Dear brothers and sisters, we want to have our lesson now. And I would like to ask you to open the Bible once again to the first Corinthians letter. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 2. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 2. And I read to us the verses 2 to 16. And the apostle Paul writes, inspired by the Holy Spirit, I praise you, but that you in all my remembrance and the deliverance, as I have delivered them to you, hold fast. But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, the head of the woman, but the man, the head of Christ, but God. Jeder Mann, der betet oder weissagt und dabei etwas auf dem Haupt hat, entehrt sein Haupt. Jede Frau aber, die mit unverhülltem Haupt betet oder weissagt, entehrt ihr Haupt, denn sie ist ein und dasselbe wie die Geschorene. Denn wenn eine Frau sich nicht verhüllt, so werde ihr auch das Haar abgeschnitten. But if it is shameful for a woman that her hair is cut off or shaved, she shall cover herself. For the man, of course, shall not cover his head, for he is the image and radiance of God, but the woman is the radiance of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. For the man was not created for the woman's will, but the woman for the man's will. That is why the woman should have power over the head, for the sake of the angel. Nevertheless, the Lord is neither the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman. For as the woman is of the man, so is the man through the woman, but everything is of God. Judge for yourselves. Is it proper that a woman prays to God without a veil? And do not teach yourselves the nature, that if a man has long hair, it is a shame for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is an honour for her? For the hair is given to her instead of a veil. But if someone considers it good to be controversial, he should know that we do not have such a custom, nor does the community of God. Amen. Let us stand up and pray. Our Lord and God, your word is truth. Great wisdom, great riches, wonders are in your word. Lord, open our eyes so that we may see the wonders of your law. Grant us wisdom, for we are incomprehensible people and our mind is darkened. And if your spirit does not enlighten us, Lord, then we go mad. Have mercy on us if we want to think about this difficult text today. Have mercy on us, Lord, so that we do nothing wrong, teach nothing wrong and believe, but everything that honors you, that we understand your will and do it for Jesus' sake. Amen. Take a seat. Dear friends, this section is considered to be one of the most difficult in the entire text. If you look at the comments on it, almost every comment says that it is so difficult and that you can't understand it at all. And it really is a difficult section. And many different views are represented in this section. And not necessarily from their teachers, but really from dear, esteemed brothers, that come to different views, what the text says. Our pastor Peter has already preached about this text once, in our series through the first Corinthian letter. This is estimated to be two and a half years ago, before our community was founded. And back then the statement was that we don't see a commandment, that a woman must veil herself, but that it is a good thing if a woman veils herself. Of course, there was much more to say, but roughly summarized. Since then, we have continued to deal with this topic, and especially in the last months, many months, very intensively. And today we want to share the result with you. And the result is that we actually have a change in our understanding of the application of this text. First of all, it's not just my opinion, it's both of our opinions. We really dealt with it very intensively and talked about it very often. We're glad we can finally stop talking about it. It was a difficult time. We read a lot and talked a lot about it. And we came to an unanimous opinion. I would like to say in advance that this may not be good for the tension, but I am not here to build tension, but I want you all to be able to follow this text well. And that's why I want to tell you in advance that there will be no command for women in our community that they have to hide. That's why, ladies and gentlemen, you don't have to get angry, you don't have to defend yourselves. No, they want to force me. No, you can put that aside, you won't be forced. Just focus on what we want to look at now. We can't deal with all views and all arguments. There are too many. We have to limit ourselves, otherwise it will take several hours. But if you have questions, if you say, there is still the opinion that was not addressed, then come to us, talk to us, we are happy to answer you. But now we want to limit ourselves to the essential points from our point of view. And I have to challenge you that you really study the Bible with me. That means you really have to look a lot into the text and read a lot and think a lot. Because in the end we will not give you a command, but we will demand from you that you really deal with this text, that you try to understand it and that you then make a well-founded decision how you want to deal with the text. So it's really important that you look at the text with me, that you try to understand everything, so that you can make your decisions on a good basis. And that doesn't just apply to women and married women. All women should listen, and all men should listen, especially the married men. So let's really go into the text together and take a close look at what the text tells us. Let's start with verse 2. I praise you, however, that in all my remembrance and the deliveries, as I have delivered them to you, you hold on. Paul begins with a praise of the Corinthians. There was not much to praise. In the Corinthian letters, especially in the first Corinthian letter, there is a lot that Paul has to prove. It was not an exemplary community, but he begins with praise. He praises them for holding on to the traditions he had passed on to them. Traditions are sometimes also translated as traditions, but it is not about any human traditions. It is really about divine traditions that Paul had from the Lord and that he passed on to the community. And the community sticks to many of these traditions. But, now comes the but, it goes on in verse 3, I want you to know. Paul praises her, but there is something that you do not know yet, that you have not yet understood. And now Paul is about that you understand that. But you should understand that. What should you understand now? Go on in verse 3. I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, the head of the woman, but the man, the head of Christ, but God. Paul wants us to understand that there are three heads. Christ as the head of every man. He stands above every man. Every man is subordinate to him. Christ is the head of every man. The second head. The man is the head of the woman. And the woman shall submit to the man. This is nothing new that Paul teaches here, this is a constant teaching of the Scripture. Women subordinate themselves to men. You see this, for example, in Ephesians 5, there it is specifically about marriage, where it says, Subordinate yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ, the women to their own men as to the Lord, or as to the Lord. So, just as all men subordinate themselves to Christ, and all people subordinate themselves to Christ in the community, This is how the woman should submit to the man, like to the Lord. And then the third head. God is the head. Christ. One could now say, we women must now submit and that is somehow humiliating, that we are not somehow inferior. But even Christ, whom we all submit to, our Lord, even he has a head. The head of Christ is God. Christ is God, completely the same. Christ is also God. But as Christ, as man, as God-man, he submits himself to the Father. God is the head, Christi. So women have no reason to feel disadvantaged or inferior, if it means that their head is the man. Because the man also has a head, and even Christ has a head. Christ, the Lord over all, the ruler, the king, to whom all power is given. Even he submits to his father. So it's not a question of worthiness. If God's Word says that the woman should submit to the man, then it has nothing to do with her not being worth as much. No, even Christ submits. That's what the Corinthians should know. Paulus makes a theological argument. He speaks about the hierarchy in creation. The hierarchy, the order between man and woman. He speaks about the order in the community. The community, all believers are ordained under Christ. The community, the re-creation. The order in creation, the order in re-creation. And he speaks about the order in the Trinity itself. In God, in the Trinity itself, there is an order where one subordinates to another. From these truths, that there are these three leaders, from these truths, the apostle Paul now draws two applications. First, verse 4. Look with me in verse 4. Every man who prays or says, and has something on his head, The first application. Every man who prays or says something and has something on his head honors his head. Who is his head? Christ, as we have just read. It may be that he honors his own head, that he brings shame and dishonor upon himself, but he also honors Christ, his head. So, men are not allowed to cover their heads. You shall have nothing on your head, or you will dishonour Christ. The second application, verse 5. But every woman who prays with her head uncovered or white says, remove her head. With the woman it is exactly the other way around. Every woman who prays with her head uncovered or white says, remove her head, the man. And maybe her natural hair brings dishonor to herself, but he also calls her the man. So, women have to cover their heads. Men are not allowed to do it. Women have to do it. But there is a problem. It says here, pray and speak wisely. So it's about praying and speaking wisely. This limits when the man is not allowed to have anything on his head and when the woman has to have something on her head. This is a restriction. Paulus does not speak of going for a walk in the woods in winter, but that men are not allowed to wear a hat. Or that women have to be covered somewhere else. That's a problem. But we'll take a closer look at that later. Let's put that aside for now. We'll look at it later in detail. For now, let's take a look at the basic statement of this truth, the three heads. There is no head cover for men, but a head cover for women. But why is that so? Why should men not cover themselves and women should cover themselves? We continue to read in verse 5. But every woman who prays with an uncovered head or says white, her head will be buried, for she is one and the same as the one who was spared. One and the same as the one who was spared. Like a woman whose hair has been shaved off. There is no difference. If a woman does not put a headscarf on her head, then she is like a woman whose hair has been shaved. Why this is so, Paolo will explain later, at the end of our section. First of all, we want to take it that way. It goes on in verse 6. Because if a woman does not cover herself, her hair will also be cut off. If a woman does not want to cover herself, if she does not want to cover her head, then the natural consequence of this is that she is the same as the shamed one, then she should also be shamed. Then the hair should also be cut off. That would be consistent. She is the same as the shamed one anyway. Then you should actually do that. Then you should cut off her hair. And it goes on. In verse 6. But if it is shameful for a woman that her hair is cut off or shaved, so she shall cover herself. The opposite of that. Is it a shame for a woman if her hair is cut off or shaved? That's a rhetorical question, and I think the sisters know that. They let their hair grow for many years. They love and care for their hair. Those who are married know that a woman usually takes longer to do her hair than a man. Women take care of their hair. It is their honor, as we will read later. And for many women it is one of the greatest fears that their hair could fall out. For the men it's not so bad. There are several men with baldness. For the men it's not so bad. For a woman it's a bad idea. If I came now with a pair of scissors and would cut off your hair or would shave your head right away, wouldn't that be a shame for you? Wouldn't you be ashamed? Wouldn't you cry and cover your head so that no one sees that you have baldness now? Of course it would be a shame for a woman. Because the hair is her honor, it is part of her femininity. She loves it and has let it grow for a long time and takes care of it. Of course, there are cases of illness, but that is not meant here. So, if it would be a shame for you if I shaved your hair now and you would have to walk around naked, if you would get a wig or some other cover, then that's the sign that you should cover yourself. That's what Paulus says. If a woman wants to keep her long hair, she should cover herself. If she doesn't want to cover herself, her hair should be cut off. Because an uncovered woman is the same as a shaved one. It's a shame. It's a shame for a woman. At the end of the section we will go on to this topic with the hair. Let us first look further. Why is a bewitched man and why is a bewitched woman a shame? Why is that so? Paulus gives the answer in verse 7. Denn, die Begründung wieder denn, der Mann freilich soll sich das Haupt nicht verhüllen, da er Gottes Bild und Abglanz ist. Die Frau aber ist des Mannes Abglanz. Paulus zeigt uns hier wieder die zwei Gegensätze. Warum ist das bei Mann und Frau anders? Denn der Mann freilich soll sich das Haupt nicht verhüllen, warum? Da er Gottes Bild und Abglanz ist. Die Frau aber ist des Mannes Abglanz. To understand this, we have to look at creation, at the history of creation. In 1st Moses 1 it says, verse 26, And God said, Let us make men, in our image, like us. They shall rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over the whole earth, and over all creatures that crawl upon the earth. And God created man according to his image. He created him according to the image of God. He created him as a man and a woman. People are made in the image of God. They are similar to God. They are not the same as God, but they are similar to him. Among other things because they rule over creation. God is actually the Lord over creation, but he told people, you should rule over all animals, over all creation. And we read that he created man in the image of God. All people are created in the image of God. Even the woman is created in the image of God. That's why Paul also writes here, the man is the image and brilliance of God, but the woman is the brilliance of the man. He does not write the image of the man, but the man is in a special way God's image and above all God's brilliance, the brilliance of his glory, and the woman is the brilliance of the man. The man has in a special way the task of ruling over the creation, also over the woman, the woman should subordinate to him. But we get further reasons when we continue to look at why this is the case, why the man is in a special way God's brilliance and the woman is the brilliance of the man. We continue to read in verse 8 and 9. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. For the man was not created for the woman's sake, but the woman for the man's sake. We have to look at the creation again. The creation report, 1st Moses 2. It says from verse 7, God the Lord formed man, Adam, the man, from dust from the earth and breathed into his nose the breath of life. So man became a living soul. Adam was created first and directly formed by God out of dust and earth. God breathed life into him so that he was a living soul. Adam was created first. And the woman, if we continue to read, in 1st Moses 2, verse 18, and God the Lord said, It is not good that man, Adam, the man, that man be alone. I want to do him a favor that corresponds to him. And God the Lord created from the earth all the animals of the field and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to man to see how he would call them. And just as man would call them, the living beings, so should their name be. And man gave names to all the cattle and the birds of the sky and all the animals of the field. Here, too, we see that the man is in a special way similar to God. He gave the name. He has determined how everything is called, and so it is called. It goes on. And the man gave names to all the cattle and the birds of the sky and all the animals of the field, but for Adam he found no help according to him. Of the animals, no one was suitable to be a good help for Adam. Then God the Lord let a deep sleep fall on the man, so that he fell asleep. And he took one of his ribs and closed its place with meat. And God the Lord built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and brought it to the man. Then the man said, This is finally the leg of my leg, and the meat of my meat. This shall be called man, for it is taken from the man. We don't say men in German, but in Hebrew it makes sense. The woman is really translated as men. So we see that the man is in a special way of God's brilliance, because he reigns over creation. He gives everyone the name, even his wife gives him the name. But the woman was created only after the man, as a second. And she was not made directly from dust and earth, no, she was made by the man. God took a rib of the man and from it he formed the woman. That's why Adam says, the final meat is from my flesh and bones from my bones. So the woman is made by the man. And she is made for the man's will. She is made for the man. Because why did God make the woman? Because he says, it is not good that Adam, the man, is alone. And that's why I make him a help that corresponds to him. At first there was only the man. And when God saw that the man has a need, he needs help, the woman was made for him. For his will. And not the other way around. So why is it a shame when a man covers his head? Because he is God's image and brilliance. He reigns over creation and no earthly creature stands above him. Above him is only Christ and God and therefore he shows his head uncovered as a symbol that no creature has power over him. So why is it a shame when a woman does not cover herself? because she is the brilliance of the man. She was created around the man's will, and the man is her head. She has a earthly creature above her, and she should show that by the symbol that covers her head. She still has someone above her. She stands under someone, under the man. Again, I don't think it's good that we always have to emphasize in our time, but it is so, once again emphasized, it really has nothing to do with quality. We have seen that Christ also subordinates himself. That the order of creation is as it is, does not mean that the woman would have less value. And we will see that even Paulus agrees that no one should draw a wrong conclusion here. But let's look at the other argument first, let's go on in the text. Now comes verse 10. In verse 10 it says, therefore the woman shall have a power on her head for the sake of the angel. Why should a woman have a power on her head? Because of the things we have just read, which we have just looked at, because that's the way it is, a woman should have a power on her head. What does that mean, to have a power on your head? There are some strange ideas about what that could mean, but most people are actually in agreement. It means a sign of power, a symbol that she is under a power, namely under the power of the man. And that is also consistent with what we have just heard. So that's why she's supposed to cover her head, cover her head. But what exactly does that mean about the angel's will? Now Paulus brings the angels into the game. Why is the symbol, why is the headdress important for the angels? Why does the woman have to wear this headdress around the will of the angels? Now let us first find out that the angels are obviously watching us. Obviously the angels are looking at us humans. And obviously the angels are interested in what they see there. You see, the angels can't see into the heart. God sees the heart. The angels don't see into our hearts. They don't know what it looks like inside us, but they see the outside. They see what we look like. And it is important for them to see that the holy women have a power on their heads, that they are concealing themselves. Because if they don't do that, they show the same rebellion. that the angels have already seen, when the angels rebelled, when the people rebelled and sinned. And they are all around us, sinning everywhere and rebelling the people, but not in the church of God. No, here the angels are looking and they want to see that here in the church of God, that here the women are subordinated, that here the order of creation is guarded and not thrown apart. that the woman does not say, I will overcome the man, and the man does not say, I will overcome God, as Satan wants to overcome God. Some experts say it is about evil, about fallen angels. We read in 1st Moses 5 that the sons of God went to the daughters of men and gave birth to them as children. Some say, well, the sons of God are probably angels. And if angels see the hair of women, these evil fallen angels see the hair of women, then they may be seduced by the women. This view was represented quite often, but I don't see a point of reference here in our place that this is the case. No, much more likely, the second and also our view is, it's about the good angels who were just with the creation. And they know that the woman was made for the man's sake and is the brilliance of the man. And that's why they want to see that the woman also recognizes that. And since they can't see into the heart, they also have to see the symbol of power. So also for the sake of the angel, a woman should have a symbol, a sign of power on her head. To show, yes, I respect the order of creation. I submit to the man. Now Paul warns of abuse. Let us see in verse 11 and verse 12. Paul writes, however, although this is what we have seen, however, neither the woman is in the Lord without the man, nor the man without the woman, for as the woman is of the man, so is the man through the woman, but everything is of God. So in the Lord, at least in the Lord, at least we believers should know and consider that man and woman are dependent on each other. Yes, the woman is created for the man's will. Without the man, there would be no woman. But without a woman, there would be no man. For every man, except for Adam, was born through a woman, through his mother. Just as women are dependent on men, so are men dependent on the woman. For without a woman, there would be no man today. And we know, we are called upon to honor our mothers. So it is clear here, we cannot despise women as men, because we need the women or the women do not give us. And the special woman through whom we are, we also have a commandment, we must honor her. But everything, Paul writes, but everything is from God. A sister, a believer, is a daughter of God. She is born of God. If a man treats her badly, it is because she is of God. Clearly, no wrong conclusions should be drawn here. It doesn't mean that women are less valuable and that men could tyrannize them. And with that, Paulus concludes his argumentation. This is the end of Paulus' argumentation. He said... He referred to the hierarchy, to the order in the creation. The woman submits to the man. He referred to the order in the new creation, in the community. The community submits to Christ. And he referred to the order in the trinity. Even Christ submits to God. He referred to the order of creation, to the meaning and purpose of creation, who was made first, why the woman was made, and he referred to the angels who watch us. And for these reasons, he says, that's why men should not conceal themselves and women should conceal themselves. This concludes Paul's argumentation. And what else did he want to say? What could be bigger than that? What bigger reasons could you think of? The angels, the order of creation, the trinity. And now he asks the Corinthians for their own opinion. Verse 13. Judge for yourselves. I have told you everything. Now judge for yourselves. Is it decent that a woman prays to God without a veil? Some of you are now saying, judge for yourselves. That means he lets us decide. We can decide for ourselves what we say. Of course this is not the case. Paul has just built up one of the strongest arguments ever. He has called himself to everything that is high and holy. And now he's supposed to say, well, now you decide for yourselves. No, that's a rhetorical question, of course. Yes, he's asking them to judge for themselves, but he's certainly not asking them to contradict him and say, well, you've given so many great reasons, but I'm of a different opinion. Of course, he didn't mean that. He asks him a rhetorical question. The answer is clear. Is it decent that a woman prays to God naked? No, of course not. Paul has just proven that. But what he wants is that the Corinthians recognize that even without all these spiritual truths that he has just revealed to them, even if they did not know all these truths, So the answer would still be clear. If Paul had not said all of this, the Corinthians would still have to know that it is not proper when a woman prays to God naked. Why? Why is that so? Why can the Corinthians, even without the divine revelation that Paul has just given them, why can they still know that it is not proper that a woman prays to God naked? Because of nature. Verse 14. Und lehrt euch nicht selbst die Natur, dass, wenn ein Mann langes Haar hat, es eine Schande für ihn ist, wenn aber eine Frau langes Haar hat, es eine Ehre für sie ist. Also selbst wenn die Korinther diese göttlichen Offenbarungen, die Paulus ihnen gerade gegeben hat, all diese heiligen, hohen Argumente nicht kennen würden, so müssten sie doch wissen, dass es nicht anständig ist, wenn eine Frau zu Gott unverhüllt betet, denn sie haben die Offenbarung der Natur. God has not only revealed himself in his word, he has also revealed himself in nature. Paul writes this, for example, in the letter to the Romans, in the first chapter. God reveals things in nature. Even if you don't have his word, you can't know everything. If you look at nature, you can't know that Jesus died on the cross. There are things you can't learn from nature. You need God's word. But even if you don't have God's word, nature has revelations and we can learn things from nature about God and his will. Paul says in verse 14 here, and do not teach yourselves nature. That is, from nature, from the revelation of God in nature, people can draw a lesson. Nature teaches us something. What does nature teach us? That if a man has long hair, it is a shame for him, But if a woman has long hair, it is an honour for her. Every human being can know from nature that it is a shame for a man to have long hair, but for a woman it is an honour. But why is that? Why is long hair an honour for a woman and a shame for a man? It goes on in verse 15, because the hair is given to her instead of a veil. Here is the justification. Why is it an honor for a woman to have long hair, but not for a man? God has arranged it in nature that women have long hair from nature as a natural veil. as a natural symbol for the order of creation, as a natural symbol for your subordination to the man. And it is no shame for you to show that you are subordinate. It is an honor for you, because you are obedient to God, you confirm his good order of creation. That should teach us something. This fact that the woman has her hair as a veil and the man does not, that should teach us something, namely that what Paulus just explained, that this is true. That women should cover themselves. Even nature teaches us that. Nature gives us the example. And with this example we should orient ourselves and we should learn from it that women should cover themselves. That it is natural for them to cover themselves. Now there are some who say, yes, but then the hair is enough. If you say that the hair is enough instead of a veil, then it is enough. We want to deal with that again in a moment. We will go into some problems of the explanation in a moment. But first so much about it. And now we come to his last sentence, verse 16. Now Paul writes, but if it is good for someone to be controversial. Paulus foresees that although he brought the best arguments you can imagine, although he referred to God, the church, Christ, the creation, the angels, and even nature, he knows there will still be people who want to argue about it. There will be people who won't accept it, who will still say, I don't accept it, and I want to argue about it. I am of a different opinion. Paulus foresees this. The best argumentation you can imagine, and he knows, and there will still be people who don't want to accept it, who want to argue about it. So what does he write on? If someone considers it good to be controversial, he should know that we do not have such a habit, nor does the community of God. Gewohnheit is a strange word, it sounds weak. Some take it for granted and say, oh, sweet, it's just a habit. But we've just seen what Paulus explains. It can't just be a habit. You can actually translate this word more strongly, but Paul's argument is the following. He wants to make the following point. He calls himself now, at the end, if he has not convinced everything, he calls himself on his apostolic authority and on the general Christian knowledge. He says, we do not have such a habit. We, that is perhaps the apostle Paulus and Sosthenes, the brother with whom he writes this letter, probably means it even further, probably all apostles, all employees, we do not have this habit. And he begins this letter with Paulus, an appointed apostle, Christ Jesus by God's will. That is, if he says here, we, me as an apostle, the other apostles, my employees, we do not have such a habit, then he does not mean, well, we do it differently or something. No, he means, He really speaks here with divine authority. He calls himself on his apostolic authority, as he made clear at the beginning of the letter. He is a called apostle, Christ Jesus, by God's will. And he speaks as such now, and as such he has no other habit. And he also does not say the communities of God. There is no community of God in the whole world. There is no community of God that does it differently, that has a different habit. Everyone understood that women should hide and practice it that way. There is no Christ, no community that does it differently. But it follows who wants to be controversial, who does not want to accept what Paul said here, who does not want to accept that women have to conceal themselves, but wants to continue to argue about it, he stands against the apostles and thus against the Lord and he stands against all believers, against all communities, because no one does it differently. It may be that when he says, we don't have such a habit, it may be that he refers to the fact that we don't have a habit of being quarrelsome. Most expatriates understand this by saying, we don't have any other habit of being unprotected, or men being protected. You could also understand it by saying, we don't have the habit of being quarrelsome. But even then it is clear that there is no discussion about this. I have said everything. I have proven it. Yes, it should not be debated. So even if one of all these arguments should still not be convinced, not because he has good reasons, but because he is obviously controversial, otherwise he would probably be convinced, then there is now peace. It will not be further debated. You want to continue to argue? End. The apostles do not argue with you, none of the communities argue with you, everyone does it that way. That's the text, what Paulus wrote. Now you might think, well, if I read it normally, it's totally clear. Of course, women have to cover their heads. And men are not allowed to cover their heads. But why don't the nuns cover their heads in so many communities? Obviously, the topic is not that clear. And in fact, there are a handful of problems that we want to deal with briefly. But we have to realize that there are many communities that don't deal with this topic. Not every pastor likes to preach about this topic. I don't like to preach about this either. I'm glad I can speak about God's word, but I know that not everyone shouts, hooray, that's nice, but that there may be resistance. So many people just don't touch on the topic. But there are also those who deal with the topic and bring counter-arguments, why a woman doesn't have to seduce. No one argues why a man might be able to seduce a woman, but why women don't have to seduce each other. And we want to look at the most common ones. As I said, not all of them, but the most common ones. And the first argument is culture. Many simply say, that's a cultural thing. That's how it was in Corinth back then. They claim that all Roman, Greek or Jewish women wore headscarves. That was normal back then. Those who didn't wear headscarves, were seen as immoral women. The whores supposedly didn't wear a headscarf back then. Unfortunately, we have to realize that these are more or less claims that are never really proven. On the contrary, there are even good reasons to accept the opposite. where a woman is being honored, a deceased wife, and it is said what a faithful and decent woman she was, and there she is depicted without a headscarf. So these are ultimately claims that it is not really clear how this was done in Corinth and who did what, what did the Greeks do, the Romans, the Jews. Obviously there were also different cultures, how they did it. Whether this is true or not, even if it was culture back then, we have a big problem with this counter-argument. Why? Because Paulus doesn't lose a single word about culture. Not a single word. Nothing he says has anything to do with culture. On the contrary! We have seen that he is committed to the order in creation, in the new creation, in the community, in the trinity. He is committed to the order of creation. He is committed to the angels. He is committed to nature. He is committed to the apostolic authority and to the general Christian knowledge that all communities have. He is not committed at all to anything human, cultural, changeable. He is committed to the divine, eternal, unchangeable. Or does anyone want to tell me that the order of creation has changed since then? Or that the order in the trinity has changed? That nature has changed? No. These are completely unchangeable things. And that's why it's very difficult to say, but Paulus only means cultural absurdities here. In addition, Paulus uses a universal language. He uses a language that does not contain any restrictions, but grasps everything. He says, every man who prays or says white, but he has something out of his head. He says, every woman who prays or says white with an unfilled head. He says, this is the case in all communities of God. And when we look at the beginning of the letter, how he begins his letter, then he writes, Paul, appointed apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Sosthenes, the brother, to the community of God which is in Corinth, the sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, all together, who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place. Their and our Lord. This letter is not only written to the community in Corinth, it is written to all Christians in every place. Does this sound like the cover-up was only a cultural thing in Corinth? And besides, this is a very dangerous argument. With that you can explain the whole Bible for not being relevant anymore. Because supposedly everything is culture. You see, the problem, if you argue like that, is that you don't come from the Bible and judge its culture from the Bible, but that you come from its culture and therefore judge the Bible. We realize that the women don't wear a headscarf with us, but they did back then, then it must be culture, it has changed. But that's not how it works, it's the other way around. We have to look at the Bible and see that we adapt our culture or our behavior accordingly. Otherwise it would lead to the fact that the further the culture of our society departs from God, the more sins are considered to be in order, the more we would say, well, then it just doesn't fit in the script anymore. And that's exactly what many liberals do. You know that yourself, when it comes to the subordination of the woman to the man, when it comes to the question of whether a woman is allowed to preach, when it comes to the question of whether men are allowed to marry men, and many other things, it is done in the same way. Why? It's okay, let's do it this way, there's nothing wrong with it. The Bible says something else, then it was only valid back then. But this argument is dangerous. We don't believe that one should argue with the Bible in this way, unless the Bible contains a reference to it. But I don't see such a reference here. On the contrary. A deviation from this is that people say, well, it doesn't depend on the symbol of the headscarf. It depends on the principle that Paulus says, that women should subordinate to men. But which symbol they take, that doesn't matter. Some even say, we don't need any symbols anyway, God looks into the heart. These are all just externalities. Well, of course that's not the case, because if God didn't care, then God wouldn't write it down. And we don't do that with the baptism or the evening and say, well, these are just external symbols. No, if God prescribes a symbol, then that is also important to him. We can't say, well, the main thing is that my heart is right. Yes, the heart must be right, otherwise the symbol is just a hoax. But that doesn't mean that if the Lord is right, the symbol would be irrelevant. God said that this symbol doesn't matter to him. But some say, well, maybe you can change the symbol culturally. The symbol was back then the headscarf or the head cover. But today you can choose a modern symbol. And then some suggest we take the wedding ring. The problem is that the man is also wearing a wedding ring. That can't be the sign for the subordination. Others say, the last name. That's our symbol for the subordination. The woman assumes the last name of the man. This shows that she is subordinated. How are the angels supposed to see that? It's not visible. It's not a visible sign. The angels can't see that when they look up. Others, on the other hand, say it's just about feminine clothing. Women should dress feminine, not like men. They should show that there is a difference between man and woman. But clothing in itself is not a sign of subordination. These signs are about something being on the head, to symbolize that something is above you. And we don't do that with the other symbols that the Lord has given us. We don't do that with the Lord. We don't say, well, back then people ate bread and drank wine, today we eat and drink other things, then we can celebrate the Lord with other things. No, we don't do that either. If God gives us a symbol, then it is respected as it is. And we don't start to interpret it differently or use other symbols, even if there are people who do that. You may have heard of it, there are also people who don't celebrate the evening with bread and wine. So the cultural argument, even if it is used by many great men, we have to reject it. We can't see that we can use it. The second great counter-argument is that the hair is the veil. The long hair is enough. And in fact, at this point, we pastors have changed our opinion a little. In the last sermon we said that the hair can be enough. We see it a little differently now. We see that the hair is enough. but not in the special context of prayer and confession, which we will discuss later. That is, the hair is enough for everyday life, but there are special occasions when God wants the woman, this natural veil, to be strengthened, confirmed by an outer veil. Yes, or a cover-up, a cover-up. So the woman is supposed to show with her will, with a will, I don't just have long hair because it's an honor and it's beautiful, but I know what the hair means and in fact, I also show, I really want to subordinate myself and therefore reinforce that with a fabric. Because if you think that If the veil is enough, then you have a problem with Paul's argumentation. Then the argumentation doesn't work anymore. On the one hand, Paulus says that this is a teaching from nature. Nature should teach us something. What should it teach us? What Paulus has already explained to us all the time. It should not mean that this teaching makes everything superfluous again, what he has explained. No, this teaching from nature reinforces what Paulus said. And doesn't say, but actually you don't need that. Even without divine revelation by Paul, the revelation in nature already teaches that women should wear a headscarf as a symbol. It is natural for a woman to conceal herself, because God has already given her something like this from nature, and she should learn from it that she should conceal herself. Also the words that Paul uses can give a hint, because all the time he speaks when he speaks of the veil, he always uses the same Greek word, katakalypto, for veil, or unveiled, akatakalyptos. That's the Greek word he always uses, all the time. But when he talks about the veil of the woman, about the hair, that it's the natural veil, he uses another word, namely periboleion. This can give an indication that Paul does not mean exactly the same and that he wants to show that he also uses different words. And in particular, verse 6 does not make sense. If you look at verse 6, There he says, if a woman does not cover herself, her hair will be cut off. So if the covering, if the long hair as veil would suffice, then Paulus would say here, if a woman has short hair, then the hair should also be cut. No, that doesn't make sense. So if a woman cuts her hair short, it should be cut short. The argument doesn't fit. It wouldn't make sense if the long hair was enough. So, yes, the natural veil of the woman, the hair, the long hair, that's enough. in the normal circumstances, in everyday life, but there are special circumstances in prayer, where the woman should strengthen this natural veil, through a fabric. And now let us come to the last and biggest problem, namely praying and confessing. You know, we talked about this at the beginning, we shift it backwards. He says, a man should not conceal himself when praying and confessing, and a woman should conceal herself when praying and confessing. So it seems as if Paul is only about praying and confessing. A woman does not always have to confess, only when praying and confessing. And this interpretation here is very difficult for us. This interpretation is ultimately the reason why we do not make a command in the church, why we do not tell you sisters, you have to confess. Because here we really have problems and we do not understand exactly what is meant here, how to interpret this. Why do we have a problem here? Well, wisdom. We understand wisdom as the proclaiming of divine truths under the inspiration of the spirit. Someone is inspired by the spirit and gives divine truth back. Some think that wisdom can also mean proclaiming divine truths in general, even without being inspired by the spirit. For example, when you preach, when you teach, There are some who support this opinion. But in any case, it is clear that it means loud speech. And that probably also in the community. Because in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul writes about the preaching again, a few chapters further, and he says, whoever preaches, he builds the community. So obviously preaching is for the construction of the community. Obviously, someone has to speak loudly to the community. So when is a woman supposed to conceal herself? When she transmits divine truths in the church. And now we have a problem. Because that clearly prohibits Paul. 1 Corinthians 14. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 14. Three chapters further. From verse 33. 1 Corinthians 14, verse 33. Here Paul writes in the same letter, As it is in all communities of the saints, the women should be silent in the communities, because they are not allowed to speak, but they should subordinate themselves, as the law says. But if they want to learn something, they should ask their own men at home, because it is shameful for a woman to speak in the community. Does Paul want to allow the women to speak in the community, to preach, to speak, if they are concealing themselves? Is that okay, if they are concealing themselves? When we pray, we don't have that much of a problem. When we pray, we can also imagine that it is also the quiet prayer. But when we say, that can't happen quietly, it has to happen loudly. Maybe the focus here is not on the saying of wisdom, maybe the focus is on the prayer, because the saying of wisdom, because Paul was at the beginning, but later in verse 13, he then says, judge yourselves, is it decent that a woman prays to God without covering, then the saying of wisdom does not occur, but we cannot ignore that Paul speaks of the saying of wisdom. Now you can say, okay, but if we believe that white speech is inspired speech, then it doesn't exist anymore. We believe that it has stopped. Then we don't have to deal with it anymore. But if we want to understand what Paul really meant with this text, then we can't just leave this word out. We have to understand what he meant back then. And then we can apply what that means for us today. That means we have to deal with this wisdom and find out what we can say about it. What does he mean by wisdom and prayer? I would like to briefly present four opinions that are represented here. The first opinion is that women are allowed to pray and preach if they conceal themselves. Problem, as we just read, 1 Corinthians 14. Paulus says five times that women should not speak in the church. He says they should be silent. He says they are not allowed to speak. He says they should be submissive. He says they should ask their husbands at home. And he says it is shameful to speak for a woman in the church. It is pretty clear that women should not speak in the church, right? Women should be submissive. But if you cover yourself up, if you wear the symbol of your subordination on your head, then you no longer have to subordinate yourself in behavior. Then you can talk like men. No, that doesn't convince us. 1 Corinthians 14, what Paul is saying there, is so clear, so clear. He doesn't make any exceptions there. We can't just say, well, if the woman covers herself up, then she can pray and talk. And you see, the symbols in the writing are always an embodiment of a spiritual truth. So if the woman subordinates herself, then she can't say, if I have the sign on my head, then I can do all these things. No, that doesn't fit. So that's why this opinion is represented by some, but we think it's improbable. We can't get around the fact that Paulus very clearly, in the same letter, a few verses further, says so clearly that women shouldn't talk. The second opinion is that Paulus is simply speaking hypothetically. That is, he does tell us something, he gives us good insights. Women are supposed to cover themselves when they pray and confess, but since women are not allowed to speak in the community, as he will tell us later, there is no case of application. That is, women must never cover themselves. You would have to conceal yourself when you say, pray or confess, but you are not allowed to do that, so you don't have to conceal yourself either. That would be purely hypothetical. It would be conceivable that Paul wants to pass on other truths to us, that he wants to show us the order of creation, nature and so on, but there should really be no practical application, So Paul writes 15 verses about the cover of the head. He calls himself to the trinity, to the creation, to the angels, to nature. And that's all just hypothetical, there is no application. In verse 10 he says, that's why the woman should have a power on the head for the sake of the angel. When should a woman have a power on the head for the sake of the angel? Never. We consider that very unlikely, that there can be no case of application. I think there has to be a case of application if Paulus writes this with such emphasis. So the third opinion. Prayer and confession is not limited to the church, at least not to the congregation. Paulus thinks that loud prayer and loud confession outside the church, Women are allowed to pray and preach, for example, when they are in women's circles, or when they teach children, or during the evangelization. So always, if it is not the assembled community, then women are allowed to do that. And then they have to wear something on their head. But most experts are sure that Paul refers to community gatherings here. It speaks to the fact that the following sections, for example about the Lord's meal, also concern congregations. It also speaks to the fact that the angels are present, who are certainly present in a congregation in a special way. And above all, we have seen that it means to say, happens to the construction of the community. So there are good reasons to assume that this is about the talk in the community. However, Paulus does not explicitly write that it is about the community. And he does that in other places. In verse 18, for example, when he comes to the Lord, he writes, first of all, I hear that when you come together in the church. So he clearly writes about coming together in the church. But he doesn't do that in our section. That's why we have to say, we're not sure here either. It's not clear. And finally, the fourth opinion, and this is the opinion that can probably be called the traditional opinion, which most of the speakers in the history of the church had, for example Calvin and others. The fourth opinion is that Paul simply addresses two different topics. In our section, in 1 Corinthians 11, Paulus doesn't want to say anything about whether women are allowed to pray or not. He'll do that later. He'll pick that up for 1 Corinthians 14. Here, he's first concerned with the cover of the head. Later, he wants to say that women are not allowed to pray or not. We have already seen that Paulus can first devote himself to one topic and later to another. He can now speak about the cover of the head and later about praying and preaching. He has already done that with the topic of sacrificial meat, in the same letter in 1 Corinthians 8. he teaches that one should not eat animal sacrifice meat if one becomes a brother to it. And later, in 1 Corinthians 10, two chapters later, he teaches that one is not allowed to eat animal sacrifice meat at all. So it is not unusual that Paul devotes himself only to one thing, without calling the other one good, but then clarifies the other later. But why does Paul speak of praying and confessing? Why doesn't he just say, like in verse 18, when you come together in the church, the men should not conceal themselves and the women should conceal themselves. Well, maybe in Corinth it was the case that women prayed and said alms. Maybe it was the case that they spoke loudly in the community. That's why he criticizes them in 1 Corinthians 14. That's why he makes it clear later that this is not possible. And they actually took off their headscarves. And that's why Paul addresses this situation. That's why he says, if you pray without concealing or confess, because that was the case in Corinth. They actually prayed and confessed, which they were not allowed to, which he will address later. And they took off the headscarf. That's why he addresses the problem of head covering in this context. He says, yes, you take off the headgear when you pray or say the sacrament, but you must know that you are not allowed to do that at all. Not only when you pray or say the sacrament, you are not allowed to take off the headgear at all. And we will deal with praying and saying the sacrament in a moment. That would be a possibility. Paulus simply says, pray and confess, because that was the situation in Corinth. The women prayed and confessed, but they took off their headscarves. That's why Paulus addresses this situation. It's conceivable. But there's still uncertainty. That means we don't have a clear solution. We're not sure how to solve this problem. But then the question is, what do we do now? What do we do now? Keep on researching, keep on asking, keep on praying and reading. But if you've been researching for months, years, what you could find, there's still more, you can still go on, but at some point you realize, okay, even if I read the 30th comment, there's not much new, it repeats itself somehow. At some point you get to the point where you say, it probably doesn't make much sense to spend months and years on it. What do you do then? If you say, and we are at this point, that we believe that if we continue to research, we will no longer get great new insights. What do we do now with this point if we are not sure? Do we just do nothing? And many do that. I know from many brothers and sisters, also from good teachers whom I appreciate very much, that they do that, that they say, I'm not quite sure what this position says. I'm not quite sure if Paulus really offers that women should be excommunicated. And that's why I don't do anything at first. Maybe I'll understand later what the position says, but I don't do anything for that long. The problem is, you do decide with it in practice. And you do decide with it against the concealment. Because women don't conceal themselves. They say, I don't know, and that's why I don't conceal myself. And you practically made a decision after all. The problem is, if we are not sure whether we are dealing with a commandment of God, then it is not right to simply do nothing. If we are not sure whether we are dealing with a commandment of God, then we should assume that it is a commandment. Then we should behave as if it were a commandment. If we are not sure whether it is a commandment, then we stick to it. Why? Well, if you later find out that it was not a commandment, then we have not sinned. Then you can only blame us, you were too careful. You did it, you thought it was a commandment, but it was not a commandment, you should not have done it at all, but you have not sinned. It is not a sin when a woman conceals herself. You are on the safe side. But if you say, I don't know if it's a commandment and that's why I don't stick to it, and it turns out it was a commandment, then you have sinned. You didn't do what the commandment said, you have sinned. Do you understand the point? This is our crucial point. If we don't know, is it a commandment? If we don't know, if we don't do it, do we sin or don't we sin? Then we go for sure and do what this possible commandment says. Because if we do it, we definitely don't sin. But if we don't do it, and it is a commandment, then we have sinned. It is important that we understand the point. Is that reasonably clear? Give me a quick feedback. Yes? Okay. No woman is guilty if she wears a headscarf. But it may be that a woman is guilty if she does not wear a headscarf. If this is a commandment, then that would be the case. So what are our applications now? What should we do now? Well, first of all, headscarf yes or no? The women of the pastors will wear a headscarf. for the reasons we have just mentioned. We are not quite sure whether this is necessary, but it could be that it is necessary, and that is why we prefer to do it. This means that the women pastors will wear headscarves in the community in the future. And we give a recommendation, not a commandment, just a recommendation to all sisters and to your husbands, if you have any, check this spot. We've gone through it with you now, really check it. See to what conviction you come to, but come to a conviction. Don't say, well, I don't know, then I won't do anything. No, really check it. And if you're not sure, then it's probably better. You're safe now and you're fulfilling yourselves. But because we're not safe, because questions are still open, because other assumptions seem possible, maybe not always quite likely, but at least possible, that's why there is no command in the community. But check yourselves and make a decision of conscience. Be completely convinced that you are doing the right thing. If you have doubts, then it's better to do it. If you don't do it, then you are completely convinced of it. Now you can say, but your pastor is not completely convinced either. You just said you are not completely convinced. Yes, we are completely convinced. We are not completely convinced of what the text says, but we are completely convinced that it is right if we cover up our women. because we know that we will definitely not sin. We are convinced that we should do that. It may be that God will give us a different understanding at some point. That is possible. But as long as that is the case, we are convinced that it is right for us to seduce our women. But again, it is not a command. And if someone decides for the headscarf or the headscarf, then he must not be punished for it. And if someone decides not to wear a headscarf, then he must not be punished for it either. We mean that really seriously. If we say it is not a command, we cannot treat it as if it were a command. It is actually your decision. Then let us clarify a few practical questions. If you want to wear a headscarf, when should you do it? We have just seen that with praying and singing, it is difficult for us to say when to do it. We would therefore say, we would follow this traditional Christian interpretation and say, at least in the assemblies of the community. In any case, in the services of God, in the hours of prayer, or when we come together as a community, at the community festival or something, and God's Word is proclaimed or prayed. So in any case, if we are gathered as a community, then we would advise to do that. If someone says, I would like to cover myself in general, whenever I pray, always in the family spirit, then that's good, then I like to do that, but in any case, we would advise that for the community. Then the question is, who? Who should wear a headscarf? Well, women, not men, but only married women or also unmarried women. The word that Paul uses here for woman can mean both. It can mean woman and it can mean wife. So that doesn't make it easy again. You see, the part is really difficult. An argument for the fact that this only applies to married women could be found in the fact that the subordination to the husband actually belongs to the marriage. The woman does not simply have to subordinate to every man, she should subordinate to her husband. As Paul writes in Ephesians 5, the women subordinate to their own men as to the Lord. Not just to all men, but to their own men. So maybe it only applies to married women. But in contrast, and for all women, When Paulus says, every man, he doesn't mean every husband, but every man. And when he says, every woman, he doesn't mean every wife, but every woman. Besides, the arguments were order of creation, nature. That also applies to every woman. The woman was created for the man's sake. It's not just wife X and Y, it's general. The woman was created for the man's will. The woman learns from nature that she has long hair. So it's not limited to wives. And also unmarried women have to submit to men. Maybe they have to submit to their father. And when it comes to the community, they have to submit to men in particular. The pastors and all the men who pray and preach the word of God, the woman has to submit to them. That's why it's not inappropriate if a woman in the community shows that she submits. Tertullian was a church priest. He lived from about 150 to 220 AD. So he was pretty close. He lived a few decades after the last apostle. He was pretty close. And he writes in a letter, that the Corinthians themselves understood Paul so well, that all women should commit adultery, including the unmarried. Or, as he says, the virgin women. That is, the Corinthians probably understood it so well, that all women should commit adultery. Here, too, would be the recommendation, if we don't know it, then you can also go for sure here and say, all religious women, they should cover themselves. But we don't think that this is for unbelieving girls, yes, for children. But if a woman is religious, if a woman is baptized, then it is probably safer, yes, if she also sticks to it. Last question, headgear, yes, what and how, what should it look like? Paolo doesn't write down what the head cover should look like. But it is clear that it should be covered. The Greek word can also be translated as hanging down from the head. We also have the comparison with long hair. We don't think that, as it is sometimes done, a small ribbon or a small cloth is enough. No, the head should be covered. Our recommendation would be to take a cloth that actually covers the head, not the face, but that actually covers the head and that is similar to how long the hair falls down. Whether you bind the cloth together or leave it open, it's up to you. But we would think that this probably corresponds to what Paulus is saying here. But he doesn't say it explicitly. If someone wants to do it differently, that's fine too. What's important, however, is that the headscarf is not a fashion accessory. If women come and say, I'll cover my head and buy the most fashionable hat I can find, that's no longer a symbol of subordination. It's a symbol of attention. So make sure that the goal is achieved. Finally, let me briefly touch on a few possible applications. Application 1. What will the guests say? What will the guests think when guests come in and the women sit here with headscarves? But, dear ones, we do God's commandments even if it doesn't fit the world and we don't adapt to the world. Baptism and Lord's Prayer are also strange. When an unbeliever comes and sees that someone is allowed to immerse himself in water in a white robe, then he would also find it strange and everyone would watch. And if everyone comes forward and takes a piece of bread and drinks from the same cup, people will probably think that's weird, too. It's the same with a lot of things. We all get up and pray, we sing some old songs, we listen to a sermon from an old book for hours. That's all weird. So that can't be an argument. On the contrary. I think it's good when guests notice that something is different here. We didn't have a guest who said, I didn't like the fact that there was a woman with a headscarf. We had guests who didn't like the fact that we didn't wear a headscarf. We had guests from Russian-German communities. That was a real problem for them. They said, your sermons are all good, but I don't understand how you are so disobedient and don't cover your heads. You don't have to see it that way, but if we had such a problem, we would have done it the other way around. So, what the guests think or don't think, that's not the most important thing for us. What God thinks, that's the most important thing for us. Other interventions, yes, but almost no Christians do that anymore. There are still some who do that, for example some Russian-German communities, and others, but most of them don't do that anymore. Isn't it strange that we are suddenly starting to do this? I want to encourage you to do something that also encouraged me. It's not God's word, but it can still encourage us. Anyone who does this is part of a 2,000-year-old Christian tradition, a practice that has been practiced everywhere. As Paulus writes, in all the communities. That's how it was for 2,000 years. For 2,000 years, headscarves were worn in all the communities. Really in all of them. Also in the wrong churches. Also in the Roman Catholic Church, in the Orthodox Church, in the Neapolitan Church. That was general practice that Christians, or at least those who called themselves that, that they have concealed themselves when they go to church. We have, for example, pictures from the catacombs, where the Christians have gathered. They are 2,000 years old. They are from the time of the first Christians, when the Bible was just written. And there we see depictions of praying Christians, raised with their hands up, that's how they prayed. And we see them wearing a headscarf. All great church fathers, meaning the important theologians who shaped the church in the first centuries after the apostles, all great church fathers said something about it, and it is still preserved today. I'm just going to name a few names. Maybe you'll say, I don't know most of the names anyway. Well, I think each of you should know three or four names. Otherwise you might have to read a little more church history. But it's not about you saying, I know them all. It's about you knowing that there are really a lot of them. And we only name a selection and only well-known people. There are many more. I'll name a few. by the church fathers, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clemens of Alexandria, Hippolyte, Chrysostomus, Hieronymus, Augustinus. The apostolic constitution from the year 380, this is a document in which it was written and how the churches celebrated the services of God at that time. It says that the women have to cover themselves and the men don't. The apostolic constitution from the year 380. Allegedly they are from the apostles themselves, but whether that is true. The most famous theologian of the Middle Ages has spoken to this, Thomas of Aquinas. The reformers, Luther, Calvin, Bullinger, John Knox, William Tyndale. We have the Puritans, for example, John Bunyan, who wrote The Pilgrimage. John Lightfoot, Thomas Menton, Ezekiel Hopkins, Benjamin Keech. We have John Wesley. who founded the Methodists, by the way, still wears a headscarf today. In modern times, we have Spurgeon, A.W. Pink, Martin Lloyd-Jones, William MacDonald, Charles Ryrie, R.C. Sproul, Joel Beakey, Alexander Strauch, whom we highly recommend when it comes to things like the oldest office or the diaconship. He wrote good books there. If you look at pictures from Gerhard Onkens' community, the first Baptist community in Hamburg, you can see that all women wear a headscarf. It's easy to see that the women are on the right and the men are on the left. But we don't see that in the text. So we actually have 2,000 years of church history. Even to this day, even though only a few still represent it, but even today there are still good, good Bible scholars and there is 2,000 years of church history behind us. For 2,000 years, almost everyone understood that women should be exalted. Not everyone saw it in all the details. Some had slightly different reasons. Some said, well, the woman must then or then commit suicide. There was not unity in all points, but everyone was in agreement that the woman should commit suicide. This is how this position of Paul was understood for 2,000 years. What has changed? Well, at the beginning of the last century, women stopped wearing headscarves. Especially in the 60s, it was almost over. If we talk about that time, then you probably all know what happened at that time. Emancipation, feminism, sexual revolution. that it was stopped wearing a headscarf falls into a very bad time. And you can assume that it is related to that. But maybe there were other reasons. Maybe the women in the communities didn't want to show, yes, I'm now also emancipated and free and that's why I'm taking it off. Maybe it was just a lack of teaching. Then you know, the cloth was replaced more and more by hats at some point. Hats came into fashion and then women thought, well, hat covers too, so I wear hats. Hats became more and more a fashion accessory, not a symbol of the subordination. And when hats came out of fashion, it was no longer fashionable to wear hats, they also disappeared from the churches. It's about the same time, the 60s, 70s. Maybe you didn't even know why you should cover your head, you just thought, I'll just wear a fancy hat. And if it's no longer fancy to wear a hat, then I won't wear it anymore. We don't know exactly why it stopped in so many churches, But probably these were not the best reasons. In any case, we have no reason to be ashamed if we say we are rediscovering the cover-up, because in fact we are not the exception, but in fact they are the exception who do not do that, if you look at the whole history of the Church. Finally, if we do that, then let us not forget why we do that. There are a few Latin terms that you might remember, even if you don't speak Latin. This might be one of them. Ecclesia semper reformanda. That means the church, the community, must be constantly reformed. We believe that we, not only everyone, but also as a community, that we must constantly check ourselves on the basis of God's Word. And if we come to the realization that we are not in agreement with God's Word, then we have to reform ourselves. Then we have to return to God's Word. Then we have to act again as God's Word teaches. Therefore, it is conceivable that at some point we will say, there was a wrong direction, now we are sure that we do not need a headscarf, then we reform ourselves again. But that is our knowledge at the moment and so we want to reform joyfully. Because we do this because we want to be obedient to God's word and not for other reasons. So if we, or some of us, now want to return to the cover of the head, then we also do this as a symbol of the divine truth of the subordination. Not only the woman under the man, but also all people under Christ and Christ under God. That is, we proclaim divine truths with it. Of course, the subordination must also take place in the heart, otherwise it is only heresy. We do this as a confirmation of creation. We say, yes, God's order of creation is really very good. And we don't object to it. We do it for the angels' sake, who watch us and don't want to be irritated when they ask themselves, why are the women here without a cover? Do they want to show that they don't want to subordinate themselves? And we do it because it corresponds to nature. And nature is well and properly set up by God. Ultimately, we do it for the honor of our Lord and Creator. But again, everyone can check how he deals with the topic. That's why I conclude with a quote of the Apostle Paul from Romans 14, which does not concern the cover of the head, but that we still want to use it that way, because we are insecure. In Romans 14, verse 2, the Apostle Paul writes, One believes he may eat everything, but the weak one eats vegetables. A particularly beautiful sentence for vegetarians. Now you all know I'm weak. Who eats, who eats, who eats meat, who eats, do not despise him who does not eat. And who does not eat, do not judge him who eats, for God has taken him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? He stands or falls to his own master. But he will be kept upright, for the Lord is able to keep him upright. You see, even if we are wrong in one thing, the Lord will keep us upright. The one holds one day before the other, but the other holds the same day. But each one is completely convinced in his own sense. Whoever observes the day, observes it in the Lord. Und wer ist, ist dem Herrn, denn er sagt Gott Dank. Und wer nicht ist, ist dem Herrn nicht, und sagt Gott Dank. Denn keiner von uns lebt sich selbst, und keiner stirbt sich selbst. Denn sei es auch, dass wir leben, wir leben dem Herrn. Und sei es, dass wir sterben, wir sterben dem Herrn. Und sei es nun, dass wir leben, sei es auch, dass wir sterben, wir sind des Herrn. Whatever you decide, after a good examination, that is important, but whatever you decide, be completely convinced in your mind, you do it to the Lord, do it to the Lord, and no one has the right to despise the other, because he does it or because he does not do it. Everything should happen to the Lord in his honor. Amen. Let us stand up and pray. O Lord, your word is wisdom. And when we sometimes have difficulties in understanding it, it is not your word that is to blame, but us, Lord. For our understanding is often darkened, we are sinners, and we lack wisdom. Lord, we are ashamed that you lead us, that we do your will. For it is not about us doing the things that we find beautiful. We want to do your will, Lord. And even if we, perhaps because of our own inconsistencies, do not clearly recognize what your will is, grant us mercy, Lord, that we still do everything with complete conviction for you. And if we are wrong, Lord, then have mercy on us. Then keep us upright, that we do not fall. Make sure that in everything we do, this community is a bright light, that we show that we love your word, that we do what you say. Strengthen us, Lord, give us grace and wisdom, so that everything really happens in your honor. Amen.