Should a Christian Man be Required to Wear a Beard?

[Neto]

...doesn't it make sense that since it was these same Jews that started the Church, as the Jewish women wore veils, so did the Christian women- as the Jewish men wore beards & mustaches (God's command) so did the New Testament Christians.

I can understand Christians carrying this on through the centuries, but I do not understand why it became a requirement to shave- was this simply to distinguish from the Amish who believe they should wear beards? I know you said you wear a beard Neto, what do you think of this article? http://www.revelation.co/2013/05/12/wha ... ow-beards/

I think I may have read that before, or something similar, but I wouldn't attempt to make a Biblical case for either shaving, or for wearing a beard. Yes, at one time I wanted it to say I should have a beard - I wanted it badly. (I also wanted it to say, in the NT, not to cut the forelocks, in keeping with Jewish traditions, but it doesn't.) I also don't think that culture alone explains why the teaching on the veiling for women & and the uncovered head for men when praying or prophesying came about, because this teaching for the man conflicted with Jewish practice. My understanding is that it was a change that is an out-working and symbol of the removal of the veil between God & mankind when Christ died on the cross. (While the Scripture does not tell us this, I do not see any reason to think that Jesus himself did not follow the Jewish practice of his time to cover his head during prayer. But even if he did, he obviously did not teach his disciples to do so, or at least it is not recorded, like "And when you pray, cover your head with the prayer shawl, and say 'Our Father, ....'" I suppose, however, that a person could maintain that it was a given, or assumed......)

[Josh]

Valerie,

That's why I disagree with the Wesleyan Holiness / Pentecostal / Revivalist movement, as it focused a lot on what men wanted but didn't focus too much on what Jesus or the Bible tells us.

I'm simply amazed at times at the amount of research and studying you have done, actually I admire that very much, I would that Christians everywhere would research- and learn-
Had we have done our homework on so many things, we probably would have stayed away from the Pentecostal movement to begin with- but indeed, from Scripture, we believe in the Gifts of the Spirit, and so it is difficult to deny them, actually unscriptural to deny them- however discerning the gifts is a whole different topic altogether. We live in strange times-

Couldn't it be, Josh, that those groups were using Scripture as their foundational beliefs and doctrines? this is really a bunny trail-

When I referred to "Pentecostal", I was focusing solely on the Wesleyan Holiness aspect of the Pentecostal movement. This particular aspect of Pentecostalism is extinct today other than in Oneness Apostolic circles, but it was a pretty major part of the early Pentecostal days and was always a feature of other Holiness groups.

Basically, Holiness people taught that when you had the Holy Spirit, you'd undergo a "second work of grace" and be "entirely sanctified", and thus would quit doing things that are worldly. Revival preachers then got down to business with defining exactly what "worldly" was; apparently, these are the signs of someone filled with the Holy Spirit, according to them:

- One does not dance
- One does not play cards (or at least doesn't play with a deck with face cards in it)
- One does not use tobacco
- One does not go and engage in mixed swimming
- One avoids billiard halls, movie theatres, and other places of questionable repute
- (Brethren) One does not go a few days without shaving the scruff off his face and certainly doesn't grow a beard
- (Sisters) One does not cut their hair, wears it up, and wears skirts/dresses only

The Pentecostal movement simply added speaking in tongues to this list of signs. Strangely enough, almost all of those signs are gone now. And even more strangely, I actually stick to pretty much the whole Holiness lifestyle code, except that I intentionally wear a beard and so does everyone else at my church.

[ohio jones]

I think the requirement to shave was a product of its time, and not a product of searching the scriptures for teaching about facial hair.

I think at that time shaving and being clean shaven was the norm for N American society, and rebels or whatever grew beards. Conservative Americans were clean shaven.
And I'm guessing that this time period coincided with a conservative revival in certain Mennonite groups and/or areas. To these conservative people, facial hair was something the few nonconformist of society practiced and were identified by. Therefore, these groups felt that to have a beard sent a signal that they did not want to be identified with. So they ruled beards out.

Times & society changed but the rule didn't.

I didn't do any research on this subject, just sitting in a chair here, but I bet I'm not too far off.

If this is the case, that led to churches 'requiring' clean shaven faces, then to me it almost implies that instead of focusing on what God says, to focusing on watching what the world does and then adjusting ourselves accordingly- maybe I'm drawing the wrong conclusion- I find this whole situation perplexing-

Here's my version of the armchair research, just to add a few details:

A century ago, we had the Old Order Amish who required beards, and the Mennonites and Amish Mennonites (not Beachys, who came later, but the progressive side of the Old Order division who merged into the Mennonite Church) who were silent on the issue. The invention of the safety razor, along with its ease of use and the success of its makers in promoting it, meant that more and more men were clean shaven. Mennonites followed along with the rest of society, similar to the way they adopted cars and tractors and electricity; those things simply were not seen as spiritual issues.

Gillette supplied every American soldier in WW1 with a razor and blades. When they were discharged, the razors were theirs to keep. They formed the habit of shaving, so did their admirers, and soon pretty much everyone who wasn't already was clean shaven.

When the Conservative Movement of half a century ago was forming, they formulated rules to freeze Mennonite culture in its then-current form and guard against "drift." Hippie-length hair was rejected on the basis of 1 Cor 11, and hippie-style beards sort of went along with it as a package deal. But the rules were written to forbid all beards, not just certain styles; much easier to enforce that way, with no gray areas. Occasionally an exception might be made for an ex-Amish man whose conscience simply wouldn't allow him to shave.

Meanwhile the Amish came into a position of historical irony due to the immutability of their rules. The beard must be worn and the mustache must be shaved because European military did the opposite in the 18th century, but the shaving is often accomplished by a razor similar to those popularized by the American military of the 20th century.

[Valerie]

...doesn't it make sense that since it was these same Jews that started the Church, as the Jewish women wore veils, so did the Christian women- as the Jewish men wore beards & mustaches (God's command) so did the New Testament Christians.

I can understand Christians carrying this on through the centuries, but I do not understand why it became a requirement to shave- was this simply to distinguish from the Amish who believe they should wear beards? I know you said you wear a beard Neto, what do you think of this article? http://www.revelation.co/2013/05/12/wha ... ow-beards/

I think I may have read that before, or something similar, but I wouldn't attempt to make a Biblical case for either shaving, or for wearing a beard. Yes, at one time I wanted it to say I should have a beard - I wanted it badly. (I also wanted it to say, in the NT, not to cut the forelocks, in keeping with Jewish traditions, but it doesn't.) I also don't think that culture alone explains why the teaching on the veiling for women & and the uncovered head for men when praying or prophesying came about, because this teaching for the man conflicted with Jewish practice. My understanding is that it was a change that is an out-working and symbol of the removal of the veil between God & mankind when Christ died on the cross. (While the Scripture does not tell us this, I do not see any reason to think that Jesus himself did not follow the Jewish practice of his time to cover his head during prayer. But even if he did, he obviously did not teach his disciples to do so, or at least it is not recorded, like "And when you pray, cover your head with the prayer shawl, and say 'Our Father, ....'" I suppose, however, that a person could maintain that it was a given, or assumed......)

From what I have read, when Jesus Christ became the 'head of the man' and Christ is the image of God, the man no longer needed to have his head covered in worship/prayer- it also is the reason that for the first time, images of Christ could be drawn- before that, there was no image of God, thus the forbiddance of graven images- but now Christ being fully man and fully God, could be imaged- Luke is one who had done 2 or 3 drawings of Mary holding Christ as the infant- these images were not to be 'worshipped' but were to tell the story in pictures. That is a whole different topic- think Behalt, in your area- the entire mural showing the history of Anabaptism in paintings- images- not to worship, but to use pictures to tell the story- a picture paints a thousand words-

[Valerie]

I think the requirement to shave was a product of its time, and not a product of searching the scriptures for teaching about facial hair.

I think at that time shaving and being clean shaven was the norm for N American society, and rebels or whatever grew beards. Conservative Americans were clean shaven.
And I'm guessing that this time period coincided with a conservative revival in certain Mennonite groups and/or areas. To these conservative people, facial hair was something the few nonconformist of society practiced and were identified by. Therefore, these groups felt that to have a beard sent a signal that they did not want to be identified with. So they ruled beards out.

Times & society changed but the rule didn't.

I didn't do any research on this subject, just sitting in a chair here, but I bet I'm not too far off.

If this is the case, that led to churches 'requiring' clean shaven faces, then to me it almost implies that instead of focusing on what God says, to focusing on watching what the world does and then adjusting ourselves accordingly- maybe I'm drawing the wrong conclusion- I find this whole situation perplexing-

Here's my version of the armchair research, just to add a few details:

A century ago, we had the Old Order Amish who required beards, and the Mennonites and Amish Mennonites (not Beachys, who came later, but the progressive side of the Old Order division who merged into the Mennonite Church) who were silent on the issue. The invention of the safety razor, along with its ease of use and the success of its makers in promoting it, meant that more and more men were clean shaven. Mennonites followed along with the rest of society, similar to the way they adopted cars and tractors and electricity; those things simply were not seen as spiritual issues.

Gillette supplied every American soldier in WW1 with a razor and blades. When they were discharged, the razors were theirs to keep. They formed the habit of shaving, so did their admirers, and soon pretty much everyone who wasn't already was clean shaven.

When the Conservative Movement of half a century ago was forming, they formulated rules to freeze Mennonite culture in its then-current form and guard against "drift." Hippie-length hair was rejected on the basis of 1 Cor 11, and hippie-style beards sort of went along with it as a package deal. But the rules were written to forbid all beards, not just certain styles; much easier to enforce that way, with no gray areas. Occasionally an exception might be made for an ex-Amish man whose conscience simply wouldn't allow him to shave.

Meanwhile the Amish came into a position of historical irony due to the immutability of their rules. The beard must be worn and the mustache must be shaved because European military did the opposite in the 18th century, but the shaving is often accomplished by a razor similar to those popularized by the American military of the 20th century.

Very interesting- thank you- so what do you think of all this at this point in time- would you prefer to take the "all things are lawful" approach and not make beards/no beards a 'rule' issue in the church or do you prefer leaving it as it is?

[ohio jones]

Very interesting- thank you- so what do you think of all this at this point in time- would you prefer to take the "all things are lawful" approach and not make beards/no beards a 'rule' issue in the church or do you prefer leaving it as it is?

My position is to limit rules to issues with a clear New Testament basis. That would not include beards, either pro or con.

[Valerie]

Valerie,

That's why I disagree with the Wesleyan Holiness / Pentecostal / Revivalist movement, as it focused a lot on what men wanted but didn't focus too much on what Jesus or the Bible tells us.

I'm simply amazed at times at the amount of research and studying you have done, actually I admire that very much, I would that Christians everywhere would research- and learn-
Had we have done our homework on so many things, we probably would have stayed away from the Pentecostal movement to begin with- but indeed, from Scripture, we believe in the Gifts of the Spirit, and so it is difficult to deny them, actually unscriptural to deny them- however discerning the gifts is a whole different topic altogether. We live in strange times-

Couldn't it be, Josh, that those groups were using Scripture as their foundational beliefs and doctrines? this is really a bunny trail-

When I referred to "Pentecostal", I was focusing solely on the Wesleyan Holiness aspect of the Pentecostal movement. This particular aspect of Pentecostalism is extinct today other than in Oneness Apostolic circles, but it was a pretty major part of the early Pentecostal days and was always a feature of other Holiness groups.

Basically, Holiness people taught that when you had the Holy Spirit, you'd undergo a "second work of grace" and be "entirely sanctified", and thus would quit doing things that are worldly. Revival preachers then got down to business with defining exactly what "worldly" was; apparently, these are the signs of someone filled with the Holy Spirit, according to them:

- One does not dance
- One does not play cards (or at least doesn't play with a deck with face cards in it)
- One does not use tobacco
- One does not go and engage in mixed swimming
- One avoids billiard halls, movie theatres, and other places of questionable repute
- (Brethren) One does not go a few days without shaving the scruff off his face and certainly doesn't grow a beard
- (Sisters) One does not cut their hair, wears it up, and wears skirts/dresses only

The Pentecostal movement simply added speaking in tongues to this list of signs. Strangely enough, almost all of those signs are gone now. And even more strangely, I actually stick to pretty much the whole Holiness lifestyle code, except that I intentionally wear a beard and so does everyone else at my church.

Interesting- a lot on that list is Baptist (or was) as well- it would also include abstaining from alcohol

[JimFoxvog]

I wear a beard about 8" long and think almost every man looks better with a full beard. My understanding is that shaving became the norm for the military because one could grab a man's beard when fighting hand to hand. As a pacifist, I reject that symbol. But as to the title question, I think the church should allow people freedom to look as they feel led or feel they need to. If something is unusual, questioning may be appropriate.

[Once Again]

Some racial groups can't grow much facial hair. (native americans) My maternal uncles fell into this category. At least two of them were Christians.

[Josh]

Some racial groups can't grow much facial hair. (native americans) My maternal uncles fell into this category. At least two of them were Christians.

A friend of mine is like that - all he's got is a few wisps here and there, and he's in his late 20s. It seems ridiculous to say he's somehow following Jesus better by having a scraggly patch here and there.