Off with the beard!

Maybe you can ask that question to the late Dr. Reuben A. Torrey, someday.

He was the Editor of The Fundamentals, and I believe you will find he had a full beard.

Ed

 

Because when God declared that the era of perfection was here--1954--that was the prevailing style.

Hey, it's a guess...but a good one.

 

I have nothing against beards. I think some of them are neat.

It's the scruffy haven't-shaved-in-three-days look that turns me off.

Oops, sometimes that's me.

Never mind.

 

I started my full beard in 1958, and I must confess, it was a stumblingblock to pastoring some Baptist churches back then. I think some men were jealous because they didn't have a beard to comb back over their bald spot!

Cheers,

Jim

 

Now that was a disturbing image...

On behalf of the BB, let me thank you for not attempting to comb your beard over your bald spot, if one should exist...

 

I don't and won't. I look like my dad without a beard, which is why I wear one. I've seen Baptist pastors with beards--so they aren't all against them. There is no scripture they can point to to prove that a beard is sinful.

 

Sadly, people seem to have a tendency to add extra-Biblical concepts to their beliefs. It is almost as if they see just following the Bible as too easy, and just accepting the free gift of God's Grace as too little.

I have seen countless examples of Christians insisting on following these extra-Biblical rules and of course they like to try to impose those rules on others:

-Women muct never wear pants
-Men must not have beards
-A sip of wine must never pass your lips
-Women should no wear jewelry
-No music except Christian music (and it had better be old fashoned)
-Owning a tv is evil
-It is a sin to sit anything on top of your Bible.

This list could go on and on....

 

I thought Bro. Jamey Ragle's reply to this same question was funny... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FM5KA3pH6k

 

Say it ain't so!!!!



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This is a new one on me, but I will admit that I have a hangup about it. I do not like it when my husband sets the remote (of the evil TV) on top of my bible. But sin? No.

My pastor has a beard. Maybe I should find a new church. :laugh:

 

That's not a fundamentalist thing. Many fundamentalists have always had facial hair. Some did not, and were against it. But it wasn't a fundamentalist thing.

 

Very rarely to I hear about fundamentalists having problems with facial hair. However, I've met a lot who have big problems when a man has long hair. I personally know of two instances where a pastor made a disparaging reference to a visiting man in the congregation who dared to show up with long hair. I guess Nazarites wouldn't have been welcome in their churches either.

 

Up to the mid-forties, every woman in England wore a hat to go shopping, nevermind to church. Until the 2nd World War, when women went to the factories, they never wore trousers. Men up to that period commonly smoked either pipes or cigars and had a sip of brandy before supper. All of a sudden these things became evil and yes, it was only in fundamentalist circles. If you deny this, you are not old enough.

We love to major in minors. I suppose it takes the attention away from our spiritual lives. The scriptures do not speak of divorced men serving or not serving in the local church in whatever town.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Beard? That's probably why He took Billy Mays from us. Now that man had a B.E.A.R.D. beard!

No wonder The Almighty layeth His angry hand to smite him! That burly black beard was simply Billy's way of mocking the Lord.


Just kidding. I'll miss his 2 minute commercials.

My opinion: grow a beard but keep it trimmed and clean. Please don't go around looking like the Unabomber.

 

Either that or informed. First, it was not only fundamentalists who had rules about facial hair (cf. George Steinbrenner's NY Yankees, police and fire departments all over the country, the armed forces, and others), and second, not all fundamentalists did it. Therefore, it is not a fundamentalist thing. Many did. And they shouldn't have.

Jim, you are old enough and educated enough to know better than stuff like this.

 

Actually, in the military beards are not allowed due to the fact that one cannot get a proper seal when using a gas mask. In fact, it was in the last twenty or so years that the Navy banned beards due to this fact. I guess nerve gas, etc. can be used on the high seas as well as land.

 

Exactly, same with police, and with certain industrial jobs that require masks. That's not why George Steinbrenner did it however.

It's funny to me that people come up with all kinds of things to blame fundamentalists about that really are fundamentalistic at all. Other people have exactly the same standards for various reasons.

There's no doubt that many fundamentalists had/have a "no facial hair" policy, and have had it for wrong reasons. But many fundamentalists never had that policy. And that's what people are too slow to realize sometimes.

I think what this reveals is that some people don't really understand what fundamentalism is and what it's not.

 

But, one would think that folks who are so Biblically aligned would not be adding to the Word of God whether the rest of the world is doing so or not.