Why don't women wear hats or head coverings in church like they used to? Doesn't the Bible command this?

Your question is based on 1 Corinthians 11:3-16. You might want to have the passage open. Verses 5 and 13 to 15 seem to mandate head coverings for women at worship, but the vast majority of churches, including our own, do not demand this. No wonder people might conclude that God is somehow unclear in this Bible section—or a lot of his people are being disobedient. But there's a better answer.

THE MAIN POINT IS CLEAR

The main point of the whole section is unmistakably clear. Role relationships between men and women are real (verse 3), based on the order of creation (verses 8,9), and to be expressed in worship (verses 4-7,13-15). The principle—men serving as loving leaders and women as loving helpers—was to be reflected in worship decorum and dress. In Corinth, men expressed agreement with the principle by not covering their heads and women by covering theirs.

A MAIN QUESTION IS ASKED

We are not debating the headship principle itself. It is established and restated elsewhere (see Genesis 2:18,21,22; 1 Corinthians 14:33,34; and 1 Timothy 2:11-13). What is asked is whether covering or not covering one's head—which expressed agreement to the principle in Corinth—has the same meaning in other countries and cultures. The principle is universal, but is this way of expressing it equally universal? Or was this a local custom that may change from culture to culture? That question is at the heart of this subject and your concern.

When we ask if something in Scripture is universally and unchangeably applied in all cultures or if it is culturally or historically conditioned, we look into Scripture itself for an answer. We consider if the recommended practice reflects local or more widespread custom and if the context and rest of Scripture endorse or limit the scope of a particular instruction.

We find verse 16 quite helpful. Paul wrote, "We have no such practice (or habitual custom)." (NIV translation improperly reads: "We have no other practice." This inappropriate insertion unfortunately changes the meaning of the sentence.) Paul, his coworkers, and other churches beyond Corinth did not regularly express agreement with the headship principle by the customary practice that prevailed in Corinth. They could and would express agreement to the principle in different ways, just as our culture does now. Today wearing or not wearing hats or veils is not linked to role relationships, so that custom remains a matter of Christian freedom.

SIMILAR QUESTIONS ARE ASKED