Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Christian Men and Beards
Christian Men and Beards
By way of introduction of why I feel this is a topic worth visiting let me share a personal testimony with you:
In the neck of the woods that I come from (West Tennessee) Pentecostal fundamentalism ruled. Standing on the
front porch of the house I grew up in I could count no less than 35 Oneness Pentecostal churches within a 15
mile radius -- and I lived in the country. (For those that think the UPCI compose the vast majority of Oneness
believers I will say this: of the 35 Oneness churches only 3 were UPCI.) In my part of the world one was either
Pentecostal or Baptist.
Our brand of Pentecostalism was to the right of the right, so to speak. Apart from Acts 2:38 the message one
heard more often than any other was the “4-H” sermon. What was the “4-H” sermon? you may be asking. You
know, it is the sermon when one hears about “hair”, “hems”, “hose” and “holes” (in case you are wondering
what “holes” related to: the holes in the toes of women’s shoes—which under no circumstance could be the
color red). Under the category of “hair” was the hair of men as well as women. Of course the women could
never cut their hair—not even split ends, spit curl nor bangs. The hair requirements for men were just as
restrictive in the other direction: it was required that men keep their hair cut at the hair line (hair was to be kept
off the collar and the ear) and the sideburns at the cheek bones. You can rest assured that in this hair regiment
for men, absolutely no facial hair was allowed.
Looking back on it now we all are, or should be, more than a little embarrassed at how we permitted ourselves
to be led to such extremes without questioning the pulpits that were requiring such measures. Christianity does
not require one to check in their minds upon being baptized. One should question everything that comes across
the pulpit. For this reason the Bible admonishes the believer to “prove all things” and to “judge” what is
preached. If you, dear reader, have followed my writing, or preaching, for very long you have read or heard me
say, “Nothing suffers from examination except error.” We all should stand appalled at the damage done to the
body of Christ by men and women who have little education but great oratory skills. Pentecostalism has not
been exempt from contributing to the religious trash heap of the cults, from the People’s Temple cult led by Jim
Jones, to the snake handling cults of Appalachia, to the “4-H Club” preachers and churches.
An example of the “ignorance on parade” type of preaching and teaching that produced (sadly is still producing)
the doctrine of “No Facial Hair” on Christian men can be found in this true story:
In the late sixties of the last century there was a camp-meeting conducted in the Iron Hill community just
outside Parsons, Tennessee. Among the sponsoring pastors were L. M., O.T. C., R. C. M., C. B., D. J., G. S., R.
G., and B. G.; the camp evangelist was B. R. of Louisiana.
Of course the intention of the night evangelist of such gatherings is to bring the crowd to its feet by preaching on
pet points of doctrine that sets that particular group apart from all others. Well, Elder B. Ritchey was one of the
best speakers in the country and was in high demand as a camp meeting speaker. On this particular night he was
preaching against facial hair on Christian men. During his sermon he introduced the text from Isaiah 7:20. He
quoted the part of the text that says, “In that day the Lord will shave..” Now, his point for introducing this text
was to say that it had Christ in view (a reference to v14) and that it proved Jesus shaved. Therefore, all Christian
men should be like Christ and shave their faces clean. When the evangelist made that statement the crowed
erupted in shouting. Many of the men, with shaved faces, began running around the tent in excitement at the fact
that there was a Scripture text that “proved” Christian men should be clean shaven. Now, I know this to be true
because I was one of those men.
Think of my sense of betrayal when years later I learned the true meaning of Isaiah 7:20. It did not mean what
the preacher said it meant. IT MEANT RIGHT THE OPPOSITE! In Isaiah 7:20 the prophet is prophesying
against Israel and telling them that the LORD was going to send the Assyrians against them to shame them and
reveal their nakedness. Thus the analogy of a razor and the removal of the beard. (This text will be addressed
later on in this writing.) Did the evangelist knowingly misrepresent the the prophet Isaiah? I knew him
personally very well (later on I conducted revival meetings in his church and preached the state camp meeting
for the ALJC in his state) and would not think that of him. However, I have witnessed first hand how wrong
doctrine will force otherwise honest men to doctrinal dishonesty, rather then admit their teaching to have been in
error.
At the turn of the 20th Century most all men, that could, grew beards. (Biblically, it was a shame to have one’s
face shaved.) With the advent of the First World War, all that changed. This is how and why it changed:
In this war, chemical warfare was introduced on a major and universal scale. In order to use gas masks properly,
all soldiers of every army were required to be clean shaven. When the men came home from the war, all had
clean shaven faces. The womenof America and Europe loved it. The fashion designers of New York and Paris
and other fashion centers of the world saw this and quickly responded with all men’s fashions represented with
shaved men. Then it became the “fashion” and accepted norm.
It is an irony that the “holiness” preachers of the last century permitted the worldly fashion pimps of New York
and Paris to form their brand of “holiness.”
In professing themselves to be men of God, they demonstrate themselves to be nothing more than willing tools
in the hands of the Ungodly, who lead men into rebellion against the very nature of the Almighty.
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What Does The Bible Actually Say About Beards?
The most clear biblical passage to condone beards comes from Leviticus (19:27): “You shall not cut the hair on
the sides of your heads, neither shall you clip off the edge of your beard.” To cut off another man’s beard,
according to Samuel (10:4) is an outrage.
According to Jeremiah (41:5), to shave or pluck one’s own beard was only appropriate during times of
mourning. In other passage of holy scripture, Leviticus (21:5) states that “You shall not shave your beard for the
dead [a pagan practice] with a baldness on the top, and they shall not shave their beard.” Moreover, Leviticus
(19:27) also states “...to all men in general, you shall not make a round cutting of their hair of your head, nor
disfigure your beard.”
Roughly 200 years after the death of Jesus, Clement of Alexandra wrote that it is impious “to desecrate the
symbol of manhood, hairness.” Writing in 195 A.D., Clement also stated “But let the chin have the hair ... For
an ample beard suffices for men. And if one, too, shave a part of his beard, it must not be made entirely bare, for
this is a disgraceful sight.” Even today Christian clergy in Greece, Russia, Romania and other Orthodox
communities wear untrimmed beards and hair.
5) "Impious to Desecrate the Symbol of Manhood" – Clement of Alexandria, 2nd – 3rd century
“But for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, to arrange
his hair at the looking-glass, to shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them, how womanly! […]
For this is a meretricious and impious form of snare. For God wished women to be smooth, and rejoice in their
locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane; but has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard,
and endowed him, as an attribute of manhood, with a shaggy chest – a sign of strength and rule. […]
“This, then, the mark of the man, the beard, by which he is seen to be a man, is older than Eve… In this God
deemed it right that he should excel, and dispersed hair over man's whole body. Whatever smoothness and
softness was in him He abstracted from his side when He formed the woman Eve, physically receptive, his
partner in parentage, his help in household management, while he (for he had parted with all smoothness)
remained a man, and shows himself man. […]
“Wherefore males have both more hair and more heat than females… It is therefore impious to desecrate the
symbol of manhood, hairiness. But the embellishment of smoothing (for I am warned by the Word), if it is to
attract men, is the act of an effeminate person,— if to attract women, is the act of an adulterer; and both must be
driven as far as possible from our society. […]
“Let the head of men be shaven, unless it has curly hair. But let the chin have the hair. But let not twisted locks
hang far down from the head, gliding into womanish ringlets. For an ample beard suffices for men. And if one,
too, shave a part of his beard, it must not be made entirely bare, for this is a disgraceful sight. The shaving of the
chin to the skin is reprehensible, approaching to plucking out the hair and smoothing. For instance, thus the
Psalmist, delighted with the hair of the beard, says, ‘As the ointment that descends on the beard, the beard of
Aaron.’ Having celebrated the beauty of the beard by a repetition, he made the face to shine with the ointment of
the Lord.” (The Instructor, Book 3, Chapters 3, 11)
Saves time and money–My beard generally needs to be trimmed only every couple of weeks. It takes
just minutes. Contrast that with people who have to lather up their faces daily. Furthermore, I just use an electric
trimmer (the same I use to cut my hair). I never have to waste money on shaving cream, razors, etc. This adds
up to thousands of dollars in savings over a lifetime (do the math!).
Keeps you warm in the winter–Beards act as natural insulators to the face, helping it to stay warm.
Hides imperfections on the face–Have a weak jaw line, a strange mole, or other imperfections on
your lower face? A beard will have you covered (literally).
Enhances your appearance–My wife is a very attractive woman, and without hesitation, she tells me
that my beard is one of her favorite features on my face. She loves my beard. Not all women like beards (at
least, at first), but many of them do once they realize how you look with it grown out and groomed.
Glorifies God and honors you–Most importantly, given the fact that God created us to grow hair
facial hair, and that by our very nature beards are the natural result, I think it gives honor to the man, and glory
to the God that made man with his God-given beard.
The only downsides to having a beard is that occasionally a hair will fall out. No big deal, and it’s no different
than a hair of your head falling down. Plus, you can trim it to any length you want, so don’t worry about looking
like some Amish person or renegade. If you want a closely cropped beard, go for it!
Conclusion: We Need a Beard Revolution!
The Bible places great emphasis on beards. Many Godly men wore them, and beards were held in high esteem.
Facial hair is a bold distinction God has generally given to men. Christian men should strongly consider the
verses above, and the distinctive characteristics that facial hair offers a man.
Let us embrace our God-given distinction, and reject Satan’s objective to blur the lines between males and
females. Did Jesus not say, And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at
the beginning made them male and female, (Matthew 19:4).
Don’t get the idea that I’d ever look down on a Christian brother who couldn’t grow a beard. I know many
wonderful Christian men who wished they could grow a beard, but couldn’t. All I’m trying to do in this article is
reveal the scriptures, show how beards do glorify God by revealing His distinctions, if God enabled you to do
so.
Charles Spurgeon is considered by many to be one of the greatest preachers of the ages. He is often called “The
Prince of Preachers.” I’ll leave you with a quote from him as he lectured a group of students: “Growing a beard
‘is a habit most natural, scriptural, manly, and beneficial.’” -Charles Spurgeon
Apostolically Speaking
☩☩ Jerry L Hayes
(Mar David Ignatius)