Paul from Antioch
Active Member
Does the Bible have anything to say about tatoos? Several younger people seem to think that tatoos are an acceptable thing to have. What's your opinion about this?
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TATOOs
- Thread starter Paul from Antioch
- Start date
I don't think it's New Covenant prohibited, but I think it's stupid to get them.
Henna tattooing (arabesque brown stains on the hands and other parts) is apparently a thing for Christian gals?
brochure for a "Henna Party" at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary:
http://www.sbts.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/henna-event.pdf
Real classy.
brochure for a "Henna Party" at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary:
http://www.sbts.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/henna-event.pdf
Real classy.
Bassoonery
Active Member
Henna is not much different from drawing on yourself with a pen or make-up. It is temporary and fades after a few weeks.
One thing to consider is whether it helps or hinders your Christian witness. A tattoo might limit the number of people who will be willing to listen to what you have to say in certain cultures. The same goes for piercings, inappropriate dress and manners.
One thing to consider is whether it helps or hinders your Christian witness. A tattoo might limit the number of people who will be willing to listen to what you have to say in certain cultures. The same goes for piercings, inappropriate dress and manners.
In Japan for most of our time there, the only people with tattoos were the yakuza gangsters, their equivalent to the Mafia. So to the heathen Japanese, it was an embarrassment if you had a tattoo, unless you were a gangster and wanted to scare people with it. Then unfortunately, heathen Japanese young people noticed that heathen American young people were getting tattoos, and in recent years it has become a thing over there.
There are no Scriptures outright calling it a sin, but the verse usually used against tattooing is Leviticus 19:28, "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD." Modern translations have "tattoos" instead of "marks," because that is what it obviously is. Notice that the reason given for not having tattoos is because "I am the LORD." Tattoos are wrong because we belong to God, even our skin. Tattooing is disfiguring one's skin. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says, "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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
Why do I call the custom heathen? Because historically it has been a non-Christian custom. Jungle people groups have practiced it. Criminals have practiced it. The great OT commentary by Keil and Delitszch says about the Leviticus verse, "a custom...very common among the savage tribes." It is not something for Christians, but something to mark one's self as a heathen non-Christian.
There are no Scriptures outright calling it a sin, but the verse usually used against tattooing is Leviticus 19:28, "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD." Modern translations have "tattoos" instead of "marks," because that is what it obviously is. Notice that the reason given for not having tattoos is because "I am the LORD." Tattoos are wrong because we belong to God, even our skin. Tattooing is disfiguring one's skin. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says, "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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
Why do I call the custom heathen? Because historically it has been a non-Christian custom. Jungle people groups have practiced it. Criminals have practiced it. The great OT commentary by Keil and Delitszch says about the Leviticus verse, "a custom...very common among the savage tribes." It is not something for Christians, but something to mark one's self as a heathen non-Christian.
Funny story. A rookie missionary we'll call "Sam" had been in the US Navy, but went to Japan as a missionary in 1980. He still had a tattoo of an anchor on his arm, but being told about the yakuza gangsters and their tattoos he kept it covered with either long-sleeved shirts or a type of bandage. One day a veteran missionary, "Bill," invited Sam to go down into Tokyo with him to a location where he had been trying to start a branch Sunday School. However, the owner had refused to rent it to a gaijin ("outsider," foreigner) missionary.
Before going in, Bill said to Sam, "Uncover your arm, and when I tell you to, just put your arm up on the counter." Puzzled, Sam said okay. In the negotiations, the owner flatly refused to rent the venue to the gaijin. However, at a strategic time, Bill gave the signal and Sam put his arm up on the counter. Seeing the tattoo, the owner turned white as a sheet, stuttered, and almost gave the venue to the missionary! That's what a tattoo meant in Japan before the young people there were corrupted by Americans.
Before going in, Bill said to Sam, "Uncover your arm, and when I tell you to, just put your arm up on the counter." Puzzled, Sam said okay. In the negotiations, the owner flatly refused to rent the venue to the gaijin. However, at a strategic time, Bill gave the signal and Sam put his arm up on the counter. Seeing the tattoo, the owner turned white as a sheet, stuttered, and almost gave the venue to the missionary! That's what a tattoo meant in Japan before the young people there were corrupted by Americans.
John. That is hilarious
given my background, I cannot believe I made it through life w/o a Tat
I just can’t imagine me liking one 15 minutes after I got it since I’m so fickle
given my background, I cannot believe I made it through life w/o a Tat
I just can’t imagine me liking one 15 minutes after I got it since I’m so fickle
The wife was curious as to my opinion of them on women. I told her it makes women look like trashy billboards, plus the kind of females that get tatoos are typically the sort that Christian women don't want to be grouped with.
On men you could possibly make a case for war paint as we're supposed to be "warriors", but I doubt I'd ever get one.
My body bears enough scars and calluses from manual labor, I reckon I don't need to add some decorative ones ontop haha.
