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0 The head of every woman is a man (1 Corinthians 11-16)

Episode 283: The head of every woman is a man

1 Corinthians 11-16

11 1 Follow me, as I follow Christ.

2 I praise you for obeying me.

Women, heads, head coverings, and long hair

3 The head of every man is Christ. The head of every woman is a man. And the head of Christ is God.

4 If a man prays or prophesies with his head covered, he dishonors his head.

5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head.

6 A woman who refuses to cover her head must have her head shaved.

7 A man shouldn't cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man.

8 Because the man wasn't made from the woman, but the woman from the man.

9 And the man wasn't created for the woman, but the woman for the man.

10 So the woman should have power on her head because of the angels.

13 Judge for yourself: Is it proper for a woman to pray uncovered?

14 Isn't it unnatural for a man to have long hair?

15 But a woman's long hair is her glory.

The Lord's supper (do your eating and drinking at home)

20 When you come gather together, you're not coming to eat the Lord's supper.

21 You're coming to eat and get drunk.

22 Don't you have houses where you can eat and drink?

23-24 On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and said, "This is my body."

25 And he took a cup and said, "This is my blood."

27-29 If you eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, you'll be guilty of his body and blood, and you will be damned.

30 That's why so many of you are weak, sick, and dead.

34 So if you're hungry, eat at home.

I'll deal with the rest of your problems on my next visit.

Covet the best gifts

12 4 There are many gifts of the Spirit.

10 Some have the gift of doing miracles, some prophesy, some discern spirits, some speak in tongues, and some interpret tongues.

23 We honor the less honorable parts of our bodies, and make our less comely parts more comely.

31 Covet the best gifts.

Love is the most important thing

13 1-2 If I speak well, prophesy, understand mysteries, and know everything, I’m nothing if I don’t have love.

3 If I give everything to the poor, and give my body to be burned, it’s not worth anything unless I have love.

To be read at all weddings

4 Love is patient, kind, doesn’t envy or show off, and isn’t proud.

5 It behaves well and isn’t selfish. It doesn’t provoke or have bad thoughts.

6 It doesn’t rejoice in fighting but rejoices in the truth.

7 It supports and believes everything.

8 And it never fails. But prophecies fail, speech stops, and knowledge goes away.

Put away childless things

11 When I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 Now we see through a glass, darkly. Later it’ll be face to face.

13 There are three things that last forever: Faith, hope, and love And the greatest of this is love.

Speaking in tongues (I'm glad I do it more than any of you)

14 1 Try to be charitable, but try even harder to get spiritual gifts, like prophesy.

2 Those who speak in unknown tongues, are speaking to God, not people. No one understands them.

5 I'd like you all to speak in tongues and prophesy.

Prophesying is better than speaking in tongues, especially when there isn't an interpreter around.

18 Thank God I speak in tongues more than any of you.

20 Don't be childish in your understanding.

22 Speaking in tongues is a sign to unbelievers.

23 If everyone speaks in tongues at church, unbelievers will think you are insane.

27 So don't have any more than two or three speaking in tongues at the same time.

And have someone interpret what they say.

28 If no interpreter is present, don't speak in tongues. Talk to yourself and God.

33 Because God isn't the author of confusion.

Don't let your women talk in church (let them ask their husbands at home)

34 Don't let your women talk in church. They aren't permitted to speak, but must be obedient, as the law of Moses requires.

35 If they'd like to learn something, let them ask their husbands at home. Because it's a shame for women to speak in church.

37 The things that I write to you are the commandments of God.

38 But let those who are ignorant stay ignorant.

39 Therefore, covet to prophesy, and don't forbid people from speaking in tongues.

The resurrection of Christ

15 3 Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

4 He was buried and rose again on the third day.

5 Cephas (Peter) and the twelve saw him.

6 After that, he was seen by more than five hundred at once.

7 Then he was seen by James, and later by all the apostles.

8 And last of all, he was seen by me.

Why do we baptize dead people?

14 If Christ didn't rise from the dead, then our preaching and your faith are useless.

15 And we are false witnesses, because we said he rose when he didn't.

16-19 So if the dead don't rise, then neither did Christ, your faith is useless, dead Christians are dead, and we are the most miserable people on earth.

20 But Christ was the first to rise from the dead.

21 As death came from one man, so did the resurrection of the dead.

22 As we all died because of Adam, we'll all live after we die because of Christ.

23 First Christ rose from the dead, then the rest of us will rise when he comes again.

29 If the dead don't rise, why do we baptize dead people?

32 If the dead don't rise, let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

35 But someone will say, "How can dead people become alive again? What body will they have?"

36 You fool! Seeds don't sprout unless they're dead.

38 God will give you whatever body he pleases when he raises you from the dead.

Not all of us will die (but we'll all be changed)

51 I'll show you a mystery: Not all of us will die, but we all will be changed.

52 In a twinkling of an eye, the trumpet will sound, and all the dead people will rise with new bodies, and we will be changed.

Greet everyone with a holy kiss (and let anyone who doesn't love Jesus be anathema)

16 14 Do everything with love.

20 Greet each other with a holy kiss.

21 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand.

22 Let everyone who doesn't love Jesus be anathema.

A few more words about this episode

Don't let your women talk in church. If they'd like to learn something, let them ask their husbands at home. Because it's a shame for women to speak in church. (14:34-35)
In some manuscripts, verses 34-35 are found at the end of chapter 14, leading some scholars to think that they were not written by Paul but originated from a misogynistic scribe's marginal note.
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. (15:3-4)
These verses claim that the scriptures prophesied that Jesus would suffer, die, and be resurrected from the dead. But where are the prophecies that are referred to here? Hosea 6:2 perhaps? But this verse refers to the people living at the time (hence "us") and therefore cannot be fulfilled by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Cephas (Peter) and the twelve saw him. (15:5)
But Judas hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5) and Matthias was not elected (Acts 1:9-26) until after the ascension, so how could "the twelve" have seen the resurrected Jesus?
After that, he was seen by more than five hundred at once. (15:6)
How many believers were there at the time of the ascension?
And last of all, he was seen by me. (15:8)
In an apparent reference to his encounter on the road to Damascus, Paul says, "And last of all he was seen by me." But Acts (9:5) says he saw no one because he was blinded.
Did Paul see Jesus?
If the dead don't rise, why do we baptize dead people? (15:29)
This is the verse that the Mormons use to justify their belief in the baptism of the dead.
You fool! Seeds don't sprout unless they're dead. (15:36)
Paul also shows his (and God's) ignorance of biology by saying that only dead seeds will germinate. Actually, a seed must be alive to germinate.
Let everyone who doesn't love Jesus be anathema. (16:22)
My feet stink, my head hurts, and I don't love Jesus! (Jimmy Buffett)
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