Ok...so im an 18 year old male. I converted to Christ two years ago so am still quite new to all this. So I don't know much in terms of general theological knowledge. With that being said, I need some help.
Ive always had super short hair, but my Girlfriend said I should grow it out, so I have been. It's currently at my shoulderblades, and I was going to go to mid back. I must admit my GF was right, I look the best I ever have. But then I read 1 Corinth 11:14. Where Paul says it's against God for a man to have long hair??? I know it's a sin for a man to look feminine, but I certainly don't. And long hair has nothing to do with that. So I'm confused.
Ive done research and I've found that nobody really knows. Some scholars say that it's fine and others say it's sinful. I don't have a pastor I can ask as I don't go to church yet (my parents are atheists) so I'm kinda stuck and just need help. Please. Someone!
I see that one of the issues involved in this discussion is Biblical Inerrancy, so I would like to begin by sharing some thoughts about that subject:
Those who view the biblical canon as inspired by God disagree about what this means.
Some people speak as though God dictated every word of the Bible to the human writers, which causes
many atheists to be confused, because they do not realize that the dictation theory has several caveats, such as that it refers to the original manuscripts (which we do not have) correctly interpreted. And
the key to correct interpretation is NOT viewing the Bible as a modern science or history textbook, but rather as concerned with communicating God’s will to humanity regarding His requirement for salvation: THAT is what is inerrant!
The salvationist view of inspiration seems more logical than the dictationist view according to the following train of thought: Suppose God Himself wrote the inerrant message to humanity: “Thou shalt not lie, steal, murder or fornicate.” Suppose the first manuscript copier accidentally left out the comma between lie and steal. Would that invalidate God’s commandment? No, but it is still a mistake and no longer perfectly inerrant.
Now suppose an evil copier intentionally changed the word fornicate to fumigate. Would that invalidate God’s commandment? Not all of it; only the changed word. How could we know which word or words were correct and not changed? We would need to compare the commandment with other statements purported to be inspired by God in order to see what is the overall or consistent message, so that we can acquire sufficient evidence to have reasonable belief that the word fumigate should be discounted.
Finally, suppose that no one changed God’s original commandment. How could we know absolutely or infallibly that it was inerrant? We could not; we walk by faith. We would still need to compare it with the totality of truth in order to discover whether there were any inconsistencies. Thus,
a completely inerrant Bible is not needed,
as long as there is sufficient consistency in God’s messages to humanity via the creation (TOJ #4), the scriptures (TOJ #3), the incarnate word (TOJ #186) and logic (TOJ #182)
for souls to discern God’s requirement for salvation.
Inspiration is like a river: God determines its banks so that the overall revelation each generation along its banks has includes truth sufficient regarding salvation (kerygma), but
God allows the river of revelation to have eddies or discrepancies or
minor errors that do not prevent God’s purpose from being accomplished (IS 55:10f, 1PT 1:10-12, HB 11:2-12:2).
(I will share my opinion regarding long hair per 1CR later :^)