Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Back to Eden: A Skinny Dip into Christian Naturism

Published by

Matt Stone

2007-10-18

Nude religion was my unorthodox research topic for this evening and, wouldn’t you know it, I came up with some interesting nuggets of information.

Firstly, if Google Adwords is any guide, it would appear there is a significant number of people searching for “nude spiritual”, “nude religion”, “nude bible”, “nude christian” and “nude meditation” that ain’t getting enough … enough related sites that is. It seems there are reasonable search volumes on nude religion without much competition.

Secondly, I don’t know about you but what jumps out at me from that nude religion search topic list is how many of them are related to Christian spirituality. That was a surprise, I expected more related to moonclad Wiccan ceremonies and Tantric sex. Thought provoking eh?

Thirdly, that in researching a number of nude religion sites I found there is actually a “Journal of Spiritual Nudity” Well, they’ve got a journal for everything these days. And here are some of the articles I found there.

The Bible, Society and Nudity
A study of social nudity from a Biblical and secular perspective. By Jeff Rockel

Being Nude and The Bible
Adam said he was afraid of God because he was naked and he hid from God. God knew full well what had happened when he said, “Who told you that you were naked?”

Nudity is Natural and Wholesome
Liberated Christians. Many people have been brought up taught that nudity is immoral and we should never allow others to see our true bodies.

God’s view of nudity
Enjoying the human body God’s way

Christian Naturism – Living as God intended
Bible passages and early church history which prove that nudism is the correct lifestyle.

And this is just skimming the surface. DMOZ came up with stuff more in line with my expectations but the point of the exercise was to reality test my expectations so the Google Adwords information was more interesting personally. Not my cup of tea, I found some of the articles of the journal particularly difficult to reconcile with Christian ethics, but I think nudity an important issue to grapple with, and think critically about, in deconstructing the mind-body split of modernist spirituality.

Tags Nudity, Ritual

21 responses to “Back to Eden: A Skinny Dip into Christian Naturism”

Lainie Petersen

2007-10-18

Hey Matt:
Taking a break from our mutual pummeling on Facebook to check out your blog.
Nudity, eh? Not a huge fan of it myself, at least in public/semi-public places. Primarily because most people look better with clothes on (especially me), and because nudity can preclude normal physical contact with others.
Do you have some thoughts on it?

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Jeff

2007-10-19

Nice to see that you’ve found the discussion of Christianity and nudism interesting.
Your link for “The Bible, Society and Nudity
A study of social nudity from a Biblical and secular perspective. By Jeff Rockel” Is invalid. You can find this study and also ones done by me at: http://www.ExperienceGrace.com
Peace,
Jeff

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Matt Stone

2007-10-20

Lainie, like yourself I think most people, including myself, look better with clothes on and feel no compulsion to indulge in it myself. But I can understand why some see the stripping away of coverings as a spiritual act, particularly in an age of gross materialism. So I see it as a necessary debate. I also understand the rejection of prudishness that often went hand in hand with the old mind body split. But there’s reservations about how much of this is a sign of decadent hedonism too. Need I mention Crowley? Irrespective though, I’d like to see more intelligent discussion on it.

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Matt Stone

2007-10-20

PS. The mutual pummeling has given me a few laughs. See you on Facebook.

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Matt Stone

2007-10-20

Thanks for the link info Jeff.

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Lainie Petersen

2007-10-20

Matt:
I agree with you that this is a topic that ought to be taken seriously. I do think that clothing, aside for its purposes in protecting us from the elements and supporting public hygiene, is indeed frequently an example of gross materialism.
I also think that prudishness (as opposed to true modesty) is a problem for many Christians: I attend an outdoor Christian festival where there are shared showerhouses. The lengths that women will go to in order to remain completely covered while changing (in a showerhouse, mind you) is astounding. I’d also argue that nudity in the context of marriage (i.e. between husband and wife) does have specific spiritual significance.
However, I am unimpressed by those who claim that nudity is somehow “spiritual” in and of itself. If the argument is that nudity is a response to gross materialism, I’d argue that there are plenty of clothing options (such as monastic habits) that address this issue while still covering the body. In addition, I’d note that the variations in physical characteristics/fitness between bodies can themselves be indicators of gross materialism and invite value judgements.
If the argument is that communal nudity somehow encourages transparency, I’d argue that the same sort of defenses/pretenses will still exist. They will just belong to naked people.
In my own experience, nudists (as a subculture) can be just as materialistic/judgemental/ and yes, prudish as non-nudists. This doesn’t mean that they all are, of course, but it does mean that I remain unconvinced that nudity has any specific spirtual advantages.

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Matt Stone

2007-10-20

I think we’re on the same wavelength there. And I would add, isn’t it ideologically inconsistent for anti-materialist nudists to don clothing just as branded as the next guy as soon as the ritual is over? Is not the full time adoption of simple clothing, monastic habits or otherwise, more consistent and holistic? I have shifted significantly away from branded clothing in recent years, is that not just as sound a response?

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Cheri Alexander

2007-10-21

Nudity is the great human equalizer, you cannot tell who is the millionaire from the bus driver.
There is also a group of Jewish nudists. I have held several nude Passover seders.
When studying for my Bat Mitzvah, a number of years ago, sitting on my deck, the language was easier to comprehend. Being nude in my private property feels as if I’m closer to God.
While conducting a nude Sabbath service in a nudist park in the Berkshires a number of years ago, the sun broke through the clouds between two mountains. It definitely was a religious experience.

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steve

2007-10-21

What a great subject to discuss. Personally for me it’s not about “feeling” closer in my relationship with Christ/God being nude in a setting where others are nude. I feel that I’M expressing a christian liberty that few realize they can have. There are a number of personal conditions that both my wife & I have (call them convictions) We both believe that it’s not in our best interest to be around those that have ulterior motives for being in a nude environment. Wheater a person has clothing on or not it’s a matter of ones thoughts, internal desires.
As a Christian were cautioned for instance about the “weaker” brother/sister. I feel we have a responsibility to protect “others” from sinning in NOT induging in our liberity at other nudiest locations for-instance. The real beauty in my marriage, there is absolute trust, simply due to our own personal walk with God. He knows our heart & thoughts. Lets just say for simplicity, my wife loves the Lord more than she loves me & visa versa. He is our first love
All Christians are called to ministry, our witness. So it comes down to what is our desire/motive to be nude. I can only speak of our own reasons.
As we understand the scriptures, Adam & eve were ashamed, they became that way after entering into sin. I for one know that I am no longer a slave to sin thats been sold into bondage. It’s taken me a long time in the 40 yrs to full understand the depth of that statement. Trust me when I say Im really trying to make this brief & give a readers Digest version 🙂
Bottomline for me is this. IN the Book of James it reads.” to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin”.

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Matt Stone

2007-10-22

Steve, I agree the internal desires are a core issue here. One of the things we have to work through I suppose is cultural expectations and acceptance. I remember seeing “Memoirs of a Geisha” some time ago and being amused that bearing the wrist was considered an erotic act. It was amusing precisely because it is nothing of the kind in my society. And what is considered acceptable attire on a beach seems to shift every decade. So when coming to the issue of public nudity I am forced to consider how much of my own reticence is culturally contingent. Yet taking a step back, 100% nudity does not seem to be socially acceptable in too many societies I know of, so that gets me wondering too. So, I suppose I have to think through this more. The “weaker brother” argument is problematic, particularly when I observe the variety of attire female uni students wear on the trains. Some are in burquas, some are half naked, should they all wear burquas in deference to “weaker brothers”? I suppose I seek some less relativistic ground to stand on.

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Matt Stone

2007-10-22

Cheri, I have never hear of nude Sabbaths of Passovers before. Fascinating.
On equalization, I agree nudity equalizes in some ways, but it accentuates differences in others. Some have more natural “assets” than others. I think it would be relatively easy to advance a counter argument that loose, non-descript clothing, as favoured by monks of many religions, is more equalizing by far. Thoughts?

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Sarah

2007-11-30

I had a really interesting thought this morning, as someone who once suffered through countless morning devotionals and periods of silent prayer while growing up as an agnostic in a fundamentalist Christian community. These activities were presumably for people of all faiths — but not really. One of my fondest memories was of an Indian classmate who delivered a Hindu morning devotional to the school — to make a point, of course. 🙂 I was thinking that *IF* these sorts of government mandated periods of prayer and meditation are really for the benefit of free religious expression, irrespective of religion, then why not nude meditation for those of us free-form individuals who feel that clothing and other technological trappings are not spiritually consistent with our place as creatures of this Earth?
Hmmmmm….
I guess this form of worship might have seasonal aspects to it — for all but the bravest! 😉

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Matt Stone

2007-11-30

In my country, Australia, there is no such thing as government mandated prayer. But I totally understand the point your Hindu classmate was making, and your own suggestion too. That would be an attention grabber for sure!

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seirwyn

2007-12-01

In my reasearch on the subject nudist clubs have very strict rules against sexual activity (except with your partner in the privacy of your tent/chalet of course) For them it is not about sex but they just like to feel the sun on their skin. The club provides an environment where everyone can feel copmfortable and safe without the fear of someone gawping at them and thinking innapropriate thoughts.

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Phil Wyman

2008-03-05

I’ve read Jeff Rockel’s stuff, and have even e-mailed back and forth with him for awhile, and found him to be an honest, genuine, and intelligent fellow. I am convinced that his approach to Christian Nudism is really based on a genuine search for integrity and openness in the faith.
I know a few people who even claimed that a lifestyle of nudism was integral in their deliverance from addiction to pornography.
These thoughts are way outside the box for 99% of the Christian world – especially in America, but are commonly held beliefs the very small Christian Nudist world.
Having read their material I found myself challenged not to become a nudist, but to reconsider my values as potentially being shame based, and therefore unhealthy in that sense.

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Matt Stone

2008-03-05

Yes, well, the verse I find most challenging on the subject of nudism is Genesis 2:25, where it says “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame,” closely followed by the other references to nakedness and hiding in Genesis 3:7-11.
Will nakedness reign when Jesus returns? The Book of Revelation reveals that the people of God will be clothed in white, but as that particular revelation is clearly symbolic in intent I am not going to get my knickers in a knot if nudists really want to argue around it. To me, what we will literally be clothed in when the new creation is ushered in is hardly a subject of the first importance either way.
Like yourself, what interests me here is what our reactions reveal about ourselves and our social conditioning. Yes, are they grounded in modesty or in shame. I won’t claim to be squeeky clean here by any means.

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Leen

2008-04-17

Hello,
I am a christian naturist from The Netherlands. And i promote christian naturism with the website http://www.ganeden.nl (in Dutch).
We have on 22 juni 2008 the first sundaymorning service on naturistresort Flevo Natuur in Zeewolde NL, see http://www.flevonatuur.nl
Also you can see on the startpage http://www.christennaturistensites.jouwpagina.nl many links to christan naturistsites from all over the world and other sites.
Greetings from Leen (Holland)

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Andy B.

2008-07-08

I’m not gunna go into the detail that those comments above say about this issue. I’d say they’ve explained it well enough. I simply wish everyone in this world were Christian and could thus roam about this world entirely nude (as we were created) in absolute disworry of any sexual sins and/or impure thoughts goin’ through people’s minds. The world would then be a far better place.

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Michael

2008-07-13

Very interesting topic. I feel that all of these points of view represent a seeking for the truth; But ultimately, it is still trying to use ‘outward’ effects to help us to facilitate a change that is hopefully begining from within, ie, a revealition of Christ personally. That is the only way of effective change (Matt.16:17). So as we look to find avenues to exercise our liberty from ‘being human’ (Ro.8:21), and come into the ‘Devine’, Lets keep our eye on Jesus, as the Author and Finisher of our faith. Ro.12 ;)Thank you

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Thomas

2016-05-14

I realize this is an old post but I felt compelled to reply to it.the bible doesn’t delve into nudity no where near enough. But the most important information comes from the beginning of the cannon. Think about why we were truly kicked out of Eden. It wasn’t until we recognized our nudity and became ashamed that God banished us. So maybe, just maybe if we could look past the judgment, the judgment we don’t even have the right to, and simply remove the shame along with our clothes. Eden would reappear. We got kicked out because we became ashamed of what he had given us. These days people hear nudity and immediately think sex, sin, pervert, etc. Why? Personally, naked people don’t worry me. If a guy is naked you can tell pretty easily if sex is on his mind, let’s be honest. The people that worry me are the ones immediately thinking sex or worse, because it’s obviously in there mind too much or they would assume something so insidious so quickly. Some people say week I don’t look good naked, our others don’t look good naked. First that’s vanity. Vanity is an example of pride and is a deadly sin, just saying. Everyone body shape is uniquely beautiful propaganda in magazines and tv etc are the ones brainwashing us into confirming to an ideal that thin and fit is beautiful. No one should be ashamed of their body. And once you get over that train of thinking and become natural as God intended then you can truly become spiritual. After all, how can we come to peace with others when we can’t even come to peace with ourselves? Anyway, it’s my opinion and I truly believe that’s how God wanted us or he wouldn’t have made us as be did.

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Clayton Reeve

2023-11-19

I believe that one of two things would have happened if And and Eve never ate the forbidden fruit. One we never would have existed because they never would have had sex, or two none of us would never have clothing because we never would know that we were naked. So, if we did exist but never knew about nakedness we would never also be embarrassed about sex in public and go about our everyday life either. But, that is if they never ate the forbidden fruit. Since they did, it makes it harder for most people to live the life we should of had.

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