Q. What is the proper teaching of 1 Corinthians 11:5? Is there any ground in it for a woman praying in an ordinary meeting for prayer, of course not in church?
A. First of all, I believe that in an “ordinary meeting for prayer,” Christians gather together “in assembly”; any gathering together of God’s people to the name of the Lord, where the Holy Spirit’s action is unhindered — that is, an assembly which Scripture owns, is meeting “in assembly; and the woman is to keep silence and be in subjection — showing the sign of subjection by wearing a covering on her head.
No doubt, were there no men present, a woman would be perfectly free to pray or prophesy if she had the gift; and I believe many have the gifts of Christ. But even if so, it must be used in subjection to Christ in His ordered way, and in private, so as not to usurp authority over the man, and mar God’s order in redemption. To pray or prophesy with her head uncovered — she dishonors her head.
In the first sixteen verses the apostle is dealing with the order of headships according to God, which were forgotten by the saints at Corinth. God is the head of Christ (looked at as Man): Christ the head of the man; the man the head of the woman. In verse 17 and onwards, he deals with the coming together of the saints in assembly: “church” should always in Scripture be rendered “assembly”; and there should be no “the” in verse 18.
The woman (and man too) in Corinthians had forgotten this order, and the former were I suppose praying and prophesying with disheveled locks. Their hair was given for a vail, not for such a purpose. She ought also with her hair, to have power (a sign of subjection), on her head because of the angels (that is, a covering in addition to her long hair).