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St Paul said that if a woman prays or prophesies without a head covering, she dishonours her head. Is this rule still applicable since it appears like an anachronism?
Answer to Question 469 St. Paul says in his First epistle to the Corinthians that "the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman [is] the man; and the head of Christ [is] God. Every man praying or prophesying, having [his] head covered, dishonoureth his head. 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. 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. 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. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." (1 Cor. 11:3-9)
To understand what Paul is saying we first need to understand that he is not condemning all women who pray without first covering their heads, but only the women of Corinth because this was an important issue in Corinthian society at that time. Historically we know that the female whores of Aphrodite's temple cut their hair very short like the Greek and Roman men. Some even shaved their heads. On the other hand the male whores grew their hair as long as women. If a woman appeared in public without a head covering she was considered as loose and shameless like the whores of Aphrodite's temple. The head covering was a recognisable sign of obedience and respect to their husbands and also a sign of their own respectability. By removing her covering a woman was automatically placing herself in the category of the ill-famed.
At that time in Corinth, some Christian women, taking advantage of their new freedom they found in Christ, boldly removed their covering during the Church gatherings which scandalized the more straight-laced and prudent. By doing this it was as if they ignored their female gender and their obedience to their husbands which brought shame upon their husbands. The main reason that concerns Paul is the rank or order of authority between God, the Man Jesus Christ, man and woman and how this order is established during public worship. What he is saying is that there is an order of obedience and respect. Christ is the head of man and man shows his obedience and respect to him and man is the head of a woman and she must show her obedience and respect to him. Thus before a woman begins to pray she must cover her head as a sign of respect to her husband. If she prays without having her head covered she is shaming her (husband). She might just as well shave her head as the ill-famed women of Corinth.
From this epistle it was assumed that Paul was speaking in general of all women and it became the normal throughout the centuries for women to wear a head covering in Church. In the Russian Church the majority of women still cover their heads in Church, but in the Greek Church this has now became almost obsolete with only a few very old women still covering their heads. Whether there is a right and wrong in wearing a head dress is debatable, but we must keep in mind that Paul was writing to the Corinthians and not to all the Church and also that it was the understanding in their society that an uncovered woman was like a loose woman; this is something we do not consider in our modern societies today.
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