1 Corinthians 11:9-10 says that because woman was created for man, and "because of the angels," she ought to have a sign of authority on her head. What do the angels have to do with this? Is the Bible drawing some kind of parallel between the submission of angels to God and the submission of a woman to a man? -- Rachel Bloom (Atlanta)
The most common view is that the angels can be tempted to lust after humans (women, allegedly). They might be scandalized, or even enticed, if from their aerial view they saw Christian sisters with heads uncovered. Some angels, based on Genesis 6, actually married/mated with human females, although as far as we can tell angels in the Bible are sexless. Yet in Matthew 22 Jesus says that at the resurrection we will be like the angels, not marrying.
(Incidentally, as I understand the New Testament, there are now only two classes of angels: elect and damned. It seems the damned angels followed Satan in his rebellion, and for them there is no provision of redemption. The other angels, mentioned in 1 Timothy 5, are beyond temptation.)
I see a key to understanding the verse in the letter of Jude, which explicitly mentions the rebellion against authority. I think you are right: Paul is drawing a parallel with the angels. If even they had authority problems, we (a fortiori) should watch ourselves!
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