Does the Bible teach against tattoo's?

[ktn4eg]

I've often wondered about whether or not the Bible teaches against tattoo's. Personally I don't care for them, but that's just a preference for me.

The only passages that I've found that may have any applications to what we call tattoo's are OT law ones such as Leviticus 19:28 and 21:5 that speak about "cuttings in the flesh."

I've never come across any NT passages about this. Does that mean that it's OK for a Christian to have tattoo's (especially where they can be seen by others)?

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Bob Alkire]

I've often wondered about whether or not the Bible teaches against tattoo's. Personally I don't care for them, but that's just a preference for me.

The only passages that I've found that may have any applications to what we call tattoo's are OT law ones such as Leviticus 19:28 and 21:5 that speak about "cuttings in the flesh."

I've never come across any NT passages about this. Does that mean that it's OK for a Christian to have tattoo's (especially where they can be seen by others)?

What are your thoughts on this?

To be truthful, I don't know if those two verses are talking about tattoo's are not.
The first tattoo's I recall was some of the WWII vets wearing long sleeves shirts to cover theirs. Then saw a lot in prison ministry and in jail ministry. So I don't know, but if your child or grand child has one it does not bother me, but if my children or grandchildren get them it is a major problem to me. I have a grand son who has a few, I'm not happy about it, but there isn't much I can do about it, still love him, but it my mind it goes back to prison and jail.

 

[Tom Butler]

Well, let's see what the Bible says about it:
Leviticus 19:28

[FONT=Arial, helvetica]Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
[/FONT]

 

[ktn4eg]

So, does that OT law prohibition apply to us today or not?

Just asking.

 

[TisMe]

1 Corinthians 6 - 18-20. This scripture may be of help.

 

[righteousdude2]

It doesn't matter....

....look around...there are all kinds of things that the Bible teaches against, yet the world, culture, society and even the church seems to have no way to counter or desire to confront.

If gay marriage, living with each other before marriage, greed, idol worship and other things mean nothing any longer, why should a marking of the skin matter?

Like living next door to or working along side of illegal aliens of gay persons/couples....society and the church are growing slowly accustomed to and acclimated to the changes around us, and the Bible no longer holds water with those on the road to hell!

I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, but even on this board, people are no tolerating things that fifty years ago, wouldn't have been tolerated. so what does it matter what this OP decides about tattoos? They are here to stay, Live with it, it is far less stressing.

Keep your own feet on the narrow path, and don't worry about the sin around you. It seems like everyone seems to think they know what is best for them, and they could not care less what the true God, or the Biblical world views of things are.

Continue to share the word, but, in the end, you will have to learn to live and let live. It really is less stressing in the end! :BangHead:

I'm sorry, but I had to vent! It seems like a losing cause, even with some folks on this board, when it comes to moral issues and social changes that rub against the grain of the Gospel message! :tear:

 

[TisMe]

Nothing wrong with speaking from a sincere heart, brother. I pray God reduces the stress you may be having and let's come together in mutual prayer for this generation.

 

[Gregory Perry Sr.]

Obedience DOES Still Matter

Brothers and Sisters....I believe that obeying God's word still matters. We can't be perfect but we can try to be as obedient as possible to God just because WE SHOULD if we are truly saved. Since we have been saved we should now be able to live for Him where before, we were slaves to sin and completely incapable of doing anything in obedience to God.
On the matter of tattoos they are of the world and should be avoided. The verse in Leviticus that was mentioned (19:28) prohibited more than just "cuttings in your flesh"....it also said "nor print any marks upon you"
While I know we are not "under the law" we ought to honor God and His Word with our obedience as much as possible just out of a sense of love and gratitude toward Him for saving us and giving us real Life in Christ. Too many professing "Christians" these days are trying justify sinful behaviour and cling to the things and ways of this world. We are ALL guilty of it to some degree. Some day we will give account of ourselves before the Lord according to what is in His Word...and how we lived according to it. The Judgement Seat of Christ should prompt some sense of the fear of God in us even though our salvation is secure in Christ. Tattoos???? Why in the world would any redeemed child of God want such a thing? Can you pray with your local tattoo artist before you bare yourself to get one and ask God's blessing on it and him/her? Think about it.

Bro.Greg:saint:

 

[Mexdeaf]

I think the "Law of Common Sense" is often the most important "Law" we overlook during these discussions.

I've never met anyone who was sorry that they DID NOT get a tattoo (or piercing, or drunk, or married, etc.) but I have met plenty of people who were sorry because they did!

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

I think the "Law of Common Sense" is often the most important "Law" we overlook:laugh: during these discussions.

I've never met anyone who was sorry that they DID NOT get a tattoo (or piercing, or drunk, or etc.) but I have met plenty of people who were sorry because they did!

I understand you cant get into the Marines with them. They told one young man I spoke to that he would have his removed to get in.

 

[Bob Alkire]

Well, let's see what the Bible says about it:
Leviticus 19:28

Tom, I believed this verse was talking more about practices connected to pagan mourning rites. We don't have tattoos or piercing for ear rings nor does my wife. Would the piercing and tattoos fall under this as well?
But looking in my New Scofield 1967 they have put tattoo in there to replace print. I guess that was done for us Florida boys would be able to understand
Tom Constable says,"God’s people were to avoid pagan practices that characterized the Canaanites (vv. 26–32). These included eating blood (v. 26), cutting their hair in the style of the pagan priests (v. 27), and disfiguring their bodies that God had created (v. 28). They were not to disfigure the divine likeness in them by scarring their bodies. "

So Tom, thanks, I'll have to say I now agree with you. Never to old to learn and man do I have a lot to learn.

 

[Oldtimer]

1 Corinthians 6 - 18-20. This scripture may be of help.

Thank you.


Warning! Personal opinion coming up. :flower:

Today, tattoes are just another way to be of the world. As members of the body of Christ we are to be in not of the world. After coming to the cross, getting a tatto, isn't any different, IMO, than what so many Christians do when they fail to stand apart from the world.

Genesis 4: KJB
15 And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Leviticus 19: KJB
28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.

1 Corinthians 6: KJB
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.​

Revelation 13: KJB
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.​

From the beginning, marks on the body have significance. God, Himself marked Cain. God told mankind not to mark themselves in the OT. To glorify God in our bodies in the NT. There will come a time when Satan will tempt mankind into accepting his mark.

From the beginning, God wanted sacrifices made to Him to be without blemish. Just as His final blood sacrifice was without blemish. Until His death, Jesus would have surrendered to His Father's OT law, as He came to fulfill it. Would He have put a mark upon His body?

Within the context of bringing glory to God in our bodies, would Jesus have accepted a tatto after He fulfilled the law? How does a tatto bring glory to God? Now, IMO, a tatto is a mark of pride. It's like a sign that says Look at ME! regardless of what symbols and words are inked into the skin.

Within the context of what is still to come, would Jesus have put a mark upon His body after He fulfilled the law?

 

[12strings]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0xz2KKYZV4

 

[Gregory Perry Sr.]

Interesting...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0xz2KKYZV4

Before I say anything else let me say WELCOME BACK!:thumbs:
Now....interesting video....the most interesting thing about it is that at the end of it Lacrae seems to conclude that it would be better to NOT have tattoo's than to have them. While we are NOT under the law it is clear that God's instructions to the nation of Israel were definitely intended to seperate them (as a chosen nation) from the pagan peoples and practices of the nations surrounding them for His (God's) glory. Should we, as God's church, do any less? Particularly in regard to something so blatant and "in your face" as modern tattoo art? I know Christian who have had them done. I see nothing edifying in them. I'm sorry...there are far less invasive and selfish "look at ME" types of ways to improve a person's "witness" for the Lord. Tattoos by themselves carry a stigma with them that is far more negative spiritually than it could ever be in the "spiritually "positive sense. Plus...since when is it RIGHT to disrobe part or all of the body in front of anybody else for ANY purpose? God said DON'T do it. We should not go hunting for ways to justify or approve of things that God says "No" about. We did enough of that when we were LOST. Time to give God and His Word the benefit of any doubt....and go the other way. God Bless You Bro.12 Strings (I knew you wouldn't stay away!:smilewinkgrin:

Bro.Greg:saint:

 

[PeterM]

Seems to me the OP is asking a far deeper question... do commands in the OT apply to Christ-Followers today? I would argue "yes" but not to earn, merit, maintain one's salvation. We keep the law as a response to the Gospel. I haven't got a tattoo or a piercing. That doesn't make me better in any way, I still need grace everyday. That said, I won't get either because I want my life (including my body) to be pleasing in the eyes of my heavenly daddy.

 

[saturneptune]

So Tom, thanks, I'll have to say I now agree with you. Never to old to learn and man do I have a lot to learn.

But Bob, look at it this way. At our age, the skin is already stretched and saggy as it is going to get. So this is the perfect time to get a tattoo.

LOL, I was in the Navy, and in all the tattoo parlors I passed on all the liberty ports, sometimes in an altered state, I never did get one tattoo.

 

[Fred's Wife]

....look around...there are all kinds of things that the Bible teaches against, yet the world, culture, society and even the church seems to have no way to counter or desire to confront.

If gay marriage, living with each other before marriage, greed, idol worship and other things mean nothing any longer, why should a marking of the skin matter?

Like living next door to or working along side of illegal aliens of gay persons/couples....society and the church are growing slowly accustomed to and acclimated to the changes around us, and the Bible no longer holds water with those on the road to hell!

I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, but even on this board, people are no tolerating things that fifty years ago, wouldn't have been tolerated. so what does it matter what this OP decides about tattoos? They are here to stay, Live with it, it is far less stressing.

Keep your own feet on the narrow path, and don't worry about the sin around you. It seems like everyone seems to think they know what is best for them, and they could not care less what the true God, or the Biblical world views of things are.

Continue to share the word, but, in the end, you will have to learn to live and let live. It really is less stressing in the end! :BangHead:

I'm sorry, but I had to vent! It seems like a losing cause, even with some folks on this board, when it comes to moral issues and social changes that rub against the grain of the Gospel message! :tear:

Amen Bro. righteousdude!

 

[Fred's Wife]

Brothers and Sisters....I believe that obeying God's word still matters. We can't be perfect but we can try to be as obedient as possible to God just because WE SHOULD if we are truly saved. Since we have been saved we should now be able to live for Him where before, we were slaves to sin and completely incapable of doing anything in obedience to God.
On the matter of tattoos they are of the world and should be avoided. The verse in Leviticus that was mentioned (19:28) prohibited more than just "cuttings in your flesh"....it also said "nor print any marks upon you"
While I know we are not "under the law" we ought to honor God and His Word with our obedience as much as possible just out of a sense of love and gratitude toward Him for saving us and giving us real Life in Christ. Too many professing "Christians" these days are trying justify sinful behaviour and cling to the things and ways of this world. We are ALL guilty of it to some degree. Some day we will give account of ourselves before the Lord according to what is in His Word...and how we lived according to it. The Judgement Seat of Christ should prompt some sense of the fear of God in us even though our salvation is secure in Christ. Tattoos???? Why in the world would any redeemed child of God want such a thing? Can you pray with your local tattoo artist before you bare yourself to get one and ask God's blessing on it and him/her? Think about it.

Bro.Greg:saint:

:thumbs::thumbs::jesus:

 

[saturneptune]

:thumbs::thumbs::jesus:

I have to agree, seriously. I do not have one and am thankful for it.

 

[preachinjesus]

What are your thoughts on this?

The Bible doesn't teach against tattoos. It does teach about pagan symbols, but not all tattoos are pagan symbols.