Cheryl Schatz

Mark,
You said:

It is spontaneous as the need arose or was led by the spirit. It was not and is not the gift of ‘teaching’ given to those who are the overseers.

Pardon me if someone already pointed this out, but God does not give gifts to “overseers”. God gives gifts to people who may then become “overseers”. There is not a special gift given as the gift of “overseership teaching” that is divided from regular teaching. This would be an addition again to the Scripture.

Also it appears that although women were now allowed to participate along with the men with this gift, they had thus rejected the creation order of male headship.

It appears? Where does it say that women have rejected a leadership set up from creation? Please point to the words in the passage where you get this from.

Yes women could now prophecy, but no they should not be dishonouring their husbands with an uncovered head.

Paul does not say that women “should not” pray with an uncovered head. Paul qualifies women’s uncovering with both a permission to uncover with stipulations that a woman may wear the head covering. Men are not given this leeway. They must not cover. Women are allowed the authority to make their own decision.

This is now the root problem Paul is addressing, women who were not being respectful to their ‘head’.

Paul does not say that women are not being respectful to their “head”. He gives the cultural mandate that says that uncovering dishonors the husband and then he allows her to uncover her head, cut her hair, shave her head or cover her head. It is her decision but she needs to respect her heads in making that decision as full freedom in Christ may offend her unsaved husband.

The inauguration of the Kingdom and the gifting of the Spirit did not override God’s creational order and men’s headship.

Removing the head covering had nothing to do with male authority. It had everything to do with cultural shame for the man and freedom in Christ from shame for the woman. This was her dilemma.

Note the creational order Paul uses to support his argument. Eve was made out of Adam and for Adam, not the other way around.

This creation order was necessary since creating Eve before Adam would not have allowed her to be made out of his body. She would then have been made out of dirt as he was and they would not have the intimate union of one flesh dividing and coming back together.

Verse 7 is the reason Paul gives for why a man (aner) should not cover his head- he is the image and glory of God.

No, the reason why Paul gives that the man was not cover is because it shames Christ. Since Christ is not to be shamed, the head covering must go.

Okay, that’s all I can do for tonight. I will catch up later another day.