are there any Christians who dont believe in tatoos here

Faithfulandtrue

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I am going to be honest because I feel like I never can be. I don't believe God likes tatoos. Why because it says he doesn't in the Bible... "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord."and before you go and tell me" well that was the law of moses and blah blah blah", concider what God is saying and also what other things he says is an abomination too, like having sex with your daughter in law, having sex with an animal, obviously these things are NOT okay. although I agree that there are the washings and sacrifices that dont need to be done anymore and those are legalism, but look at some of them and see that even Christ told us to follow. Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I guess you just have to look at why God commanded them and pray about it. anywho please message me if you agree. I dont even want to come back to this thread cause i know im going to get a ton of poeple attacking me and stuff.
 

faroukfarouk

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I am going to be honest because I feel like I never can be. I don't believe God likes tatoos. Why because it says he doesn't in the Bible... "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord."and before you go and tell me" well that was the law of moses and blah blah blah", concider what God is saying and also what other things he says is an abomination too, like having sex with your daughter in law, having sex with an animal, obviously these things are NOT okay. although I agree that there are the washings and sacrifices that dont need to be done anymore and those are legalism, but look at some of them and see that even Christ told us to follow. Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I guess you just have to look at why God commanded them and pray about it. anywho please message me if you agree. I dont even want to come back to this thread cause i know im going to get a ton of poeple attacking me and stuff.

What about the previous verse in Leviticus that says not to trim the corners of one's beard?

Do preachers shave?

If preachers do shave, then maybe they are backhandedly admitting that such matters relate to Old Testament Jews in the land under the law?

Today, under grace, it's the gospel rather than the law that is presumably the rule of the believer's life, and if for example a John 3.16 tattoo etc. leads to many witness opportunities, then this would be what other Christians would presumably be glad about?
 
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Sketcher

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Are tattoos banned in Acts 15? No, they are not. They are not banned on Gentiles in Jewish tradition either, just on Jews. Therefore, they're not sinful in and of themselves for Gentile Christians. For Messianic Jews though, they should be avoided - if you believe you are held to kosher foods, then you must avoid tattoos as well.
 
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Resha Caner

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It's not that getting a tattoo in and of itself puts your eternal fate at risk, but whenever the Bible mentions them (in only a few instances) it is always in a negative light - in a prohibitionary manner. Tattoos were often used as some kind of pagan religious symbolism.

I just don't see how cutting the body can be seen as a pleasing thing in God's sight - but I realize some manage to justify it to themselves.
 
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Sophrosyne

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I think that in many cases tatoos have sin behind them as in associating with groups/people that are sinful or ideas that are ungodly. In the Bible it equates it wrong to do things to make your brother stumble (sin) and tatoos can be a source of that in some cases. I think that often the idea behind tatoos is to get attention and in that getting attention the desire behind it in the end is to sin in the effort.
Christians are not commanded against tatoos, the Jews as they were to be a set aside people of God that were not to be seen as individuals but a nation. tatoos can be a source of division more than uniting people as a whole.
The Bible also equates our body as the temple of God, and tatoos can be considered a form of advertising or graffiti and nobody would want their "temple" to have such nonsense on it. Imagine what your church would look like tatood all over it with everyone putting the tatoos off their body on the outside walls and see how those who attend quickly want to paint over them all.
 
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faroukfarouk

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On the other hand, what about a Christian fish sign <>< or 'John 3.16' that leads to witness conversations? they are proven very effective in this way.

I don't understand any emphasis to put people back under the law rather than to emphasize Gospel opportunities, under grace.
 
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NorrinRadd

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I think that in many cases tatoos have sin behind them as in associating with groups/people that are sinful or ideas that are ungodly.

So what? Unless you also propose that Christians refrain from speaking or writing the common names of the days of the week or several of the months of the year, all of which honor pagan deities, your observance of this principle is inconsistent.

Besides, "many" =\= "all."


In the Bible it equates it wrong to do things to make your brother stumble (sin) and tatoos can be a source of that in some cases.

That is ONE principle presented in Scripture. Another is that it can be good to refuse to submit to strictures that *appear* to be wise but really are not. Besides depriving oneself of the freedom Christ purchased, it can wrongly convey the idea that Xianity is about following rules.


I think that often the idea behind tatoos is to get attention and in that getting attention the desire behind it in the end is to sin in the effort.

How exactly does one dress, wear one's hair, etc. so as NOT to "get attention." You could be "plain" as many Anabaptists and some Free Methodists, but by its contrast to the practices of common culture, that in itself attracts attention.


Christians are not commanded against tatoos, the Jews as they were to be a set aside people of God that were not to be seen as individuals but a nation. tatoos can be a source of division more than uniting people as a whole.

Neither the exact nature of the marks, nor the reason people got them, is really known. The word is literally "imprints." In addition to conventional "tattoos," it probably included face- and body-painting, and possibly branding. It may even be directly linked to scarring from the body-cutting in the previous portion of the verse. I guess just to on the safe side, we should proscribe face- and body-painting at sporting events and fairs.

You're right that a major purpose of the Law was to distinguish the people of God from "the nations." That was under the Obsolete Covenant. We are under the New Covenant. We are explicitly told we are distinguished from the world at large by two things: Love for one another (John 13:35) and the presence of the Spirit (1 John 3:24; 4:13; Rom. 8:9).


The Bible also equates our body as the temple of God, and tatoos can be considered a form of advertising or graffiti and nobody would want their "temple" to have such nonsense on it. Imagine what your church would look like tatood all over it with everyone putting the tatoos off their body on the outside walls and see how those who attend quickly want to paint over them all.

Yeah. And let's get rid of the stained glass windows. And any pictures of angels, 'cause someone might mistake them for valkyries and "stumble." And any crosses, 'cause someone might think it's a representation of Thor's hammer, or of the tree Odin was hanged on for nine days to gain the wisdom of the runes.


If your *intent* in getting tats is to honor some pagan demon-god, or to associate with a violent gang or racist nuts, then get them, but don't pretend to be Xian. If your intent is to get them because you like the way they look, or to demonstrate the Xian freedom from the useless elemental principles of life under law, get them and wear them with joy.
 
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MrJim

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It's not that getting a tattoo in and of itself puts your eternal fate at risk, but whenever the Bible mentions them (in only a few instances) it is always in a negative light - in a prohibitionary manner. Tattoos were often used as some kind of pagan religious symbolism.

I just don't see how cutting the body can be seen as a pleasing thing in God's sight - but I realize some manage to justify it to themselves.

Well God did institute circumcision in the Old Covenant...just sayin' cuttin' babies seems pretty harsh;)
 
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faroukfarouk

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So what? Unless you also propose that Christians refrain from speaking or writing the common names of the days of the week or several of the months of the year, all of which honor pagan deities, your observance of this principle is inconsistent.

Besides, "many" =\= "all."




That is ONE principle presented in Scripture. Another is that it can be good to refuse to submit to strictures that *appear* to be wise but really are not. Besides depriving oneself of the freedom Christ purchased, it can wrongly convey the idea that Xianity is about following rules.




How exactly does one dress, wear one's hair, etc. so as NOT to "get attention." You could be "plain" as many Anabaptists and some Free Methodists, but by its contrast to the practices of common culture, that in itself attracts attention.




Neither the exact nature of the marks, nor the reason people got them, is really known. The word is literally "imprints." In addition to conventional "tattoos," it probably included face- and body-painting, and possibly branding. It may even be directly linked to scarring from the body-cutting in the previous portion of the verse. I guess just to on the safe side, we should proscribe face- and body-painting at sporting events and fairs.

You're right that a major purpose of the Law was to distinguish the people of God from "the nations." That was under the Obsolete Covenant. We are under the New Covenant. We are explicitly told we are distinguished from the world at large by two things: Love for one another (John 13:35) and the presence of the Spirit (1 John 3:24; 4:13; Rom. 8:9).




Yeah. And let's get rid of the stained glass windows. And any pictures of angels, 'cause someone might mistake them for valkyries and "stumble." And any crosses, 'cause someone might think it's a representation of Thor's hammer, or of the tree Odin was hanged on for nine days to gain the wisdom of the runes.


If your *intent* in getting tats is to honor some pagan demon-god, or to associate with a violent gang or racist nuts, then get them, but don't pretend to be Xian. If your intent is to get them because you like the way they look, or to demonstrate the Xian freedom from the useless elemental principles of life under law, get them and wear them with joy.

Have you noticed that in the nature of the hyper-conservative, religious mindset there is often deathly silence when it comes to investing in dodgy, Enron-type corporations with dubious, offshore stock structures, or when people want to hoard assault weapons and heavy ammunition...

...but if a young woman gets John 3.16 inked on her wrist for witness purposes, then this will be denounced with a vehemence unparalleled?
 
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Sketcher

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The Bible also equates our body as the temple of God, and tatoos can be considered a form of advertising or graffiti and nobody would want their "temple" to have such nonsense on it. Imagine what your church would look like tatood all over it with everyone putting the tatoos off their body on the outside walls and see how those who attend quickly want to paint over them all.

This depends on circular reasoning. The body is a temple, but one can't validly argue that all tattoos are automatically graffiti. They could only be graffiti if they are offensive to God, requiring them to be proven as sinful outside of one's personal judgment call that they are graffiti. Which is easy enough to prove to a Jew, but Gentiles are not bound by the Law of Moses, and there is no command outside the Law of Moses against tattoos.

Besides, if my church had a particular wall that had copies of tattoos that were on its members (restricted to the tattoos that were gotten when the people in question were following Jesus, as opposed to before they were saved or when they were in active rebellion), I don't think it would be offensive at all.
 
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faroukfarouk

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No one in my family has or wants tattoos.

Well, this is great for you guys! :)

For some people who have them, a principal motivation is for witness purposes (Bible ref., Christian fish sign <><, etc.), seeing as it's a widely acknowledged means of expression.
 
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faroukfarouk

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I believe the most beautiful thing a person can do to be a witness of good, clean living is to care for one's body. Keeping a healthy diet, exercise and sleep habits--as well as modesty in dress and temperance--can be the greatest expression of one's faith.

To answer the question directly: Yes, there are Christians here who don't "believe" in tattoos.

I agree with you about modesty.

I don't think that for example a tattoo of a Christian fish sign <>< or John 3.16 on a wrist, etc., proves immodesty, however. Especially if there is a desire to glorify God in witness.

Blessings.
 
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JoshuaDaryl

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I am going to be honest because I feel like I never can be. I don't believe God likes tatoos. Why because it says he doesn't in the Bible... "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord."and before you go and tell me" well that was the law of moses and blah blah blah", concider what God is saying and also what other things he says is an abomination too, like having sex with your daughter in law, having sex with an animal, obviously these things are NOT okay. although I agree that there are the washings and sacrifices that dont need to be done anymore and those are legalism, but look at some of them and see that even Christ told us to follow. Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I guess you just have to look at why God commanded them and pray about it. anywho please message me if you agree. I dont even want to come back to this thread cause i know im going to get a ton of poeple attacking me and stuff.

:thumbsup::amen::preach::thumbsup::amen::preach:
 
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JoshuaDaryl

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It's not that getting a tattoo in and of itself puts your eternal fate at risk, but whenever the Bible mentions them (in only a few instances) it is always in a negative light - in a prohibitionary manner. Tattoos were often used as some kind of pagan religious symbolism.

I just don't see how cutting the body can be seen as a pleasing thing in God's sight - but I realize some manage to justify it to themselves.

:thumbsup:
 
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JoshuaDaryl

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I think that in many cases tatoos have sin behind them as in associating with groups/people that are sinful or ideas that are ungodly. In the Bible it equates it wrong to do things to make your brother stumble (sin) and tatoos can be a source of that in some cases. I think that often the idea behind tatoos is to get attention and in that getting attention the desire behind it in the end is to sin in the effort.
Christians are not commanded against tatoos, the Jews as they were to be a set aside people of God that were not to be seen as individuals but a nation. tatoos can be a source of division more than uniting people as a whole.
The Bible also equates our body as the temple of God, and tatoos can be considered a form of advertising or graffiti and nobody would want their "temple" to have such nonsense on it. Imagine what your church would look like tatood all over it with everyone putting the tatoos off their body on the outside walls and see how those who attend quickly want to paint over them all.

:thumbsup::amen::clap::preach:
 
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Resha Caner

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Well God did institute circumcision in the Old Covenant...just sayin' cuttin' babies seems pretty harsh;)

Fair enough. I could note some differences, but that probably wouldn't be effective now. Still, the other part of my post remains. I don't see any positive affirmations of tattoos in the Bible - only negative.

I don't think that for example a tattoo of a Christian fish sign <>< or John 3.16 on a wrist, etc., proves immodesty, however. Especially if there is a desire to glorify God in witness.

I don't see how this justifies it. Replace what you said with "anything", i.e. I can do anything I want as long as there is a desire to glorify God (1 Cor 10:23).

Suppose there were a law where you live prohibiting signs from being too large or elevated too high (such ordinances do exist). Would you say it's OK to put up a billboard of John 3:16 because it glorifies God? Would you say you are justified in some civil disobedience? Or would it be a better witness to submit to the authorities? ... even though a billboard isn't really going to do major damage?

If you're in a Christian community that frowns on marking the body, would it be better to submit or to proclaim a message of "you can't make me submit"?
 
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