I was reading a book last night that had another angle on the verses from 1 Corinthians 11 that talk about headcoverings. The author suggested that the 'scarlet' women in Paul's day would have cut their hair to advertise their trade, whereas the remainder of the female population would have kept their hair long. When these 'fallen' women converted to Christianity, they couldn't grow their hair overnight (wouldn't it be good sometimes if it did grow that fast?) so they were instructed to wear a covering in church until their hair grew again. Women with long hair already had their 'covering' and didn't need to wear a separate item of apparel.If this view is correct, I wonder what Paul would think if he were to walk into our churches today? Obviously short hair on a woman no longer has the same connotations that it did in his day (according to this author) but it's an interesting thought. I suspect though that hair would be the least of his concerns in the church today. And whatever the issue, he'd tell it to us straight and we likely wouldn't like what he had to say.
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