Nudity In The Bible
This is a group for those who are looking for, or wish to share stories and verses, in the Christian Bible, about nudity.
- created by JosiahWeber
Evils of the flesh
Return to DiscussionsI believe that much of the Christian struggle related to nudity comes from Paul. With gratitude to my teachers, I am learning to say yes to old and new teachings alike and even be a bridge between the two. I struggle with the Apostle Paul and his zealotry, his view of sexuality as his thorn in the flesh and the disembodiement that results.
Yesterday in church there was a reading from Galatians 5 about circumcision as a black and white subject, and then he compares the evil acts of the flesh to the positive fruit of the Spirit. What struck me so clearly is how his rigid, polarized thinking is an act of flesh rather than a fruit of spirit. I see how this faith creates hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy from the evil flesh category.
TN has been gifting me with loving joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness that are fruit of spirit. Sexuality can be driven by gentleness and self-control, whereas theres a sense of institutional debauchery in self-righteousness. So I say yes for Paul for helping me to see the spiritual fruits for what they are, including from the gift of penises and brotherhood.
I see it as all good and am interested in others' views.
Id been raised in church all my life and ministry for a decade or so before moving into medical herbalism.
For another day but the transition came about as I rediscovered St Patrick as a messianic Jew. In Northern Ireland I as at the time pondering how to do church in a northern Irish context that wasnt Protestant or Catholic.
The messianic movement is much bigger in the states than here but for the last 15 years or so I have been profoundly changed and affected as I begin to rediscover the Jewishness of Jesus and moving away from Greek thinking.
Doing so has changed by view of OT, Jesus, and crucially of Paul and the NT. dont get me wrong. Paul was my favourite dude coming to faith. Used the letters to try to be the best I could be, purge sin, strive forth etc. However the transition into Hebrew thought opens a completely different world view that is more holistic, more nuanced, more beautiful than I could have imagined.
Paul can be really badly misunderstood in so many ways. Like everything he must be taken into context not just given his place in the world at the time but also his place in canonical scriptures. There will be context and interpretation elsewhere in scripture should we need it. We need to take it all on board and weigh/test it
Id been raised in church all my life and ministry for a decade or so before moving into medical herbalism.
For another day but the transition came about as I rediscovered St Patrick as a messianic Jew. In Northern Ireland I as at the time pondering how to do church in a northern Irish context that wasnt Protestant or Catholic.
The messianic movement is much bigger in the states than here but for the last 15 years or so I have been profoundly changed and affected as I begin to rediscover the Jewishness of Jesus and moving away from Greek thinking.
Doing so has changed by view of OT, Jesus, and crucially of Paul and the NT. dont get me wrong. Paul was my favourite dude coming to faith. Used the letters to try to be the best I could be, purge sin, strive forth etc. However the transition into Hebrew thought opens a completely different world view that is more holistic, more nuanced, more beautiful than I could have imagined.
Paul can be really badly misunderstood in so many ways. Like everything he must be taken into context not just given his place in the world at the time but also his place in canonical scriptures. There will be context and interpretation elsewhere in scripture should we need it. We need to take it all on board and weigh/test it