Women speaking in church

1 Corinthians 11:4-6a (NRSV*)

4 Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head,
5 but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head — it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.
6 For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair...

Paul, the writer of these verses, is writing about the culture of his day.  In our day, fundamentalists who rant against women preachers cherry-pick the Bible (while ignoring any parts that disagree with their thinking).  They do like to quote this verse, which more than one has thrown at me over the years:

I Corinthians 14:34 (NRSV*)

34  Women should be silent in the churches.  For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law says.

As I composed this to share on my blog, I pulled out my marked-up study Bible and turned to this verse.  Beside it, I had written in pencil many years ago:  "but see 11:5."  That's the middle verse I quoted above.  What those verses say, in effect, is that Paul expects women to "pray and prophesy" in their churches, but when they do, those women should either cover their heads or cut their hair off.  I cut my hair.  I usually wear it pretty short, actually.  Take a look at my photo above.

*NRSV means New Revised Standard Version of the Bible