that is. In truth, unless you saw them naked, you would suppose they were women. For although they are not allowed to wear gold, yet from effeminate desire they wrap their curls and fringes with leaves of gold. Or they have certain round ornaments made of the same metal, fasten them to their ankles, and hang them from their necks. This is a device of weakened men, who are dragged to the women's apartments, like lustful and unnatural creatures. For this is a seductive and impious trap. For God wished women to be smooth, and to rejoice only in their locks growing naturally, as a horse in its mane. But He has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him, as a mark of manhood, with shaggy breasts. This is a sign of strength and rule. So also cocks, which fight in defense of the hens, He has decked with combs, as if with helmets. And God sets such high value on these locks that He orders them to appear on men at the same time as discretion. Delighting in a venerable appearance,
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
But let the chin have the hair. But let not twisted locks hang far down from the head, gliding into womanish ringlets.
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Tatian, Address to the Greeks Supporting witness
They leave uncovered one of their shoulders; they let their hair grow long;
Did early Christians think long hair was fitting for women?
The sources consistently treat women’s hair as something to be kept, arranged, or covered with modesty, and some explicitly speak of hair as a glory or a covering. They also criticize elaborate braiding, ornaments, or borrowed hair as vanity.
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1 Corinthians 11:15 Direct teaching
But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching
It is enough for women to protect their locks, and bind up their hair simply along the neck with a plain hair-pin, nourishing chaste locks with simple care to true beauty.
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Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
For it is not right that a virgin should have her hair braided for the appearance of her beauty, or boast of her flesh and of its beauty, when she has no struggle greater than that against her flesh, and no contest more obstinate than that of conquering and subduing the body.
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Tertullian, On the Veiling of Virgins Supporting witness
..., unless the virgin is some third class of being, some monstrosity with a head of her own. If it is shameful for a woman to be shaved or shorn, then of course it is so for a virgin as well. Therefore let the world, the rival of God, see to it, if it claims that closely cut hair is graceful on a virgin in the same way that flowing hair is on a boy. Then for her, for whom it is equally unbecoming to be shaved or shorn, it is equally fitting to be covered. If the woman is the glory of the man, how much more is the virgin, who is also a glory to herself! If the woman is of the man, and for the sake of the man, then that rib of Adam was first a virgin. If the woman ought to have power upon the head, then all the more rightly should the virgin have it, since the very essence of the reason applies even more to her. For if it is because of the angels, namely, those whom we read fell from God and heaven because of desire for females, who can suppose that those angels longed for bodies already defiled, the relics of human lust, rather than that they were inflamed for virgins, whose bloom offers an excuse even for human lust? For Scripture also suggests this. It says, "And it came to pass,
How did early Christians connect hair with modesty and gender distinction?
These sources present hair as part of a larger moral boundary between masculine and feminine appearance, with warnings against vanity, braiding, cosmetics, and bodily display. The emphasis is on modesty and proper order rather than hair length alone.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching
It is enough for women to protect their hair and fasten it simply at the neck with a plain hairpin, caring for modest hair in a simple way for the sake of true beauty. For prostitute-like braiding of the hair, and arranging it in curls and twisted strands, only makes them look ugly. It cuts the hair and pulls it out because of those deceptive braids. Because of this, they do not touch their head, since they are afraid of disturbing their hair. Even sleep comes with fear, lest without knowing it they ruin the shape of the braid.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
For meretricious plaiting of the hair, and putting it up in tresses, contribute to make them look ugly, cutting the hair and plucking off it those treacherous braidings;
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
But additions of other people's hair are entirely to be rejected, and it is a most sacrilegious thing for spurious hair to shade the head, covering the skull with dead locks.
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Commodianus, Writings Supporting witness
Hear my voice, you who wish to remain a Christian woman, and hear in what way the blessed Paul commands you to be adorned. Isaiah also, the teacher and author who spoke from heaven, because he hates those who follow the wickedness of the world, says, "The daughters of Zion who are lifted up shall be brought low." It is not right before God for a faithful Christian woman to be adorned. Do you seek to go out in the manner of the Gentiles, you who are consecrated to God? God's heralds, crying aloud in the law, condemn as unrighteous women those who adorn themselves in this way. You stain your hair. You paint the opening of your eyes with black. You lift up your pretty hair, one by one, on your painted brow. You anoint your cheeks with some sort of red color laid on. And moreover, earrings hang down with very heavy weight. You bury your neck with necklaces. With gems and gold, you bind hands worthy of God with an evil presage. Why should I tell of your dresses, or of the whole pomp of the devil? You reject the law when you wish to please the world. You dance in your houses. Instead of psalms, you sing love songs. Although you may be chaste, you do not prove yourself so by following evi
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Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
...true is changed into a lie by the deceitful dyes of cosmetics? Your Lord says, "You cannot make one hair white or black." Matthew 5:36 And yet, in order to overcome your Lord's word, you would make yourself mightier than He is, and stain your hair with bold effort and profane contempt. With an evil sign of what is to come, you are already making for yourself a beginning of flame-colored hair. And you sin, O wickedness, with your head—that is, with the nobler part of your body! And although it is written of the Lord, "His head and His hair were white like wool or snow," Revelation 1:14 you curse that whiteness and hate that gray hair which is like the Lord's head.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
for all these ornaments are the signs of lasciviousness, which if you be solicitous about in an indecent manner, you will not act as becomes a good man: for it is not lawful for you, a believer and a man of God, to permit the hair of your head to grow long, and to brush it up together, nor to suffer it to spread abroad, nor to puff it up, nor by nice combing and platting to make it curl and shine;
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
lest by a nice combing your hair, and wearing it long, and anointing yourself, you draw upon yourself such ensnared or ensnaring women.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
but modestly diminish it before men. Thus, do not permit the hair of your head to grow too long, but rather cut it short;
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Tertullian, On the Veiling of Virgins Supporting witness
If, moreover, the apostle further adds the prejudgment of nature, that redundancy of locks is an honour to a woman, because hair serves for a covering, of course it is most of all to a virgin that this is a distinction;
Common Questions
Did early Christians think men should have long hair?
Many early Christian writers said a man should not wear his hair long, especially when it seemed stylish or effeminate. 1 Corinthians 11:14 is the main Bible text they used.
Did early Christians allow women to wear long hair?
Yes, many early Christian writers treated long hair on women as fitting, but they urged it to be kept modest and simply arranged. 1 Corinthians 11:15 is the main Bible text.
Was long hair seen as sinful by itself?
Not always by itself. The stronger early Christian concern was pride, vanity, and crossing sex lines in dress and grooming.
Source Index for Long hair
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 159 ranked source links from 163 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 159 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 84
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
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Bible Passages 79 included
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
Related Resources
Course Lesson
Long Hair or a Fabric Covering? Just in Church or for Everyday Life?
Open a related course lesson for more teaching connected with Long hair.