Posted by lifobryan (other posts) on September 03, 2024 at 12:10:28 Previous Next
In Reply to: Some longhairs are weird... politely spoken! posted by Yadgar on August 25, 2024 at 07:09:27:
Yeah, he's probably a fanatic - but a fanatic with awesome hair. As a former theology student (still with long hair), that verse has always intrigued me. First, it poses a weird rhetorical question, not a commandment. "Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a shame unto him?" What a weird question - even rhetorically. Hair grows. Male and female. That's nature. I think that Biblical translators miss St. Paul's salty sense of humor here. In the Greek, there is an implication of homosexuality - but no tin the way we understand that. Paul's implication was male temple prostitutes - young feminized males groomed to look like women, because heaven forbid - we defile "real" girls. But girlish boys - fine, in the Roman tradition. (And later Shakespearean era in England). St. Paul was making a complicated point here. If you look at the context around that verse, the chapters leading up to it and after - it's all about community and equality. In Paul's day - in Corinth - long hair on men represented the elites. Wealthy men who could grow their hair long because they did not have to toil in fields or other labor. Paul was simply pointing to the long-haired Corinthian Christian men as flaunting status with their hair. In salty language - lost in King James English, Paul is basically calling these guys out and saying "you guys look like effeminate temple prostitutes." Because in that time ands that place, long hair on men in Corinth represented elite status. Today, in our era and culture it is completely different. Hair has always been a statement of some sort. Particularly with men - which is why I wear mine proudly long. But in 1st century Corinth, I think St. Paul's salty humor was hilarious. (Just like his dig on circumcision). As to the fanatic ... well, I gotta say he's kinda hot!
: Hi(gh)!
: From the German "taz" news portal: https://taz.de/Soziologe-Georg-Vobruba-im-Gespraech/!6029435/ - note the title picture!
: It was taken in Milan, Italy... so we can assume this guy is probably a fanatic Catholic traditionalist. I wonder how he deals with 1 Cor 11,14...
: See you in Khyberspace!
: Yadgar