The Bible and Nakedness -- Part 1 -- Eden Again

I know everyone has been waiting with baited breath what I am going to do now. Well, OK that is a little fantasy of mine that I have thousands of lurkers reading everything I write with breathless anticipation. Right.

This is a spin off from my last series and in it I am going to engage the first issue I presented -- public nudity. Only, I want to get a clear Biblical definition of nakedness and what it means to be naked and see if it lines up with the modern church's concept of the subject.

The first place nakedness occurs in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 2 and 3. The whole creation of man and fall story has as one of the central issues -- the nakedness of mankind. Although, I doubt most people look at it as a central issue but let's see -- it is the issue that their eyes were opened to see that they were naked that the knowledge of sin is known. Hmmmm.

Before the Fall
Verse 25 of chapter two is telling: "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." Given the time we also need to remember that when God is done creating he calls all things 'very good' and this includes the fact that Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed about it. Let's review: Good equals naked and unashamed.

The Fall's Affect on Nakedness
The Fall's immediate affect to both Adam and Eve is that they become aware of their nakedness. Sin equals awareness of nakedness. The result is an attempt to hide their nakedness. The thing is that they are not trying to conceal their nakedness from each other. Sorry Adam and Eve are husband and wife and once you have seen it all with each other there is no shame. Trust me on this I have no problem changing my clothes in front of my wife. Their issue is being naked before GOD. Sin has made them aware of this.

This story also illustrates another thing about nakedness -- where they considered themselves naked. They make aprons for themselves. Loins area. I want to note at this point that Eve does not also fashioned a bra or corset. In deference to all the movies I doubt she bothered to cover her breasts at all -- even with her hair.

It also makes me wonder something else -- was the nakedness about their bodies or their spirits? This passage does not answer it other than to say they were afraid of God when he arrived, but it might be a question to consider as we travel through this series.

There are some consequences for the Fall
1. Separated relationship with God for Mankind
2. Separated relationship between man and woman
3. Beginning of loss of relationship with creation
4. Hard work for men
5. Increased pain in childbirth for women
6. Loss of the tree of life and Eden
7. SHAME in Being Naked
8. Having to wear clothes -- see I have told people that the fashion industry is of the devil and I now have proof. ;-)

I highlight the last two because many people see the wearing of clothes as a good thing and the shame associated with it as natural to man. In deference to such people I see them as results of sin and the fall of mankind just as much as the others. Bad -- Sin equals shame and clothes.

Now the argument raised by Biblically knowledgeable nudists and topfree advocates is, that if sin is the cause of shame concerning nakedness, why do conservative Christians consider it a sin to return to this state of naked and unashamed when it was declared good by God. Do we not tell people after they are saved that they can have victory over sin and that God begins to cleanse us from sin including the results of it. One of the results of sin is shame involving nakedness and clothes. If a person is saved, do we not say that God can removed the shame of their sin?

I hate to say it but this is a good argument. Robert Heinlein, author of many classic science fiction stories, basically argued this way. The argument being that if we Christians were really trying to bring people back into right relationship with God and bring the world back to paradise we Christians should join him in being a nudist. We would try to help people overcome the stigma of nakedness and take off our clothes.

Good equals naked and unashamed.
Bad equals ashamed of nakedness and clothes.
Advocates of nudity point this out.
See the Problem.

This story in Genesis only really points out the beginnings of the problem it does not say how mankind dealt with it. More on that later.

Next: Noah: Drunk and Naked