Nudity

[KowboyM]

A priest told me that nudity in itself is not sinful; to be nude in your own apartment or home. This is true? Then public nudity at a beach or nude resort is sinful? I would think that as long as there was no sexual activity, or evil thoughts in regards to nudity, that it would be alright. God Himself gave us our birthday suites; am sure He doesn’t want us to be ashamed of His Creation which is a gift? What doe’s the Bible say about nudity?

 

[Scoobyshme]

There are three elements to the diabolic, as shown by Scriptures. This is illustrated by the account of Jesus encountering the possessed man in the Gadarenes. The first element is sex without love. The man was naked. The second element is violence. The man was so violent, that he could not even be kept in chains! The third element, is a schitzophrenic mentality. Jesus asked the man his name and he responded, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” “My”, “we”…a schitzophrenic mentality. Remember that a Roman legion could contain as many as 6000 men.

So, when you ask what’s wrong with public nudity, you might consider why you’re asking. I would think that you would be putting yourself in the near occasion of sin and perhaps others, too. You would be dabbling on the “wrong side” of the “Divine fence” so to speak.

 

[Faithful_2_Rome]

“God himself gave us our birthday suits so whats the problem”?

Yeah…whats the problem…after all…if masterbation is truly wrong, why did “GOD” allow our hands to reach our groins?

Seriously…

that is such FLAWED logic… if Catholics used that logic…then being gay is fine as well…cause after all…GOD made us like that…

As Christians we are taught that mankind is a fallen creature… the FLESH is our greatest temptation… (Male) nudists can walk around ALL DAY without a visible erection…but that doesnt mean anything… all that means is that they are DESENSITIZED to the outside influence of public nudity…(much like people today are desensitized into thinking homosexuals deserve the same marriage rights as heteros do)…but that doesnt make their minds inactive to what they are seeing( at a nudist beach). WE are fallen creatures, and we ALL have sex drives… and I bet any money that a nudist colony/beach is where one would find the most sexual promiscuous activity…from wife swapping, to bisexuality, to yes…even incest and pedophilia… nudist beaches/colonies are excuses for HEDONISM…anyone who knows the message of Christ and frequents these is guilty of HEDONISM…

Now as for TRIBES in the jungles who havent been missioned to and have gone naked all their lives, they are simply guilty of ignorance…if that can even be guilt until they have been missioned to.

Walking around ones home nude is perfectly fine…AS LONG AS…there are no children around and the shades are drawn…we are charged with not causing scandal to others.

 

[Richard_Lamb]

The proble is that you are making yourself the object of sin to someone else…

 

[burnside]

KowboyM:

A priest told me that nudity in itself is not sinful; to be nude in your own apartment or home. This is true? Then public nudity at a beach or nude resort is sinful?

While i would agree that there is nothing wrong with nudity in your own home,what if you forget to close the curtains?In addition,have you never had the problem of being just out of the shower and a guy unexpectedly knocks the door to deliver a
parcel?I’ve seen people on TV trying to justify nudity and,if truth be told,few of us would be sexually tempting due to over-eating.
However,the risk is still there because of those few with a decent figure.

 

[StLCard]

“God himself gave us our birthday suits so whats the problem”?

Yeah…whats the problem…after all…if masterbation is truly wrong, why did “GOD” allow our hands to reach our groins?

Seriously…

that is such FLAWED logic… if Catholics used that logic…then being gay is fine as well…cause after all…GOD made us like that…

As Christians we are taught that mankind is a fallen creature… the FLESH is our greatest temptation… (Male) nudists can walk around ALL DAY without a visible erection…but that doesnt mean anything… all that means is that they are DESENSITIZED to the outside influence of public nudity…(much like people today are desensitized into thinking homosexuals deserve the same marriage rights as heteros do)…but that doesnt make their minds inactive to what they are seeing( at a nudist beach). WE are fallen creatures, and we ALL have sex drives… and I bet any money that a nudist colony/beach is where one would find the most sexual promiscuous activity…from wife swapping, to bisexuality, to yes…even incest and pedophilia… nudist beaches/colonies are excuses for HEDONISM…anyone who knows the message of Christ and frequents these is guilty of HEDONISM…

Now as for TRIBES in the jungles who havent been missioned to and have gone naked all their lives, they are simply guilty of ignorance…if that can even be guilt until they have been missioned to.

Walking around ones home nude is perfectly fine…AS LONG AS…there are no children around and the shades are drawn…we are charged with not causing scandal to others.

But clothing certainly can provoke sexual temptation as well, can’t it, even if it’s not intended? A bathing suit, a short skirt, an elegant evening gown, a three-piece suit - these things all may enhance the physical appearance of a person, and by doing that cause people to think lusty thoughts. Sexual temptation is part of our biology. Should we all wear drab, brownish colors to discourage that temptation? Maybe burkas, like the women in Afghanistan? I don’t really know why nudists want to be nude - something about freedom and being in a natural state - but it is a little prudish to think that nude beaches are bastions of carnality and orgies.

 

[germys9]

Remember the fall of man in Genesis. We were made nude, but we did not know it (or weren’t ashamed to be nude) until the fall of adam and eve. So, I would argue that as a result of that, it is more “natural” (or a part of the fallen human nature) to want to be clothed than to be nude, especially in public.

 

[pat]

The bible uses nudity in the book of Genesis as the first example of shame (the awareness of sin) when they had been nude from creation to the fall. I agree with the commentators who call this a metaphor for concealment of their sin - the false idea that we can hide sins from God. Ham was punished through his son Canaan for seeing his father naked and not covering him up as the other sins did. Elsewhere nudity is considered immodesty.

Sin is not only about the object of the sin, its intentions and its consequences matter as well. The virtue of modesty which is opposed to lust needs to be encouraged.

What is the intention of solitary personal nudity? What’s the point? Is it narcissism, a form of self-worship? The areas of the body exposed by nudity are the genitals. Is it an obsession with sexual or excretory functions being demonstrated here? Making the parts of the body more available which can be sexually stimulated exposed is a powerful temptation to sin. That’s not a question that you have to answer to me for, but a question that the conscience ought to be asking.

Even assuming the answers above are “no”, what’s the point of a solitary lifestyle? You are unprepared to meet strangers or friends. As a practical matter, if you have to leave your apartment or home, you will have to get dressed anyway.

Nudity is practical for bathing, so I don’t disagree with the statement that nudity in itself is not sinful. I would add that prolonged solitary nudity for its own sake is an occasion of sin that leads one to the sin of immodesty and we have a duty to put distance between ourselves and the occasions of sin. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”

 

[ppcpilot]

Someone mentioned lusty thoughts and bathing suits…as normal males, how is the thought process at a beach supposed to work with females walking around in revealing bathing suits? Is it okay to look, or should we close our eyes? If you just happen to see one, can you not think lusty thoughts?

 

[theMutant]

StLCard:

But clothing certainly can provoke sexual temptation as well, can’t it, even if it’s not intended? A bathing suit, a short skirt, an elegant evening gown, a three-piece suit - these things all may enhance the physical appearance of a person, and by doing that cause people to think lusty thoughts. Sexual temptation is part of our biology.

Exactly, this is why nudity, while not inherently sinful is a bad idea. So is publicly dressing in sexually provacative clothing. The fact that some may be sexually tempted by what you wear is the best reason for avoiding those things that are especially sexually provocative. If you do this deliberately in order to cause others to be sexually attracted to you, then you are deliberately making yourself an “occasion of sin” for that other person. This is, in itself, a sin.

Your suggestion that we might have to go to the extremes of the Burka goes well beyond the point. Fortunately, Catholicism relies on reason and, therefore, you can dress in socially acceptable clothes that would, reasonably, not be a cause for temptation for the average person. Of course, it doesn’t take much to tempt the imagination of the typical man!

 

[martino]

KowboyM:

God Himself gave us our birthday suites; am sure He doesn’t want us to be ashamed of His Creation which is a gift? What doe’s the Bible say about nudity?

First off, Adam and Eve walked around in their birthday suits before the fall, before the existence of sin. Once sin entered the world they actually were ashamed, because it was at that point they realized that they became objects to each other.

Ge 3:7 - Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

Secondly, now that we have sin to contend with, modesty becomes essential. We are not to make ourselves objects to others nor are we to make objects of others (bodies)! The Bible certainly teaches about the importance of modesty.

**1 Cor12:23-**and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty… Finally, God himself after creating us in our “birthday suits”, decided it was better that we be covered, in order to keep us from sinning.

Ge 3:21 - And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.

 

[tee_eff_em]

ppcpilot:

Someone mentioned lusty thoughts and bathing suits…as normal males, how is the thought process at a beach supposed to work with females walking around in revealing bathing suits? Is it okay to look, or should we close our eyes? If you just happen to see one, can you not think lusty thoughts?

It’s occasions like that that I mutter a Glory Be or a ‘St Joseph, pray for us’ (just because I like him). (That, and don’t let my gaze linger anywhere too long )

 

[martino]

If you are more powerful than Satan, then and only then will you be able to look at attractive women in skimpy bathing suits without impurity creeping into your mind.