The Theology of Beards: Historical and Symbolic Importance of Facial Hair

[@MWB-storyteller]

Thanks DPH! In the icons Jesus and the saints always have great beards. (Cash for the cool haircut beard-trim jar.) 🦁

[@Sighthound_Siege-z7h]

Way past cool!🤑🙏

[@vesman5]

It's so funny when I'm clean shaven I'm treated like a dog out in public but when I have a beard everyone calls me "sir" lol 😂😂😂

[@IosuamacaMhadaidh]

Shout out to the ancient Celts and Germans with their giant moustaches, not fully bearded but they had a similar idea with the long moustaches.

[@aroniasdecus]

my beard genetics are tragic.

[@Илья́Впрямь]

So are Fr. Heer’s - but the manly thing to do is not care one iota

[@Byzantim]

Me too

[@jawokenn8766]

increase DHT

[@Christ_Cb3]

Thanks!

[@cosmiccomrade3108]

29:17 I chuckled in anticipation when you paused after you said 'Only men can have beards.' Bearded women flashed before my mind! Was hoping that you'd crack a joke about those cases.

[@fedorindoukaev3361]

Very interesting DPH, thanks for the video! A couple of notes. 1. Jonathan Pageau has a great video entitled The symbolism of hair, if you liked this video, you'll probably like that one too. 2. There is a type of Christ icon named Christ the Blessed Silence, where He is depicted as an angel with no beard. This is said a depiction of the eternal Son of God before his incarnation. Which is perfectly consistent with what is said in this video 3. Russian tzar Peter the Great is known, among other things, for forcing his subjects, in his quest to europeanize Russia, to shave their beards, sometimes even having it done to them forcefully. I wonder what to make of it

[@okami425]

As a catholic, I miss the beards. I wish my fellow catholic men would embrace the beards again.

[@HangyourheadTD]

It is absolutely the case that I get more respect in casual public encounters when I have a beard. My wife also told me early in our marriage that she preferred my facial hair to being clean shaven. At the time my beard was embarrassing. But she said clean shaven me was too teenager. She “married a man, not a boy”. Yes ma’am.

[@brotherbrovet1881]

Very Faithful Orthodox Christian men don't groom...in front of a mirror, we stay clean enough so as to not offend. We comb our hair and beard... but we don't spend time in front of a mirror. Mirror time is self-worship time. A home with no mirrors is a humble home. Mirrors can be windows into the spiritual, too. Just as time before a holy icon can bring you closer to the Holy Trinity, time before a mirror leads to self-worship and vanity, pride.

[@LouisStravinsky]

Yes! I would also add videos and photos as well. It's everywhere now.

[@brotherbrovet1881]

A beard is to a man, as a mane is to a lion. -- Sayings of the Desert Fathers. DPH, now talk about why Orthodox Christian men don't cut their hair or trim their beard. 😉

[@ChurchoftheEternalLogos]

Not trimming is actually pretty uncommon among laity. Its usually a practice reserved for clergy and monastics. At least from the little I have read and seen.

[@brotherbrovet1881]

​@ChurchoftheEternalLogos That's due to society looking down on the appearance. Laity must work "in the world." Once that appearance is no longer required for employment, those worldly requirements no longer apply. I retired at 48 ten yrs ago. I've only trimmed my hair and beard since going into Orthodox prison ministry, for safety reasons as we heat with a woodstove. Yes, I've burned my beard more than once. Hair, too. I sheer the hair every year or so, when it becomes a safety hazard, or too much to put in a masculine pony tail. I don't trust a clean shaven Orthodox priest or bishop. Our only mirrors are attached to our pick up truck

[@TheHeavensAndEarth]

Nice talk brother. If you so desire, I have a good talk on "Why men have beards and women have long hair on my channel." Thanks for the video.

[@solarascetic6316]

In line with the "Immortality" vs "Authority" distinction too in regards to Catholic history one can also see the practice of clean shaven clergy as also being contra the "barbarians" who they were converting. Beards were often worn by kings and the Carolingian emperors thus representing the "authority" aspect. But I'd say this also represents the creation of a dichotomy between the spiritual and the temporal where the Kings authority and earthly rule are represented by the beard where as the Catholic (and pre-schism clergy at some point in the West) represent spiritual authority and the divine. One should also note Catholic theology's view of the priest as "In Persona Christi" too when celebrating the liturgy. To some degree or another though I think these represent different cultural trajectories that appear and then are to some degree or another theologized or vice versa.

[@JasonDeville-fi4dh]

My beards on point its red and brown and looks good and changes my personality when i wear it. Its going to be pure white soon too i have some bright white ones starting. Going to be sweet. Im 34. It had some patches till about 28 but not many, just was kind of uneven, now its legit tho im happy about it. Mines like dan bersilian but little shorter not much shorter. Ive grown it longer but if you dont keep it shaped and trim it every couple weeks it starts looking rough. When i dont have a beard people treat me differently in a bad way, and when i have it people treat me good overall and it changes my personality i swear to god it makes me calmer and it makes me get my way with people easier. I think the beard makes people scared of me or something im not even sure but its the best thing in the world. U combine it with a suit and you are essentially royalty. You really notice with middle aged women they go out of their way for you in a very weird way. They seem to gravitate to me. But i shave it clean off every year and during that time its very noticable the difference. I recomend the beard to all men who can grow it. If u cant grow it tho go clean shave. Because theres some men i see who do the stache and a little chin patch and you can tell thats all they can grow, and it looks bad. Clean shave = trust score goes up. Politician wont have a beard ever. The full beard tho will signal a different response but it is intimidating to a lot of people, fortunatly that gives you good results for your power plays. I dont think a politician should wear a beard because in democratic society if you project power with a beard it could be seen as you are possible dictator or someone who will have too much power. But yah the beard is like magik.

[@ThornbushTilemaker]

Great video! I'd like to hear your opinion on long hair on orthodox men of laity.

[@thestudyofstuff]

Great Episode my brother .....

[@cryptoronin3073]

I can grow one, but I have excellent jawline. The most I’d grow is a 5 o clock shadow.

[@Theoretically-ko6lr]

Glory to God ❤

[@kyriakosathanasiadis7970]

Thank you for your brilliant content as always. I would love to see an episode on secular Christmas. For us orthodox is a fasting period which actually protects us from the consumetism spirit. Personally i think the tree is a Protestant tradition appropriated to fit also in the orthodox context but it is obvious it is an insert. There is absolutely nothing christian about it unless someone uses symbolism and imagination. But i repsect the cultural differences amongst different orthodox countries. In this context germans for example or US people have centuries old tradition with this kinds of tradition and rituals. But lets agree thats it is not ancient old orthodox tradition. Acknowledging it for what it is might act as a protective mechanism against secularism and overly Antichristian/ consumerism during their so calles "x-mas "

[@kyriakosathanasiadis7970]

Hair is one the body parts that never 'dies' it remains in a grave. Maybe there is an extra symbolism there

[@selimhajali9007]

Yes, it is actually already dead! Pageau talked about it. Same for the end of your nails in some sense. It is the 'limit' of your body.

[@benjaminmcvay9864]

🙏

[@King_Immanuel]

What if i cant grow one lol

[@kittydaddy2023]

beards are pubic hair and there's an episode of Beavis and Butthead where they glue their public hair to their faces. Hope that helps.

[@CyrusMurati1996]

Guess you must be immortal lol

[@TedBruckner]

Surely if you just totally stop shaving your fee and neck for a year you can grow one as well as Father Peter Heers did/does! C'mon, man..

[@King_Immanuel]

@@TedBruckner I can grow facial hair but it's gonna look really bad if all I have is sideburns and a short goatee and mustache

[@explosivetwist]

why do so many women dislike beards on men? it's all i ever hear from women. they always say they like clean shaven men.

[@orthobro4806]

Bc the world is upside down and women are masculinized

[@mariopanopoulos7372]

I prefer to be clean shaven both face and crown. I understand why some like to grow a beard, but for the laity this is not compulsory.

[@orthobro4806]

Wrong

[@jamesdoyle7888]

I don't have a beard anywhere in my whole gene pool

[@suzymatwetwe819]

Interesting fact that the mark of Cain was no facial hair!

[@Godmeat]

Is there any information to back that up? Hearing that the first time

[@lawrence8724]

*strokes beard in agreement*

[@OrthodoxMetalhead]

then why did plato have a beard?

[@filiprakic1485]

I'd say that the beards vs no beards of Orthodox vs Catholic traditions is also due to a difference in eschatology. The Orthodox firmly believe that the New Earth in the eschaton would be a physical reality in resurrected and deified physical bodies. So no issue with men having beards in the afterlife, as beards themselves are a mark of physical bodies of man and aren't really a sign if our fallen nature in any way. Catholic eschatology emphasizes things like the beatific vision and the popular concepts of men being like angels on clouds in heaven, hence, combined with the earlier roman traditions and understandings, no beards in the afterlife.

[@stevencooper3202]

If God didn't want me to have a beard and long hair it wouldn't grow.

[@Eans_urban_jungle]

But toenails

[@pood40o72]

Bump!

[@He_Shall_Reign_Unto_TheAges]

I can grow one easily. But I still don't want one. Ever. So much for free expression lol!

[@rastaisfuture8630]

Re run

[@colehansen188]

Pageau enters the chat… symbolism is my subject! 😂

[@haydentrent101]

I am 24 and I can’t grow a beard, neither can my dad. Bummer. You don’t need a beard to be masculine though. I’m a veteran and have done concrete most of my life. Facial hair has nothing to do with masculinity, This video is out of touch… some people genetically can’t

[@Shotzeethegamer]

Cope

[@haydentrent101]

@ typical keyboard warrior comment. Lower your tone boy

[@orthobro4806]

Exeptions prove the rule

[@haydentrent101]

@@orthobro4806 that makes zero sense. There’s no rule in the first place.

[@orthobro4806]

@@haydentrent101 yes there is because most men can grow beards even if it is just a mustache and some hair on the chin and cheeks

[@E.OrthodoxMHNIN]

Interesting the only Icon of Christ a man without a beard does come from Catacombs in Rome. Although, some have made the claims the the Icon was meant to passed off as someone besides him and other very early Icons of Christ in Roman catacombs do depict him with a beard, but in Roman clothes.