Read Part One HERE
In this post I will continue to discuss the subject of head covering since today there is a movement called the Head Covering Movemenr based on 1 Corinthians 11:5 and beyond
And every women who prays or prophesis with her head uncovered dishonours her head - it is just as though her head were shaved....
In this post I will share the viewpoint of well know Roman Catholic Church Father Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274 A.D.)
Thomas Aquinas believed the focus of 1 Corinthians 11 was issues related to the Eucharist, and head covering related to proper dress during this practice. He said, "The Corinthians erred in clothing, namely, because the women gathered for the sacred mysteries with heads uncovered." So for Aquinas head covering was a church issue. He explained what it was that head covering symbolized as follows: "A veil put on the head designates the power of another over the head of a person existing in the order of nature."
My Comment
Thomas Aquinas was a Roman Catholic Church father who called the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, and believed it contained "sacred mysteries." According to Roman Catholic Theology, the bread (wafer in their case) turns literally into the Body of Christ and the wine literally turns into the Blood of Christ each time the priest blesses these items. This is a false teaching for Christ died once for all and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 9:24-28; Hebrews 10:12). No priest is able to bring Christ down from heaven to enter a wafer. Nor can the wine ever turn into the Blood of Christ.
Furthermore, Thomas Aquinas believed that women had to have their heads covered when taking part in the Lord's Supper or what he called the Eucharist.
As for his reason as to what head covering symbolized, he believed that a veil put on the head showed submission/subjection to another in accordance with the order of nature. This very likely means he believed in the so-called creation order whereby the man is supposed to have been placed in authority over the woman. However, that is contrary to Scripture since God created both the man and the woman to rule over creation together but not over each other (Genesis 1:26-28). Thomas Aquinas was most likely influenced by other Roman Catholic Church Fathers of the past who had been influenced by their pagan culture in which the woman was indeed seen as inferior to the man and in subjection to him. This, no doubt, shaped his understanding of certain passages in Scripture including Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:18; 1 Corinthians 11, making his view more in line with some of the religious leaders in Corinth rather than Paul.
Read Part Five HERE
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