Beards

[kafka]

yeah beards pretty much rock. I think they are a nice symbol of manliness and practical for cold winter I'm growing one now for the first time and I dont know yet how I am going to groom it. Anyhow here are some interesting quotes I found:

St Clement of Alexandria
"The hair of the chin showed him to be a man." St Clement of Alexandria (c.195, E), 2.271
"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." St.

Clement of Alexandria, 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.” St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.276
"It is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man’s natural and noble adornment." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.277

St Cyprian
"In their manners, there was no discipline. In men, their beards were defaced." St Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.438
"The beard must not be plucked. 'You will not deface the figure of your beard'." (Leviticus 19:27) St. Cyprian, 5.553

Lactantius
"The nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to distinguish the sex, or to contribute to the beauty of manliness and strength." Lactantius (c. 304-314, W), 7.288

Apostolic Constitutions
"Men may not destroy the hair of their beards and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the Law says, “You will not deface your beards.” For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men." Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c.390, E) 7.392. (1)


Please share your thoughts, opinions, etc. for or against beards. (And if anyone has a beard I would love a few grooming tips)

[CatherineM]

My husband has a beard, and I love it.

[Paddington]

I hate beards [i]and[/i] shaving.

[Paddington]

They itch once they're grown.

[kafka]

mine itched a few days ago but now its been fine.

[Paddington]

[quote name='kafka' post='1667210' date='Sep 30 2008, 10:53 PM']mine itched a few days ago but now its been fine.[/quote]

Did you do anything to it?

[CatherineM]

I trim my husband's for him.

[Era Might]

I can't imagine being without my beard. It is part of my face. I don't groom my beard at all, except for shampoo. I hope to some day have a beard to rival the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, but that is going to be tough. Maybe when I'm an old man.

[aalpha1989]

[quote name='Paddington' post='1667207' date='Sep 30 2008, 08:21 PM']They itch once they're grown.[/quote]

Nah. Only for a couple days.

[kafka]

[quote name='Paddington' post='1667214' date='Sep 30 2008, 08:26 PM']Did you do anything to it?[/quote]
no I think the itching is just the face adjusting to the longer lengths of the facial hair. Almost like if one shaved the head clean and let it grow, it itches for a few days (I did it once).

Anyhow, I think I will have to eventually buy a special scissors I guess? I want mine to be well groomed.

[mommas_boy]

[quote name='kafka' post='1667202' date='Sep 30 2008, 08:10 PM']yeah beards pretty much rock. I think they are a nice symbol of manliness and practical for cold winter I'm growing one now for the first time and I dont know yet how I am going to groom it. Anyhow here are some interesting quotes I found:

St Clement of Alexandria
"The hair of the chin showed him to be a man." St Clement of Alexandria (c.195, E), 2.271
"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." St.

Clement of Alexandria, 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.” St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.276
"It is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man’s natural and noble adornment." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.277

St Cyprian
"In their manners, there was no discipline. In men, their beards were defaced." St Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.438
"The beard must not be plucked. 'You will not deface the figure of your beard'." (Leviticus 19:27) St. Cyprian, 5.553

Lactantius
"The nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to distinguish the sex, or to contribute to the beauty of manliness and strength." Lactantius (c. 304-314, W), 7.288

Apostolic Constitutions
"Men may not destroy the hair of their beards and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the Law says, “You will not deface your beards.” For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men." Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c.390, E) 7.392. (1)


Please share your thoughts, opinions, etc. for or against beards. (And if anyone has a beard I would love a few grooming tips)[/quote]

Are these quotes for real? Their diction is almost too precise for them not to be, but where on earth did you find quotes from the Church Fathers on [b]beards[/b]!?

If they are real, that's awesome!

If you made them up, then dude -- you kick butt at writing.

Anyway, I love my beard. When I interviewed for this teaching position, all I had was my goatee, which I wore all throughout college. I had just shaved my cheeks that morning, and they were all like -- but you look so young! I took the hint, and grew out the rest of my beard starting right then and there. Now my kids think I'm 30.

[kafka]

[quote name='mommas_boy' post='1667244' date='Sep 30 2008, 09:21 PM']Are these quotes for real? Their diction is almost too precise for them not to be, but where on earth did you find quotes from the Church Fathers on [b]beards[/b]!?

If they are real, that's awesome![/quote]
No I didnt make them up. They're real. And I am finding more. I am going positively beard crazy. I will have some more quotes soon.

[Era Might]

Beards are common for Priests in the East. But in the West, I think Priests have tended to shave. There may have been some Church laws regarding beards for Priests, but I don't remember the specifics.

[kafka]

This is from Augustine's commentary on the Psalms:

{132:2} It is like the ointment on the head that descended to the beard, the beard of Aaron, which descended to the hem of his garment.
What was Aaron? A priest. Who is a priest, except that one Priest, who entered into the Holy of Holies? Who is that priest, save Him, who was at once Victim and Priest? save Him who when he found nothing clean in the world to offer, offered Himself? The ointment is on his head, because Christ is one whole with the Church, but the ointment comes from the head. Our Head is Christ crucified and buried; He rose again, and ascended into heaven; and the Holy Spirit came from the head. [b]Whither? To the beard. The beard signifies the courageous; the beard distinguishes the grown men, the earnest, the active, the vigorous. So that when we describe such, we say, he is a bearded man.[/b] Thus that ointment descended first upon the Apostles, descended upon those who bore the first assaults of the world, and therefore the Holy Spirit descended on them. For they who first began to dwell together in unity, suffered persecution, but because the ointment descended to the beard, they suffered, but were not conquered....

[picchick]

Beards hurt....