For instance, there is a small square idol in most houses that people bow down (or sit) in front of for many hours of every day. I wonder how many hours we spend in homage there!

But perhaps more relevant to this passage, these would be some modern day cults that I think we may have:

1. The cult of celebrity. We are fixated with the lives of celebrities, and we put people on pedestals simply because they are famous.

2. The cult of fashion. We dress in a certain way because someone somewhere has decided that a certain colour and cut of our clothes obsoletes the model we bought last week, whilst people across the world make do with whatever they can get.

3. The cult of mammon. This one has infected the church in the form of the prosperity gospel – an obnoxious heresy that teaches that one can measure one’s blessing from God by the amount of money one has.

There are no doubt others. Modern day cults are not so much about polytheistic or animistic deities. But they are about the things we idolize in our lives. I think one thing we get from this passage of Paul’s is that the Church should have no truck with these – we need to teach a better way (but without sinking to condemnation of those who do not get it. If someone comes into a Church wearing the latest fashion, I think we should seek to gently teach and encourage them rather than forbid fashion!)

Regards,
Stephen

For example, the location that Jesus was in when making the statement to Peter regarding the gates of hell not prevailing against the church near a place that was known as the gates of hell, and other allusions that we would not know unless we were familiar with the area.

One has to wonder, though, if Paul placed great importance on looking different than the world with hair styles, coverings, and who should speak in churches, why we don’t take greater measures now to avoid such similarities. One could use the point to argue that maybe we shouldn’t have such big structures as central meeting places.

How does one separate cultural practices that they had in that day that are ones that we should follow and ones that we need not. Obviously we don’t have temples where people are offering meat to idols, but do we have a modern day equivalent that we are oblivious to?

So, how can one consistantly argue that based on the culture of the day one thing is permitted, but argue at the same time something else should be ignored because it was in the culture of the day?

It is all a matter of getting your exegesis right before your hermeneutics (say what?)

In other words, when Paul says that women should cover their heads in Church, why does he make the injunction? What biblical principles are being employed?

The issue of head covering is perhaps related to the fact that the only women of that day to have cropped hair uncovered in public worship would be the temple prostitutes. Paul would clearly be anxious to make sure that churches were seen as different from the Greek temple cults. This being the case, we would look for comparable particulars today, and might note that in Church one should avoid offence, simply because we are free from law. Outside of the Church, we should ensure our witness shows a distinction from the cults of this world.

But to interpret the Bible correctly, one should ensure that one understands what was being said in the context it was said, before moving onto the comparable particulars today.

Regards,
Stephen