CHAPTER 2:
FACT-CHECKING THE UNCUT HAIR DOCTRINE USING THE “521 RULE”
POCKETSERMONS.org
By Rick Cutter (contact)
Like most people in the world, “I was born, I was taught something, so that’s what I believed.”
Consequently—just like billions of others across the world—I too blindly accepted the beliefs of my good parents, and the good people at the good churches where we all happily congregated.
But it’s obvious that even the best intended parents can make mistakes and are often misguided. Jeremiah wrote: “I know, O LORD, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23). Therefore, when we lose focus on the Word and decide to direct our own steps—without calling upon the wisdom of God—results can be disastrous. Society—and the Church—has served up example after example of loving albeit irresponsible parents who were plainly not ready to raise children.
So, if these observations should tell us anything, surely it’s that we ought not to blindly accept everything that we were raised to believe—including the religious beliefs and practices we were taught from youth.
And speaking of “what we were raised to believe”—in my case, I felt that I had a tremendous advantage. That’s because among the many good things I’d been taught from childhood was that the Bible is the “Message of God to humanity*” and that I should strive to sincerely derive everything I believed and practiced from it. (*After becoming an adult I later factually and logically validated this, but I’d leave that discussion for another time.)
And knowing that the Bible was/is God’s Word, therein I had God’s advice to guide me; to be a “lamp” for each step I took, and a light to illuminate the pathway ahead, ensuring that the proper pathway/decisions could be taken/made (Psa 119:105). Micah said (prophesying of the coming of Christ): “Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the Law shall go forth, And the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” (Micah 4:2)
So, realizing that the Bible had the answers I needed, as a youth my knowledge of God’s Truths steadily increased. And among the many valuable truths that I learned was 1 Thessalonians 5:21, which says this: “Test everything. Hold on to what is good.” (I call this “The 521 Rule” since it’s taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:21.)
Therefore, I attempted to apply the 521 Rule to everything I believed and practiced, comparing/contrasting them to the Standard of God’s Holy Word. I wanted to make sure that everything I believed was true—not just because my church/parents traditionally thought so—but because God’s Word in fact said so.
I also wanted to confirm that I myself was teaching the Truth. After all, Paul had solemnly warned the young evangelist Timothy to…
“Watch your LIFE and DOCTRINE closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save BOTH yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16)
Things Basically “Check Out”—Except For One Doctrine
I truly believe that if one has loving, sincere, caring religious parents—most of us will grow up thinking that “somehow”—despite the statistical improbability of it being the case—we were miraculously born into the perfect church (or religious group), in need of no significant modification of belief, lifestyle, or religious practice to please God.
And I too had great confidence in my church’s doctrines and practices. And to my delight—and despite the amazing odds—every major doctrine I’d been raised to believe (and that I tested for truthfulness) “seemed” to be (for the most part) true.
This included, but was not limited to, my church’s beliefs on salvation, faith, obedience, baptism, worship, marriage and divorce, the afterlife, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—and, yes, even the “Hair Question” (a label apparently coined by brotherhood preachers when referring to the teachings of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, which could be more accurately termed “Head Covering” Question). And many other doctrines as well—which is exactly what you’d expect from a Church claiming to be “Bible-based, in doctrine and practice, 100% of the time.”
Now, regarding the “Hair Question”—preachers, leaders, and the congregants of my local church believed that Christian women were required to “let their hair grow actively (continually) without ever cutting it” (hence, the label “Uncut Hair” doctrine). From this they concluded that any woman who violated this teaching, and failed to repent, would lose her very soul. (By the way, the Uncut Hair doctrine is primarily derived from one Greek word found in 1 Corinthians 11:15, “koma,” which I plan to notice shortly.)
So, as a youth, I completely bought-in to the Uncut Hair doctrine. After all, that’s what my immediate family strongly believed. That’s what my uncles and aunts strongly believed. That’s what my closest grandparents strongly believed. That’s what every preacher I personally knew of strongly believed. And that’s what every single Christian at my church (or any other affiliated church I knew of) strongly believed.
So that’s what I too strongly believed—the “Uncut Hair” doctrine.
Furthermore, not only was my father an ordained preacher (and missionary), but so was my brother, along with at least three uncles, with two others being elders at high profile, internationally known and well-respected congregations. All these relatives were avid believers in the Uncut Hair doctrine, and along with me—and “out of service to God”—would “enlighten” anyone who needed it. In other words, I was about as heavily indoctrinated into the Uncut Hair position as a person on this earth could possibly be.
And I was bolstered by virtually a brotherhood-wide body of sincere, loving, truth-seeking, righteously confident, like-minded brethren—who had little tolerance for dissenters, and little desire to logically and carefully examine the Uncut Hair doctrine, obedience to which was (and still is) considered a “requirement of salvation.”
Irregularities Begin Adding Up
Even though I was a devout Uncut Hair believer—a tiny crack in my over-confidence began to appear.
The problem was this: Given the 521 Rule to sincerely “test everything and hold on to the good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)—it bothered me that my favorite Bible didn’t seem to match the Truth as I understood it to be.
In the first place, my favorite (and only) Bible was the 1769 edition of the King James Version (“KJV” for short)—the one that church leaders, despite the fact that several old-English words of the KJV have changed in meaning, still teach from today. (Virtually everyone I’ve ever known who uses the KJV doesn’t use the original 1611 KJV, even though some think they do. Instead they are likely using the 1769 edition of the KJV. And for good reason, because the spelling of several English words, though still understandable, have changed since 1611). But the point is, it bugged me that my “literally-translated” King James Version did not accurately translate 1 Corinthians 11:15—or so I thought. To better explain this, please consider what my 1769 King James Version Bible said:
1 Corinthians 11:14-15 KJV
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair (koma), it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair (koma), it is a glory to her: for her hair is given to her for a covering (from the Greek “peribolaion,” which essentially refers to an artificial head covering).
So, here we see that my then-favorite Bible plainly stated that if a woman simply “has long hair” it is a glory to her. The Bible did not say, if a woman “has continually growing hair” it is a glory to her. Nor did it say, if a woman “has uncut hair” it is a glory to her. But—again—my 1769 KJV Bible plainly, unequivocally, and intentionally stated that if a woman “have (has) long hair” it is a glory to her.
Of course, this “inaccuracy” in the KJV was annoying to me, because long hair (which my KJV Bible was saying) and growing/uncut hair (which is what I and my church believed) are obviously two entirely different things. Plainly, it’s possible for many women to maintain long hair while cutting/trimming it regularly. So—I just couldn’t understand how life-long Greek-English translation authorities could’ve gotten something this simple so wrong. Did they not know that Thayer himself said that komao (koma‘s infinitive) was defined as, “to let the hair grow”—but certainly not, “to have long hair”?
And—just in case you’re wondering—passing judgment on the “lacking knowledge” of the KJV’s renowned Greek-English Bible translation scholars didn’t bother me at all, even though, as with many preachers in my church, we’d never seriously be considered as “Koine Greek scholars.” (By the way, Koine Greek was a common first century dialect of Greek in which the New Testament was written; it is now a dead language.)
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