getting tatoos, piercings, etc...

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Quietwoman

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I really haven't given this much study. I do know there is scripture in the Old Testament that commands against marking the body with tatoos and the like because our bodies are the temple of God and we are to be Holy.
I don't know about piercings. Were they allowed to pierce their ears in those days?

What about with the new covenant? Do we follow the commands in the Old Testament about marks on the body? Just curious because my husband has a tatoo of a heart on his arm. I have asked him to put my name in it and he said he would, but I don't want him to do anything to his body that would be against God's commandments.

Rhonda
 
Quietwoman said:
I really haven't given this much study. I do know there is scripture in the Old Testament that commands against marking the body with tatoos and the like because our bodies are the temple of God and we are to be Holy.
I don't know about piercings. Were they allowed to pierce their ears in those days?

What about with the new covenant? Do we follow the commands in the Old Testament about marks on the body? Just curious because my husband has a tatoo of a heart on his arm. I have asked him to put my name in it and he said he would, but I don't want him to do anything to his body that would be against God's commandments.

Rhonda
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There is Leviticus 19:28, but that was under the Old Covenant.
Check out Acts 15 for Christians

Question: why are you so anxious for your husband to put your name on his tattoo?
 
seattlegal said:
There is Leviticus 19:28, but that was under the Old Covenant.
Check out Acts 15 for Christians

Question: why are you so anxious for your husband to put your name on his tattoo?
Click to expand...

Oh because I want to be the love of his life and I want everyone to know it. But I think now I would rather God be the love of his life.

R.

P.S. Also, upon reading Acts 15 I see we don't have to keep the law, but still I would rather he tatoo God or Jesus in his tatoo rather than my name because I want him to put God before me and be more importanant than me in his life.

R.
 
Quietwoman said:
Oh because I want to be the love of his life and I want everyone to know it. But I think now I would rather God be the love of his life.

R.

P.S. Also, upon reading Acts 15 I see we don't have to keep the law, but still I would rather he tatoo God or Jesus in his tatoo rather than my name because I want him to put God before me and be more importanant than me in his life.

R.
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Oh the latter would be better I would think....

a. he's already got a tatoo...so are we worried about shutting the barn door after the horses are out?

b. anecdotally speaking as I've seen anytime folks put names of loved ones in ink they increase the liklihood of having to write over it someday...
(mom is fairly safe)
 
the body is a temple for the spirit. one in christ should strive to be holy. then marking up the body is desecrating it.
 
BlaznFattyz said:
the body is a temple for the spirit. one in christ should strive to be holy. then marking up the body is desecrating it.
Click to expand...

Curious - do you have a quote suggesting that tattoos are descretions of the body from the NT?
 
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. Be holy, for God is holy. Be holy, and not conforming to evil desire. God’s holiness expresses His divine perfection. His innermost nature is holy, and a holy God calls for a holy people. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
 
17th Angel said:
Rule of thumb I have always gone by Never put a person's name (from a relationship) On your skin. lol, that has backfired so so so many times in people's lives.
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LOL you are not wrong. I once knew a girl who had tattooed on her left breast a heart with initials of herself and current TEMPORARY boyfriend.
 
Why is art a desecration of the body? Isn't that culturally defined?

I can entirely see why, for example, overeating junk food, or drinking immoderately, or smoking would be desecrating the body. Because all of those things actually harm the body.

However, putting ink on one's skin, so long as it's done with good sanitation, does nothing adverse to the body. It's not even harmful the way tanning would be, which has far more potential to desecrate the body.

Where I'm confused with the "body as temple" idea is that all temples have art. Art is pretty much universally seen as integral with spirituality and religion. So if our bodies are temples, and we put art that represents our spirituality on them, how is that desecrating them? (Obviously, what is "spiritual" or "religious" depends on the individual.)
 
What dictionary would you suggest as God-authored?

According to the Revell Concise Bible Dictionary, I have the following:
(1) God himself in his essential nature
(2) Persons, places, things, and times set apart or consecrated to God and therefore sacred
(3) A quality of character and actions that is in harmony with God's nature and expressed will.

The ensuing page long explanation goes on to say that while in the OT, there were both cultic and moral commandments that set aside the Hebrew people as holy (similar to consecrating items in the temple), in the NT, cultic commandments are set aside while moral commandments are emphasized.

The essential argument of holiness is in definition #3, that those who are holy or "set aside" for God, ought to be in harmony with God's nature and will. God's will for non-Hebrew people, both in the OT and in the NT, is to align oneself with the moral commandments that are universal, which are the Noahide commandments.

Furthermore, while the OT concept of holiness implies separation (separating Hebrew people from others, the temple from other spaces, etc.), the NT concept of holiness implies dynamic involvement, which is why the body is one's temple. The indwelling of the Spirit allows a person to live a good, loving life, thereby reflecting God's nature itself (God is love, only the Father is good, etc.). Col 3:12-13 is cited as a description of what a holy person, or saint, looks like: one who clothes themselves with "compassion, kindness, humlity, gentleness and patience" and who forgives others.

Frankly, I fail to see anywhere how a non-Hebrew has any relationship between holiness and tattooing (or piercing, for that matter). Maybe you have a different Bible dictionary that could explain the connection?
 
path_of_one said:
What dictionary would you suggest as God-authored?

According to the Revell Concise Bible Dictionary, I have the following:
(1) God himself in his essential nature
(2) Persons, places, things, and times set apart or consecrated to God and therefore sacred
(3) A quality of character and actions that is in harmony with God's nature and expressed will.

The ensuing page long explanation goes on to say that while in the OT, there were both cultic and moral commandments that set aside the Hebrew people as holy (similar to consecrating items in the temple), in the NT, cultic commandments are set aside while moral commandments are emphasized.

The essential argument of holiness is in definition #3, that those who are holy or "set aside" for God, ought to be in harmony with God's nature and will. God's will for non-Hebrew people, both in the OT and in the NT, is to align oneself with the moral commandments that are universal, which are the Noahide commandments.

Furthermore, while the OT concept of holiness implies separation (separating Hebrew people from others, the temple from other spaces, etc.), the NT concept of holiness implies dynamic involvement, which is why the body is one's temple. The indwelling of the Spirit allows a person to live a good, loving life, thereby reflecting God's nature itself (God is love, only the Father is good, etc.). Col 3:12-13 is cited as a description of what a holy person, or saint, looks like: one who clothes themselves with "compassion, kindness, humlity, gentleness and patience" and who forgives others.

Frankly, I fail to see anywhere how a non-Hebrew has any relationship between holiness and tattooing (or piercing, for that matter). Maybe you have a different Bible dictionary that could explain the connection?
Click to expand...
Being a sailor of 31 years you might think I'd have a tatoo or six...lol. Found nothing in scripture that precludes me from getting one save for the possibility of expressing vanity (so I guess it depends upon one's reasons). Truth is I could never find a tatoo I could live with for the rest of my life. But if I did, I don't think God would mind my getting one.

Considered a Celtic cross once, but could never get an artist to match what I had in my mind.

Psychologically pondering, in the Western world, tatoos could be considered a means of expressing being "unique" from others. Though in and of itself not bad, excessive tatooing of the body could be an indication of low self esteem, or the other extreme "narcisissim". In either case the person is fixated on self, which is counter to what God wants for us.

Just a thought.
 
1: God has more important things to be concerned with than some small human in the vast universe getting tattooed.
2:In Leviticus that commandment was specifically referring to barring the Hebrews from marking themselves indelibly in connection with funerary rites and ancestor worship,which was common then.
3: I'm a professional tattooer and people get God related tattoos that I consider a beautiful dedication to God,whether it be an eastern or western aesthetic.
 
i didn't say God didn't care for us,but as far as getting tattooed i'm certain it's a non issue
 
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