When is Nudity OK for a Christian?
By Ted Slater | Focus on the Family Blog
Comments on several blog posts tell me that this is a hot topic: When and how
is it appropriate to include nudity and portrayals of sexual intercourse in
various forms of art, specifically film?
In regards to viewing nudity, it's clear that there's a spectrum of
appropriateness. On one hand, it may be appropriate for a man to view his wife's
or baby's unclothed body; at certain times a male physician may be within his
right to view a woman's unclothed body. On the other hand, it's never
appropriate for a man to view a woman other than his wife with lustful desire in
his heart, whether she is clothed or unclothed.
Perhaps the rightness or wrongness of viewing nude forms has to do with
vocation: a husband's vocation to please his wife, for example, or a physician's
vocation to care for his patients.
And perhaps the rightness or wrongness of viewing nude forms also has to do
with the heart: viewing a woman lustfully is clearly wrong.
Perhaps Scripture can provide some clarity, some insights into this
issue.
Job
made a covenant with his eyes not to "gaze at a virgin." Habakkuk
associates "gazing" at someone's unclothed body as shameful. There's something
about "gazing" at someone you're not married to that Scripture considers
wrong.
To directly challenge a comment on another blog post: Scripture does indicate
that a woman's breasts are sexual for men, and not merely for men in "civilized
cultures." Consider Proverbs
5:19 and Song
of Solomon 7:6-12 and Ezekiel
23:3,21, for example. To further illustrate, let me ask our female readers a
couple of questions: If a man not your husband touched your shoulder, that'd
probably be all right, right? But if he touched you elsewhere, it would not be
all right. If he looks you in the eye, that's probably all right, right? But if
he gazes elsewhere, would you not feel uncomfortable? Of course, because you
would feel sexually violated.
Nakedness is associated with disgrace and shame (Isaiah
47:3, Micah
1:11, Nahum
3:5, Revelation
3:18). When we see someone who is without clothing, we are not to admire
their form, but to cover them (Isaiah
58:7, Ezekiel
18:7, Genesis
9:22-27).
God modeled this by clothing Adam
and Eve. God did this because He deemed such a gift to be good; not
giving such a gift would not be good; therefore it would be
bad not to give such a gift; because this gift's purpose was to cover
their unclothed bodies, it follows that it was bad for Adam and Eve to go around
with unclothed bodies.
God again covers nakedness in Ezekiel
16:8. Jesus affirms clothing the unclothed in Matthew
25.
I need to make it clear that the human body is not shameful. It is glorious.
But in most cases, uncovering it before others is condemned. Just as, perhaps,
interacting inappropriately with the sacred Ark of the Covenant was condemned.
Scripture is clear that it is wrong to "lie sexually" with someone to whom
you're not married (Leviticus
18:20). The marriage bed is to remain undefiled (Hebrews
13:4). Actors who portray sexual intercourse with someone to whom they're
not married are rejecting both of these principles. By paying money to view
these actors, we are facilitating and affirming their ungodly behavior.
I see plenty of instances in Scripture where viewing unclothed bodies is
wrong. Does Scripture ever portray unclothed bodies as right? Hm. Well,
maybe. Isaiah
"walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign ... against Egypt and
Cush." The Lord Himself directly commanded Isaiah to do so in order to indicate
the shame these peoples would experience.
Should passers-by have averted their gaze, like the men of Coventry who
refused to look at the Lady Godiva as she rode horseback through their town,
naked and humbled, sacrificing her honor for
their sake? Yeah, probably.
It's also likely that Jesus was without clothing as he was hanging on the
cross. His garments were
divided
among
those
who carried out the crucifixion. This nakedness may have contributed to the
shame
He experienced on the cross.
As with Isaiah, Jesus' humiliation was a display of God's holy judgment
against sin. Like Lady Godiva, He sacrificed His honor for our sake. It had no
entertainment value.
(Note, of course, that the nakedness of neither Isaiah nor Jesus was in any
way sexual, but was heartbreakingly shameful and humiliating.)
So is it good for storytellers to use unclothed bodies in their art? Does the
vocation of "artist" grant someone the same authority that husbands or
physicians may have to view an unclothed woman? Does their vocation permit them
to instruct unmarried couples to engage in sexual behavior? Even if so, when is
it good for the rest of us to view the nakedness and sexual activity they
present to us?
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anytime is o.k. as long as you are not some big stinky fat,smelly,disgusting retard
At one time, I believed much like Mr. Slater. As a bible-believing Christian, I consider God's Word to be my authority for life and all issues of morality.
However, when I had occasion to examine the Scriptures carefully to discern God's true perspective on the human body, I found out that all of the things I had learned and believed were based on faulty interpretations of the Scriptures.
Mr. Slater reiterates those same false interpretations.
I have just completed a point by point response to Mr. Slater's article. I demonstrate how in each and every case, his summary of the Scriptural teaching and the conclusions he has drawn are mistaken.
I am more committed to God's truth as revealed in His Word than I ever was... And that is why I have written my response.
I welcome any review or response.
http://thebiblicalnaturist.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-is-nudity-ok-for-christian.html
By HIS grace
— Matthew Neal
Our body only belong to three persons. God, yourself and your mate. After a child learn modesty (you should teach that), that body do not belong to the parents. A mother should never walk in when her son is taking a bath or shower. Don't be in the doctor office when he is getting a physical exam. Don't take him to a female doctor (female nurse should not be in there too) A female nurse (teacher) should not see your son naked. Just because you a mother don't give you this right. If you want your son to have respect for female, you need to give him respect in this area.
Nudity and Christians
Me:
I am a born again Christian, a devote believer of the Word of God using only the Authorized King James version of 1611. This bible is becoming harder to find……… Wonder why? I can also understand why so many people are confused and can be easily led astray by the so called experts that manifest themselves to be the final and absolute authority of our religious circle and don’t even believe the Bible itself. These are people that want God himself to bend down to their/our stands, and not to God. Rewriting scriptures, removing the deity of Christ or making it “easier to read” and telling the people its the word of God. Are they evil? No! I believe that they are good Christians, born again believers of Jesus Christ and I would support them as I would any other Christian its just that their part of the book of life will not be given to them (Revelations 22:18, 19) They are caught up in world and manifested in the own self glory. I will not link the verses, because there references are not King James, and is not the word of God. You can find and look on the internet the King James AV1611.
Nudity in part can be shame, yes, but it is however a symbol of poverty, hopefulness, and humbleness. All of the verses I have followed in this blog so far, are completely in left field, and out of context. These verses are interpretations, and not translations. Again the “wooden nickel” is slipped into people seeking the truth (wooden nickel is a phrase to explain Satan’s deception).
We all know that God can not be in the presents of Sin, in any manner at any time or form. God has visited Adam and Eve many times in the Garden of Eden and they were both naked, and they both knew no sin and because they have not yet eaten from the tree of life. If Adam and Eve knew no sin, and God himself was in their presents, how be it a sin or shame?
Many preachers take advantage of Genesis 3:21 to support clothing of a naked body by spinning it out of context. The coat that God made of skin is a sign of righteousness, not because they were nude. When you go to church, you must wear the coat of righteousness (today known as clothing). The serpent (Satan) mocked and made fun of their nudity into shame because of his hatred toward God, and therefore they received the “Wooden nickel” so to speak; believing that their nudity was shameful. When God called Adam and Eve in the Garden, they had the belief that nudity was a shame from the words from Satan and hid themselves from God. God knew that something was wrong because Adam and Eve was believing nakedness was shameful. In verse 3:11, God asked “Who told thee that thou wast naked?”
In closing for now, as I am sure I ruffed up a bunch of fir and extended the limits of this blog, I would say, if you feel shameful of being nude, either in public or private, why? Could it be because of Satan’s demeaning words to Adam and Eve at the tree of life?
I could write a book on this subject, but I will let this single passage speak for itself. I truly hope and pray that you yourself will look for the truth. May God be with you all. Gene
In scriptures I see that nudity is not shameful in it's self. In Genesis God mad Adam and Eve naked,and he commanded them to multiply
and subdue the Earth.
Now when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, They had gained a sinful nature. And God curse all creation, Therefor the weather,contact with some plant or animals can cause injury or death to our bodies.
So in some cases we need to wear cloths to protect our bodies.
We also wear clothes because their are may people who will commit harmful acts against others if they see them naked,rape ,murder .
The scripture teach in the book of Leviticus not to uncover a person's nakedness unless it's your spouse. These scriptures are teaching not to have sex with any one except your spouse.
When God use a prophet to go naked to be a testimony against
nation, the object lesson is you are unprotected,and exposed to danger,just as a naked body is to thorny plants.
We also wear clothes so that we don't cause people to stumble into sin.
My conclusion is that the nude body is not sinful,but the action of people can be. So practice nudity with discernment.
They talk about being nude, but the only justification in the article for clothes is that if we are nude, then others will sin. So I guess the basis is that without clothes we cause others to sin, but with clothes we don't, or are less likely.
Sometimes people wear clothes to become more attractive than nude. So I guess those clothes are sinful.
Some people wear clothes because they have a pride problem. They don't like the way their body looks, and are self conscious about it. That is pride, and a sin.
I heard of a man being arrested for being nude in his house. Some people walked by, looked in the window, and called the police. That was just wrong.
Here is a way to check for strange behavior: If a single person is afraid to walk from one bathroom to another nude looking for towel even though he knows nobody is there, then he has a problem.
To not lust is impossible.
Good tactic to keep the believers coming to church to repent and contribute the money.
We have bodies that are attractive in order to keep us reproducing. If we didn't look good, no one would want to have sex.
Religion just confuses the whole thing and makes everyone have issues with their own normal feelings of lust.
I am not saying we should all run around naked but to make something so taboo, only creates more curiosity and thus more mental issues.
When ever they want!
Why are so many Americans " afraid" of nudity?
Why do they say they think of "dirty" and "sinful" things when confronted with nudity?
And why do Christians TODAY still follow human cultural traditions, social laws and ideas written thousands of years ago by members of local churches in the general area where Jesus used to hang out?
I wanna say first off, that I believe in Jesus as much as anyone here, so don't come off all holy on me, and you godless heathen can say whatever you want. Gregory is just being honest.
I was raised out in the woods, and i like being nekked. I think most people do like being nekked when the weather's nice, and the water 's warm in the swimmin' hole.
Christian people can't hide a thing from God with their clothes, and there's no commandment for clothes-wearing that doesn't amount to plain common sense, and a sense of decency. Heck, even most of these godless atheists know that wearing your thong to sell brushes door to door is probably a bad idea, and could get you locked up. The ones that don't need some kinda therapy.
But you religious types are analyzing the nekkedness issue way too much. You guys always do that! Nobody needs a dang rulebook to know when they need to put clothes on! You gotta listen to the Holy Spirit, and your God-given common sense!
gee whiz! why do you stuffy religious people gotta make simple stuff into a VCR manual.
Here are some common sense ideas for wearing clothes. Feel free to add some in your own posts.
When to wear clothes:
1. crossing a briar patch
2. collecting honey from your beekeeping endeavors.
3. handling snapping turtles.
4. weedeating that patch of poison oak
5. on a first date
6. meeting the parents
7. church , unless you go to one of those hippie churches.
8. picking the kids up from school
When you can shuck the clothes:
1. when nobody's lookin'
2. when nobody cares
3. when the kids are gone, and you wanna make your wife smile at how goofy old nekked guys look.
4. when you are accepted into one o'those tribes of pygmies on national geographic.
lol. I hope this clears things up for you. If you think Ol'Gregory's a sinner for skinny dippin' , you just pray for him. You might learn how much of your religion is Junk, and how much of it is Jesus that way, cause the Spirit won't lie to you.
Here is a view of some Christian Men, when it comes to nudity.
http://gasguys.wordpress.com