Paul was admonishing the hostess of a house church to wear her marriage veil ("cover her head") because "church" was a public event and because respectable Roman women covered their heads in public.'9 These Corinthian women were treating church like their private dinner parties. These dinners (convivia, or "wine parties") were known for other immoral activities including dinner "escorts" (1 Cor 6), idol meat (1 Cor 8-10), adultery (1 Cor 10) and drunkenness (1 Cor 11). The issue was modesty, but not sexual modesty. These women were co-opting an activity about God for personal benefit. They
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