Monday, October 24, 2022

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 24th of October 2022. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A very happy Monday- we head to the mailbag to answer a question from a long-time listener- Mike from Oklahoma City.

I know Mike is a fan of the Seattle SuperSonics that are currently in exile in Oklahoma under the disguise of the Oklahoma City Thunder- I feel really bad about the Chet Holmgren injury. Still, I kind of want to see the Thunder get the first pick and pair Victor Wembanyama with Holmgren for a 7’1 and 7’3 front court…

Today's question:

BEARDS!

It seems like beards rise and fall out of fashion as symbols of piety in the church. Jesus often is portrayed with long hair and a beard, but in mid-century America if you looked like that, you definitely were considered an un-Christian hippie by the mainstream.

Now beards have made a comeback and some say they're required per some verses in Leviticus.

As a whiskered fellow, what say you about Biblical beardedness?

Thanks as always. Keep up the great work.

Mike

As far as biblical beards go- the New Testament is thankfully silent, and the Old Testament does have some rules for beards, but it seems to be part of the ceremonial law by which Christians are no longer bound by. It is assumed that Jesus wore a beard, as did the apostles and many early saints. It seems there was, at first, no problem with a man growing a little facial fuzz.

The church father Clement of Alexandria wrote that beards were a symbol of manhood and thus “it is therefore unholy to desecrate the symbol of manhood.”

Augustine wrote that “The beard signifies the courageous; the beard distinguishes the grown men, the earnest, the active, the vigorous. So that when we describe such, we say, he is a bearded man.”

But soon, monastic communities began making rules for everything- at least for monks, but if they were truly holy, then the laws that forbade them from growing a beard should probably be followed by the laity.

In England, though, men continued to wear beards- a Benedictine in the 11th century wrote: “Now almost all our fellow countrymen are crazy and wear little beards, openly proclaiming by such a token that they revel in filthy lusts like stinking goats.”

The Latin west would not abide the beard- in fact, when the Roman church broke from the Eastern Orthodox churches in 1054, part of the bull excommunicating the East read: “Because they grow the hair on their head and beards, they will not receive in communion those who tonsure their hair and shave their beards following the decreed practice of the Roman Church.”

Later, Ivan the Terrible would say, “Shaving the beard is a sin the blood of all martyrs will not wash away. It would mean blemishing the image of man as God had created him.”

By the time we get to the Reformation, it was long the custom that men, especially clerics, didn’t wear beards. It’s one of the reasons that you tend to see pictures of Reformers with long beards- they were protesting with their facial hair.

In America, the first colonists would wear beards, but soon they were seen as a sign of vanity and forbidden. There’s a story about a man in 1830- Joe Palmer, who refused to shave. He was refused communion on account of this, but when the pastor passed him by with the chalice, he grabbed it and is reported to have said:

“I love my Jesus,” he shouted in a voice loud with hurt and anger, “as well, and better, than any of you!” Then he went home.”

It was recently that a popular Christian website wrote what was seemingly a lighthearted piece about men growing beards- but when it ended with a jeremiad against modern culture it set off a twitter firestorm.

Here at CHA you might know that the culture wars are not my thing and that Biblical manhood is a topic I will avoid like the plague. I, however, do wear a beard. I grew it for two years over covid and now have something of a cleaner beard. My wife prefers that I have a beard and not a stubbly one that might poke her face.

And of course there is neither greek nor jew, bearded nor shorn for all are one in Christ.

Thanks for the question, Mike!

The Last Word for today comes from the lectionary for today from 1 Peter 4:

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 24th of October 2022, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who, when he shaved, found under his beard… another beard… amazing. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who didn’t always have a beard- his nickname in college was “Sideburns Dan”- no kidding. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.