The church and nudism — Frequently Asked Questions on True Nudists

WantstonenudeOriginal Poster

Dec 28, 2016

I have been searching but there is a lot of contradicting information. What are the churches views on nudism? And are any of you Catholics?

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Tom M
Jan 19, 2017
These have been interesting comments, and I would like to add one that most people may not realize is that Jesus was also crucified nude. Remember the guards (centurions) gambled over who get the robes from Jesus.
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Stone Andy
Jan 19, 2017
The Pope may be the closest to a global spokesman for Christianity, but Christian views of nudism vary greatly. An example of the range is between Jesus who stripped himself naked, covered himself to wash his friends feet and then stripped again to dry them (consider the symbolism and bonding effect)
" (Jesus) riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded."(John 13:4-5)
And Paul:
"...this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from unchastity, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor , not in the passion of lust like heathens who do not know God" (1 Thessolonians 4:3-5).
Paul doesn't say that unchastity=nudity, but many understand that is implied. My Protestant church focused more on Pauls teaching over Jesus, and was definitely anti-body, pro-repression. Perhaps its easier to build numbers by making people afraid of themselves and their bodies.
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NakedBadger
Jan 20, 2017
I posted this on another thread in the forum a couple of days ago, but it seems appropriate here, too. Not geared for Catholics, exactly, but for Catholics and others who think as ecumenical and as "progressive".

Here it is:

Most churches don't have an "official" statement on "nudism" as such: at least as far as I know. I'm a Christian clergy-person who would live naked 24-7 if I could, though I have yet to preach or lead worship naked. Though I'd be willing to, if the occasion were to present itself.

I know of a number of clergy who are members of this on-line social networking organization and of others that I occasionally participate in.

I've visited a number of clothing optional venues and almost always eventually find a few other clergy of different denominations floating around: Anglican, Mennonite, Orthodox, Lutheran, Evangelical Protestant, for instance. I know that Pope John Paul II has written positively about the naked human body, and without disapproval of being naked socially, and with members of the other sex.

When I talk with other Christian nudists of any denomination, I find that we've almost all had to work through issues of sexuality, attraction to people we're not married to, being naked around children, and a number of other things that our sexually repressive culture has gotten us confused about. I think for most of us, being socially naked in a venue where it's accepted -- a resort or a beach -- has been a helpful and important part of making our peace with ourselves as people with bodies: complete with all the functioning body parts!

What's most important is not what position one's church may hold on "social nudism". And what's important is not "what God thinks". I believe that God does not care whether men and women are naked in each others presence: what God cares about is that we be careful to respect each other, and not to exploit each other. And one does not need to be naked to be exploitative of another person.

If you're a person who practices Christianity -- or any other religion -- I would encourage you to relax, and not to worry about the "official viewpoint on nudism" of your denomination is, or whether or not "God approves." Just relax and enjoy the experience. Pay attention to thoughts, feelings, emotions, and remember that these are internal experiences and that they shift "with the wind". And be self-aware enough that you're careful about how you act.

Peace,

NB
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ME
Member
Jan 20, 2017
Brilliantly written and expressed NakedBadger. Thankyou
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ME
Member
Jan 20, 2017
Some very interesting views posted above! At a more prosaic level we have known at least three clergy, two Church of England one of whom is a woman and one Roman Catholic, who are committed naturists and they have no problems of any conflict between their religion and work and their naked recreation.
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Tom M
Jan 31, 2017
What were some of the scripture passages the priest used to aid the practice of nudism? I haven't seen anything to oppose nudism either; there is no commandment that says "Thou shalt not go naked." The Bible does speak of modesty, but that deals with the way we dress. What say you?
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Erik Natams
Jan 31, 2017
If you really want to belong to a church, I guess pastafarianism is the best option for all of us.
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Chief
Mar 7, 2017
In our opinion it is not so much about a certain religion and it's views, it is more about the attitude of society in general. My wife and I are both active practicing Catholics and we are not ashamed to admit our nudist lifestyle when we are approached by someone. We have stood right in the church doors having conversations about nudity and nudist living. I guess every time someone tells me it is wrong or non-chrisitian, I reply that god made all of us in his image. God does not make mistakes. So what you are saying that he screwed up so bad making the human body that we need to cover it up with clothing?
Too many confuse lust and sexuality with nudism. Any of us that are involved in social nudism will know that those do not need to go together. We live as many days of our summer months in a nudist community and thoughts of lust rarely cross your mind. We seem to have the best casual conversations laying naked poolside without the false coverup of the textile world. We find a large percentage of our nudist people are present or past Catholics.
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Bob
Mar 8, 2017
Here are my questions:
Why were Adam and Eve ashamed of the bodies God created?
Should they not be ashamed of their disobedience?
Bob
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sunnmaxx
Mar 17, 2017
We have more than one paster in the group. Churches do not have any official views on nudism and opinions vary with each paster or leader so at this point I dont care.
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ME
Member
Mar 18, 2017
freedom and being nude is a way of being and free in nature. I hope all try to work with in its borders
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Reuben Titus
Apr 10, 2017
[quote]Here are my questions: Why were Adam and Eve ashamed of the bodies God created? Should they not be ashamed of their disobedience? Bob[/quote] I have come to the conclusion that they were influenced by the enemy who tempted them to misdirect their shame from their sin to the visible results of it. A few people have had visions or dreams and given more details about what happened. Apparently they had a glow/aura of light around them which vanished when they sinned, and the missing glow kind of pulled their attention to themselves, it being the only visible evidence of their sin, shame got attached to their body condition. Even though they were naked before, and no physical change happened. Guilt, causing shame, was misapplied to their bodies, when it was caused by and should have been directed toward their sin. And then one of those persons who saw it in vision commented that they began to feel chilly when the glow left them, and the garments God made for them from animal skins were for environmental protection. That coupled with God's command to Isaiah to go naked publicly 3 years, throws the Biblical door wide open to innocent nudity any time and anywhere. But since our society does not accept it, in order to get along we have to conform to some extent. However we can understand that the anti nude agenda of recent times has created the market for pornography. The more nudity we get used to in normal life the more nonsexual it gets, until porn completely looses it power of attraction. So I've come to the conclusion that the idea of attaching morality to clothing is a secret device of the enemy in order to create a market for pornography, and cause corruption by it. The Christian nudist can slam the door on that whole area of temptation by understanding and practicing the truth. And that is why I took up nude life as much as possible (in isolation so far because no one around me accepts it very well) as a part of my character building process, instead of the occasional times when I just felt like it and yet wondered if I was doing wrong.
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Tom === Thomas S. Tierney
Apr 10, 2017
Thank God I'm an Atheist
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ME
Member
Apr 10, 2017
[quote]Thank God I'm an Atheist[/quote] Best response in the thread
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Erik Natams
Apr 12, 2017
[quote]Thank god I'm an atheist[/quote]
[quote]Best response in the thread[/quote]

Very true!
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Paul
Apr 15, 2017
I'm Adventist now, but was raised Catholic. I left the Catholic church when I was about 18 for a church that was more Biblical.
Anyway, I did a huge study on this very topic a couple decades ago and wrote about it. As it turns out, the only thing I could find in the Word that was strictly against nudity was in the old testament where it talks about not uncovering your sister's nakedness, etc.
Found plenty of scripture that could be considered pro-nudity (if there is such a thing).
Starting with Genesis, it was satan who told Adam and Eve they were naked and to cover up. Why? Because man was made in God's image, and satan finds God's image to be offensive. Simple. When God went in search of Adam, that is when Adam told God that he hid from Him 'because he was naked'. God asked Adam, "WHO told you that you were naked?" That's about all you need to know right there.
But, there are those who discount the entire old testament and even refuse to study it, favoring only the new., Fine, plenty of times that nudity can be found in a good light. Not just that Jesus' disciples were often nude, but even fished nude. Jesus walked out of the tomb nude. he left the shroud folded inside. Jesus was mistaken for a gardener (gardeners and laborers usually labored completely nude in those days) because he was nude.
As previously mentioned, Isaiah was COMMANDED to go nude (Bible specifically says, even his buttocks) and preach the Word to the masses, which would obviously include women and children. Would God ever command someone to sin? Of course not. Therefore, that is black and white proof that simple nudity is not sin. Checkmate.
There are plenty more examples, but that should get you started.
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Reuben Titus
Apr 18, 2017
For all practical purposes if yer going to follow Jesus Christ, you might as well just accept being naked, because the Bible declares that he was our Creator, (along with his Father and the Holy Ghost) so it was He who created Adam and Eve and placed them in a garden nude. He invented nudism or naturism. And the whole purpose of the plan of salvation he came up with, is to rescue us and return us to the garden of eden from which we were banned because of sin, and then restore the earth to it's original perfection of creation and give us a home on it forever, eliminating death. It all starts out with mankind nude in a garden, (only 2 of us) and ends the same way, (with millions of us) with the "end" being just the beginning of eternity.
So I'm really glad I'm a follower of the man of calvery, If what He promised is correct I stand to inherit eternal life as a nude gardener in the most extensive and perfect tropical garden anyone could imagine. And even if not it gives me a reason to live and a reason to do good to others. Those who use religion as an excuse to do evil are following a bad religion. Those who follow Jesus Christ in truth will do what He did, go about seeking to do good to others wherever possible. If what the atheist believes is true there is nothing to look forward to beyond this life, and that would be terribly depressing, because this life is pretty rough and can get very difficult sometimes. If you give both sides a 50% chance, which side would make the most sense to pursue? If you had two options. Option no. 1 gave you zero chance of winning anything. Option no. 2 gave you 50% chance of winning $10,000,000.00 Which option would be the smart one to take? I'll take the one that gives me even a slight chance of winning big, being that nude gardener forever in a massive tropical garden.
The fact that many church goers have rejected nudity is a testimony to the power of tradition, and faulty human reasoning. Based on the idea that the nude form is naturally lust inspiring. What they fail to reason out is that it's only lust inspiring if our minds are trained to see it that way. And that our enemy the devil has influenced us to go there in order to create a big means of tempting us to lust. Falling in the devils trap is the rage of the age.
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FullSun
Apr 18, 2017
Very well said! LIKE!
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Jim
Nov 22, 2021
I always thought it was interesting that it was David who got into trouble for watching Bathsheba bathe and Bathsheba was never accused of doing anything wrong.
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Tom D
Nov 22, 2021
[quote]I always thought it was interesting that it was David who got into trouble for watching Bathsheba bathe and Bathsheba was never accused of doing anything wrong.[/quote] I think bathing on the roof was fairly common in that time.
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Paul
Nov 22, 2021
Bathing in the roof was extremely common. No one in the Bible ever gets into trouble for simply being nude. [quote]I always thought it was interesting that it was David who got into trouble for watching Bathsheba bathe and Bathsheba was never accused of doing anything wrong. I think bathing on the roof was fairly common in that time.[/quote]
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traildoc
Nov 23, 2021
Women often got treated better in the Bible than men. For instance, this is my personal pet peeve; when the angle Gabriel tells Mary she's going to conceive, she says (paraphrasing) "how is it possible for I don't know man"? Then Gabriel tells her that it's all right, God will take care of things. But when the same angel visits Zechariah and tells him that his wife Elizabeth is going to have a child and he says, "how is this possible for she is very old"? BAMM!!! He's made mute for his doubt. Had to stay that way for 9 months. I bet he learned a lesson or two.
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John
Nov 23, 2021
[quote]I always thought it was interesting that it was David who got into trouble for watching Bathsheba bathe and Bathsheba was never accused of doing anything wrong. I think bathing on the roof was fairly common in that time.[/quote] Actually, David did not get into trouble for watching her bathe. He got into serious trouble for lusting after her, sending her husband into battle without going himself, and making sure her husband was killed. David sinned with lust, coveting another mans wife, and arranging the murder of her husband. It wasnt about nudity but serious crimes.
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Reuben Titus
Dec 3, 2021
I've always been extremely reserved about it, scared and embarrassed to be seen naked or even have anyone know I do. I was trained that way as a child by my mother thinking she was protecting me from lust issues. But that has all been compelled to change, and now it seems time to really go 'public' with it, not public in view but let everyone know that getting our mind accustomed to common nudity and ignoring it is the key to unlocking lust addictions, and that we've been getting things backwards in that respect, ruining the lives of ourselves at times and driving our children into immorality simply by dressing them all the time and wearing garments constantly around them. I have wrote up my testimony how God delivered me from porn addiction in direct answer to prayer, (I was my own live porn for 33 years, it dominated my life in secret) using naturism to do it. And how I came to realize the shocking truth that it was my parents conservative, moral, clothing covered lifestyle they raised me in that drove my mind to turn the natural body into porn, and to recondition my mind out of that channel I had to go nude a lot and ignore myself, thus causing the subconscious lust generating element of my brain to also ignore the body and stop using it to inspire lust. For all that time nude and sexual lust went together hand in hand in my mind, I could not conceive of the two being separate. So it was quite the shocking revelation that they were and need to be totally separate things, and intentionally splitting them is the key to breaking lust addictions, curing porn addiction, alleviating same sex lust compulsion, etc. In my discovery of the issue it was Isaiah 20 that got to me. God actually commanded Isaiah to go naked in public for 3 years to give extra effect and attention to proclaim a certain message. If it were a moral crime to be seen naked in public by anyone God would be telling him to commit a moral crime. We can agree that God would not tell anyone to commit a moral crime, therefore being seen naked in public must not be a moral crime at all, must be entirely irrelevant. So soon as I can figure out how to get my new computer printer to work I will get the several page write up printed and hand it out to several of my church friends, principal members. I'm hoping my veal logical explanation and my own testimony will be understandable in spite of the fact that I'm breaking and fighting long standing moral traditions. We are SDA and I think us and Baptists are considered about the most dress conservative anti nude tupes around.
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