JohnH wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 5:41 pm
If people want to make such a big deal of Deuteronomy 22:5, what about 1 Corinthians chapter 11 where the Apostle Paul admonishes men to worship with uncovered heads and women with covered heads? On one hand we see bishops on up to the Pope wearing mitres and Eastern Orthodox clergy wearing head coverings, while in the western catholic (Roman Catholic and protestant) traditions hardly any women wear head coverings.
So, yes I know a number of women (my wife included) who still wear a veil in church. This was standard until at least the 1950's in the Catholic Church. In some parishes, it is still common.
Men removing their hats to pray had always been common, in my experience. I do this wherever I am, if it's outside, inside, whatever. It seems far more common than women veiling. Roman Catholic priests traditionally had special hats, which they would wear in procession, but they would take them off for the prayers of the Mass. Hat etiquette used to be taken very seriously, and had fairly detailed rules (which were different for men and women, priests, the owner of a building, etc.), but almost no one but the military take it seriously anymore...
JohnH wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 5:41 pm
And there is the admonishment in 1 Corinthians 14:34 in which women are to keep silent. Does that mean women should not sing in choirs and only boys, countertenors, and castrati should sing the treble parts?
Maybe not a full ban on them singing, but at least on them reading the readings, or leading prayers and music. In some traditions, the readings are all sung, so this is largely the same thing.
On a practical level, I find that when women lead the singing in church, the vast majority of men are silent, but when a man is leading, many (if not most) of the men in the congregation will sing, and just as many (or more) women in the congregation sing as did when it was lead by another woman. I'm not sure if this is simply due to vocal range (it is sometimes for me, and my voice isn't
that deep), or if there is something else (psychology?), but I'm not the only person I've talked to that noticed it.
The whole castrati thing is a dark bit of church history, that is thankfully over. While eunuchs are mentioned in Scripture, to my knowledge, creating more has never been officially encouraged as any sort of teaching. Rather, it was a barbaric work-around by musician's who wanted skilled, high-pitched voices, and didn't want to keep training new boys.
Turning Liturgy into a performance is always a mistake. If the prayer becomes an excuse for the music instead of the music helping with the prayer, you are doing it wrong. God and prayer need to be the focus, not the person singing. Many instruments were historically banned as well, likely in part for this reason. While some amazing music has been written for use in church, it is easy to lose focus. And while it's not an uncommon problem today, it is clearly nothing new.