Church Fathers April 11, 2008
Mom and Dad, thanks again for the books of writings by the church fathers. I came across these inspiring words the other day from Clement of Alexandria. I thought they might be a blessing to all, and so I share …
“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
And Megan, I’m not one to point fingers, but you may need to print this out and leave it under Eric’s pillow. A lion, not a horse.
