Todd,
I am going to politely disagree with you... I am not saying I believe what Clement is saying... I thought it was an interesting quote to discuss... But What I disagree with is saying that whether or not a beard is less important or the implicit underlying (maybe I am wrong how I read it) statement that outward issues are unimportant... But I don't agree that outward issues are unimportant or straining at gnats.. I believe that both inward or internal and outward or external needs to be kept in balance but both are important... Nor do I believe that such topics are a waste of time.. Anything that is in scripture, whether someone thinks they are the smallest of issues are important to discuss, and I believe Clement might be getting some of his understanding from the passage about not shaving the beard... So part of his statement is in the scriptures and worthy to discuss....
Where we come out on the passage is a different matter... I see the beard passage as a type of shadow of new testament realities of sanctification and separation..... Of course I could be wrong and Clement could be right... So I believe it is important to discuss the matters.... So I don't see it as unimportant...
I also have very little love for cultural arguments... If I were to throw away the modesty issue, the headcovering passages, and other token passages that people label cultural aspects I might as well throw out the rest.... It becomes a very slippery slope when you start to label things as cultural....
Again, I am not saying I agree with Clement, but it is a very fascinating Quote and I believe worth discussing....
Quote:
Originally Posted by toddpedlar  Quote:
Originally Posted by Coram Deo Early Church Father Clement of Alexandria wrote,
“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.” 2.275
“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.” 2.276
“It is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man’s natural and noble adornment.” 2.277
What does fellow Puritans think of these quotes and the merits of them? | I think we have much better and more important things to be concerned about than whether "true men" have beards.
As for paying much attention to Clement's comments on adiaphora like beardedness, you perhaps can guess my opinion. Token of a superior nature? Get real! |