Oster's religious context fully explains both male and female head covering issues in Corinth

Mike synthesizes the religious background evidence.

Craig Keener (egalitarian) agrees: cloth coverings, not hairstyles, are in view

Mike shows cross-position agreement on cloth coverings.

Question 8: What does 'nature' (physis) mean in verse 14?

Mike examines the meaning of Paul's appeal to nature.

Something being custom doesn't make it only custom; it may also be grounded in nature

Mike prevents a logical fallacy in interpreting the nature argument.

Exceptions to hair length rules: Nazirite vows, philosophers, and the principle behind exceptions

Mike discusses how exceptions to the general rule were understood.

Hair length is probably a transcultural moral obligation; application to today

Mike draws practical conclusions from the nature argument.

Tom Schreiner's consistent interpretation of glory as 'honor' works for both uses

Mike presents what he considers the best interpretation of glory.

Question 13: The testicle theory -- Troy Martin's claim about peribolaion

Mike introduces the most controversial recent interpretation.

Three key questions for evaluating the testicle theory

Mike organizes the scholarly debate systematically.

Ancient medical thought: Hippocrates and Aristotle on hair and reproduction

Mike surveys the actual ancient medical views on hair function.

Martin's two ancient sources for peribolaion meaning testicle: Achilles Tatius and Euripides

Mike examines Martin's evidence for the word meaning.

Six reasons Martin gives for testicle in 1 Corinthians 11 -- all fail

Mike systematically refutes Martin's case from the text of 1 Corinthians.

The argument AGAINST transcultural head coverings: Paul never argues for the MEANING of head coverings

Mike presents his personal case for cultural application.

Hair length IS probably transcultural since Paul argues for it directly from nature

Mike distinguishes hair length from head coverings in terms of ongoing application.

The cultural view is not arbitrary: five facts support it

Mike defends his position against charges of mere cultural accommodation.

Final conclusions: male headship is biblical, complementarian, and to be celebrated

Mike delivers his overall conclusions for the passage.

English translation history of authenteo and the NIV 'assume authority' rendering

Mike traces how English translations have rendered authenteo from Wycliffe to the present.

Q&A: What does it mean to believe? — Faith is a choice to trust, not a blind leap

Answering viewer question about the nature of faith vs. fruit

Acts 18:18 -- Paul keeps a Nazirite vow (hair cut) years after the resurrection. Consistent with Jewish believers continuing optional Torah practices.

Survey of Acts 18:18, Paul's Nazirite vow

1 Timothy 2:9 is not a strict prohibition on jewelry but a tendency warning against valuing external beauty over godliness

Exposition of 1 Timothy 2:9 in the context of Paul's instruction to women about conduct in the church.

Braided hair in 1 Timothy 2:9 refers to hair braided with gold as a display of wealth, not ordinary styling

Drawing on IVP Bible Background Commentary to explain the cultural meaning of braided hair in 1 Tim 2:9.

1 Peter 3:3-4 reinforces 1 Tim 2:9: true adornment is the gentle and quiet spirit, not external appearance

Reading and brief exposition of 1 Peter 3:3-4 as a parallel to 1 Timothy 2:9.

Approaching a pastor using feel-good theology — gracious challenge, define the terms

Practical advice for Ben on speaking to a feel-good theology pastor

Repentance-free Christianity: omission of sin, judgment, and hell produces a distorted gospel

Question from Chip Lutec about self-improvement replacing holiness in modern Christianity.

Kenneth Hagin and Word of Faith: extra-biblical systematizing of healing and glory produces a "cartoon image" of Christianity.

Question from Jordan Filler about Kenneth Hagin's "The Authority of the Believer."

Why the cause must be PERSONAL: (1) a mind uniquely fits spaceless/timeless/immaterial yet has causal powers, (2) state-event causation from timelessness requires a decision to act, (3) absence of determinism in nothingness requires libertarian free will.

Why the cause is a personal agent

The "footstool" verses (Isaiah 66:1) are metaphorical — God is sovereign. If "earth is my footstool" is literal, then "heaven is my throne" must be literal too (but no flat-earther takes it that way). Isaiah 40:12 says God measured waters in "the hollow of his hand" — also obviously metaphorical. 1 Kings 8:27: even the highest heavens cannot contain God.

Footstool verses — metaphor for sovereignty

Mark 11:27-33 reveals a striking parallel between the Sanhedrin's authority claims and modern Roman Catholic magisterial claims — not as a "hypocrite" jab, but as a pattern Jesus addresses.

Introduction to Mark Series pt 44 on authority, the Sanhedrin, and Roman Catholicism

The Sanhedrin's three authority claims (succession from Moses, Moses's seat, oral tradition) are structurally identical to the Catholic magisterium's claims (apostolic succession, chair of Peter, sacred tradition).

Detailed parallel between Sanhedrin and Roman Catholic authority claims

Which OT Teachings are for Us Today?: How are some biblical teachings like hair length considered cultural and specific only to ancient times, when other things apply even today, like homosexuality?

Q&A question: Which OT Teachings are for Us Today?

Winger says NO — do not follow your husband to a cult. The Bible never gives husbands spiritual authority to dictate their wife's worship. Wives have a relationship with God independent of their husbands. He also rejects the 'husband as priest of his house' teaching as unbiblical. Uses 1 Peter 3:1-6 extensively.

Q&A: Husband joined a cult teaching women go to hell for wearing makeup/trousers. Should wife submit and follow him there?

Why Did Jesus’ Body Still Have Marks?: Why did Jesus' resurrected body still bear the scars and injuries which brought about His death? It is my understanding that our own resurrected bodies will be perfect in every way, not merely those we had just prior to death. I, for one, want all my absent teeth and hair back! Why wasn't Jesus' body also perfect, as ours will be?

Q&A question: Why Did Jesus’ Body Still Have Marks?

Biblical Hair Length of Movie Characters?: In Lord of the Rings, would you consider the hair length too long for some characters, such as Aragorn or Legolas? How do I apply 1 Corinthians 11 when designing characters for my own projects?

Q&A question: Biblical Hair Length of Movie Characters?

Hair Length that Honors God: At my age and health, it’s hard to manage my long hair. May I cut it chin length as long as I keep it looking feminine and still relatively longer than a man’s? Is simply maintaining that gender distinction the important part?

Q&A question: Hair Length that Honors God

Nazarite Vows – Why Long Hair?: If long hair for men is a disgrace by nature (1 Corinthians 11: 14), then why is it part of the Nazirite vow in Numbers 6:5?

Q&A question: Nazarite Vows – Why Long Hair?

The Chair of Moses