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NASB | 1 Corinthians 11:5 But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 11:5 And every woman who prays or prophesies when she has her head uncovered disgraces her head; for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved [in disgrace]. |
Bible Question: Just a quick question as to how modern women can cut their hair with no guilty conscience when it says in 1 Cor 11:5 that for a women to cut her hair is disgraceful? |
Bible Answer: The issue you raise is a great example of the need for careful interpretation of the Bible. Simply put, a given practice in the Bible is either descriptive or prescriptive. If it is descriptive, then we today are not under any obligation to adopt the practice. A good example here might be John the Baptist. He was dressed like a wild man, lived outdoors, and ate wild honey and locusts. With few exceptions, we are not called to live that way today. We can, however, draw some valuable PRINCIPLES from John's lifestyle. For example: 1) we, like John, are to be set apart to the Lord, 2) we, like John, are called to preach repentance, not reform and, 3) we, like John, should be willing to give up personal comforts in order to reach people with God's message. Prescriptive practices are those that are not culturally bound and are to be adopted by every generation of believers. A good example here might be the greatest commandment and its near cousin: love God with every ounce of your being, and value others as much as you value yourself (my paraphrase of Mark 12:30-31). How can we tell which biblical practices are descriptive and which are prescriptive? Aaahhh, that is the million dollar question! The short answer is: through diligent Bible study. This is where good study Bibles, Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedia, etc. can be worth their weight in gold. (For a listing of some Bible reference resources that I have found very helpful, please visit http://shakinandshinin.org/Resources.html) Is the 1 Corinthians passage dealing with women cutting their hair descriptive or prescriptive? Knowing for sure calls for some serious digging. So break out the shovel and the pick ax. And as you dig, try to answer the basic inductive questions: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Even if the practice is not prescriptive, there are still a number of excellent PRINCIPLES to be gleaned from the dig! A Century 21 Disciple of Jesus |