Paul made a woman's head covering a visible matter of honor and order in worship, and Les Feldick explains it as a cultural safeguard so Christians would not be mistaken for the immoral women in Corinth.
In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head, treating it as shameful as being shorn. Les Feldick adds that Corinth was a grossly immoral city with brazen street women, so Paul wanted women of the church to be subdued and respectable in public worship.
1 Corinthians 11:4-6 — This is the passage where Paul directly applies head covering to men and women, with verse 5 explicitly naming the woman's uncovered head as a dishonor.
1 Corinthians 14:34-40 — Paul grounds the women's conduct in the assembly, showing that head covering was part of the call for decent and orderly worship.
In 1 Corinthians 11:4, Paul writes: Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. The next verse addresses the woman: But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. Verse 6 then explains that if a woman is not covered, she should also be shorn; but since it is a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, she should be covered. The biblical text therefore places the woman's covering at the point where public prayer and prophecy happen, making it part of honorable, orderly worship. In chapter 14, Paul continues that theme of order: Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law (1 Corinthians 14:34). He closes that section with: Let all things be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).
Les Feldick sets Paul's instruction squarely in the first-century cultural setting. He notes that Corinth was a wicked, grossly immoral city, and he describes the 1,000 female priestesses of Aphrodite's temple who came down into the city at night. In that setting, Paul told the women of the church not to be anything like the brazen women of the street; instead they were to be subdued, subservient, and quiet in the assembly. Les also observes that Paul's head-covering discussion goes back to custom. Just as men in Les's generation removed their caps indoors, believers in Corinth needed to be careful how they handled cultural practices so the watching world would not misinterpret them. At the same time, Les insists this does not make Paul anti-feminist; Christianity brought women their greatest liberty, and Paul himself entrusted the Roman letter to Phoebe and praised women helpers.
Les explains that Paul's instruction did not come from anti-feminism but from the situation in Corinth. Because the city was marked by gross immorality and brazen street women, Paul told church women to be the complete opposite: subdued, subservient, and not talkative. He adds that Paul wrote in light of the culture and day and time, and the Scripture still says let all things be done decently and in order.
No, according to Les. He points out that Paul alludes to eight or ten women in Romans 16 who were helpful in ministry and that he entrusted the letter to the Romans to Phoebe, a woman. Les says Christianity brought the feminine portion of the human race out of being downtrodden and gave them the greatest liberty. Paul's restrictions about women in the Corinthian assembly were prompted by the city's wicked culture, not by a low view of women.
For Les, the head-covering passage is bound up with the customs of Paul's day. He says Paul was telling the Corinthians to be careful because of how the surrounding world looked at these things, and he repeatedly says Paul wrote in the light of the culture and the day and time. Les does not teach that the veil itself is the same kind of requirement for every later culture; he treats it as an example of how believers must keep order and avoid actions that the world would misinterpret.
Cultural context of head coverings
Les explains that Paul's instruction was shaped by the culture of the day; Christians were to be careful in their outward customs so the watching world would not misinterpret them.
Men as heads in the church order
Les points out that Paul expected women to recognize the man as the head and to be subdued in the church services, consistent with the order Paul addresses in Corinth.
Warnings against brazen behavior
Les says Paul used the prostitutes' brazen dress, behavior, and talkativeness as a negative example so church women would not resemble them; instead they were to be subdued.
Paul's regard for women in ministry
Les reminds listeners that Paul was not anti-feminist; he praised women helpers and entrusted the Roman letter to Phoebe.
Corinth's immoral setting
Les stresses that 1 Corinthians was written because Corinth was a grossly immoral city, which explains why Paul addressed women's conduct as he did.
Christian liberty and cultural restraint
Les says Christianity gave women the greatest liberty, but present-day women have abused it; Paul still wrote in light of the culture and told women to remain subdued and to ask their husbands at home.
Is It Luck or God? Divine Sovereignty vs. Free Will
Now, all the way through Paul's letters he is making reference, then, that Christ is the head and he's more or less the husband, if you want to use that analogy again, and the body of Christ is his virgin bride. And that's why Paul is always admonishing the believer to live a life of purity, a life of separation, because we are not to be the adulterous wife of Jehovah as Israel was.
Aphrodite's temple prostitutes in Corinth
Les describes the 1,000 temple priestesses from Aphrodite's temple who came down into Corinth at night, explaining why Paul's language about prostitutes was so explicit.
1 Corinthians 11:4: Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
Paul begins the head-covering discussion by addressing how a man's covering dishonors his head in worship.
1 Corinthians 11:5: But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
This is the direct biblical statement that an uncovered woman dishonors her head in worship.
1 Corinthians 11:6: For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
Paul compares an uncovered head to the shame of being shorn, which is why the woman should remain covered.
1 Corinthians 14:34: Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
Paul connects the women's public conduct in the assembly with order and obedience.
1 Corinthians 14:35: And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
Paul instructs women to learn quietly by asking their husbands at home, another aspect of women's conduct in the Corinthian assembly.
1 Corinthians 14:40: Let all things be done decently and in order.
This verse summarizes Paul's goal for worship, including the instructions about women and head coverings.
In the transcript evidence, Les treats the head covering as a custom that goes back to Paul's culture and day and time. He says Paul was telling the Corinthians to be careful how they handle things so the world would not misinterpret them. Les does not present the veil itself as the same kind of binding rule for every generation.
The Bible says if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered (1 Corinthians 11:6). Paul's point is that an uncovered head carried the same shame as a shorn or shaven woman, so the covering was a visible way to avoid dishonor.
Les repeatedly notes that Paul was dealing with the Corinthian church in a uniquely wicked city and that his instructions were written in light of the culture and day and time. At the same time, Les points out that Paul called what he wrote the commandments of the Lord, so it cannot be dismissed as merely human opinion.
Watch the Teaching: Why Paul Said Women Should Cover Their Heads — 1 Corinthians 11