The Biblical Naturist

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The Biblical Naturist

Biblical Christians first, but also Naturists.

An honest evaluation under the strictest rules of interpretation demonstrates that God's Word actually supports the naturist perspective of the human body and permits naturist practices.

This blog is about demonstrating that truth.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020 Are Womens Breasts for Mens Sexual Pleasure?The Cultural Assumption
So are womens breasts designed by God to give men pleasure? Are we really supposed to think about breasts sexually? Does the Bible teach that???

The church today has bought wholesale into the cultures sexualization of the female breast. And because of one or two scripture passages, they have failed to discern that this notion is not, in fact, Scriptural.


Let Her Breasts Satisfy You
Heres the first passage Solomon tells men with regard to sex:

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; (Proverbs 5:19)

But does that mean that God made womens breasts to pleasure men?

To be sure, the passages is about sex. Let your fountain be blessed is a pretty clear (almost graphic!) reference to the male ejaculate. The entire passage covers Proverbs 5:15-23. And the main point is, Guys, find your sexual fulfillment at home with your own wife only.

Its in this context that we find the reference to breasts... without quoting the entire passage, heres the nut of it (Proverbs 5:18-20 - NASB):

18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

Read It Pornographically? or Biblically?
We read breasts satisfy and our minds immediately jump to pornographic imagery of men ogling and fondling large breasts and think, Wow, the Bible actually endorses that!

But what does Let her breasts satisfy you at all times really mean?

Well, Lets put on our biblical thinking cap and consider it thoughtfully.

Since theres a phrase that comes before it that is constructed as a parallel thought, As a loving hind and a graceful doe, then it is safe to say that if we cannot articulate how these two statements are similar, then we do not yet understand the passage.

First of all, we have to acknowledge that this passage of Scripture is poetry. And as poetry, we should expect some poetic language phrases and thoughts that draw parallels in our thinking that help communicate the intended message in an artistic way.

So how ARE hinds and does like breasts satisfying?

Well, first of all, it cant be about the simple sight of female deer (hinds and does are essentially synonymous). It must be in the fact that these female deer raise young deer. And for a long time, those young get their nutrition solely from their mothers. NOW we have a potential connection between the deer and breasts!

So what is the primary purpose of breasts? They feed babies, right? The satisfy babies... thats what breasts do best!

Breasts Satisfy everyone knows that.


Solomon Is a Poet
Solomon wants to tell men, be satisfied with your wife alone. But as a poet, he picks up on the concept of breasts satisfying babies and paints the picture of a man being satisfied by his wife the same way that breasts satisfy babies and for a baby, thats the only source of satisfaction he has! And so it should be for a man.. satisfaction in his own wife alone.

Its a literary mechanism that actually works really well as a metaphor, but also as a creative and artistic turn of the phrase.

Breasts are something that is a unique physical feature of women. So, Solomon invokes the reference to the breasts to speak of the entire woman. The proof of this is in the fact that if you changed Solomons words to, Let her femininity satisfy you at all times, you can see that the core meaning of Solomons teaching is not lost at all as it applies to the overall message of the passage. The only thing lost is some of the artistry of the poetry.

Fawns find their only source of satisfaction in their mother, that graceful doe. Men are to find their only source of sexual satisfaction in their own wife.

Then theres the poetic mechanism of parallelism so common in Hebrew poetry two phrases which either mean the same thing or opposite things. In this case, they mean the same:

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be exhilarated always with her love.

This is not, Enjoy a body part and then focus on the love... those are two different messages. Rather, the meaning of Let her breasts satisfy you at all times is actually equivalent to Be exhilarated always with her love.

The breasts are an artistic reference to all that is a woman. This is not a passage that proves that God made breasts to be sexual turn-ons for men.


And No Song of Solomon Doesnt Sexualize Breasts Either
The other passage often used to defend the sexualization of breasts in the bible is Song of Solomon.

But that book speaks equally of every part of a womans physical beautyshowering each body part with the same sort of accolades including her hair, nose, and teeth. It is only the breast-obsessed mind that reads the passage and finds any peculiar sexual attention on breasts.

We as people of the Word should not act like people of the World.

The World sexualizes breasts.

Gods Word does not.

Matthew Neal

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See also
The Sexual Objectification of Women5 Unexpected Ways Christians Sexually Objectify Women007b.com (a site written by women for women about NOT sexualizing breasts)The Lie of Visual StimulationPosted byMatthew Nealat8:40 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Wednesday, October 30, 2019 A Christian Naturist Retreat!Hello, everyone!

I havent written for a while... but that might be changing soon... more on that below.

Im just letting you know about a new Naturist Retreat that is being built in Livingston, TX (near Houston). And it is specifically Christian!

Its being established by a pastor named Jim Moore.

How could a Pastor do such a thing, you ask?

Well, it's like this... when someone comes up to you as a pastor and asks you to help them talk their Christian friend out of being a nudist,
and you agree to do so...and youre responsible enough to come into such a meeting fully prepared with all of the biblical direction that speaks to the issue...and youre honest enough to seek what the Bible really says...and youre committed firmly to the authority of Gods Word rather than the traditions of men...and you discover that the bible doesn't actually say what you expected it to say...and you tell the person that asked you to meet their friend what you actually found in the bible..and so you suggest that they might want to JOIN their nudist friend instead...Then... you ask yourself... So, what am I going to do now?"

Well, the honest follower of Gods Word is going to lay aside their old beliefs and embrace the truth of Gods Word instead!

The restas they sayis history!

Thats Pastor Jim's story in a nutshell.

Its a story I'm personally familiar with! You open the bible fully expecting it to forbid social nudity... only to find out that Gods Word is actually quite friendly to the practice... IF... we are honest and diligent enough to remove our modern cultural blinders.

And like me, Jim and his wife decided that they couldnt honestly continue to live as if a lie were true. They had to live as if the truth is true instead. Thats why I wrote my 3-part series, Naturist By Biblical Conviction (Part 2, Part 3). Wow... I just realized... I wrote those articles over 10 years ago!

Jim and his wife also set up a web site to publish articles detailing the biblical understanding of Gods Word that led them to their current beliefs and practices. Im happy to share it with you!

NakedAndUnashamed.org
And... if you would like to help Jim and his wife establish this new retreat... they have set up a GoFundMe page.
I hope that youll pray about helping them!
Eden Ranch Christian Naturist Retreat - GoFundMe

Meanwhile... I am hoping to begin publishing a little more on this blog. The problem is finding topics to write about. Ive pretty much covered all the ground I needed to biblically, so Im thinking about a series that I might call, The Logical Files... to deal with logical reasoning regarding naturism as it relates to what the Bible teaches.
And, as always, if theres some Scripture passage that you have some questions about, please feel free to contact me or comment on the blog post to raise your questions. I just might write a new article to answer your question!
One last thought... I was talking to Jim on the phone and remembered the words attributed to Abraham Lincoln...When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest. Jim, Thanks for being an honest Man of God!!
By HIS Grace,
Matthew Neal

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Relevant Links:

Naturist By Biblical Conviction
NakedAndUnashamed.org
Eden Ranch - GoFundMePosted byMatthew Nealat7:28 AM2 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:Christian,Christian Naturism,Eden Ranch,Family,Naturism,Resort,Retreat,Social Nudity Monday, March 27, 2017 Wasnt Clothing the Norm in the Bible?

An Unaddressed Issue.

One of my non-naturist readers submitted an important question a while back. I thought the answer deserved its own new entry into The Biblical Naturist blog.
Heres the email in full:

Matthew,
I've been reading and enjoying reading your thebiblicalnaturist blog. Your arguments are compelling and convincing. I'm a Christian, but not a naturist/nudist. Your blog has convinced me that the Bible doesn't condemn nakedness. However, I DO have a question that I haven't seen addressed.
From your descriptions, and analysis of Bible passages, and from my readings of Scripture, it appears that, while nudity was not really promoted or condemned in biblical times, most people wore clothes most of the time. They often went naked for: various jobs, prophesying, bathing in public communal baths, and exercising, but from my readings, the default was still clothed. Except for Adam and Eve, most accounts of nakedness were either related to a job, or some unusual situation.
I like the idea of making my home clothing optional, but I don't see bible passages stating that this was the norm.
I once asked a Sunday school teacher of mine (who had been an archaeologist in Israel) about footwear in NT biblical times, and specifically, during corporate worship. He indicated that wearing sandals (usually that person's best pair) was the norm. So... wearing your "Sunday best" seemed to be practiced even in Jesus' time.
While nakedness was much more common and much more accepted back then, I still get the impression that:
- Nudity still wasn't the norm. If it were, I would expect little to no mention of someone's nakedness. But nakedness seemed to be a condition to be mentioned as significant.
- The common man (or woman) walking down the street or living in his home was clothed.
- It was nothing like a naturist or nudist resort, even in people's homes or yards.
- Being naked in town would be like a homeless person is now. An indicator of extreme poverty, and to be avoided.
- Corporate worship (in a synagogue) was a clothed affair as well.
I would welcome your comments and views on this matter.

Thank You
Bill

Thanks for writing, Bill. Let me see if I can address your question in a satisfactory way.
First of all, Im grateful that the blog has opened your eyes to the fact that the Bible neither promotes nor condemns nakedness. That acknowledgement all by itself sets you apart from the vast majority of Christians. And I really appreciate your words of affirmation about my work.
Now let me dive in on your questions.

The Question In a Nutshell

Rather than comment point by point on what youve written, Im going to see if I can summarize your questionhopefully accurately and fairly enough that I will not be guilty of creating a straw man. How does this sound?
In the Bible, isnt it the norm that people were clothed most of the time? And the answer to that is a simple Yes, it is.
But Im pretty confident that thats not the answer you were really looking for, because that answer is nothing more than the acknowledgement of a historical fact. It doesnt mean much or at least we havent yet discussed what that fact means.
The reality is that there are probably other questionsunstated, but implied (or presumed)behind that question. There likely are assumptions about what the answer must mean, therefore answering in the affirmative to the question as stated is taken as assent to the veracity of the unspoken assumptions behind the question. But that is not the case. So, lets uncover the assumptions and THEN answer what I suspect is your questions real intent.

Assumptions, Assumptions

Let me take an educated (and experienced) guess at the assumptions that youor othersmight be holding behind your question:
Youre The Biblical Naturist; youre obviously teaching that the Bible promotes naturism. Whatever we see as common practice in the bible should be adopted as normative (i.e. morally required) for us today. The descriptions of public life we read about in the Bible fully describes life for the common folks in biblical times. Ok so now Im treading very close to straw man, right? Im putting words in your mouth that you didnt say so that I can shoot them down. Thats almost the case, but let me give the reasoning behind why Ive articulated these assumptions as being hidden within your question (if not for you, then perhaps for others who have pondered the same question). Then Ill give my response to each.

1. Youre The Biblical Naturist; youre obviously teaching that the Bible promotes naturism.

The subtext of your question is, How can you promote naturism when its obvious that the bible does not promote living life naked as a naturist? If this subtext that were not in play, then the question would not really be a question, but simply a historical observation. REPLY:
I do not promote naturism, nor do I teach that the Bible teaches that we should live naked. I dont teach those ideas because those assertions would be false! The bible simply does not command or promote nakedness as a way of life. Ive never stated or suggested otherwise.
What I teach is that fact that the bible does not command or promote clothing either! Clothing is not a moral requirement for righteous living. Clothing does not commend us to God. Our bodies are not visual impediments to moral purity. To teach any of these notions is to assert a falsehood.
Many times Ive been asked, Why is nakedness such a big deal to you?? to which I answer, Nakedness is not a big deal to me. Nakedness is only a big deal to those who believe it is morally wrong.
No, I dont promote naturism, I just confront the lies that claim that the Bible teaches against social nudity. (I wrote a blog article about that, too).

2. Whatever we see as common practice in the bible should be adopted as normative (i.e. morally required) for us today.

Clearly, the question you asked can only have bearing on whether or not people today can live life as naturists if we also assume that the very description of the biblical lifestyle should be considered a moral mandate on how we also should live. Otherwise, the question is as inconsequential as Didnt people walk just about everywhere they went? REPLY:
When people are looking for reasons to oppose social nudity, they are often tempted to make the very same observation you made, but with the presumption of moral mandate: Social nudity was NOT the norm in the Bible, therefore to practice it is NOT normal and not biblically acceptable.
But the problem is that when we pull out the assumption behind such a declaration and say it straight out as I just did as point #2 above, the absurdity of that assumption is so evident as to be laughable.
Nobody would argue that since people in the Bible never rode bikes, drove cars, or took buses or planes to travel that we shouldnt either. Didnt people just walk? Well, of course they did. So?
Yet if the very same logic were applied to travel as is sometimes made about clothes, then wed have to ban all travel that was not by foot or by the power of a beast of burden!
So, as to the question of whether people generally wore clothing, the answer is, Well, of course they did. So?
Common practices of a culture long past are not morally binding on us today. Your question is fine for discussing the way of life in biblical times, but it is irrelevant to the question of the morality or practice of social nudity today.

3. The descriptions of public life we read about in the Bible fully describes life for the common folks in biblical times.

If we are looking to biblical times as our basis for biblical behavior today, then it must also be assumed that we know all that we need to know about those cultures we are supposed to emulate. REPLY:
I shouldnt need to spend much time on this one, because the absurdity of this claim is also self-evident, even though it too is inherently assumed in the question if we hold to Assumption #2.
Some might claim that we know everything that we need to know because God inspired the inclusion of only those things that we need to emulate but the hypocrisy of that claim becomes immediately evident when you just compare how Christians live today against what we DO know about life in bible times (like walking everywhere, or wearing only tunics and robes). Theres really no other assertion besides the nudity-taboo that anyone ever tries to use biblical life to support.
The fact is we know very little about life in bible times as it relates to common nudity. Whats more, we read the biblical text through 21st century eyes. We consider the Bibles teaching on clothing through the lens of wealthy modern individuals with enough clothes to go for weeks changing clothes every day without ever wearing the same outfit twice.
What did people in biblical times really think about nudity? How common was it really? When we read the bible in English, its hard to tell, because a careful examination of modern translations reveals that whenever nudity was mentioned or implied when not shameful or embarrassing, the text has been rendered in such a way as to obscure the nudity that was present. Ive carefully documented this translational obscuration in the blog series, Squeamish Translating. Those articles focus only on New Testament texts, but perhaps I need to write a version from the Old Testament as well.

In Summary

I suspect that youre thinking, I wasnt thinking those things at all! and I would believe you. But I would encourage you to answer the question, Why would common practices of attire in biblical times matter at all to this discussion of the morality of Social Nudity and its recreational practice? Perhaps there are other good reasons you could offer, but the only one Ive ever been able to discern is the presumption of biblical practices being normative for us today. That particular reason is invalid, so thats why I have addressed it.
The correct answer to that question is that if we can discern that nudity truly was more common in biblical times (for work, public bathing, in individual homes, ritual mikvehs, exercising, etc.), then we can draw a very strong conclusion that since the biblical writers did NOT forbid such public nudity, we cannot and must not have the audacity to claim that the bible does forbid it at all. This purpose for asking the question doesnt support the nudity-taboo teaching, so you just dont hear anyone offer it.
On that score, allow me to address a few points in your email that warrant specific commentary.

Additional Comments

Except for Adam and Eve, most accounts of nakedness were either related to a job, or some unusual situation.

Im surprised that you say unusual I dare say that naked prophets were not unusual. Naked girls milling grain were not unusual. Naked servants were not unusual. Naked fishermen were not unusual. Even naked poor people were not unusual. They might seem unusual to us today, but we cannot assert that it was unusual at the time. To describe them as unusual affords you the opportunity to categorize public nudity as unusual, when in fact it may not have been at all! Thats 21st century lenses at work.

I like the idea of making my home clothing optional, but I don't see bible passages stating that this was the norm.

The bible doesnt comment on the incidence of nudity in the home at all, but certainly it must have been common if only wealthy folks had more than one garment in their possession and the garments worn during the day were repurposed as blankets at night (Exodus 22:26-27, Deut. 24:12-13). Family bath time, bed time, and laundry day all would have resulted in plenty of family nudity. Again, if we read these sorts of passages without the discoloration of our modern experiences, well miss the implications of what it must have been like when whole families lived together in a single tent, as it was when the OT laws were given.

- Nudity still wasn't the norm. If it were, I would expect little to no mention of someone's nakedness. But nakedness seemed to be a condition to be mentioned as significant.

We must be careful what we declare If then for. Quite frankly, my impression is that nakedness IS mentioned very little in the Scriptures. Nakedness IS mentioned from time to time in the bible, but it is again the modern-day mindset that notes the significance of the mentionassuming that the naked part is really the point of the mention! The way I see it, the poors nakedness was a sign of the poverty which Gods people were commanded to minister to. The mention of Isaiahs nakedness was notable only because it went for 3 years non-stop. Kings Sauls nakedness was notable because he had changed professions, since evidently nudity among prophets was so common as to not merit a mention. Peters nakedness fishing was mentioned only to tell why he grabbed his garment before jumping out of the boat (and he probably wasnt the only naked fisherman on the boat!).
My point is that it is our modern mindset that says, Oh he was NAKED thats notable! when that may not be the emphasis of the passage at all.

- The common man (or woman) walking down the street or living in his home was clothed.

We can guess that this was pretty much the case, but it may not be nearly as universal as we imagine today, 2000 years removed. Have you ever seen a naked person walking around in public? Yet in bible times, Jesus and others made a special point of telling people to pay attention to the naked poor people; it must have been common enough to warrant repeated instructions on that precise point! If people really did often work naked, then seeing a naked workman in the middle of the day would not have been noteworthy; when Mary Magdalene mistook Jesus for the gardener, the most natural explanation for her mistake is that Hehaving left the grave-clothes behind in the tombmust have been dressed like an actively working gardener!

- Being naked in town would be like a homeless person is now. An indicator of extreme poverty, and to be avoided.

Yes, extreme poverty was to be ministered to by Gods people, and if they did so, then those needs would be addressed. But bear in mind that the naked that this is talking about is the same as the hungry the bible tells us to feed. Being hungry was not a moral need, it was a physical need. Being naked was not a moral need, it was a physical need (they probably sold the shirt on their back for food, so they no longer had a way to stay warm at nightSee James 2:15-16 for a clear description of what the hunger and nakedness meant).
Furthermore, the instructions to feed the hungry and clothe the naked were not commands to feed any person we meet who happens to be hungry at the moment or clothe every person who happens to be naked at the moment; they were commands to feed the hungry people who truly had no food to eat and no way to get any food, and to clothe the naked people who truly had no clothes to wear and no way to get any clothes.

- It was nothing like a naturist or nudist resort, even in people's homes or yards.

Again, you might be right in the main, but you have no way of knowing this for sure. First of all, I know of no mention in the bible at all of any sort of recreational activity either at home or on vacation. Were really only guessing on this point.
However, it might be worth considering that if a carpenter worked in his own backyard woodworking shop, we could expect that he would strip off his clothes to preserve his one clean garment from getting sweaty and covered with sawdust. The same would be true for a gardener or any other physically demanding home-based job.
Beyond that, however, I can say definitively that there was a place in public life where nudity was precisely like a nudist resort and thats the local citys gymnasium (from the Greek word gumnazo meaning naked) and any of the Roman Baths common throughout the Roman Empire. Even Jerusalem had a local gymnasium in Jesus day (Check out this article). Pauls writing reveal his own knowledge of the gymnasiums existence and the activities practiced on their grounds (he mentions wrestling, running, boxing, and exercise a word translated from the Greek word gumnazo in the NT). These mental/physical training sites also served as Universities in their day, and yes, nudity was required for all genders while on the grounds. NOTE: These gymnasiumsor Palaestras as they were calledwere a part of public life throughout the Roman empire while Jesus was on the earth and while the New Testament was being written!!

The Fine Print

This is the part where I admit that almost everything Ive suggested regarding commonplace nudity in biblical times is speculative. I can point to hints of these things here and there throughout the scriptures, but I have no concrete proof (except the point about the local Gymnasiums in Jerusalem I can prove that).
But we also have no concrete proof that any of the speculations I have offered are not accurate. My point is not to prove that my descriptions are accurate, but to point out that within the things you wrote, there are assumptions about how things were in bible times which themselves may not be accurate. Drawing final conclusions on my speculations would be indefensible. Drawing final conclusions on your representation of biblical life would also be indefensible. THAT is my point.

Thanks!

Again, Bill, thanks so much for writing and for giving me this opportunity to put into a blog post some things Ive pondered for a long time, but never directly addressed. I hope my comments have met your expectations. Please feel free to follow up with a reply here or directly by email.
Matthew Neal

See also:
I Don't Promote Naturism
Obviously! a post about Assumptions.
Squeamish Translating, and in particular, the article about Naked Disciples.
A Day at the Baths (this shows the layout details of a bath and Paleastra combined)
Hellenism: Center of the Universe (This one is startling in its implications)Posted byMatthew Nealat8:38 PM11 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:Assumptions,Bible,Clothing,Gymnasium,Hellenism,Interpretation,Naturism,Paleastra,Social Nudity Sunday, January 10, 2016 The Biggest Enemy of Christian Naturism

Is NOT Bible-believing Christians

There are a LOT of Christians who are absolutely sure that the very idea of social nudity is totally immoral and contrary to Gods will

But they are NOT the biggest enemy of Christian Naturism.

Id better define what I mean by Christian Naturism first

Christian Naturism Is

Christian Naturism: The belief held by followers of Jesus Christ that social nudity can be practiced in a chaste and righteous manner; it is also the belief that the practice of naturism is spiritually and physically healthy, and is in fact, a help to personal moral purity.

I believe that statement with all my heart. I also believe that the church at large would be greatly benefitted by this belief gaining widespread acceptance. I know that Im not alone in that belief, for I have had the privilege of making the acquaintance of many followers of Christ with whom I have enjoyed fellowship in a socially nude context.

An Enemy of Christian Naturism is therefore anything that would impede the wider acceptance of Christian Naturism among non-naturist followers of Christ.

What Committed Christians Care About

My identity as Christian is MUCH more important to me than my identity as a naturist. For me, that means that Gods moral truth is of paramount importance, and living a life that pleases God and is in harmony with Gods Word is what really matters not the practice of naturism.

A committed Christian cares about:

Gods Truth as revealed in the Bible. Gods standards of moral conduct. Living life to please God rather than self or others.

I will never suggest to any Christian who loves God to abandon or degrade even one of those core values in order to embrace any practice or lifestyle.

The Biggest Enemy of Christian Naturism

I hold therefore that greatest threat to the acceptance of naturism among Christians is when that acceptance is married to the acceptance of unbiblical positions on other moral issues.

Im fully aware that I may incur the ire of many fellow naturists who have appreciated my other works on this blog, but Im going to name the issues that I believe must be separated from the issue of naturism:

Sexual Immorality in any of its forms: Fornication (pre-marital sex) Adultery Homosexuality Unbiblical Social Stands: Same Sex Marriage Transgenderism Abortion rights Any rejection of the authority of the Scriptures as Gods truth for His people

I would never ask a Christian to abandon any of those convictions in order to embrace naturism. In fact, I will openly and vigorously oppose any naturist (Christian or not) who suggests or declares that the practice of naturism presupposes the alteration of their beliefs on any of the points Ive just listed. Why?

Because doing so is the biggest enemy of Christian Naturism.

I Want Committed Christians to be Even MORE Committed To Gods Word!

Ive written this blog principally for one purpose to demonstrate that social nudity is NOT contrary to the moral teachings of Gods Word. Ive written to demonstrate that the nudity-taboo taught in the church today is a man-made cultural doctrine that is actually unbiblical, offensive to God, and an impediment to moral purity.

I want Christians to study social nudity with a deeper commitment to the authority of Gods word, Gods truth, and Gods standards of morality than theyve ever had before. I want them to have more confidence that their beliefs and practices are based on careful, honest, and accurate interpretation of the Scriptures than before they sought to discern a biblical stance on naturism.

I will never ask someone to embrace naturism at the expense of Gods revealed truth. Period.

Matthew Neal

See also:
Naturist By Biblical Conviction
I Dont Promote Naturism
I Would NOT Be A Naturist If

Posted byMatthew Nealat1:11 AM17 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:Bible,Christian Naturism,Christianity,Convictions,Morality,Nakedness,nudity,Social Nudity,Truth Thursday, June 18, 2015 Connect with me on Facebook!Hey, everyone.

If you appreciate this blog, feel free to follow me at The Biblical Naturist page on Facebook!

Thanks for your support!

MattPosted byMatthew Nealat12:35 PM4 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Wednesday, May 27, 2015 God Doesnt Like RED! (the Failure of Guilty-By-Association)Weird post title?

I agree.

No, I dont really believe that God doesnt like red. Quite the opposite, actually.

But if I am careless (and biased) in my approach to biblical interpretation, I can make a pretty strong case from the Bible that God doesnt like red. He might even hate it!

Guilty-By-Association?

Ask a preacher about what God thinks about nakedness, and youll almost always hear, Throughout the Bible, youll find nakedness associated with shame. Therefore, nakedness is shameful and wrong. In other words, Nakedness is Guilty-by-Association.

To start with, its worth observing that they will not point you to any Scripture passage which simply and clearly condemns nudity. In fact we can make quite a list of rules about nudity that are not found in the bible.

There is
No verse that forbids you to see others naked. No verse that warns you against allowing anyone to see you naked. The exceptions are missing, too.
No verse that says you can see your spouse naked. No verse that says doctors are permitted to see their patients naked. No verse that says how young your child may be and still see you naked. Why dont they just point to such a verse that forbids public nudity? Simply because there isnt one.
So, they have to utilize the next best thing the Guilty-by-Association argument.

Guilty-by-Association on Trial

OK let me say up front that I dont believe guilty by association is any proof of guilt at all. Scripture interpretations based on Guilty-by-Association are false. I know of no teaching about moral standardsaccepted among biblical Christians as doctrinally soundwhich is based solely on the guilty by association argument.

Wait I know of one the argument against social nudity. Thats the only one.

But if Guilty-by-Association is not accepted for any other moral teaching, why is it accepted for this one issue? Is Guilty-by-Association actually is a sound interpretational means to discern Gods moral perspective on a matter?

If Guilty-by-Association is a valid way to interpret the Bible, then God hates RED. And I can prove it!

==================================================God Hates RED!A survey of the Bible shows how the color red is associated with sin or sinfulness.

In the Old Testament:

Isa. 1:18 - Come now, and let us reason together, Says the Lord, Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. Obviously, God wants us to know that sin is associated with the color red, for He repeats Himself, comparing sin to scarlet AND crimson. Numbers 19:1-10 This law calls for the slaughter of a Red Heifer for the sin of the Israelites. The entire animal was to be burned (no eating any part of it) along with some red cloth. The priest who performed the sacrifice was to be considered unclean. Being unclean is obviously not a good thing. Likewise, the one who gathered up the ashes after it was burned was to be considered unclean. Proverbs 23:31 Do not look on the wine when it is red Gods disdain for the color even extends to what we drink. Genesis 25:25 - Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. Later in his life, Esau sold his birthright for some red stuff. (Genesis 25:30) No wonder God says in Malachi 1:3, I have hated Esau.

In the New Testament:

Matthew 6:13 Jesus said, There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening. Bad weather is associated with the color red. Rev. 6:4 And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. The Second Horseman of the Apocalypse, sitting on a red horse, bringing war, and death. Rev. 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. This perhaps the most damning verse of all, for red is the color of the Dragon Satan himself! So, in the scriptures, we see a consistent pattern of the color red being associated with sin, sinfulness, Satan, or other bad things. This is how we can know that God hates RED.

Its Innate!

This is something that God has built into every person, too. Think of these facts about how we respond to the color red in our lives:
We naturally recoil at the sight of blood, which is red. When someone gets very angry, we describe them as seeing red. If our financial ledgers have a negative balance, we are in the red. We use red to tell people to STOP!! And no one likes to be told to stop. Red is the sign for danger. Red is color of destructive fire. Women painted with red lipstick are a source of temptation to lust for men. Its easy to see why red has a negative meaning in human society; this is directly the result of the fact that God hates RED!

The Christian who wishes to live a life pleasing to God will judiciously eliminate red from his or her life.

=======================================================================STOP!!Everything Ive just written about how God hates the color red is utter poppycock.

Pure rubbish.

Terrible, terrible interpretation.

And its because Ive invoked the Guilty-by-Association argument.

Guilty-By-Association Fails the Test

Lets look at how bad it is and why its so wrong.
I was prooftexting. I searched for and cherry-picked verses that I could somehow twist into supporting my pre-determined conclusion. If it didnt support my point, I skipped it. And that brings me to my next error there were many references to red in the Bible that are NOT associated with sin or anything bad. So if red is not always associated with sin or bad things, the color itself cannot be the issue! I lifted the passages completely out of context. I quoted only that portion which I deemed to support my conclusion. Esau was not rejected by God because he had red hair. The red sky at night (as opposed to the morning) indicated good weather to come. There were four horsemen, each on a different color horse. I focused on the color to the exclusion of any other part of each passage, making it sound like the color was THE reason the text indicated anything sinful or bad. I paid no attention at all to the fact that there are multiple words that are translated as red in the Bible. They are not all used the same way. I completely ignored the fact that red is a natural color found abundantly in creation utilized to great beauty in the natural (and very good!) world! Finally, NONE of the passage were in ANY way given to us to communicate Gods attitude towards the color red! This is how you make a point using the Guilty-by-Association argument. And it is all wrong.
God knows how to declare His standards of conduct. His clear words of moral absolutes are found throughout the Bible. When God doesnt clearly call something sin or forbid it, then we must not presume to add it in using a spurious or false argument to support it.

Nakedness is not a new thing among humans. It is simply inconceivable that God would have failed to clearly state his will regarding nakedness if He really did wish to forbid it (see Inconceivable Omission).

Lets review how those who use Guilty-by-Association make the same sort of errors that I made trying to prove that God hates red
They use prooftexting. I have seen many people simply list Scripture references rather than present clear interpretation of those verses based on the context. If they do quote a verse, they never present it in its context. When I respond to such folks, I take the scripture reference theyve given me and quote it back to them in its full context (with an explanation of what it really means), I simply get no reply back! Prooftexting always fails the test of careful and honest exegesis. There ARE verses in the Bible that present nakedness without any shame or sin associated! Sadly, many of them have been translated out of the English language Bible (See Squeamish Translating) so that the references to nudity that remain in the English translations are mostly negative(Seriously...seeSqueamish Translating)!Studying the matter by consulting the original languages reveals this bias against nudity and deals a blow to the Guilty-by-Association effort. The fact is, unless all occasions of nudity are equally shameful, we cannot conclude that the nakedness is the de facto source of the shame. Passages about nudity are often lifted out of context. Most notably is the teaching against incest in Leviticus 18 which uses the euphemism uncover the nakedness of for incest (since there is no Hebrew word for incest). The phrase absolutely and unequivocally refers to having sexual relations with a close (blood) relative (reiterated 4 times in the passage see Lev. 18:6, 12-13, 17) . Yet those who have pre-determined that the Bible forbids social nudity do not hesitate to rip that phrase in Leviticus 18 right out of its context in their attempt to declare social nudity to be immoral (see also The Meaning of Nakedness). Opponents of social nudity regularly quote passages of Scripture that deal with nakedness and shame and they invariably assign the shame to the nakedness rather than the behavior of the shamed person. The truth is this every time theres shame associated with nakedness, there is ALSO a description of the persons shameful and sinful behavior! It is indefensible to focus on one aspect of an account and presume that it alone is the source for the shame related in the text. There are a number of words in the Old Testament that refer to a person being without clothes. Heres another very significant FACT about nakedness in the Bible of all the Hebrew words that reference nudity, only ONE (ervah) is ever associated with sin and shame! That observation by itself should tell us that simple nudity is not the moral problem Bible people seem to want it to be (see The Meaning of Nakedness). Opponents of social nudity conveniently ignore the fact that God created Adam and Eve (and all of the other creatures in the world) to live naked and unashamed. It was so significant to His very good creation that it merited a special mention in Genesis 2:25. This very positive attitude about His naked creationexpressed by the One who cannot changeis completely ignored and/or discounted. God didnt change His attitude about the naked human form people did! (see Who Hates Nudity God or Satan?) Finally, theres not ONE passage in all the Bible expressly given to us in order to inform us of Gods moral view of nakedness (with the possible exception of Genesis 2:25, which affirms the goodness of nakedness). Therefore, each and every passage cherry-picked to make a guilty-by-association argument against nakedness is a passage that was not given to us for that purpose! Again, if God wanted to tell us what His moral opinion is about simple nudity, He could have, and He would have. But He didnt.

We Must Not Be Hermeneutically Lazy

Yes, we can all see that there are passages where nakedness and shame are closely associated. But nothing is Guilty-by-Association when we study the Bible to determine moral truth. Not even for nakedness. It is simply irresponsible and lazy if someone is willing to accept superficial conclusions about nudity based solely on the Guilty-by-Association argument.

As it turns out, Guilty-by-Association is the only argument thats ever been available for use against social nudity, so its the only one that anyone has ever heard. Its been repeated so frequently that no one ever pays attention to the fact that very foundation of the argument is false. Nor do they bother to examine its conclusions and put them under honest hermeneutical scrutiny.

Guilty-by-Association is false. It is always false. And its high time that solid and trustworthy teachers of the Bible be honest enough about it to lay it aside even if it means giving up their opposition to nudity.


Matthew NealPosted byMatthew Nealat5:24 PM16 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:Absolutes,Assumptions,Bible,Christian,Convictions,Exegesis,Guilty-By-Association,Morality,Nakedness,Naturism,nudity,Scripture Translation,Shame,Social Nudity,Truth Friday, May 15, 2015 But Well Wear ROBES in Heaven!!It goes something like this:
The Bible describes God and Jesus and the saints and everyone else in heaven as wearing clothes! So, obviously, God intends for us to wear clothes here and now!
Its an argument against naturism that I havent yet addressed on this blog. This was pointed out this some time ago by a reader who commented on my previous post. Thankfully, he was much more articulate and less dogmatic than my characterization above, but he did correctly identify that this was an issue I had not yet covered. Heres what he wrote:

I have appreciated getting your perspectives as they have challenged assumptions in how I understand Scripture. I have a question that I don't think has been addressed on your blog so far.
Scripture uses a robe as a symbol for our righteous standing before God. Christ's perfect righteousness had been imputed to us to cover our sin, and this is symbolized as a robe of righteousness from God. Also, based on the Book of Revelation, it seems that there will still be clothes in eternity as it mentions people wearing white robes. Even though we will no longer have sin, our clothes may help remind us that we were once sinful and that Christ came to clothe us with his righteousness. Given the symbolic significance of clothing in our salvation, does this undermine the idealizing of nudity?
Thanks so much!

To this reader I say, Thanks for writing! And thanks for your kind words about how the blog has challenged you!
There are more than one thing that I need to say in response to your questions, so let me now address them.

Symbolism Has Its Limits

The first point is that while the Bible does use physical items symbolically, it is a mistake to treat that item as if it cannot have any other meaning, or that we must be reminded of that spiritual meaning every time we are physically exposed to that item.
For example, Christ used the bread and wine as symbols to remind of His suffering for us on the cross. They are powerful symbols reminding us of His death and shed blood. Yet bread and wine are not without any other meaning and we are under no obligation to remember Christ every time we have a bite of bread or take a drink of grape juice or wine. Bread is used symbolically in other ways in the Bible, and so is wine. And sometime, bread and wine are just food and drink.
In like manner, the fact that we see clothing used symbolically to represent honor and gloryor a righteous standing before Goddoes not mean that thats the only meaning or purpose of clothing, nor do we have an obligation to intentionally remember or portray that symbolism every time we put on some clothing. The fact is that clothing has many purposes (I did an entire series on that point). Sometimes it shows the greatness of a person, but sometime it tells all that the person is in mourning.

Symbolism is Culturally interpreted!

In perhaps a surprising observation, we see in the Bible that muchif not allof the symbolism invoked in the Bible actually has to be interpreted within a cultural context in order to understand what God is intending to communicate. In other words, God saw fit to portray human cultural patterns and conventions to communicate to mankind through symbols. Let me give some examples: I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. (Isa. 6:1) Exactly why does God need to wear a robe? And why a robe with a train? God has no body right? He needs no robe to keep warm, nor to cover for modestys sake. And the train of any robe has absolutely NO functional use at all except to draw admiring attention to its wearer. The train comes from a time and culture far removed from ours, and would be completely lost on western culture if not for the fact that brides often wear dresses with a long train at their weddings (for the same purpose). Note, if human culture hadnt developed kingdoms with royalty wearing extravagantly ornate and decorated clothing to portray their greatness (including robes with long trains), there would be nothing of meaning in Gods robe and its train. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; (Rev. 3:20) What is a door but a human invention? What is knocking to seek entry but a human convention? While God has always been eager to fellowship with men and women, the statement found in Rev. 3:20 could not have been spoken with any real meaning by Jesus before doors and knocking became a part of human cultural experience. Doorswe can probably assumeare not a reality in the spirit realm, given the very fact that they are a physical,material device.So clothing is used to convey as spiritual meaning but I dont believe it will be helpful to explore the various valid meanings for clothing here. The point that is important to make here is that symbolism picturing spiritual truth does not translate into moral requirements about the physical elements utilized for the symbolism.

Symbolism Utilizes Human Constructs.

Undoubtedly, there is some symbolic language in the bible which refers to completely natural events (the sunrise) or entities (animals) to make a symbolic application, but in the mainand certainly with reference to clothingsymbolism representing spiritual truth is based upon some sort of human invention or pattern. In other words, God is using human things to communicate with humans. This truth explains why we must consider culture when interpreting the meaning of a symbol. Since mankind created the physical picture, (doors, bread, wine, clothing, mansions), God can then use those objects to illustrate heavenly truths.Heres the point the spiritual pictures do not define the physical meaning of thingsnor do they prescribe their usagebut the physical gives its meaning of the spiritual picture. This is why we cant use the clothing of heaven to conclude any sort of moral obligation for clothing in the here-and-now.

But Obviously, There IS Clothing in Heaven!

Ok so descriptions of Heaven include descriptions of clothing shouldnt we ask what the clothing in heaven for? Clothing on earth has a variety of purposes (see this series regarding The Biblical Purposes of Clothing), but could the purpose for heavenly clothing be the same as on earth? Is it for warmth? For protection of the body? I highly doubt it. What about for moral purposes might God be offended by unclothed spirits? Will He be offended by an unclothed glorified human body? Just pondering that for a moment reveals how silly that suggestion is. Will it be to constrain sexual lust?? Thats not even a biblically valid purpose for clothing in the physical realm, but the suggestion that it would still apply in heavenafter we have been glorified and delivered from the presence of sin in our livesis also inconceivable. Notwithstanding the ludicrousness of this notion, people still will put forth the apparent presence of clothing on the inhabitants of heaven as evidence that we must also wear clothing to live a righteous life here on earth. Does the clothing of heaven communicate something about the wearers? Ah, now here we have a clear match in the probable purpose of clothing in heaven. The human inhabitants of heaven have been washed by the blood of Christ, and as the bride of Christ, they will wear white linen garments pictures of how their lives have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ (the robes are said in that verse to actually be the righteous acts of the saints, clearly non-physical in nature.).Beyond just its purpose, exactly what do we imagine that the clothing of heaven is even made of? As I just mentioned, in Rev. 19:8 were told that they were white linen (reiterated in Rev. 19:14) Linen is made from plants physical plants. But does that mean that theres an earthly textile industry with a contract for millions of white linen garments for the hosts of heaven? Isnt that a question worth asking? Are we really supposed to conclude that this imagery speaks of literal organic linen garments? I dont think so! Thats not at all the point of the picture. Again, the descriptions of clothing of heaven are given to communicate something about heaven, not to prescribe them for earth.

Actually Naked In Heaven?

Will we morally object to nudity in heaven as we seem to here on earth? Theres no basis to claim so and I certainly hope that we no longer have hang-ups about the Gods beautiful design of the human form in heaven. C.S. Lewis effectively communicated the uncertainty of the meaning and purposeand the substanceof heavenly clothing in his book, The Great Divorce, where he writes of a bright spirit seen by his protagonist, who describers her this way:

I cannot now remember whether she was naked or clothed. If she were naked, then it must have been the almost visible penumbra of her courtesy and joy which produces in my memory the illusion of a great and shining train that followed her across the happy grass. If she were clothed, then the illusion of nakedness is doubtless due to the clarity with which her inmost spirit shone through the clothes. For clothes in that country are not a disguise: the spiritual body lives along each thread and turns them into living organs. A robe or a crown is there as much one of the wearer's features as a lip or an eye. (The Great Divorce, chapter 12)

While Lewis imaginations about what heaven will be like are no more inspired than anyone elses, its clear the he realized that clothing in heaven must have a completely different meaning and essence than clothing as we know it today.Again, this acknowledgement underscores the futility of attempting to derive moral absolutes about clothing in the here and now based upon the descriptions of clothing from biblical scenes of heaven.

Are We Supposed to Remember our Sin??

You suggested in your comments that clothing in heaven may help remind us of our sin but do you really think thats something God wants for us to do for all eternity? Dont you think he would rather we persist for eternity in the righteousness of Christ, restored to sinless fellowship as God intended right from the beginning in Eden? Sin should be nothing more than a distant memory if a memory at all! Doesnt even God say that he will remember our sins no more?
Finally, you implied that I idealize nudity. Im not sure I would concur with that characterization of my position. I think the problem is that people idealize (or is it idolize?) clothing giving it an importance and a moral significance that it simply does not deserve.
The refusal to reject nudity (by idealizing clothing) is not by itself the idealization of nudity.
What I would idealize is the abilityeven in a fallen worldto be naked and not ashamed. (honestly, that sounds like the Bible idealizes nudity at least in some measure!). To be free from shame is Gods ideal for us. To be free from man-made rules of righteousness (such as a moral requirement for clothing) is also a biblical ideal.
So, do I idealize nudity? No. I idealize the casting off of false constraints and beliefs about our unclothed bodies. It only follows then that if we cast off the false, we must choose to live contrary to the false, or else were still submitting to the lie (and that is the foundation of my assertion that I am a Naturist By Biblical Conviction).
Thanks again for writing! I welcome your feedback!
MattPosted byMatthew Nealat9:41 PM5 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:Bible,Clothing,Exegesis,History,Human Body,Imago Dei,Truth Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)This is The Biblical Naturist

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