Christian Nudism

[Godchaser_70]

i never heard of a christian nudist,and think god is not happy with that

 

[Lord Herdsetk]

Isn't there something in the Bible about not doing something that would cause your fellow brother or sister to stumble? I believe its 1 Corinthians 8:13

I guess it would be okay if you had a group of nudists that were completely fine walking around nude with each other...............but most people aren't like that. At least not in the company of anyone other than their significant other(and sometimes even with their significant other).

To put it bluntly, if i have a girl who is a friend who is a nudist, i'm going to be constantly worrying about not accidentally copping a feel or staring at her. I see a naked woman, I'm gonna be distracted, and will more than likely have a few thoughts that I otherwise wouldn't even give a second chance.

It might be fine for the nudist to walk around in the buff, but that doesn't mean everyone around them is cool with it or won't be tempted because of that. Use common sense and courtesy before you do something like that.

 

[plmarquette]

most folks would say this is an oxymoron....

if you wish to be naked in your house or yard, and have a fence, so not to entice or embarass the neighbors... go for it..., but if you need to be so in front of some one else, that borders on exhibitionism...which is another matter...

men notice things we are wired that way, from 8-80 .... jesus said if you fantisize about some thing, you are guilty of what you will eventually do...

it is your decision, make a good one

 

[AllOrNothing]

Adam and Eve were naked in the presense of God.. but when they became separated.. because they did not listen..they felt ashamed.. and covered themselves..


"Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful. And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in them a harness and a chain.

Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your skin and less of your raiment. For the breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind.

Some of you say, `It is the north wind who has woven the clothes we wear.' And I say, Ay, it was the north wind, but shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread. And when his work was done he laughed in the forest.

Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean. And when the unclean shall be no more, what was modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."


Kahlil Gibran

 

[Balugon]

if you wish to be naked in your house or yard, and have a fence, so not to entice or embarass the neighbors... go for it..., but if you need to be so in front of some one else, that borders on exhibitionism...which is another matter...

What if you want to go to the beach and enjoy the ocean in the buff? Assuming that there is a beach to do so (which there are at least two legal beaches in America to do such a thing), why does it matter if other people are there and are nude too? If you aren't going simply because they are there, what does it matter? And if you live in an apartment and so don't have a backyard, but there is a facility that has nature paths and a pool and volleyball courts, what does it matter if you go there to relax and enjoy the breeze in the nude, just because other people happen to be doing the same there too?

men notice things we are wired that way, from 8-80 .... jesus said if you fantisize about some thing, you are guilty of what you will eventually do...

Are we wired that way? Or are we trained that way? If I tell you a scary story about the local woods, and then I suggest we go walking in them at night, is the fear you may feel rising up in your body while walking through those woods natural or unnatural? And yet your heart may beat faster and your palms may get a bit sweaty, and you may not be able to entirely control it all. And yet at the same time, if you go in those woods at night enough after that, and nothing happens, you could easily re-adjust and start to really enjoy being in the woods at night and find a peace in the quietness and naturalness.

 

[tgg]

What does everyone think about this? Are the two doctrines compatible? If not, why not? If so, why so?

What does being a Christian really mean? The answer in the NT is to take care of the orphans and the widows, to feed the hungry, to give clothes to the needy, to give refuge for the weak and lonely, to help the blind and deaf to see and hear, and to liberate the down-trodden.

Unfortunately, nudists are very much a down-trodden minority in our English speaking cultures, but this is not so much the case in several European countries, as well as some parts of America, Africa and Australia.

In countries where nudism is the norm, there are lesser incidences of rapes and unwanted pregnancies, child sex abuse gets reported a lot faster, and there are less eating disorders like anorexia-bulimia and obesity.

Sounds like a great way to live, so why can't people in our culture understand it?

 

[tgg]

i never heard of a christian nudist,and think god is not happy with that

Can you please back it up with evidence as to why? I've been a nudist since the age of 19 and have never been reprimanded by God for it.

 

[Rottiedog]

Is "Christian nudism" a sect like "Mormonsism", "Catholicism", or "Protestantism" or is it merely Christian people who are nude?

As for Christian people who are nude, I have ADHD and LD and am very sensitive to loud noises and things on my body (like tags in shirts). Anyone who knows me well knows that they'll probably see me in my biker boots and nothing else if they don't call ahead before knocking on the door.

I raised my son to not make a big deal out of nakedness either. He's 9 now and prefers to not see and not be seen and I respect that. For example, if he's playing on the computer in my room and I'm going to take my clothes off to put on a nightgown I'll say, "don't look" to let him know to wait a few seconds before he turns around and says something to me.

Also, I think that, as stated above, it depends on the context and how accustomed to nudity the population around you is. I sometimes do triathlons. During these events quick changes from bathing suit to biking suit to jogging suit can mean the difference between first or second place.

It is an assumed thing that in the "staging area" (where you do all your changing) there will be boobs and other things hanging out. And triathlons aren't exclusive nudist colonies or anything. They're just places where a quick flash here and there is normal. Of course, discretion is used by all because blatant showiness will get you hauled in for indecent public exposure (and get you disqualified from the race).

So, I think that if you don't care, those around you don't care, and God doesn't care, then who cares? (That's supposed to be a joke)


Rottiedog

 

[Balugon]

Is "Christian nudism" a sect like "Mormonsism", "Catholicism", or "Protestantism" or is it merely Christian people who are nude?

It is Christian people who are nude, who have no problem with nudity and being nude around others, and who may choose to go to nudist parks or nude beaches if they feel like it. They may even choose to go to a clothing-optional church service if want to. Christian nudists are represented in many of the different denominations: Protestants, Catholics, Pentecostals, etc.

 

[Breetai]

Nothing wrong with being nude. It is not a sin.

I like being nude. I often go to Japanese bath houses, where everyone walks around, sits in saunas, goes in various hot tubs, etc., all nude. Some are co-ed even. I have no problem being naked in front of others. If I see a good looking female, of course I admire her. I'm human! Yet, I do not feel the urge to sleep with a girl like that. Admiring someone's looks and wanting to copulate with someone are two different things. There is no sin involved with nudism.

Why are Americans generally so hung up on nudity, when so many other countries have nude/topless beaches (Europe especially) or nude spas (Japan, Korea, etc.) and don't seem to care about it?

 

[Rottiedog]

Clothing-optional church service? You must live in San Fracisco. Anyhoo, I think that clothes sometimes tend to be a negative thing. I mean, anorexics tend to bundle up in order to hide their "fat" bodies and insecure women try to fall out of their clothes in order to attract attention. Men sometimes wear sleeveless shirts to show off their biceps and kids wear jeans with sequins and rhinestones in order to out-bling each other. Even me. I wear baggy sweats and oversized t-shirts because I don't want people to see how fat I am (5'3" 170lbs)

If we just let it all hang out, so to speak, many of these problems might resolve themselves. Or not. I'm not an expert at nudism because I've never been to a nude place before. I think I'll try it and see if I get the creeps. Based on what I've heard I probably won't. Either way I'll let you all know.



Rottiedog

 

[Balugon]

*bump*

 

[Cactus Jack]

most folks would say this is an oxymoron....

if you wish to be naked in your house or yard, and have a fence, so not to entice or embarass the neighbors... go for it..., but if you need to be so in front of some one else, that borders on exhibitionism...which is another matter...

men notice things we are wired that way, from 8-80 .... jesus said if you fantisize about some thing, you are guilty of what you will eventually do...

it is your decision, make a good one

I have to agree with this. I am a nudist. But I do not go out when/where other people are to be naked. If I want people to see what I look like naked, I'd go downtown during lunch time, but I don't. Instead, I do it for me.
When I go out naked, sometimes it's spiritual. And sometimes because it feels good. I may go out in the forest, but I go when no one else is around. I don't go to improved campgrounds, I don't go to the county park. I go where I expect no one. Doing it in the day time is chancey, as I am not there to show myself off. So I'll go late evening to early morning.

As I have been a naturist for decades now, I have collected a variety of writings on the subject. Here is one I feel you may enjoy researching-

Nudity and the Bible
courtesy of Clothesfree.com


God asked Adam, "Who Told You That You Were Naked?" It is strange that considering the first thing that God got upset about was when Adam and Eve put clothes on – why do some people who claim to be his followers have exactly the opposite view? Many nudists are Christians who adhere to the Bible’s teachings. If you are new to this lifestyle and are also religiously devout, you might be nervous about being deemed a sinner. After all, the Bible very clearly states that when Adam and Eve were in right with God, they were naked. When people are in right with God, they do not have to fear nudity. To answer God's question to Adam, "Who Told You That You Were Naked?", Satan was the only other one there who told Eve she and Adam will not die after eating the forbidden fruit and she was obliviously told they were naked and that God's greatest creation, the human body, was shameful and needed to be hidden. The mere sight of the body, the image of God, is not harmful or obscene. If fact, it is an insult to God to hide nudity for the sole purpose of shame.

If you believe that God created everything we experience on this planet, then God created free will and our ability to use that will. If God had originally created man and woman and intended them to live without clothing until they were exposed to underhanded ideas, then we should start at that point. If one chooses to live according to the Bible, then one hopes to live without sin. Therefore, a nudist can live freely in spite of Adam and Eve’s original sin, because free will separates him or her from the willful sinning of the original couple. Christian nudists choose to shun the shame and lust heaped upon the body as a result of Satan’s work. Perhaps the rest of society should do the same.


Everything evolves, but churches are stuck in an old-time mentality when it comes to nudity. If you look closely at Genesis, you will find that God did not intend for us to be ashamed of our bodies. Rather, it was a byproduct of Adam and Eve’s shame for committing the first sin. Christians believe that Jesus died to help rectify those sins so that all people who believe can stand before God unashamed. The church should emphasize this point of redemption when dealing with the human body.

If our bodies are gifts from God and built in His image, how can we be ashamed? Should we not celebrate such an awesome creation? The human body is beautiful and built perfectly. It is an intricate machine and a work of art at the same time. With such a great gift to behold, why is there such offense?

Perhaps, you still have doubts and are used to equating the naked human form with the sexual human form, rather than seeing one as mutually exclusive from the other. Matthew 5:27 says that it is considered a sin to look at a woman lustfully. Well, logic would have it that the more we are brought up to see the human body outside of sexual situations and as a beautiful creation, we will have nothing to lust over.

The Bible does not place restrictions on being nude. God commanded Isaiah to go out and preach publicly in the nude for three straight years! (Isaiah 20). The prophets were often symbolically naked. When Saul stripped off his clothes and provided a prophecy before the masses, the onlookers simply assumed he was a prophet and was acting at the behest of God (1 Samuel 19:24). King David danced nude in the City of David over the news of the Ark of the Covenant’s return. His wife criticized this practice and was punished and left childless until her death (2 Samuel 6:20-23). While God condemned the use of make-up, He openly celebrated the human form, as He did through Ezekiel, “made you grow like a plant of the field, naked and bare. You grew up and became tall, and arrived at full maiden-hood, the ORNAMENT OF ORNAMENTS; your breasts were fully formed and your pubic hair had grown” (Ezekiel 16:7). Since material was expensive and the climate hot, workers in Mesopotamia and Palestine, men and women, often labored nude in the fields. Peter fished naked (John 21:7). While lust for sexual contact is prescribed against in the Bible, the evidence is plentiful that God did not intend the human body to be considered shameful in its own right.


Yet the churches lost this vision as time passed. Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 400) said, "Adam was naked at the beginning, and unashamed. This is why your clothing must be taken off as baptism restores right relation to God." As new concepts of “modesty” developed around the sixth century, and the body was no longer revered as beautiful and as the temple of God, but rather as something vile, filthy and naturally unclean. When St. Francis experienced his conversion, he removed his robes and walked nude in the piazza in Assisi. As the notion of the body changed, he was considered to be immodest, rather than provided the reverie given those in Biblical times. Further down the line, several popes required that the paintings of nude forms and statues by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel be hidden and fabrics painted to look like flowing linens were pasted over the “offensive” parts of the masterpieces. The painting was returned to its nude appearance in more recent times.

Still need convincing? Perhaps this anecdote will sway you completely. In the Gospel of Thomas, considered to be "superfluous to scripture" by the same council at Trent which determined what we today declare as "The Holy Bible," in Thomas 37, the disciples asked Jesus, “When will you appear to us, and when will we see you?” Jesus responded, “When you become like little children, and disrobe without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet and trample them, you shall see the Kingdom of God, and you will not be afraid.”

If you are religious and a nudist, you should be not afraid. The human body is not shameful and is not inherently lustful. Romans 14:16 points out, “Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.”

 

[Ishraqiyun]

Some of the great ascetic saints among the world religions have lived nude. One of the major branches of the Jain religion is the Digambara or "sky clad" for example. They view nudity as symbolic of purity and detachment. For people of certain predispositions and tenancies it could be a problem though.

 

[Soulgazer]

I have nothing against people being nude. Just don't do it while I am called on to preach. I get distracted too easily as it is.

 

[Ishraqiyun]

If your nervous speaking in front of a group aren't you supposed to imagine them all in their underwear

 

[Soulgazer]

Yeah, but have you ever dressed somebody with your eyes?

 

[Devo49]

Get real, you lot! If God had meant us to run around naked, we would have been born that way!

 

[Lord Herdsetk]

I don't think its wrong, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to practice it.

 

[timbo3]

When God created Adam and later Eve, these were husband and wife and also were perfect. Thus, their being naked posed no problems, for nakedness is part of the intimacy of marriage. However, because of Adam and Eve's violating God's command regarding the "tree of knowledge of good and bad" (Gen 3:6), this introduced imperfection and, as a result, far-reaching changes. For one, the once perfect peace in the universe was now broken because of the rebellion in the Garden of Eden.

Second, the once perfect couple now looked upon each other in a different light, now recognizing their being naked or nude. When they heard the voice of Jehovah God "walking in the garden about the breezy part of the day", the Bible account says that "the man and his wife went into hiding from the face of Jehovah God in between the trees of the garden."(Gen 3:8) Why ? Because as Adam said: "I was naked and so I hid myself."(Gen 3:10) Both and Adam and Eve felt a shamefulness being naked and no longer felt comfortable in God’s presence.

In the beginning God created the sex impulses and generative powers in the first man and woman and commanded them to cohabit and bring forth children. It was therefore no sin for the perfect pair to have sexual intercourse. However, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, not in the matter of sex relations, but in eating the forbidden fruit, drastic changes took place.

Suddenly their guilty sin-stricken consciences made them aware of their nakedness, and they immediately covered their genital organs from God’s sight. (Gen 3:7, 10, 11) From then on, men could not carry out the procreative mandate in perfection, but, instead, the hereditary blemish of sin and the penalty of death would be transmitted from the parents to children. Even the most upright and God-fearing parents produce sin-infected children.(Ps 51:5)

Our Creator made mankind "upright", with the capacity to properly utilize their conscience as a guide. However, "they themselves have sought out many plans.”(Ecc 7:29) Jesus, when walking on the earth, wore proper attire, thus signaling the need to be modestly clothed, for Jesus said that "if a person wants to go to court with you and get possession of your inner garment, let your outer garment also go to him."(Matt 5:40)

In addition, Revelation 16:15 says of a true Christian: "Look! I (Jesus Christ) am coming as a thief. Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments, that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness.” Though the clothing here represents a person's outward identification as a true Christian, it need be understood that clothing is a part of a true Christians outfits and when immodestly worn or not at all, then this is considered as "shamefulness".