Mike Winger is a well-known pastor on YouTube who has gained popularity for his highly detailed studies of the Bible. At the time of this article, he had more than half a million subscribers.
One of the controversial verses that he discusses in a very popular and intensive study was the Bible’s approach to the roles of women in ministry, and his video discussing the ‘head covering controversy‘ is almost seven hours long!
“Because of the angels”
About 5 hours into the video, he’s covering the strange verse that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians.
That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
1 Corinthians 11:10
Mike Winger explores different interpretations of this warning in the New Testament, one interpretation being that head coverings were to prevent angelic lust after women due to the events of Genesis 6 in which angels sinned through lust.
This gives Mike Winger an opportunity to share his own thoughts on the passage in Genesis and how he interprets it.
“Genesis 6:2 it does refer to Angels, it seems, marrying women… I’m inclined to believe that these were angelic beings in this passage. That’s my understanding of it. 1 Peter reinforces this as well. There were these angels that have been kept in chains, it seems, so that they cannot repeat the issues that were going on in Genesis 6:2.”
Mike Winger
He suggests that the ‘sons of God’ in Genesis 6 are angels.
He reinforces this by citing 1 Peter, which says that these angels have been kept in chains so that they cannot repeat the issues that were going on in Genesis 6:2.
Others argue that if they’re kept in chains in 1 Peter, then they’re not available to lust after women today in the church.
Others suggest that some of them are still around or that more could fall, which would be an easy way to explain why those ones were punished, but more could still potentially fall.
Extra Biblical Sources
Mike Winger also acknowledges that several other extra-biblical works also mention the idea of angels possibly lusting after or even trying to sleep with women.
However, he warns against equating those materials to the same level of scripture. He suggests that we need to be careful when reading extra-biblical texts to ensure that we’re not just teleporting those views into scripture as though they are a proclamation in scripture.
He explains that we should use them only as a background for understanding the type of setting in which scripture was entering into the world.
“When reading extra biblical texts be careful that when you find out about the views of people of the time you’re not just teleporting those views into scripture you’re just using them as a background for understanding the type of setting in which scripture was entering into the world. Scholars even do this where there’s ultimately no difference between what scripture teaches and whatever the culture happened to believe. If they find out that the culture believed something at the time, they just sort of teleport it into scripture as though it’s a proclamation of scripture.”
Mike Winger
How this relates to 1 Corinthians
If 1 Corinthians is referencing Genesis 6 as one interpretation would suggest, Mike Winger explains that Paul, in his warning about women’s head coverings, is trying to prevent another Genesis 6 event.
Mike however does not believe this is the correct interpretation of 1 Corinthians.
There’s nothing in the passage that mentions lust. Not once… We change the focus of the passage when we change this into a lust issue.
While he indicates his view that the ‘sons of God’ in Genesis 6 are angels, he doesn’t go into too much detail as it’s not the subject matter of this particular discussion. Nonetheless, he offers a balanced approach and highlights the need to be cautious when interpreting scripture and when reading extra-biblical materials.
Mike Winger’s Thoughts on the Nephilim
In another study on 1 Peter 3:16 – 22, Mike Winger discusses his thoughts and concerns about the interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4 in more detail. (starts around 33:33)
Mike Winger begins discussing the topic of Nephilim and the sons of God in Genesis 6 by kicking it off with the debate surrounding whether the Nephilim were the result of crossbreeding between angels and humans or simply the offspring of large people.
While he finds the idea of crossbreeding strange, he acknowledges that it is a possibility.
Pastor Winger notes two possibilities regarding the identity of the sons of God in Genesis 6. They could either be angels or people who were following God but had fallen. He notes that in Job, the term “sons of God” refers to angels, which adds credibility to the idea that they were the same in Genesis 6.
He also mentions that there are other passages in the Bible that refer to fallen angels being imprisoned (such as Jude), which seems to refer to the sons of God in Genesis 6.
Ultimately, he acknowledges that there are many details surrounding this topic that are still unclear, but encourages further exploration and discussion.
