It should be know great wonder why God created us for his good pleasure in His image and likeness naked unashamed. God knew what was best for His creations that he made, and in good nudity he made them that way, for many very good reasons. Good nudity is what stops bad nudity from flourishing in the ramped manner we see it today as the porn industry is more than a six billion dollar a year giant.
First let’s take a stroll down memory lane about the issues of good/bad nudity over time, and while doing so look to see just how porn or bad nudity got started. First of all we look at the popular expressions from ancient drawings and paintings like those of the pyramids and catacombs. What is an amazing discovery is that a great deal of nudity abounded in days of old, as nudity or clothing optional was very common in a majority of the world. In and about these times no one has yet to discover any significant hard core porn depictions in drawings and or pictures/paintings. In Athens Grease the Olympics were primarily done in total nudity of mixed genders, they trained nude and many of their teachings was conducted in mixed nudity, however clothing was used in times of cold for warmth and protection from the cold.
The Romans who dominated the world were open to public bathes and mixed nudity was not uncommon. Numerous pictures of nude paintings cover the interior of the Sistine Chapel, yet not one depiction of bad nudity. Knowing that the founders of the Sistine chapel were indeed Christians they must surly have been in what we would describe in today’s language as “Naturist Christians” having very open minds towards good nudity, that obviously dominated any suggestion of any form of porn or bad nudity. We are advised over and over again that if a people or a nation, or a planet for that matter fails to learn from their history they will repeat their same mistakes over and over again until they do, and apply what they have learned. Thus today lust and porn or bad nudity can again be brought to next to nothing by using the proven methods learned from history. Good nudity combined with good Christian values can restore the mental health and morals of most people back to a state that far surpasses the problems we face today in a society so caught up in such a stiff necked self righteous blind attitude.
Today many (spiritually impaired) say all nudity has to be covered as to not allow a brother or sister to stumble, not realizing that the one's who are nude are not the one's with the problem like the one's who are triggered into a passion of lust, which by the way is equally triggered in the same persons when viewing bikinis, tight fitting jeans and other clothed people. You can cover the entire world and that will not change the hearts condition of those who suffer from the spirit of lust. Jesus warned of people who only cover the superficial and do nothing to change the inside, like whited sepulchers. M't:23:27: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Their insides still being rotten as dead men’s bones and so is the case where every one who thinks to hide the problem as if God can’t see it.
Covering up good nudity is how porn got its start; it leaves people in the dark as to what good nudity is, and what bad nudity is, and thus people not seeing the different examples fall to superstitions, rumors, and evil imaginations. On the other hand if good nudity was again set as the reality in front of everyone’s eyes in daily life they could then grow again to be more stable like the those demonstrated from world history, and from around the times of Jesus and the early church, which by the way did most all their baptisms of candidates of mixed gender in the nude. It had its qualities as imposters or the insincere are less likely to be volunteers to be found naked and open in the presents of others who are true believers. It was most likely much the reason it was insisted upon, as it symbolizes Jesus who died naked on the cross, and the submersion as in his death and burial, and being raised from the submersion in the likeness of Jesus’ resurrection, a rebirth of the born again person washed free from sin, the beginning of a new person in Jesus Christ.
Today with the watered down versions of baptism doctrines so common to most denominations, many people including the candidates don’t know for sure who is or is not really sincere as many people get baptized just to please others. If coming forward to follow up in being baptized in full nudity were the set tradition today we would have far less make believers. Good nudity now is like when little children play or bathe together, and if it were retained from childhood up children would continue to grow up thinking free from the grips of bad nudity coming from imaginations, and rumors, that manipulate innocent minds into perverted thinking like the need (or excuse) to cover every one else, like it will change the illness they harbor deep inside themselves that God sees all along.
Never is a problem so grave as porn overcome by hiding it from view, it does not just go away, that is Satan’s style of thinking because he is behind the cover up idea and the porn industry as well. God made us in his image and likeness naked unashamed for his good pleasure because he above all knows what is best. Who would want to cover what God created for his good pleasure naked unashamed? you guessed it, that old serpent who started all the cover up trouble in the first place.
Have you ever wondered what Satan appeared like in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve lived naked unashamed? Satin is described in scripture in: Eze:28:13: Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Eze:28:14: Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Eze:28:15: Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Iniquity was found in Satan when Satan beguiled Eve, and God sentenced Satan to crawl from that time on in the dust of the earth; Ge:3:14: And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: Thus prior to this incident, in the Garden of Eden Satan was decked out to the max in every kind of vain covering. Such coverings of Satan had to be the first things Adam and Eve would have noticed about Satan, who in comparison made them to look at each other (or Satan told them) causing them to be aware of what naked was standing next to such a lushly covered being claiming to be like a god himself. Then while conveying the idea to Eve that the forbidden fruit would allow them to be also like gods themselves, thus being covered like Satan the imitator passing himself off as being like a god.
Bible Scripture instructs Christians to be imitators of God; Eph 5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children (NIV) True Christian imitators of God (with a capitol "G") are free to be in God's image and likeness naked unashamed. But imitators of god (small "g") are usually covered in like manner with as rich and lush attire as they can afford, much the same thinking as the same being that beguiled Eve. You can’t make it better than God! Who do you prefer to imitate, God or god? Keep in mind a real Christian today is fully dressed when he or she can truthfully say that they have on no more than the full armor of God.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us VicJane. I am so appreciative. That was such an eye-opening post. I wholeheardely agree with you. I am not not sure though about the Roman bath houses and the Olympic games. I thought they weren't co-ed. However I compley agree with you about pornography being Satans industry, and the innocence of wholesome nudity.
Someday I hope to find a wife that will be open to the idea of naturism so I can raise a naturist family.
I too am a bachelor, but I have dated girls who were open-minded about nudity.
It think that it is important and you should discuss it with a girl you are
dating early in the relationship.
I would not recommend posting a personal ad that requests a nudist girl.
It tends to send the wrong message. A woman who feels content in her own
skin is so much more than that. Look for the big picture.
So that begs the question, where can you find a kindred spirit?
If you like hiking and camping, some outdoors women, (but not all) take their love of natural living to the point of going natural in nature.
They are just waiting for some guy who isn't going to pounce on her the moment she chooses to go skinnydipping with you. They want respect and deserve it.
I think that some nurses and other health care workers are more practical about nudity. I dated a female nurse who was like that.
Also many artists learn to have a more down-to-earth attitude about nudity because of life drawing classes they generally take in college and art schools.
I would avoid the churches that are too legalistic and look for communties of faith that are more grace oriented. It attracts a healthier mindset and nurtures the religious foundation that is a necessary prerequisite to the eventual development of Christian naturism. I have no desire to return to the churches that are negative, always scolding and put guilt burdens on their parishioners. A pastor can get a lot more true righteousness in his congregation by encouraging rightouesness, helping build character rather than tear it down. I think you see my point.
Back to my first point, eventually and before you get too emotionally involved, you should find out how open and grace-based your new friend is.
I had a girlfriend do that to me once. She asked me a hypothetical question about going to a nude beach. I was somewhat open to the idea, but was a little concerned about getting hassled. My schedule never allowed us to try it, but
we would have had a good time at that particular beach. It is even safer to go with a non-landed naturist club.
I have promised myself not to have more than one or two dates with a prudish, guilt-ridden woman. You can't hope to undo years of negativity.
I also agree that VicJane defined the problem with prudishness very well.
We agree that prudishness is not an acceptable alternative to porn addiction.
Sometimes we defend naturism half-heartedly by simply saying "it's not wrong".
I wish we had more defense of the sort that VicJane offers us.
A healthy attitude about the body and of course about nudity is essential to a good life. The practice of naturism is a common-sense way to reinforce that belief. Why would we believe that nudity is good thing but never act on that belief? Well, hostile social conditions and bad weather might temporarily hinder us, but eventually we need to practice what we preach.
There is a question though about Egyptian artifacts. Everytime I see articles and pictures of Egyptian tombs and other facts about it, they always fail to mention their proclivity to go nude in public. In fact, even the pictures seems to be filled with workers all wearing a cloth around their waists. I'm sure it's not for the future generation to see and not get offended!
Here is something I was wondering about the serpent (satan).
He was cursed "upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life". Well, is that the beginning of snakes as we know it? Do snakes really eat dust? If not, then why are we taking literally the idea that we "MUST wear clothing at all times"?
God cursed man with thorns and hard labor, God cursed woman with a painful childbirth, and the serpent with eating dust.
So far, no curse of being forced to wear clothing at all times. Yet the same man who thinks we should wear clothing is doing everything he can to not work in thorns and not by the sweat of his brow. The women are doing what they can to keep their giving birth less painful, but those are not sinful, even when God said it will be.
But God did NOT say that we must wear clothes, but we feel we must anyway.
We have studied into the nudity and Egypt info some time ago and found that Ra was a sun god and that for a time here in mentioned nudity was very popular in Egypt. Also it was known that slaves in Egypt were made to go nude and to some they were covered with honey in order to draw the flies away from upper class Egyptians, (if you can’t repel them attract them so someone else). Here is a link to a reputable site and a clip from some of their statements.
*Public nudity was common in ancient Egypt under Pharaoh Akhen-Aton (1385-1353 BCE).
*Students in ancient Greece exercised and received instruction while unclad; athletes competed in the nude. This continued until 393 CE, when the Christian emperor banned the Olympic Games because he considered them Pagan.
Two things then we need to consider.
One, it was slaves that was often nude, and we all know how we feel about slavery, and even then it was a pagan society.
Second, again, Rome was a pagan society as well, and the people enjoy nudity. And it was a Christian Emporer who banned the olympics, not because competing was bad, but because they were dedicated to pagan gods. Why they didn't just dedicated it the real God later after Christianity was pronounced the top religion of Rome, I don't know. But along with this ban, was a ban on nudity by the early Christians.
Now that I put honey on the problem, how do we get rid of these flies?
BTW, honey was used on slave a lot, not because of flies, since that would cause the slave to become distracted from their work, but because honey was found out to combat infections caused by injuries the workers endured. So here is some ancient medicine, honey is a good ointment for cuts and other injuries and reduces or eleminates infections.
So in a sense, if they wanted to attract flies with honey (a proverb we use today) then they are actually getting flies in the ointment (another proverb we use).
Thank you all for your many warm comments. And the naturist wife issue we are presently addressing and will post something soon. There is hope!... again thank you all so very much...
VJ
When I saw the title to your post, I immediately recalled some of the writings of Jeff Bowman, a pator who did not hide his naturism. Unfortunately, there's an ugly story that resulted from some church members suddenly rising up out of the ashes and demanding that he be ousted. The good news is that he and his wife Judy had also run a nudist B&B in Anaheim from their home, expanded that venture into the Living Waters Spa in Palm Springs. I originally ran across his writings some years ago about "Good Nudity" and was reminded of them here. He has good thoughts and was the minister at the Easter service this year at the Glen Eden resort. Unfortunately, We both had to work and couldn't go (sniff, sniff). Here's a link to his writings:
We have had some correspondence with Brother Jeff, and he has been very encouraging to us, we greatly admire his writings as he exhibits a great amount of Godly inspirations in his writings. We keep them in our prayers, as the mountains of trials they have endured, while always keeping their faith all along the way sometime reminds us of Job, truly milestones in the testimonies of those of us who stand up for good nudity.
Judy and I are doing GREAT! We've had Living Waters Spa open now for 2 1/2 years and during that time we've had over 2000 people come and visit our place. Since our 4th month we've had repeat guests each week!
To our knowledge we've had 6 Pastors, 2 Chaplains, and 1 Christian Seminary Prof, PLUS 100s and 100s of believers.
I've posted some new stuff on our ministry site: www.ExperienceGrace.com, including my sermon on Good Nudity.
Ten years ago we were headed to Palm Springs for a Christian book conference and in looking for a place to stay I read an article in the Los Angeles Times Sunday magazine about the Terra Cotta Inn and suggested we stay there. My wife, being a seminary grad, said she didn't know of any biblical reason not to go and that was our first nudist experience. Her inner fears were also eased when she saw how ordinary nudists were and that my ulterior motives weren't of a sexual nature and we weren't getting into any swinging atmospheres. Soon after I found your writings, Jeff, and they helped to clear a path to a new lifestyle of freedom. I particularly liked your writings on caring for a sick family member and how eroticism is the furthest thought from one's mind when nudity is involved in caregiving. We specially set aside Wednesdays this summer as our day together at Glen Eden and I think nudism has helped bring us closer over the years (married 25 1/2) and I keep telling my wife how pleased I am and how much I love her because both of us are able to enjoy this activity together. Your writings alone didn't do it, but they were one more building block in our journey including Boyd's site.
Pastor Jeff it is a pleasure to hear from you again, and a blessing indeed, it is so good to hear that your ministry is being so blessed as well, it always comes with being where God wants you to be. So many prayers have been answered, and may the Lord continue to richly bless you Pastor Jeff and your family.
I don't know about any of the other referances that you made concerning a lack of "bad nudity" in the artwork of various ancient cultures, but I do know a little something about one- the Greeks.
Ancient Greek culture was rampant with homosexuality. Pederasty was common, and wives were often taken solely as a means to continue a family line.
Popular artwork often reflects the society of the time during which it was made, and the artwork of the Greeks is no exception. In my studies of art I have seen numerous examples of extremely graphic depictions of male homosexuality, usually on vases and other objects that could be displayed in a home, etc.
Oh- something else just popped into my head... there's alot of empty space in there, so that's easily done...
Many old churches, believe it or not, are (or at least were) laden with statuary, usually around and above doorways or around the roof edges, that show people in a variety of sexual activity- again graphically, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.
All I mean to show is that pornographic imagery is nothing new, and has been part and parcel of human art from the very beginning, probably beginning with the "earth-mother" statues.
