Beards

[kafka]

Leviticus

{19:27} And you shall not cut the hair of your head circularly, nor shave your beard.

The command God gave Moses for men is not to shave their beards. This is an Old Testament discipline. I think the purpose of the discipline is to teach men that they have substantially different roles than women. Thought the Old Testament discipline is no longer in force the spiritual (or indirect) level of meaning is still in force and that is men have a different role than women within the Church, society, the family, etc..

St Clement of Alexandria

"How womanly it is for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them!…For God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane. But He adorned man like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him as an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest--a sign of strength and rule."

[So the beard is a symbol of manhood, manly behavior, manly traits, manly virtues. A man should look neat but the idea I think Saint Clement is conveying is that men should not be over concerned with their appearance, nor alter their appearance to that of a woman. Men should not shave their chests. Not only is it vain for a man to shave his chest, it is also not fit for the man to appear or behave like a woman because the sexes and roles of men and women are substantially different.]

"This, then, is the mark of the man, the beard. By this, he is seen to be a man. It is older than Eve. It is the token of the superior nature….It is therefore unholy to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness.”

[Saint Clement was wrong to say that the beard is a token of a superior nature. The nature of men and women is equal. Rather the roles of men and women are unequal. So the hair on the face and chest is a token of the role of men.]

"It is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man’s natural and noble adornment."

[The Old testament discipline is no longer in force so a man may choose to shave in good conscience. But the spiritual level of meaning is still in force. A man must accept his God given role and live it out.]

St Cyprian

"In their manners, there was no discipline. In men, their beards were defaced."

[This is Saint Cyprian's description of a pagan group. Some of the early Church Fathers still held value in the Old Testament discipline.

Lactantius

"The nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to distinguish the sex, or to contribute to the beauty of manliness and strength."

Apostolic Constitutions

"Men may not destroy the hair of their beards and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the Law says, “You will not deface your beards.” For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men."

The Apostolic Constitutions is a fourth-century pseudo-Apostolic collection, in eight books, of independent, though closely related, treatises on Christian discipline, worship, and doctrine, intended to serve as a manual of guidance for the clergy, and to some extent for the laity.

[This discipline of the early Church is no longer in force, but the spiritual level of meaning is still in force]

Saint Augustine

{132:2} It is like the ointment on the head that descended to the beard, the beard of Aaron, which descended to the hem of his garment.
What was Aaron? A priest. Who is a priest, except that one Priest, who entered into the Holy of Holies? Who is that priest, save Him, who was at once Victim and Priest? save Him who when he found nothing clean in the world to offer, offered Himself? The ointment is on his head, because Christ is one whole with the Church, but the ointment comes from the head. Our Head is Christ crucified and buried; He rose again, and ascended into heaven; and the Holy Spirit came from the head. Whither? To the beard. [b]The beard signifies the courageous; the beard distinguishes the grown men, the earnest, the active, the vigorous.[/b] So that when we describe such, we say, he is a bearded man. Thus that ointment descended first upon the Apostles, descended upon those who bore the first assaults of the world, and therefore the Holy Spirit descended on them. For they who first began to dwell together in unity, suffered persecution, but because the ointment descended to the beard, they suffered, but were not conquered....

The role of men is to lead, teach and hold positions of authority, of headship in the Church and in the world. This is a reflection of the relationship of God and creation. God is the Head of creation, He leads and guides creation, He teaches his sons and daughters, He sets order and peace in the Church and the world. Maleness is a reflection of the headship of God. And the beard signifies those traits and virtues fitting for men who are leaders, teachers, deciders: courageous, earnest, active, vigorous, keen, fair, competent, strong, compassionate, etc.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Head and Savior of the Church kept a beard. Yet he kept it trimmed and groomed in as much as he could during his ministry:

"His neck was rather long, with a well-set and finely proportioned head; his forehead large and high; his face oval; his hair, which was far from thick, was of a golden brown colour, parted in the middle and falling over his shoulders; [b]his beard was not any great length[/b], but pointed and divided under the chin." (description of Jesus on the Cross from the Dolorous Passion of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich).

Edited August 28, 2010 by kafka

[Micah]

I want a beard when im older, but not right now.. I just got my skin back to normal after my adolescent years and im really enjoying smooth shaving. And I spent more time fiddling with hair when it was relatively short because everything messes it up. anyways, i really enjoyed the post.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Micah

[Maggyie]

.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Maggie

[Hilde]

I'm not a fan of beards.

[CrossCuT]

[img]http://blogs.suntimes.com/shinyobjects/gandalf.jpg[/img]

[Nihil Obstat]

[img]http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Nihil_Obstat/33409_136993879661988_100000541311518_283514_4864823_n.jpg[/img]


Luckily I repented.

[kafka]

no! You had a good manly look going there!

[Fragments]

The word beard makes me smile.

[CatherineM]

Hubby has a beard. I'd had short hair for many years living in Florida, and he asked me to grow my hair long. I didn't care. I'm not terribly vain when it comes to my hair. He said it was good for gender identity. I'd never really thought about it much, but as time goes on, I understand it better.

[Ephrem Augustine]

[img]http://users.zoominternet.net/~Duday/ener/drink1.jpg[/img]
for those of you who might need an extra boost. i dont know if it works with beards as well.

[MIKolbe]

i cant grow a beard if my life depended on it....

[dominicansoul]

I'm not sure I understand the original post...

Is Scripture stating that men must wear beards? Is it the same way Scripture tells women they should cover their heads in worship?

[Winchester]

Job requires no beard.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='kafka' timestamp='1283017272' post='2164552']
no! You had a good manly look going there!
[/quote]
I had shaved it, but I let it grow back to about three weeks' worth.

[Ephrem Augustine]

I "accidently" forgot my beard trimmer on vacation, i only shaved it off at a barber shop to look like the guy in my passport...

[Jesus_lol]

[quote name='Winchester' timestamp='1283021780' post='2164601']
Job requires no beard.
[/quote]

whatabout mustaches? i see lotsa firefighters with mustaches.

[kafka]

[quote name='dominicansoul' timestamp='1283020051' post='2164583']
I'm not sure I understand the original post...

Is Scripture stating that men must wear beards? Is it the same way Scripture tells women they should cover their heads in worship?


[/quote]
it was an Old Testament discipline God gave to the Jews through Moses. It is no longer in force but the spiritual meaning of men wearing a beard is still in force which is basically males have substantially different role than females, and that they should accept and live out this role. The beard is also a symbol of the role, manliness, manly traits, manly behavior, manly virtues, etc.

I think the head covering is a New Testament discipline since Saint Paul wrote about it, but women also practiced it in the Old Testament times even Gentile women. And this is the same idea the head covering is symbolic of the role of women in the Church and in the world. I'm not sure what the current discipline is for women covering their heads at Mass, but women are not required by the Church or the State to cover their heads in public life unless it is one of those Arab nations.

In the end the practice of wearing beards and covering heads are disciplines not teachings, yet they are based on the teaching that men and women are equal in nature with inequal and substantially different roles.

[Jesus_lol]

i frequently go a few days without shaving, but other than that, no beard forme.

[SaintOfVirtue]

[quote name='MIkolbe' timestamp='1283019794' post='2164580']
i cant grow a beard if my life depended on it....
[/quote]

Then you're not a man.


[quote name='Jesus_lol' timestamp='1283038978' post='2164690']
whatabout mustaches? i see lotsa firefighters with mustaches.
[/quote]

This is true, my dad's a firefighter and he and everyone he knows has a mustache.

[kafka]

[quote name='kafka' timestamp='1283042072' post='2164704']
it was an Old Testament discipline God gave to the Jews through Moses. It is no longer in force but the spiritual meaning of men wearing a beard is still in force which is basically males have substantially different role than females, and that they should accept and live out this role. The beard is also a symbol of the role, manliness, manly traits, manly behavior, manly virtues, etc.

I think the head covering is a New Testament discipline since Saint Paul wrote about it, but women also practiced it in the Old Testament times even Gentile women. And this is the same idea the head covering is symbolic of the role of women in the Church and in the world. I'm not sure what the current discipline is for women covering their heads at Mass, but women are not required by the Church or the State to cover their heads in public life unless it is one of those Arab nations.

In the end the practice of wearing beards and covering heads are disciplines not teachings, yet they are based on the teaching that men and women are equal in nature with inequal and substantially different roles.
[/quote]
to further clarify:

The Christian Faith contains doctrines and disciplines. The doctrines are teachings on matters of faith and morals. The disciplines include Canon Law, diocesan regulations, rules for religious orders, liturgical norms, and decisions of prudential judgment. The disciplines are changeable; they are not teachings.

The Old Testament has teachings on faith and morals, as well as a type of discipline used by the Jews in ancient times: ceremonial precepts, rules for animal sacrifice, dietary laws, etc. These disciplines have been dispensed by Christ (Council of Florence, 4 February 1442, Session 11); they are replaced by the disciplines of the Church. Keeping a beard is an Old Testament rule which is dispensed and so not in force. And the Church currently judges that men do not have to practice this O.T. rule.

Doctrines of the Faith fall the spiritual authority of the Church (Magisterium) and drawn from Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, and well as the natural law. The Church does not have the authority to change, reform, or dispense the teachings of faith and morals.

Disciplines of the Faith fall under temporal authority of the Church. Disciplines are subject to change, reform, dispensation. The Church exercises her temporal authority directly through Canon law, decisions of Bishop's Conferences, diocesan regulations, liturgical norms, decisions of the prudential order, etc. She exercises her temporal authority indirectly by permitting the State to rule on behalf of Her. The Church after the example of Christ chooses to guide the State rather than directly rule the State, though ultimately the power of the State is derived from the temporal authority of the Church granted by the Head Jesus Christ represented by the Pope on earth:

3. And so, the one and only Church is one body, one head, (not two heads like a monster), Christ certainly, and the vicar of Christ, [who is ] Peter and the successor of Peter. . .

4. We are instructed in the Gospel sayings that in Her and within Her power, there are two swords, specifically, the spiritual and the temporal. For the Apostles say, "Behold, there are two swords here," that is, in the Church. But when the Apostles were speaking, the Lord did not respond, "it is too much," but "it is sufficient." [Luke 22:38] Certainly, whoever denies that the temporal sword is in the power of Peter, misunderstands the word of the Lord, saying: "Put your sword into its sheath." [Matthew 26:52] Therefore, both are in the power of the Church, namely, the spiritual sword and the material. But indeed, the latter is to be exercised on behalf of the Church; and truly, the former is to be exercised by the Church. The former is of the priest; the latter is by the hand of kings and soldiers, but at the will and sufferance of the priest. (Unam Sanctam Pope Boniface VIII)

Doctrines are above disciplines. The spiritual authority of the Church is above the temporal authority of the Church. Sound disciplines are based on sound doctrines:

5. Now one sword ought to be under the other sword, and so the temporal authority is to be subject to the spiritual authority. For though the Apostle said: "there is no authority except from God and those who have been ordained by God," [Romans 13:1] still they would not have been ordained unless one sword were under the other sword. And so what is inferior should be led forward by another, to what is highest. For, according to blessed Dionysius, it is a law of divine power that what is lowest is to be led forward by what is intermediate, to what is highest. (Unam Sanctam)

The Old Testament discipline of the beard is based on truth of the Faith that men and women are equal in nature while unequal and substantially different in role manifest by sexuality, behavior, appearance. So the spiritual level of meaning of that Leviticus verse is still in force, because the indirect meaning of the discipline of wearing the beard is the teaching of faith and morals concerning the role of men which never changes. But all the Old Testament disciplines were dispensed by Christ (Council of Florence, 4 February 1442, Session 11) and so are no longer in force. And the Church presently judges that men do not have to keep their beards.