In 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 Paul discusses the appropriate headdress for men and women during a worship service. The basic rule for church order that Paul gives in this passage is that in worship services men should leave their heads uncovered while women should have their heads covered. It seems probable that Paul was responding to a report received about some Corinthian women who were either refusing to cover their heads or who were questioning the practice. Possibly some women saw the abandoning of their Headcoverings as an expression of their liberty and equality in Christ.

The importance of this passage lies not so much in what Paul says about head coverings as in the significance that he attaches to head coverings as a symbol of the role distinctions that men and women must preserve at church. For Paul, these distinctions are not grounded on cultural conventions but on the principle of male headship and female submission established by God at creation. To support this principle, in 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 the apostle appeals not to the story of the Fall in Genesis 3 but to the manner of the creation of Eve out of man and for man in Genesis 2. If the submission of women were regarded as a consequence of the Fall, as our author contends, then the headcovering would have been a shameful sign of guilt. But Paul sees it as a sign of honor for women (1 Cor 11:7, 15), because in Paul’s culture it represented obedience to the submissive role that God assigned to women.

Modern readers find it difficult to comprehend why Paul should place so much importance on such a trivial matter as headcovering. The key to understanding why this custom was important for Paul is found in the opening verse of the section: "But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor 11:3). Paul is concerned that the principle of male headship and female submission be outwardly respected in the church through the custom of women covering their heads.

What matters to Paul is not the headgear itself but respect for the distinction between the sexes which the headgear expressed in that particular culture. By laying aside their headgear, the Corinthian women were rebelling against their divinely-intended submission. What to some appears as a petty fight over a trivial matter of women’s head covering was in reality an important theological battle against women who wanted to obliterate role distinctions set in place by God Himself at creation.

Seen in its proper light, this passage speaks volumes to our culture today, where the feminist movement is promoting role interchangeability, the obliteration of sexual role distinctions in all realms of life. Ultimately, this effort results in the breaking down of the fundamental structure established by God for the well-being of the home, the church, and society.

Wives or Women? On the basis of still another author’s analysis of 1 Corinthians 11 in Chapter 15 of the same symposium, Women in Ministry,⁶² our author argues that the passage affirms male headship only in marital relationships and not over women in general. "The context in 1 Corinthians is one of wives submitting to the headship of their own husbands, and not the headship of men over women in general."⁶³ The main support for this conclusion is two Greek words, Gynegyne and aner, which can be translated either as man and woman or as husband and wife. "The context of 1 Corinthians 11 clearly favors the translation ‘husband’ and ‘wife.’"⁶⁴

As we noted at the beginning, Seventh-day Adventists opposed to women’s ordination do not hold to "the headship of men over women in general." In offering a choice only between this general headship and headship confined to the marriage relation, the author presents a false dichotomy. Taken together, the writings of Paul do not assert the subordination of all females to all males but the subordination of females under their proper heads. In the home, the proper head is the husband or father, as our author affirms. Paul’s counsel in Ephesians 5:22, 23 is evidence for this view: "Wives, be subject to your husbands . . . . For the husband is the head of the wife." In the church family, the proper head is not all males but the appointed male leadership of the elder or elders, who serve in the role of father to the entire church, both male and female (see 1 Tim 3:2-5).

The author is correct when he says that the statement, "the head of a woman is her husband" (1 Cor 11:3, RSV) most likely refers to the husband-wife relationship. In fact, Paul uses the same words in Ephesians 5:23 when speaking exclusively of the headship of the husband over his wife. In spite of this evidence, four considerations give us reason to believe that the passage has a broader application that includes also the relationships and behaviors of men and women in the church.

First, verses 4 and 5 speak inclusively of "every man" and "every woman" respectively. The qualifying word pas, "every," suggests that the regulation about head coverings applies to all men and women and not just to husbands and wives.

Second, verses 7-9 appeal to the manner of the creation of Eve out of Adam as a basis for the regulation given. This theological reason suggests that Paul is thinking of all men and women rather than of husbands and wives exclusively.

Third, "verses 11-12 speak of the mutual interdependence of the sexes in the process of procreation. If only husband and wife were meant, these verses would be illogical, for the husband does not come into being through the wife nor is the wife the source of the husband. Verses 13-16 argue from nature, which would give greater support that men and women in general are being discussed rather than just husbands and wives."⁶⁵

Fourth, the ambiguity which is caused by the double meaning of gyne, namely, wife and woman, can be clarified when we bear in mind that for Paul the husband-wife relationship in marriage is the paradigm for the man-woman relationship in the church. For Paul, the submissive role of a married woman is a model for women in general, and by the same token the headship role of a married man is a model for men in general. This important point will be elaborated shortly. This means that although 1 Corinthians 11 focuses on husbands and wives, the principle of headship and submission is applicable to the broader relations of men and women in the church. In Paul’s view, men should behave properly like men, regardless of their marital status; likewise women, regardless of whether they are married or not, should behave in ways that befit women. It is not a matter of all men exercising headship over all women, but of each person respecting his or her God-given role.

We would conclude with Fritz Zerbst that "the Apostle had husbands and wives in mind when he wrote this passage. However, Paul in this passage at the same time speaks also generally of man and woman. In order to understand Paul we must bear in mind that the relationship between the sexes always has its center in marriage."⁶⁶