We see Paul start this section doing something that he rarely did in 1 Corinthians: He praised them! In this case, Paul praised them for keeping the traditions that he had passed on to them. Thus, we learn, that keeping the right traditions are something important for us to do in Christ’s Church.
Tradition in the Church
Read 1 Corinthians 11:2
- In what two ways does Paul praise the Corinthian Christians?
Excursus: Tradition in Christ’s Church
The New-Testament Greek has two main functions for the word “tradition”: It acts as a verb and a noun (English only has “tradition” as a noun). The Greek verb, paredowka, means “hand to,” “hand over,” or “pass on” something to another. The noun, paradosis, refers to that which is “handed over” or “passed on.” However, unlike many North-American Christians, the New-Testament Greek word for “tradition” doesn’t have any negative or positive connotations in itself.
For many, “tradition” has become a bad word because Protestantism saw tradition as Roman Catholic. And since Roman Catholicism was bad, that meant tradition was bad. It was guilt by association. But to make it worse, Bible translators further caused us to see tradition as only something bad. For example: When the original Greek text used “tradition” negatively, Bible translators properly used the word “tradition.” But, when the original Greek text used “tradition” positively, our Bible translators (especially in the NIV) went out of their way to use some other word, such as “teaching.”
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Bad Traditions (NIV, Concordia Study Bible) |
Bad Traditions (ESV, Lutheran Study Bible) |
| Matthew 15:3: [Jesus speaking to the Pharisees,] “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” | Matthew 15:3: [Jesus speaking to the Pharisees,] “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” |
| Mark 7:8: [Jesus speaking to the Pharisees,] “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” | Mark 7:8: [Jesus speaking to the Pharisees,] “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” |
| Galatians 1:14: [Paul describing his earlier zeal for Judaism,] “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” | Galatians 1:14: [Paul describing his earlier zeal for Judaism,] “And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.” |
| Colossians 2:8: [Paul and Timothy warn the congregation at Colossae,] “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition…” | Colossians 2:8: [Paul and Timothy warn the congregation at Colossae,] “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition…” |
| Good Traditions (NIV, Concordia Study Bible) | Good Traditions (ESV, Lutheran Study Bible) |
| Matthew 11:27: [Jesus speaking to a crowd,] “All things have been committed to me by my Father.” | Matthew 11:27: [Jesus speaking to a crowd,] “All things have been handed over to me by my Father…” |
| 1 Corinthians 11:2: [Paul writing to the congregation at Corinth,] “I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings just as I passed them on to you.” | 1 Corinthians 11:2: [Paul writing to the congregation at Corinth,] “Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.” |
| 2 Thessalonians 2:15: [Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy writing to the congregation at Thessalonica,] “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” | 2 Thessalonians 2:15: [Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy writing to the congregation at Thessalonica,] “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” |
| 2 Thessalonians 3:6: [Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy writing to the congregation at Thessalonica,] “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.” | 2 Thessalonians 3:6: [Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy writing to the congregation at Thessalonica,] “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.” |
- If someone only saw the word “tradition” in the Bible used negatively, how would that shape his understanding of “tradition”?
And yet, all of what Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 11 deals with the “tradition” that he references. In vs. 2, Paul praised the Corinthians for keeping the traditions that he had “traditioned” to them. Later, in 1 Corinthians 11:17 and 23, Paul didn’t praise the Corinthians when they had strayed from what he had “traditioned” to them. “In following the command [the mandate of the Lord’s Supper], I do not praise you… For I received from the Lord what I traditioned to you.”
In Christ’s Church, tradition is bad if our traditions supplant Christ’s traditions. Further, having a tradition of having no tradition is a human-made tradition that contradicts Scripture! The question is, “Whose tradition are we teaching and following?” We are to follow the traditions that Jesus “traditioned” to His Apostles, passed down through His Church. “The Church of the living God [is] the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). “Contend for the faith that was “traditioned,” once for all, to the saints” (Jude 1:3).
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Head Coverings: Testifying to God’s line of authority in the Church’s tradition and doctrine
Paul now tackles a particular tradition relating to worship. We know this because the context of 1 Corinthians 10 dealt with sins that the Israelites had brought into their worship of God, which Paul applied to the Corinthian congregation in their setting. In that context, Paul now deals with the traditions that he had “traditioned” to them.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:3
This section can confuse us, for the Greek word for “man” or “husband” is the same: aner. The Greek word for “woman” or “wife” is also the same: gune. So, is Paul talking about the relationship between men and women, or husbands or wives, or both? Paul gives us his meaning for aner and gune in 1 Corinthians 11:9. Going back to creation, Paul said, “Man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man.” So, Paul is dealing with the role of men and women when they gather for worship.
- What “line of authority” does Paul establish in this verse?
- Does this “line of authority” in the Church change as the culture around the Church changes?
God’s line of authority as practiced in the Church
Before we delve into these next verses, we need to understand that Paul refers to head coverings as a “custom” or “habit” (sunetheia) (1 Corinthians 11:16). If they are a “custom,” then head coverings—in and of themselves—do not matter. What matters is that our worship practices help convey God’s truths that wearing head coverings, or not wearing them, conveyed back then.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:4-9
- What was the purpose for leaving a man’s head uncovered during worship?
- What was the purpose for covering a woman’s head during worship?
- What did the practice of head coverings point both men and women back to?
- Why did God create Eve? (1 Corinthians 11:9, Genesis 2:18)
- What was Adam’s role in relation to Eve? (1 Corinthians 11:3)
- What did God expect of Adam when He told Adam “to keep” something? (Genesis 2:15-16)
- In the fall into sin, how had Adam and Eve reversed their God-given roles? (Genesis 3:6-7)
Head coverings that women had worn, and the lack of head coverings for men, were incidental—but the truth to which they testified were not. They were a cultural expression and practice that pointed to:
- God’s order of things in His original and sinless creation,
- our fall into sin that brought ruin to creation, and
- God’s fulfillment of our salvation on the Last Day, when He will create a new, sinless, and perfect creation to replace this fallen one.
- The question for us is this: In the roles that men and women have in worship, do our practices point to our fall into sin, our need for salvation, and the fulfillment of our salvation? Discuss.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:10
“Because of the angels”: Paul says, referring to a woman’s head covering, that she “should have authority on [her] head.” Paul states to do this “because of the angels.” This odd-sounding statement affirms a couple of truths.
First, it shows that when we gather as God’s people in worship, we gather in the presence of angels. Our liturgy testifies to this in the communion liturgy: “Therefore with angels and archangels and will all the company of heaven.” Describing what takes place in worship, the book of Hebrews says: “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable angels in joyful assembly” (Hebrews 12:2).
But why would the angels care if a woman does, or does not, have her head covered during worship? After all, Paul calls it a “custom” in 1 Corinthians 11:16. So, it’s not the head covering itself; it’s what the lack of a woman’s head covering testified to, or asserted, back then.
How do we approach God and what He has for us in worship? That’s the point! As Paul used examples of Old-Covenant Israel and how they “got in the way” of God’s faithfulness for them (1 Corinthians 10:13), the same can happen in our worship. In Paul’s day, when a woman would be in worship not wearing a head covering, that act conveyed that she “doing her own thing,” just like Eve during humanity’s fall into sin. Eve was to receive from Adam, not the other way around. So is it in our worship of God: We are to receive from Him, coming to Him on His terms, not ours, as the angels also do.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:12-13
- What does Paul say about God, men, and women and how they are interconnected?
- If we are interconnected “in the Lord” (and we are), and this section of Scripture is dealing with worship (and it is), then how do we worship “recognizing all things are from God”?
Read 1 Corinthians 11:13-15
Paul supports what he had just said. He asked a couple of rhetorical question where the answer would have been obvious to his first-century readers, which for us is not the case. Paul used understood and accepted cultural norms, back then, to point to something that isn’t cultural: our fall in sin, our need for salvation, our final redemption, and how we approach God when it comes to worship.
- Discuss these verses as needed.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:16
- If anyone back then was to be contentious about head coverings, what does Paul say about that custom in the early Church?
- What does this imply about what was happening with some at Corinth?
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