Nudism

One of the obstacles we encounter often on the internet is Christians who believe nudism is wrong. Often, they cite passages which have nothing to do with nudism or being naked or they offer the stumbling block scenario, where being naked might entice a fellow Christian to sin. Such argument have no basis in Christian theology and only add to the problems of church unity.

The bible is actually silent on social nudity, a fact that is not surprising. Common, everyday nudity during the Jewish era was, how do you say, common and ordinary. It would the same as a modern day writer noting that people wear a hair net while working at a food service location. With clothing so expensive and spare clothing not available to the normal person, many worked naked to preserve their investment in clothing.

The largest argument against nudism comes from Genesis. Critics argue that when Adam fell from grace, God clothed them and cast them out. They argue that since God hid their bodies from view, He must want all of us to do the same.

I offer Lot's wife to suggest the fallacy in this logic. If you remember, when Lot's wife disobeyed God and looked back, she turned into a pillar of salt. Following our previous argument, we should also cover ourselves in salt. Every morning, we should stand up and apply salt to our entire bodies before leaving for work.

You can see the fallacy in that argument, but there is actually more to the story of Adam and Eve's fall than we mentioned. In Genesis 3: 7, we see that Adam and Eve dressed themselves in clothes of leaves.

"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."

Later, in verse 8, God is heard walking in the garden and the two hid from Him in the garden among the leaves of the trees and bushes.

"8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden."


Adam and Eve dressed themselves, not God. In fact it was the clothes they wore that let God know they had done wrong.

"And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

God had no problem with their nudity. Nudity only became a problem when Adam and Eve gained the knowledge of those things that are both good and evil before they were ready to accept those truths.

As you know, later, as He was expelling the couple from the garden, He killed an animal and placed the skin upon them. It is interesting to note that the animal was probably an animal that Adam named, someone he knew. I am sure this forced home the idea that sin was wrong. In any event, it placed Adam and Eve with clothing more substantial than what they had made for themselves. Entering into a world with briers, rocks and thorns, they needed something more substantial than leaves and twine to protect their bodies. It is interesting to note that God did not clothe them completely. The word for clothing used means belt or apron. This would have covered the parts of their body most closely aligned with briers and thorns.

So what about the early knowledge we had of both Good and Evil? In Moses time, we received the Law, a written set of right and wrong. They knew what was right and wrong and with the knowledge of good and evil, we were capable of knowing what to do and what not to do. We matured. Today, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. Remember, the old law did not pass away, but today we have a fulfilled law in the form of a helper to guide us. We are now ready for that knowledge and are endowed by our Creator with the ability to know good and evil and how to negotiate both.

If we remove the places where nakedness means sex and the places where naked means poor or doing without, then the bible only talks about being nude in a good light.

With all of this, being naked socially can only be expressed as ordinary without the understanding that it is permissible for those that God chose without there being some indication that being nude is somehow more beneficial than being clothed. After all, if both are equally okay, why bother with the controversy?

Strangely enough, we have such information in the Bible, itself. Remember in the first post we talked about Isaiah walking naked among the Jews for three years naked? During the first century BC and the first century AD, Jews bathed as a custom and a required ritual. Being ceremonially clean was important to them. We rarely talk about the baths of Jerusalem or the baptisms done by John the Baptist in the light of people being naked socially, but that is precisely what occurred.

Baptisms during the century before Christ's birth were done in running water to cleanse the body and prepare a person for ministry. Following the rules for cleansing Aaron in Leviticus, the candidate would be led to the water's edge, he would remove his clothing and go down into the water where he would be ceremonially cleansed for his sins. It was a part of getting forgiveness from God. This is precisely what Jesus did before entering into His ministry for us.

After Christ's death and resurrection, Christian baptisms followed roughly the same
pattern. A candidate would be dressed in a dark robe and led to the water. He would remove his robe and go down into the water naked. The baptist, also naked along with the congregation gathered in the water, would pour water over the candidate three times. As he was led out of the water, the candidate would be dressed in a linen cloth of white to symbolize becoming cleansed and ready for ministry.

The early church knew something we have lost today. The knew that worshiping naked can lead you closer to God. I often find myself praying while naked and finding the presence of the Holy Spirit stronger being allowed to flow without the restrictions of man-made items.

Now, nudism is not for everyone. Those that find God has not called you to this ministry might just consider this similar to speaking in tongues. Not everyone will speak in tongues. That does not mean that they are not in-dwelled with the Holy Spirit. But those who are called to this ministry are not allowed to shirk their duties. Nor are Christians allowed to stop this ministry.

God Bless.