ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 11 v1 - 16
11:1 | Imitating Paul and Christ
IMITATORS OF PAUL. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: If you imitate Paul as he imitated Christ, then you will be imitating Christ as he represented God. STROMATEIS 2.136.5.
IMITATING OUR TEACHERS. AMBROSIASTER: It is normal that we should imitate those whom God has set over us as teachers. For if they imitate God, why should we not imitate them? For just as God the Father sent Christ as the teacher and author of life, so Christ sent the apostles to be our teachers, so that we should imitate them, for we are unable to imitate him directly. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.
GUIDING OTHERS IN THE HUMILITY OF THE INCARNATE LORD. BASIL: If, indeed, the goal of Christianity is the imitation of Christ according to the measure of his incarnation, insofar as is conformable with the vocation of each individual, they who are entrusted with the guidance of many others are obliged to animate those still weaker than themselves, by their assistance, to the imitation of Christ. THE LONG RULES 43.
THE PRECISE LANDMARK. CHRYSOSTOM: This is the rule of the most perfect Christianity, a landmark exactly laid down, the point that stands highest of all. Nothing can make a person like Christ more than caring for one’s neighbors. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 25.3.
11:2 | Maintaining Paul’s Teachings
REMOLDING LOCAL TRADITIONS. AMBROSIASTER: Having attacked their morals and behavior, Paul now goes on to correct their traditions. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.
THE TRADITION OF HEAD COVERINGS. CHRYSOSTOM: The Corinthian women used to pray and to prophesy (for in those days women also prophesied) with their heads bare. Meanwhile the men, who had spent a long time in philosophy, wore their hair long and covered their heads when praying, which was a Greek custom. Paul had already admonished them about these things. It seems that some had listened to him but that others disobeyed. Here he praises the obedient before going on to correct the others. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 26.2.
11:3 | Christ’s Headship
CHRIST’S SUBMISSION A MODEL FOR BOTH SEXES. TERTULLIAN: To what kind of a crown, I ask, did Christ Jesus submit for the salvation of both sexes? What crown has he who is the head of man and the glory of the woman and the husband of the church? It was made from thorns and thistles. THE CHAPLET 14.
HOW THE TWO BECAME ONE. NOVATIAN: Scripture states: “And the two shall be but one flesh,” so that what was once one may become one again. … The head matches its own limbs and the limbs their own head, a natural bond uniting both in complete harmony, lest the closeness of the divine covenant be shattered by some sort of discord arising from the division of members. … Husbands are to love their wives even as Christ loved the church, and wives are to love their husbands as the church loves Christ. IN PRAISE OF PURITY 5.
THE CRUCIFIED HEAD BECOMES THE HEAD OF ALL POWER. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: The Head suffered in the “place of the skull.” O great and prophetic appellation! The very name all but reminds you to think not of the crucified as a mere man. He is the head of every principality and power. The Head which was crucified is the Head of all power. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 13.23.
THE NATURAL ORDER AND CHRIST’S HEADSHIP. PELAGIUS: The man is head of the woman in the natural order but not in Christ, in whom there is neither male nor female. Nevertheless, Paul wanted women to be subject to their husbands. God is the head of Christ’s humanity, because the divinity which was in the human Jesus controlled his doings. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 11.
THE ORDERING OF FATHER, SON, MAN AND WOMAN. AMBROSIASTER: God is the head of Christ because he begat him; Christ is the head of the man because he created him, and the man is the head of the woman because she was taken from his side. Thus one expression has different meanings, according to the difference of person and substantive relationship. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.
EQUAL SUBSTANTIALLY, DIFFERENT RELATIONALLY. CHRYSOSTOM: The word head is used in two different senses here, since otherwise absurdity would result. The distance between Christ and man is far greater than between man and woman, on the one hand, or between Christ and God on the other, and is of a different kind. Christ and God are equal in substance but different in relationship, and the same applies to man and woman. But between God and Christ the Son on the one hand and man [and woman] on the other, there is a vast difference of substance as well as of relationship. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 26.3.
PROTECTING THE HELPER. AMBROSE: This is a warning that no one ought to rely on oneself. She who was made as a helper needs the protection of the stronger. In this sense “the head of the woman is the man.” Yet while he believed that he would have the assistance of his wife, he fell because of her. Hence no one ought to entrust himself lightly to another unless he has first put that person’s virtue to the test. Neither should he claim for himself in the role of protector one whom he believes is lesser to his strength. Rather, each one should share his special grace with the other. Especially is this true of the man, who is in the position of greater strength, who plays the part of protector. PARADISE 4.25.
TO WHOM IS THE MAN RESPONSIBLE? AUGUSTINE: For the man is the head of the woman in perfect order when Christ who is the Wisdom of God is the head of the man. AGAINST THE MANICHAEANS 2.12.16.
THE NATURE OF MAN AND WOMAN THE SAME. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: Since man did not make woman, the question here does not concern the origin of woman. Rather it concerns only [the relation of] submission. The nature of God and Christ is the same. Similarly the nature of man and woman is the same. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
OVERVIEW: The difference between man and woman lies not in their nature but in their relationship (CHRYSOSTOM, SEVERIAN OF GABALA). Woman is the glory of man, but there is an enormous distance between that and the glory of God (AMBROSIASTER). A man who approaches the throne of God should wear the symbols of his office, which in this case is represented by having his head uncovered (CHRYSOSTOM). Just as God has nobody over him in all creation, so man has no one over him in the natural world. But woman lives under the protection of man (SEVERIAN). The relation of man and woman to God makes all the difference in understanding their relation to each other (AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM). Being covered is a mark of voluntary subjection (AMBROSIASTER), calling the woman to be humble and preserve her virtue (TERTULLIAN, CHRYSOSTOM). Since woman is the glory of man, it is shameful for a woman to desire to be like a man (CHRYSOSTOM). In the Genesis narrative man precedes woman in the order of their creation (EPIPHANIUS, THEODORET OF CYR). The woman was created with gifts of serving, the man with gifts of ordering (THEODORET OF CYR). Paul appears to be not confining his instruction about hair to a particular place and time (TERTULLIAN). He appealed to church tradition (CHRYSOSTOM), to nature (AMBROSIASTER, AMBROSE) and to the argument from general consent of reasonable people in these matters (CHRYSOSTOM). Since hair is potentially erotic, it can play into temptation (PELAGIUS). Natural hair is preferred to deceptive wigs (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA).
11:4 | When a Man Prays or Prophesies
DISHONORING THE HEAD. PELAGIUS: Paul was complaining because men were fussing about their hair and women were flaunting their locks in church. Not only was this dishonoring to them, but it was also an incitement to fornication. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 11.
DISTINGUISHING PROPHECY, ANCIENT AND MODERN. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: There is a difference between ancient and recent prophets, as follows. The ancients prophesied about the redemption of Israel, the calling of the Gentiles and the incarnation of Christ, whereas recent prophets prophesy about particular things or people, as Peter prophesied about Ananias, for example. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.
11:5 | When a Woman Prays or Prophesies
A GENERAL INSTRUCTION TO WOMEN. TERTULLIAN: What is the meaning of the expression “every woman” except women of every age, every rank and every circumstance? No one is excepted. ON PRAYER 22.4.
SELF-RESTRAINT OF MARY. ANONYMOUS: Could not the holy Mary, mother of God, have written books under her own name? But she did not, that she might not bring shame on her head by exercising authority over men. MONTANIST ORACLES AND TESTIMONIA, DEBATE OF A MONTANIST AND AN ORTHODOX.
11:6 | Wearing a Veil
HER DESIRE TO BE LIKE MAN. CHRYSOSTOM: A woman does not acquire a man’s dignity by having her head uncovered but rather loses her own. Her shame and reproach thus derive from her desire to be like a man as well as from her actions. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 25.4.
11:7a | Man the Image and Glory of God
DIFFERENT IN SOCIAL ORDERING. AMBROSIASTER: Although man and woman are of the same substance, the man has relational priority because he is the head of the woman. He is greater than she is by cause and order, but not by substance. Woman is the glory of man, but there is an enormous distance between that and being the glory of God. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.
THE APPROACH TO GOD. CHRYSOSTOM: No governor should come before the king without the symbols of his office. Such a person would never dare to approach the royal throne without his military girdle and cloak, and in the same way, a man who approaches the throne of God should wear the symbols of his office, which in this case is represented by having one’s head uncovered. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 26.4.
MADE IN THE IMAGE OF THE TRIUNE GOD. AUGUSTINE: This image made to the image of God is not equal to and coeternal with him whose image he is, and it would not be, even if it had not sinned at all. The meaning of the words of God when he said: “Let us make man to our image and likeness” must be understood. They were not spoken in the singular but in the plural. For man was not made in the image of the Father alone, or of the Son alone, or of the Holy Spirit alone, but in the image of the Trinity. LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 61.
11:7b | The Glory of Man
WOMAN THE GLORY OF MAN. AUGUSTINE: It is not as though one part of humanity belongs to God as its author and another to darkness, as some claim. Rather the part that has the power of ruling and the part that is ruled are both from God.
Thus the apostle says, “A man certainly should not cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but a woman is the glory of man.” AGAINST THE MANICHAEANS 2.26.40.
AUGUSTINE: [The Manichaeans say]: “The devil should not have been allowed to approach the woman.” On the contrary, she should not have allowed the devil to approach her. She was made so that, if she were unwilling, she could have prevented his approach. Then they say: “Maybe the woman should not even have been made.” This would be to admit that something good should not have been made. For there can be no doubt that the woman is good—so good that the apostle says that she is the glory of man and that all things are from God. AGAINST THE MANICHAEANS 2.28.42.
DIFFERENT IN RELATIONSHIP. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: From this we learn that man is not the image of God because of his soul or because of his body. If that were the case, woman would be the image of God in exactly the same way as man, because she too has a soul and a body. What we are talking about here is not nature but a relationship. For just as God has nobody over him in all creation, so man has no one over him in the natural world. But a woman does—she has man over her. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.
11:8 | Woman Made from Man
AGAINST THE MONTANISTS. EPIPHANIUS: For even if women among them [the Montanists] are appointed to the office of bishop and presbyter by appealing to Eve, they hear the Lord saying: “Your resort shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And the apostolic word has also escaped their notice: “I do not permit a woman to teach in such a way as to exercise authority over men. She is to preserve the virtue of quietness.” And again, “For man is not from woman, but woman from man.” PANARION 49.3.
ORDER OF CREATION. THEODORET OF CYR: Man has the first place because of the order of creation. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 234.
11:9 | Woman Created for Man
PRIMACY OF MAN. THEODORET OF CYR: This is all that is needed to demonstrate the primacy of the man, for the woman was created to serve him, not the other way round. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 234.
11:10 | Veiled Because of the Angels
THE ANGEL REVOLT. TERTULLIAN: It is on account of the angels, he says, that the woman’s head is to be covered, because the angels revolted from God on account of the daughters of men. ON PRAYER 22.5.
BECAUSE OF THE ANGELS. AMBROSIASTER: The veil signifies power, and the angels are bishops. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.
WHY A WOMAN OUGHT TO WEAR A VEIL. CHRYSOSTOM: Being covered is a mark of subjection and authority. It induces the woman to be humble and preserve her virtue, for the virtue and honor of the governed is to dwell in obedience. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 265.
11:11 | Men and Women Interdependent
CHECKING THE PRIDE OF MAN. CHRYSOSTOM: Having talked about the glory of the man, Paul now reestablishes the balance so as not to exalt the man beyond what is his due nor to oppress the woman. In the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. … Each one of the two is the cause of the other, God being the cause of all. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 26.5.
11:12 | Man Born of Woman
ALL THINGS ARE FROM GOD. AMBROSIASTER: Paul adds that all things are from God so that the woman will not be upset because of her dependent condition nor will the man be proud of his responsible position. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.
THE RELATION TO GOD. CHRYSOSTOM: Yet whatever excellencies belong to man, they belong ultimately to God. We should therefore obey him and not complain about it. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 27.5.
COUNTERING MANICHAEAN DUALISM. AUGUSTINE: Concerning the male and female sexes, what has the son of perdition to say? That the two sexes are not from God but from the devil? What has the vessel of election to say about this? “For as the woman is from the man, so also is the man through the woman—but all things are from God.” What does the devil say through the mouths of the Manichaeans about the flesh? That it is an evil substance, a creature not of God but of the enemy. CONTINENCE 10.24.
11:13 | Judging Propriety
GOD’S JUST JUDGMENT. ORIGEN: Here then we see the just judgment of God’s providence, that diversity of conduct is taken into account and that each is treated according to the deserts of his departure and defection from goodness. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1.7.
APPEAL TO TRADITION AND NATURE. AMBROSIASTER: This was the church’s tradition, but since the Corinthians were ignoring it, Paul made his appeal to nature. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.
JUDGE FOR YOURSELVES. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul has a habit of referring to ordinary everyday things in order to shame his hearers. After all, if even barbarians know these things, what is wrong with them? Can they not see the obvious? HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 26.5.
11:14 | Teaching from Nature
THE TABLETS OF NATURAL LAW. TERTULLIAN: If you demand a divine law, you have that common one prevailing all over the world, written on the tablets of nature, to which also St. Paul is accustomed to appeal. Thus he says concerning the veiling of women: “Does not nature teach you this?” Again, in saying in his letter to the Romans that the Gentiles do by nature what the law prescribes, he hints at the existence of natural law and a nature founded on law. THE CHAPLET 6.1.
LEVITICAL LAW ON LONG HAIR. AMBROSIASTER: This is in line with Leviticus [19:27], which prohibits a man from having long hair. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.
NATURE ITSELF TEACHES. AMBROSE: One act is becoming to a man, another to a woman. … How unsightly it is for a man to act like a woman! LETTER 78.
WHY SUCH LONG HAIR? AUGUSTINE: What is the reason, I wonder, why men wear their hair long contrary to the precept of the apostle? Is it to furnish greater leisure to the barbers? Or is it because they wish to imitate the birds of the gospel? Maybe they fear being plucked so that they might be unable to fly? I refrain from saying more concerning this habit, because of certain long-haired brothers whom, in almost all other respects, we hold in high esteem. But in proportion as we love them the more in Christ, to that degree do we advise them the more earnestly. THE WORK OF MONKS 31.
11:15 | Long Hair a Woman’s Pride
A WOMAN’S PRIDE. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: It is unholy and deceptive for a woman to wear a wig. If the man is the head of the woman, is it not impious for her to deceive him with all that extra hair and at the same time offend the Lord by dressing like a harlot, when her own natural hair is so beautiful? CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 3.63.
11:16 | No Other Practice
THE CHURCHES. CHRYSOSTOM: To oppose this teaching is contentiousness, which is irrational. The Corinthians might object, but if they do so, they are going against the practice of the universal church. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 26.5.