Paul in Conflict with the Veil

Book excerpt: Thomas Schirmacher argues that from the biblical teaching that man is the head of woman (1 Cr 11:3) the Corinthians had drawn the false conclusion that in prayer a woman must be veiled and a man is forbidden to be veiled, and that the wife exists for the husband but not the husband for the wife. Paul, however, rejects these conclusions and shows in 11:10-16 why the veiling of women did not belong to God's commandments binding upon all the Christian communities. Schirmacher presents an alternative exposition, discusses quotations and irony in 1 Corinthians, and deals with other New Testament texts about women's clothing and prayer and about the subordination of wives.