Faith and Nudity Part 1

Several months back I saw a couple posts (Dvorak Uncensored referring to an essay by Rick Steves) describing how Rick Steves' TV shows have trouble airing on PBS in some parts of the US because they sometimes include footage of classic museum artwork that contains depictions of the nude human form (you know, Michelangelo's David for example, the kind of artwork that high school students study. I remember doing a unit...no pun intended...on such classic artwork in my 10th grade World History class taught by Mr. Barlow). That reminded of the story from a few years back about how the Dept. of Justice spent $8000 to put up blue drapes so that then attorney general John Ashcroft wouldn't have to be photographed in front the "Spirit of Justice" statue with her right breast exposed in the Dept. of Justice's Great Hall. According to wikipedia, Ashcroft's successor (Alberto Gonzales) removed the curtains in June 2005. The above examples would seem to imply that Christians view nudity to be intrinsically evil and sinful. On the other hand, I saw an article titled "Christians strip to build a new Eden" in Britain's The Sunday Times about America's first Christian nudist camp:

Despite howls of complaint from fundamentalists who have likened Martin to the Antichrist - and described his nudist plans as "graphic evidence of America's moral collapse" - Natura intends to build 50 houses around a non-denominational church where clothing for services will be optional. American Christians have long been intrigued by the biblical implications of nudity and Ilsley Boone, a Baptist pastor, was the founder in 1931 of the American Sunbathing Association, an early naturist group. Martin and his supporters argue that nudism is unhealthy, especially for children, unless it occurs in a proper Christian context. Much of his group's philosophy appears in a book, Nakedness and the Bible, self- published on the internet by Paul Bowman, a Canadian author. The book cites several biblical references suggesting that God does not disapprove of nudity and that Jesus may have been naked at several key moments of his life - notably when he washed the feet of his disciples. Martin's supporters also claim that nude worship is much more in keeping with modest Christian values than are the ostentatious displays of wealth on show at the suburban "megachurche", where women attend services in "designer clothes and $90 haircuts", says one internet posting.

Gives a new meaning to turning the other cheek. In my experience, there are at least a few contexts in which nudity is commonly not frowned upon. For example, Christians are often unashamedly nude in front of medical professionals, regardless of the sex of the medical professional. Presumably that's because the context is clearly one that is asexual. The same is true for going nude in front of the same sex in a locker room. However, since somewhere between 1 and 10 % of the population is homosexual, that assumption is probably a bit risky. So what am I to make of all this? What's the proper Biblical view on nudity? This is the first of (perhaps) a few posts where we'll consider that question. Feel free to add comments of your own, but M. Sullivan please don't try to post any pictures of yourself...