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Nazarites had long hair, Numbers 6:
1 Corinthians 11:
Paul appealed to the human judgment of the Corinthians for social norms.
In this case, I think the word nature referred to a local social norm judged by local inhabitants even though the word usually pertained to a more general kind of nature. I interpret nature as a human aesthetic that depends on time, space, culture, and even subculture. I used to like long hair when I was a teenager in the 70s but not anymore. Further, Paul was comparing men's and women's relative hair lengths in this passage. Personally, I prefer short hair myself and I think women look good with long hair.
i.e., the practice of the churches of God in Paul's time.
I see 1 Corinthians 11:13 as a social issue at the time. It does not need to be applied universally today.
Is long hair on men sinful/wrong?
No, but I prefer short hair myself, and now at my retirement age, I don't have a choice
In any case, you don't want to be legalistic and judgmental like the Pharisees who strained out a gnat and swallowed a camel. Jesus' focus is your inside, not so much your outside.
5 ‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6 All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body.
1 Corinthians 11:
13 Judge for yourselves:
Paul appealed to the human judgment of the Corinthians for social norms.
Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?
In this case, I think the word nature referred to a local social norm judged by local inhabitants even though the word usually pertained to a more general kind of nature. I interpret nature as a human aesthetic that depends on time, space, culture, and even subculture. I used to like long hair when I was a teenager in the 70s but not anymore. Further, Paul was comparing men's and women's relative hair lengths in this passage. Personally, I prefer short hair myself and I think women look good with long hair.
For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God
i.e., the practice of the churches of God in Paul's time.
I see 1 Corinthians 11:13 as a social issue at the time. It does not need to be applied universally today.
Is long hair on men sinful/wrong?
No, but I prefer short hair myself, and now at my retirement age, I don't have a choice
In any case, you don't want to be legalistic and judgmental like the Pharisees who strained out a gnat and swallowed a camel. Jesus' focus is your inside, not so much your outside.
