Normative Nudity

Today, I want to get a bit into the weeds.

Picture 1? Or picture 2?

I want to talk about a post by an author that sounds a lot like me (https://biblicalgenderroles.com/2015/03/13/why-god-meant-for-people-to-be-clothed/). What I mean by that is that he sounds like me if I had not made certain course corrections in my life years ago. Some of his posts are good and I agree with him, some are just terrible. I recommend you stick to just the one link above unless you enjoy being mad.

Anyway, his article argues that God always intended for people to be clothed. He doesn’t argue that people should always be clothed, there is a time and a place for nudity, but the question posed is: “Is nudity normative?”

Did God originally intend for man to be nude all the time?

This is an interesting question, especially for nudists. On the surface it seems anyone who reads the Biblical account of creation is going to answer “yes”. But more study into the Bible makes that answer a little less clear.

The author mentions lots of verses about clothing and such on Earth and in Heaven. His answer is an emphatic “no”.

I recently heard a sermon on 1 Samuel 28 that makes me also think the answer isn’t a clear “yes”. In the chapter Saul hires a necromancer to call up Samuel the prophet out of Sheol. When Samuel appears to the necromancer, he is wearing a robe. This and other places in scripture talk about robes being worn in the afterlife, at least in Heaven. So it would appear that nudity is not the norm in Heaven at least.

https://orthodoxnudist.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/saul-and-the-witch-of-endor-benjamin-west4879301111181159527..jpg
Saul and the Witch of Endor, Benjamin West

But what are these robes? They are described as linen. We think of linen as towels, something quite thick and impossible to see through. So are these linen robes going to be thick, heavy costumes intended to hide our shameful bodies? I don’t think we have to assume that. The ancient Egyptians used to wear very fine linen that was anything but opaque. They did this to keep cool in the hot desert sun.

Other places in scripture talk about “garments of light” or being clothed in the sun. There are some who believe that Adam and Eve were dressed in such garments (https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/47688/adam-and-eve-clothed-in-light-before-the-fall-origin-of-teaching). Could this just be referring to a state of simple nudity? The woman in Revelation 12 is described as being “clothed with the sun”.

https://orthodoxnudist.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/hieronymus_bosch_-the_garden_of_earthly_delights-_the_earthly_paradise_garden_of_eden6982404739305970577.jpg
The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Earthly Paradise (Garden of Eden), Hieronymus Bosch

Psalm 104:1-2 describes God this way:

Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.

While God does not have a physical body, it is apparent that He doesn’t wear clothing either. At least not like we do.

What about the new Earth? Again, the Bible describes the afterlife as being filled with people wearing white robes. Is this just in Heaven? Or is the New Earth this way as well?

Personally I would like to think both places will be clothing optional, even after the New Heaven comes to the New Earth. There will be no sinful desire for status clothing, but there will probably be no desire to be nude for comfort or other reasons either. My guess is that there will be an indifference to clothing and nudity. Perfected bodies will have no particular need for either.

And in the here and now I see no need to make a big deal either. Clothes do serve a purpose in some climates. I believe that man would have created clothing even if he had never fallen jusy because I don’t believe the world was created uniform in climate. Man would have probably needed clothes for comfort reasons if the population was to expand beyond the subtropics.

Even as a nudist who refuses to wear clothing if I don’t have to, I still recognize the need for it in certain situations. Nudity should be normal and not stigmatized, but neither should clothing.

The body should be normative, whether clothed or unclothed.

Every beach in the world should be like this…