Is Women’s Long Hair the “Glory of God?”

“Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering” (1 Cor. 11:13-15).

This rather ambiguous passage about a woman’s hair and veiling is influenced by the customs of that time period. We know it was not an absolute rule that would apply to all ages and times for everyone.

Another objection is based upon the transitory character that one claims to see today in some of the prescriptions of Saint Paul concerning women, and upon the difficulties that some aspects of his teaching raise in this regard. But it must be noted that these ordinances, probably inspired by the customs of the period, concern scarcely more than disciplinary practices of minor importance, such as the obligation imposed upon women to wear a veil on their head (1 Cor 11:2-16); such requirements no longer have a normative value (Inter Insigniores, “On the Question of Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood,” 4).