My eleven year old daughter and I were stopped at a traffic light on the way home from school. At the intersection, the shadow of a stately brick church towered over us commanding our attention and drawing our eyes to the new lettering on the church sign next to the word “pastor.”
There was a woman’s name there.
“What?!” my daughter exclaimed. “I didn’t know women could be pastors!”
Thus begun our year-long (and counting) Scripture study about women’s roles in the church. She has shed many tears over the topic because it is hard to understand from the Bible (there are lots of hard parts on this topic!) Also, commentaries are just not written on an elementary school reading level. It takes a lot of work to read and process the complex theological possibilities. Plus any boundaries are hard to accept since we live in a “you can do anything you want to do” world.
One of the hard parts of Scripture (and there are many) about women in the church is 1 Corinthians 11:7. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul is giving instructions about what worship in church should look like particularly in regards to head coverings for women while they are worshiping.
The issue of head coverings themselves will be another blog post for another day, but within this discussion, in 1 Corinthians 11:7, Paul describes woman as the glory of man.
“For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.”
What does it mean for woman to be the glory of man?
Update: Since I wrote this post, I have studied more on this passage. Make sure you read until the end to see what else I’ve discovered about this passage since I initially wrote it. Thank you!
First, I looked at Matthew Henry’s commentary which says that “the woman is the glory of man: she is his representative. Not that she had dominion over the inferior creatures, as she is a partaker of human nature, and so far is God’s representative too, but it is at second hand. She is the image of God, inasmuch as she is the image of man.”
In other words, women are the glory of man because man is the “middle man” between us and God’s glory. Women’s existence does not even reflect the image of God! Yikes! What are the practical implications of this view? Women become second class citizens and are not able to be as close to God as man can.
This interpretation goes directly against Genesis 1:27 which says “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” Here it is clear that both man and woman are created in the image of God. Plus, we see throughout Scripture that God directly gives women ways to serve Him. Think of the woman at the well, Mary and Martha, and the women who came to His tomb as just a few examples.
God deals directly with women
My favorite example of a woman who serves God directly is Samson’s mom. She receives instructions from an angel that her baby would be special and she should not drink alcohol or eat unclean things. She ran to tell her husband the news and he prayed for the Lord to send the angel again because he wanted to hear the instructions directly. The angel appears again, but to the woman. She asks the angel to wait while she gets her husband. He comes eagerly to get the instructions directly from the angel, but all the angel says is “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.” (Judges 13:13).
If woman being the glory of man means that she relates to God only through man, then why would He send an angel directly to the woman and not her husband first? And even when the husband does get to see the angel, the angel seems to say “this is between God and her although, since you asked, I’ll tell you, too.”
So Matthew Henry gets it wrong here.
Fulfilling Man’s Needs
Next, I consulted a book called The Role of Women in the Church which was written in 1972. During this time there was a need to alert the church to the dangers of feminist thinking, however, as in many cases throughout history, the pendulum can swing too far the other direction.
Here is the author’s understanding of what it means for woman to be the glory of man. First, he says that man directly glorifies God but “the woman being the glory of the man is to glorify God by fulfilling the desires of man. She is to glorify God as she puts herself under the man and serves and fulfills the need of the man. She is to glorify God in fulfilling womanly responsibilities.”
For this author, being the glory of man means in order to glorify God, a woman must fulfill man’s needs.
This, as you can imagine, can lead to all types of abuse in the name of doing things God’s way.
Author Sheila Gregoire from To Love, Honor, and Vaccuum, recently came across a list of 98 Ways a Woman Can Sin Against Her Husband. This list is used in some church-based marriage counseling programs and was taken from material of the same author of the book mentioned above. You can take a look at the list here.
Can you imagine coming to church to ask for help for your marriage and the assumption is that the problems in your marriage are a result of you not glorifying your man?
In other words, the problem in your marriage must be that you are sinning by not fulfilling the needs of your man and fulfilling your womanly responsibilities?
Note: I do not bring this up to knock the author. He is a man who loves the Lord and has spent his life serving Him and teaching others God’s word. He is my brother in Christ. But I want to interact with his viewpoint on this hard part of Scripture. This viewpoint is not only his, by the way. Search the word “glory” on this sermon from a well-known preacher.
The main problem I have in explaining glory as fulfilling man’s needs is that I do not see that explanation in the text itself. Where does the author get that definition? He does not explain that in his book.
Glory is Honor
So next I looked at Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner’s chapter on 1 Corinthians 11 in the book Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism. He gives a direct answer to the question what does glory mean.
He says that glory means honor.
He gets that understanding from the text itself in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 where the long hair of a man is a dishonor in contrast to the long hair of woman being a glory to her. In other words, in this text, the opposite of dishonor is glory. So to glory means to honor.
Here the practical application is that woman should honor man.
Doesn’t it break your heart when you hear man-bashing? When you see yet another sitcom where the man is an idiot to be laughed at?
Or when you hear a wife complaining endlessly about her husband?
I’m not talking about speaking up when there is a conflict to be solved, but I mean the endless whining about every little thing.
Instead, a woman’s attitude toward men should be filled with honor, kindness, and respect.
In a church context, since that is the context of 1 Corinthians 11, women can honor the pastors and the elders and really all the men with whom they worship each Sunday. They are their brothers in Christ and the pastors and the elders are the leaders that God has given to shepherd the congregation including the women.
How do you speak about the pastors and the elders who lead your congregation?
Do you bash them behind their backs? Do you ignore their plea for you to do things God’s way when they confront you with the truth? Or do you honor them by prayerfully listening with a teachable spirit?
Do you thank the Lord for the men in your life and in your church life?
We have enough man bashing in the world. Let’s make sure the church is different. Let’s honor men. Let’s be glory to them.
Women, do you struggle with being glory of man? Have you heard a different understanding of 1 Corinthians 11:7? Let me know in the comments below.
Update:
Since I wrote the above blog post, I have read more on the 1 Corinthians 11 passage.
First of all, Dr. Gary Shogren has provided a free downloadable commentary on the book of 1 Corinthians. He reminds us that “the woman is the glory of the man, yet man and woman together are the image and glory of God. Both men and women, therefore, must take heed for God and for other human beings.” (p. 353) I want to thank him for reminding us that honoring each other goes both ways. It’s not just for women to honor men, but we are to honor each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. I do not want to communicate in any way that honoring men is exclusively a women’s job. Honoring one another goes both ways in the family of God. Paul says in Romans 12:10 “Honor one another above yourselves.” This is God’s instructions to both men and women in the church.
Secondly, I have read more on the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood who put together Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism which I quoted from above. I am now aware of the troubling doctrine of the trinity that many in the council hold to. I am also now aware of how the council reads every passage in the Bible that pertains to women and men through the lens of authority and submission rather than holding to the Biblical understanding that men and women are co-laborers in the family of God. For more on this idea, please read Beyond Authority and Submission: Women and Men in Marriage, Church, and Society by Rachel Green Miller and Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Aimee Byrd.
Please. Read them. They are eye-opening!
Note: Some of the above links are Amazon affiliate links.
Well said, Rachel, God’s good and faithful servant!
This was an excellent post, Rachel! We have used essays from Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood many times as a reference to these kinds of hard parts of Scripture! It is a great resource…as are you! And yes…it absolutely breaks my heart to see the man-bashing culture we live in, especially as I seek to raise these four boys to be godly men. The attitude starts at such an early age…you can even see it in the literature being produced now for boys…books that seem to think boys are only interested in silliness and bathroom humor. It is an uphill battle to stand for God’s truth in our fallen world. Thank you for being among those raising who are His standard high!!
Thank you, Kameron. You are doing a fantastic job raising your young men.
I’d like to read more from the Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood book. Plus I have another book in the series that I want to dig into to. These are some hard parts! That is for sure!
Rachel, I love it that you are tackling this with your daughter. What a model of finding our answers in Scripture! I also really appreciate that you don’t blindly accept any particular theologians position as, in this case, you reject Matthew Henry’s perspective.
I, too, hate to hear man-bashing. I even wrote about it for pastorswives.com: http://www.pastorswives.com/2017/01/honoring-our-husbands-among-friends.html.
I think the first thing to do is check on the words Paul uses for “man” and “woman.” Are we talking about all women glorying all men here, or is it about a wife glorying her husband?
Finally, you said, “a woman’s attitude toward men should be filled with honor, kindness, and respect.” Completely true, but shouldn’t a man’s attitude toward women be the same? We can infer such from Scripture. So does this verse speak to women’s authority in church (i.e. women pastors)? Maybe not as much as other passages.
As you know, I’ve been digging into the same big question. I’m so glad you shared this, and I look forward to more in the same line!
Oh, and great questions at the end, regardless of where one stands on this issue.
Thanks, Carole, and thanks for sharing your blog post as well. Is Paul talking about man and woman or wife and husband here? Ah, what a great question. I wish I knew for sure because I don’t think anyone knows. My husband says he believes it is husband and wife here. Another commentator I read said that this part of Scripture wouldn’t be so hard if we knew exactly why Paul was writing this section. We don’t know what problem he is addressing so we aren’t sure the broader context of this issue.
And yes, I agree, that a man’s attitude towards women should also be the same as honor, kindness, and respect. It reminds me of Ephesians 5 when the verse about wives submitting to their husbands immediately follows the verse about all in the church submitting to one another. Both are true and both are to be done.
I know I kind of cheated in this hard part since I didn’t really mention headcoverings but I suspect that headcoverings (whatever that looks like today) might be the answer of what particular way women are to honor men (wives/husbands) and why that is especially mentioned here.
Let me know your thoughts along the way as you study these passages!
Hello. This was sorta helpful. So if our role is to honor men, who honors women? I have shed many tears just as your daughter has. I used to have a feminist outlook but I’ve realized the Bible doesn’t and that’s made me doubt everything.
Hello! I am sorry to hear about your struggles with the Bible and with God. I believe that God wants men and women in the church to honor one another. I wrote this blog post several months ago and I’ve still been reading more about these hard parts. I would highly recommend Beyond Authority and Submission by Rachel Green Miller and Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Aimee Byrd. Both of these books have shown me in Scripture how the church doesn’t always have it right when they are hyper focused on the differences between men and women because in scripture there is so much more for both men and women together. Please don’t give up on God. Keep searching through these hard parts and I think you will discover God’s heart for women and men as cooperative members of the church.
It may be scripture emphasizes a woman needing to honor a man because it can be our worst fault, women are the best at nagging and ragging on their hubands. Men have other issues to deal with but built into their DNA is a need for respect…. as women have the greatest need for love. (Check out the book, Love and Respect). I think it says more about the difference in the makeup of men and women than anything else.
I definitely notice those particular love and respect needs addressed in Ephesians 5. One thing that I’ve been noticing the more I read Scripture with men and women in mind is that the less I see that the differences in treatment addressed and the more I see similarities addressed. Like all the “one another” verses are for both brothers and sisters in the church. And there are a lot more of the one another verses than there are verses that address the differences in men and women. I guess what I’m trying to avoid is the false division of labor that happens when we over-emphasize the differences. For example, in the second chapter of the book I reference in blog post, The Role of Women in the Church, the author states that although women cannot teach in church or perhaps even speak, they do have special roles in the areas of parenting, hospitality, meeting needs, and other areas. My problem with this list is that the Bible does not describe these particular things as “women things.” Both fathers and mothers are told to parent. Not just the women. Men and women in the church are told to show hospitality to one another. It’s not just a women thing. Anyway, I am not saying that you are over-emphasizing the differences between men and women, but this is just something I have been noticing lately. Thanks for reading and commenting, Carol. I really appreciate it!
As a women I prefer respect to love.
I’ve been trying to understand what that scripture means – I think it has been used to imply that males are superior to females and that can make one feel not valued. A Google search brought me to your blog.
I don’t mean to sound flip, but as a woman, my attitude toward male-bashing on television sitcoms is not sympathy, but more “welcome to my world, and I hope you enjoy your stay.” When I was very young, (I’m 65) I remember catcalls, lewd jokes at my expense, groping, and the general attitude that we are here expressly for the use and pleasure of men – a dehumanizing disrespect of women – so, you reap what you’ve sown.
But, in truth, as far as TV sitcoms, movies and Hollywood are concerned, they do not reflect reality for me, so they have no bearing on how I view men in general. However, no one, man or woman should be denigrated.
I’ve not found an opinion that settles with me, but my thoughts are that it’s possible the meaning of this scripture is that since man was the centerpiece of the handiwork of God, that’s what makes him the glory of God – woman is the glory of man in the same way — she was created from the centerpiece — she’s a variation of the original handiwork thus making her its (the man’s) glory. I hope this makes sense.
That point of view does make sense, and I am definitely still working out this hard part of Scripture. Reading back on my blog post now, I think I want to edit some things since I wrote it last year and I’ve continued to study this passage more deeply. It’s a tough one! I have also been reading more about Christian men and women in general, and I would highly recommend a new book to you, Beyond Authority and Submission by Rachel Green Miller. I reference it here in this post that I’ve written more recently: https://readthehardparts.com/love-respect-helpful-or-harmful/.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment. Although I’m aware that my view may also be wrong, I have a concern about the way some in the church (men and women) have chosen to respond to the feminist movement. You can’t lower one group of people in order to raise another — that makes the people in religion who want to raise men to their “former glory” (so-to-speak) as bad, and as controlling, as they say the feminist movement is.
The attitude that women are inferior has been in society throughout history and, unfortunately, also in the church — so much so that I’ve heard that women are restricted in some churches in their participation in the church — I’ve heard that some will not even allow a female to be a worship leader because it would be considered her taking authority over men.
And now I’ve read that some want to make church more masculine–apparently, they want all vestiges of the feminine (flowers for instance) to be gone — I’ll guess we’ll be seeing stuffed deer trophies hanging on church walls from now on — this sounds more like hostility to me — but this is one reason I’ve seen that men don’t attend church — it’s too feminine — I’ve read that men need a sense of adventure. My question is: what are we becoming?
So, male authority has become somewhat of a sacred cow or golden calf.
This particular scripture has been used to bolster the idea of the superiority of man — that includes the value women as a part of creation — she is viewed as being here merely to serve man and in any way man sees fit — even marital abuse is ok occasionally — the abused wifey had it coming and probably just needs to be more obedient and submissive — this is how twisted some Christian marital counseling has become from what I’ve read.
Since my original comment, I’ve also read (I read a lot) that this particular scripture means that the glory of man is that he manifests God’s glory on earth as a representative of the unseen God. That’s fine — however, there’s a vast difference between representing God and being God. Somewhere, the line between the two has been muddled — the only one who can say “I’m God and you’re not” is God — apparently, that is not clear to some men and women in the church.
I like how you put that…there’s a difference between representing God and being God.
Thanks for your thoughts! Women and men in the church is such a hard topic for me right now so I feel like my understanding is continuing to grow and change the more I study.
I feel like you are ignoring other parts of Scripture. Obviously, women are also in the image of God, but only because they were created for man, who was already in the image of God. To be like man, woman would, in a removed sense, have to bear the image of God as well, otherwise she would have been just another animal who had a resemblance to Adam. Also, Eve was made inferior to Adam, hence why he was the one to name her, as he did the animals. Anyway, what Paul is addressing here is the husband and wife(1 Corinthians 11:3). The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. Also, Paul is not addressing the moral Image of God(which both men and women share), but the fact that men are God’s representative in this world, understood in the creation order by the superiority of Adam. Eve is also given dominion over creation like Adam, but not dominion over her husband. Therefore women/wives are not resprentative of God except in a derived sense from Adam. This does not mean they are any less in His moral Image.
Also, it is true that God approaches women directly in both the Old and New Testament. I see no reason for why He wouldn’t? Men are never told to be the median for women in repects to God. Women can approach God just as men can. If men were needed for women to speak to God, that would mean that half the population is naturally cut off from God. Which is weird considering how God enthusiastically wants a relationship with everyone. Anyway, Christ is the median for us all. Whether a man or a woman. So no one can exalt himself or herself for having a direct relationship with God. It is not of any power of your own.
However, men being God’s image and glory does not mean women are less than men. Or that men should abuse that statement and undervalue women. Paul does say that men should love their wives, just as Christ loves the church. Any man who loves his wife would not want to hurt her. It is in this sinful, fallen state, however, that they do.
In other words, this is not a difficult verse. Anyone who studies Scripture can understand this verse easily and it does not pose any threat to the value of women. Reading it at facevalue and out of context is how you get articles such as this. Trying to explain a problem that was never there.
Thanks for reading and commenting. My blog post is certainly not an exhaustive treatise on this passage or on the issue of men and women in the Bible, but here are a couple of thoughts in response to your comments. First of all, I disagree that women were created for man and that is the reason we have the image of God. Women were created to be in relationship with God and our ultimate goal is not to serve the men around us, but to become sanctified in Christ.
Secondly, Eve was not made inferior to Adam. Adam and Eve together in relationship reflect the image of God in that they are in relationship with one another. They reflect the Trinity. In the same way that among God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, none are inferior to the others, in the same way, men and women are not inferior to one other.
I agree that Scripture never says that men are the mediators between women and God, yet that is what some preachers and theologians teach.
I also want to point out that 1 Corinthians 11 IS a hard part of Scripture! And that is not just me saying that. In literally every commentary I look at, the author notes how difficult this passage is. In part, because of how one interprets the Greek word for “head” in verse 3. Also, because in the Greek the words for woman and man and wife and husband are the same Greek words. So you rely on the context to find out how to translate the word. That’s a tough one here because how you translate the words makes a huge difference in the way you understand and apply the whole passage. And it’s not easy to tell from the context. Yes, the context is public worship, but is it talking about men and women in the church in general or is it talking about husbands and wives in public worship?
All that to say, thanks for reading and commenting and thanks for weighing in on the passage.
I didn’t read all of the comments but absolutely loved The Five Aspects of Woman by Barbara Mouser. There is a whole chapter titled Glory of Man!! Explains it perfectly!!!
What point of view does Barbara Mouser take? I am not familiar with her. Thanks for commenting!
I feel this whole blog post (and the comment thread that followed) is incredibly denigrating to women. It almost puts me off God and the Bible.
I am sorry to hear that, Emily. That was certainly not my intention. This is a tough passage on a tough subject. Feel free to share what you think about the passage or about your views.
Rachel, I truly appreciated this blog post. I’ve come across so many difficult passages in the Bible regarding men and women and their roles. I then go online to try and get some answers to my questions. I have become so tired of running into feminist article after feminist article. They all carry a heavy tone of bitterness and they spend their time bashing men and focusing in on sinful things that men have done to women. They spend little to no time pointing to the hope we have in God/Christ and His fulfilling design. Those posts only leave me feeling more confused (not to mention hurt and hopeless) than I was before. But God’s spirit is one of love and peace and you definitely exhibit that. I can see that you love God and you love your fellow brothers in Christ, and I just wanted to thank you for that. It’s hard to find answers like this in this modern world.
One extra thing I wanted to add just for the sake of it is that in my own life I have seen that the men who truly love God and have fully humbled themselves under Him are some of the warmest, most loving, most gentle people I have ever met -they show this exact same kindness not just to other men, but also, and most certainly, to women as well. It is God’s spirit that has prompted these men to live their lives in such a way and this is proof enough for me that God cherishes women and He has wonderful plans for us!! Praise God for His awesome, awesome love for us!!
Thank you for sharing, Sarah, and thank you for pointing out that men who truly love Jesus will be kind and humble and that you know so many in real life! Me too! In our church family and in my family and among my friends there are so many good examples of men who love Jesus and love others. It’s great to highlight them when, like you said, too often online we hear of the bad examples.
Hi Rachel thank you for your post. I am a pastor in South Africa and enjoyed your article. I would like to add something: 1 Cor 11:7 says that men are the glory of God. Yes we must bring glory to God, but this passage says men are the glory of God. We are God’s honour, He loves men and woman the same. He is proud of us and enjoys us. The same with woman. Woman are the glory of men, not they must bring glory, they are. So in this understanding, men should bring honour to their wives as the wives bring honour to their men. Men should be proud of their wives, cherish them and love them.
The mission is more important than who goes on mission or who leads the mission. God uses woman all over the world as he sees fit without contradicting his standards. We as men should allow woman to become all God’s has intended for them to be.
Thank you so much for this comment. I agree with you and what an important point that Paul says Women ARE the glory not that they are to bring glory. I wrote this blog post several years ago and have grown since in my understanding of men/women and what the Bible says about them. I understand better now how men and women are co-laborers in the Lord and I understand better now that too often we read men/women passages through the lens of patriarchy.
Thank you for the wonderful post. My immediate thought was bit out of context but I think it’s wonderful.
“My wife is my glory”, and I have the greatest responsibility that “ i reflect the glory of God to her”.
I believe, more than anything, it’s calls out men to be fearful before God to take their spiritual responsibility seriously.
Issac
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Rachel,
The key to understanding this passage correctly is to recognize that Jesus Christ (not man) is the image and glory of God. (Please see 2 Cor. 4:4, Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:3, Rev. 21:23.) Paul is using Jesus Christ as a correlation as to why women should not be veiled because a faction of men had written to him who wanted women to be veiled while they prayed and prophesied. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 consists of three parts. They are as follows:
Verse 3 – Paul’s model.
Verses 4-6 – Paul quotes a faction of men from Corinth who wrote him.
Verses 7-16 – Paul’s rebuttal, where he refers back to his model.
So Paul is saying that a man ought not to veil his head (Jesus Christ) since He (Jesus Christ) is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man (so she ought not to be veiled either.)
If you would like to read more on this I have explained this passage in detail in the third chapter of my book, “Woman the Glory of Man.”
Thank you for allowing me to comment.
Kristen Dugas
Hi Rachel,
This passage is actually very easy to understand. Unfortunately men think that they are the image and glory of God. But Scripture is clear that Jesus Christ is the image and glory of God. Please see the following Scripture.
4″…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4)
15″ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15).
14″And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father…” (John 1:14).
“3And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature…” (Heb. 1:3).
23″ And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23).
So it is Jesus Christ, NOT man, who is the image and glory of God.
Therefore, 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 consists of three parts. They are as follows:
Verse 3 – Paul model (where the figurative meaning of head means “source/origin”).
Verses 4-6 – Paul quotes a faction of men from Corinth who wrote him. (The men had made a literal head argument.)
Verses 7-16 – Paul’s rebuttal, where he refers back to his model.
So Paul has made a very coherent and ingenious argument as to why women should not be veiled in his first letter to those at Corinth. Paul even reminds the men that all believers are to be unveiled in his second letter to those at Corinth. He writes:
16″…but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:16-18).
Indeed, Jesus said that believers are the light of the world and that no one puts a lamp under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that it gives light to all who are in the house (Matthew 5:14-15).
Kristen M. Dugas
Hi Rachel,
Could you please give me the Scripture that says a man is the image and glory of God? I’m sorry, I can’t find it anywhere in my Bible. I can find where it says that male and female are created IN God’s image (Gen. 1:27). I can also find where it says that Jesus Christ IS the image and glory of God (2 Cor. 4:4, Col. 1:15, John 1:14, Heb. 1:3, Phil. 2:5-6, Isa. 40:5, Rev. 21:23). But I just can’t find where it says that a man is the image and glory of God.
Also, why do you suppose that Paul says, in his second letter to those in Corinth, that all believers are to be unveiled so that we can behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord? (2 Cor. 3:16-18). Did he change his mind from his first letter? Or could it be that Paul is following the teaching of Christ when He said that believers are the light of the world, and that no one takes a lamp and then puts it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house? (Matthew 5:14-15). Could it be that a faction of men wanted women to be veiled while praying and prophesying? Could it be that Jesus Christ is the image and glory of God (as the Bible says) and that Paul is using Jesus Christ as a correlation as to why women should not be veiled?
Also, why would Paul make the argument that long hair is a dishonor to a man when God wanted Samson and Samuel to have long hair? Could it be that the disjunctive particle near the beginning of verse 14 is mistranslated? Could it be that when Paul says that they have no such practice, nor have the people of God, he is talking to the contentious men who wanted women to be veiled while they prayed and prophesied?
I’m sad to hear that your daughter has cried many tears on the “hard parts on this topic.” She is not alone. I wish that your daughter, and women like Emily Cooper who responded to your blog, knew the truth. You see, these passages that limit, silence, and degrade women are not hard at all. But you must know when Paul is quoting (1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is also a quote) and must understand that men are mistranslating certain words to make the passages come to their conclusion. You must also teach by Scripture (which says that Jesus Christ is the image and glory of God), and not by traditional teachings (that say man is the image and glory of God) that have no Scriptural support.
I hope that one day your daughter, and women like Emily, will know the truth. I have written a book on the “hard parts” that I hope you will take a look at. It is called “Woman the Glory of Man.” I understand by now that you will not post my comments because you are used of traditional teachings. But please feel free to contact me on the “contact page” of my website if you would like to discuss this passage or any of the other passages. All discussions on my contact page remain confidential.
Your sister in Christ,
Kristen M. Dugas
Hi Kristen, Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my blog post. First, let me clear up that I have been on vacation and then to a week long writer’s conference so that is why your blog comments did not appear immediately. I manually approve them to go up (just in case there are spammers) but I would never refuse to post a comment of someone who has a different point of view. I would like this blog to spark conversation so I am glad to welcome questions about what I have written.
As soon as I return from the writer’s conference, I will dig into the particulars of your questions. But I wanted to make sure that I got your comments posted now so that others can respond if they wish. Thank you:)
Hi Rachel,
Thank you for posting my comments. I apologize for assuming you would not post them because my view is different. I should have given you more time to respond. I look forward to discussing this passage with you when you return.
The mental gymnastics, the blatant and manipulative lies fed to women to convince them they must endure and believe they deserve endless abuse and humiliation, is truly disgusting when it comes from men, but when women, like this author, encourage women to stay with their abuser, to believe themselves lesser, to see the abuse as the life they deserve and promise them they’ll get to go to heaven if they bend the knee, debase and humiliate themselves, and not only accept but encourage their husbands to beat and rape them, is truly, truly, sickening. This is an evil beyond the pale. How vile you all are.
In no way do I want any woman to stay with her abuser. They need to get out and be safe!!! I believe women are not lesser than men. All are made in God’s image. We are interdependent and co-equals in Christ.
In 1 Cor Paul is replying to the Church about various issues. 7:1 “Now for the matters you wrote about”. Adding quotation marks in the right places makes it obvious that it is church members saying woman was made for man’s glory, Paul sets them straight – See “Woman Made for God’s Glory Not Man’s” at this link https://alsowritten.wordpress.com/2021/03/08/woman-made-for-gods-glory-not-mans/
Thank you for sharing! And thanks for referencing the Isaiah passage in your blog post. Good verse!
I believe I Corinthians 15 vs. 30 – 28 particularly vs. 26 – 28 might be helpful in this discussion. This describes the order of the Godhead . See also Romans 11 Vs 36. Likewise I believe the matter of men and women is primarily a matter of authority and roles. The verses referring to the glory of man seem to be primarily referring to the husband/ wife relationship. However I do believe that according to scripture leadership in the church should be male. When I first read this discussion I have to say I was somewhat devastated as I am single and the discussion seemed to undermine my understanding of my relationship with God as my Father, Jesus as my Lord and future heavenly Bridegroom and the Holy Spirit as my guide and enabler. Devastated or not I realised as a truth seeker I had to consider seriously what was being said. There was often a sense in some of the comments that I need a man if I am to be properly related to God. I remain firm in my belief that I can go direct to God through my Lord Jesus Christ. I think it is important to read 1 Corinthians 11 vs. 7 – 11 thoroughly which includes “for as woman was made from man so now man is born from woman”. Worth noticing woman was “made’ from made but man was ‘now born from woman”. So again the scripture describes the order of creation not status or importance. I finish with the fact that we are called to walk worthy of our calling before God through “Christ in you, the hope of glory'”
Hello Sarah. I am so sorry that the conversation and comments here were devastating to you. I admit the blog post and the comments may be a muddled mess because my own understanding of this topic has grown since I initially wrote the post a couple years ago.
One way in which I have grown in my understanding is the interdependence that God has designed between men and women in the church and this is one of the passages which I now understand highlights that significance. This is not a marriage issue nor is it an authority issue (like I usually hear this passage described) but truly a call to honor one another in the church, married or unmarried, men or women. Like you said, even in this passage, the interdependence of woman being made from man but man being born of woman is described.
Can I recommend to you a book? Beyond Authority and Submission: Men and Women in Marriage, Church, and Society by Rachel Green Miller. I think as a single person you will be freed and included in this book. The book was written in the last couple years and the authors debunks from Scripture some of the many things that the church usually teaches about men and women like men are made to be providers and women are made to be nuturers yet the author from Scripture shows how all people, made in God’s image are providers and nuturers. One thing I appreciated about the book and you will too, is that the author also maintains that leadership in the church should be male. Yet the author shows that beyond the pastor/elder positions, there is room for men and women in the church to be interdependent and co-laborers for Christ.
Here is the book. https://amzn.to/2Xe5tLh
I hope you read it and it helps you as much as it helped me. I don’t want to leave you devestated and feeling less-than. Now I realize that is not God’s design for women.
Thanks for writing this post. I was taught as a child that men were made in God’s image and women were not. This verse was one of the proof texts for that belief. I no longer believe that, but have a question. Why does Paul even mention man being in God’s image in this passage. It seems to be a comparative sentence. Why not “Man is the glory of God and woman is the glory of man?” I don’t understand why Paul and mentioned man is the image of God. I know it wasn’t to say women are not in God’s image. But why *did* he say it?
Great question! First of all, let me say I’m sorry you were taught that women were not made in the image of God and I’m thankful that you do not believe it anymore.
By why did God say “woman is the glory of man?” Here is what Gary Shogren says in his 1 Corinthians commentary:
“In 1 Corinthians Paul is thinking of the creation, anticipating
what he will say in 11:8-9, that woman is the glory of man, and that woman (Eve) came from
man (Adam). What then is Paul’s point? Does he mean that Christ is the head of male Christians,
but that female Christians have male Christians as their head? No, all members of the body of
Christ, no matter the gender, race, social position, have equal access to the Father through Christ
and through the Spirit (see especially Gal 3:26-28; Eph 2:18).That every man has the right to
order around every woman, he being on a higher level of creation than she? Not at all, and Paul
does not draw that conclusion. Rather “the head of the woman is man” is addressed to women
and shapes their behavior before the church. Those women who wish to pray without a veil need
to realize that they are obligated to glorify God in part by honoring “the men,” that is their
brothers in Christ. Neither man nor woman in Christ is an individual unit; each must come to
Christ through serving the other. Thus on the other hand, Paul reminds the men: if you are
tempted to lord it over women, remember that you came from a woman (11:8) and that you too
have to answer to a head, that is Christ, and to make very sure that you are reflecting glory to
another, not to yourself.”
In other words, it’s a reminder that we can’t just do whatever we want. We are connected to one another in the church. We are interdependent. This is not an authority thing, but an interconnected thing as the body of Christ. And when we look at the whole passage we see that this explanation is given to both men and women in the church. Gary Shogren also ties this into the culture of the time. So the headcoverings/veil is a cultural gender norm. So part of the application here for the Corinthians veils and hair length send out signals. And as representatives of Christ we might send out the wrong signals and waste lots of time explaining ourselves if we are constantly doing things because “i can do whatever I want”
Hopefully that is helpful? It might make more sense if you read his whole commentary. you can get it here although it may be out of print at the moment: https://amzn.to/3BWR7Ob
Another recommended resource you might like is Paul, Women, and Wives from Craig Keener: https://amzn.to/3nlJ8pH
[…] What does Paul mean in 1 Corinthians 11:7 when he says that woman is the glory of man? Find out by engaging three different viewpoints on this hard part of Scripture. — Read on readthehardparts.com/woman-is-the-glory-of-man-1-corinthians-117/ […]
I do respect my husband. I try to live according to the word of God. I feel like my spiritually that apart of my spiritual life is missing, because my husband don’t share that part of my life or .my love for God. Fully he treats me like I am his enemy instead of his wife a woman or God. HELP!
I’m so sorry to hear about your husband and his lack of sharing your love for God. I hope you are a part of a good church so you can feel the love of God through the people there. If you are being abused in some way, please leave and get to a safe place.
The glory of Men is God , and the Glory of Woman is men.
With God their are structures ..this is one structure of a Family. Anointing flows from God to men and men to women.
This are codes, pray so you see with your heart and understand the scriptures
Thank you for sharing.
The key lies in this verse…
Ephesians 5:32
(Regarding marriage, Paul states…)This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
The bible is a love story.
The husband(male) is a picture of Christ.
The wife(female) is a picture of the church (the bride of Christ).
Use that key to look at 1 Corinthians 11:7
Original: Man is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
Decoded: Christ is the image and glory of God; but the church is the image and glory of Christ.
Is that true? I’ll let you answer that for yourself.
But, now we know what the church is at it’s core…It is the glory of Christ.
God created woman to serve as a picture of the church.
In fact, Paul goes so far to say that God’s word is blasphemed by the behavior of a wife.
Titus 2:5
3The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as become holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
How is the word of God blasphemed?
When God states “this part of my creation (the woman) represents the church”, His purpose is revealed. When the woman he does not represent the church, either God is a liar, or she is not living out God’s purpose for her.
Christian women today, who have been enchanted by feminism’s siren song, consider God’s purpose for women to be demeaning – whether they realize it or not. These same Christians will speak readily of the truth that the church must serve Christ.
Every instruction to wives reveals a truth that applies to every follower of Christ whether they be male or female. In other words, everyone in the church is a bride called to serve as the wife of Christ. This makes sense when we know what God’s purpose for a wife is. It makes no sense if we apply feminism’s definition of wife.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Nate, and for the reminder of the analogy of husband and wife and Christ and the Church. But I think there are more options than just feminism (which is concerned with personal rights and fulfillment) and woman being solely focused on the housework and the child-rearing. Throughout Scripture, beginning in Genesis 1:26-28, men and women are co-laboring together, interdependent to have dominion over the earth, being fruitful and multiplying, and building one another up in the Lord. I do not see a division of labor or spheres of influence dictated in Scripture. Obviously there are biological differences between men and women that need to work together to be fruitful and multiply. There are verses like Titus 2:5 which mention women are keepers at home, but there are also verses like 1 Timothy 3:4 where the elders are to manage their families well. Marriages, church, and society are places for both men and women to work together for God’s glory and for building each other up. I personally believe that only qualified men should be elders or pastors in the church because only qualified men were priests and elders, but beyond that there is room for both men and women to work together and the division of labor will look a little different for every society, church, and marriage.
The translations you’re using are not accurate. NIV Etc are the politically correct versions published and altered to appease the growing feminist culture. KJV is the most accurate to original translation. Man was created in Gods image and is the image and glory of God. Woman is the glory of man.
Genesis 1:26-27 KJV
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
1st cor. 11:5-9 KJV
5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
Genesis 1:27 clearly states that both male and female are created in God’s image. Both are to work together and are dependent on each other to bring God glory by having dominion over the earth and being fruitful and multiplying. I Corinthians 11:11-12 emphasizes this interdependence.