Christian Head Covering: What 1 Corinthians 11 Says and Which Churches Keep It



  • In 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 Paul says that a woman who prays or prophesies should cover her head and a man should not.
  • He gives reasons from headship, from the creation of Eve in Genesis 2, “because of the angels,” from nature and from the practice of the churches.
  • Early writers, including Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and John Chrysostom, treated the passage as a rule for their own churches.
  • The 1917 Code of Canon Law required Catholic women to cover their heads at Mass; the 1983 Code has no such rule.
  • The Amish and Mennonites who keep the 1963 confession treat the covering as a lasting practice, and United Pentecostals teach that a woman’s uncut hair is her covering.
  • A 1976 Vatican declaration holds that the veil rule was “probably inspired by the customs of the period” and no longer binding.

Paul tells the Corinthians that a woman should cover her head when she prays or prophesies and a man should not. Christian head covering comes from that passage, 1 Corinthians 11:2–16. Christians disagree over whether the rule binds every age or reflected the customs of Paul’s day. Many Orthodox, Amish and Mennonite women still cover their heads. What does 1 Corinthians 11 say about head coverings? Paul begins by praising the Corinthians because they “maintain the traditions even as I…

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