Forward: I am by no means an expert on biblical matters but the following submission is the result of research that I have done on the subject of body modification and Christianity. All verses are quoted from the New International Version bible.
At A Glance Author Joe Napier Contact Joe [email protected] IAM Blindsidebob When N/A
I love small churches, I've grown up in them, spent a lot of my (albeit short) adult life in them, and I really don't plan on leaving them. I'm really not comfortable anywhere else. But of course a small church is like a small town in that anyone who sticks out is extremely visible to the rest of the group. Being 18 and in the church leadership was unique enough, being visibly pierced was like covering myself in flashing red lights.
The most common reactions ranged from a friendly indifference to silent hostility, new members would quietly inquire about "the pierced boy" to a regular member of the congregation when they saw me teaching their kids in the Sunday school, older visitors would scoff my presence onstage after service as I helped disassemble the meager sound rig, elders and deacons would openly question my common sense, gall, and fortitude, and the kids all wanted to know how badly it hurt.
But every now and then a brave soul would approach me with the holy and righteous knowledge that God disapproved of piercings and it said so in the bible right next to that verse about the tattoos. To which I just nod and say something to the effect of "God will deal with me on that". Naturally I want to argue, to let their obvious ignorance be known to anyone within earshot, to let them feel the repercussions of such a flimsy attack on an educated and aggressive adversary but after a few arguments that went nowhere I gave up on that route and chose to just write it for any who actually cared to know to read.
Enter this submission...
A lot of Christians maintain that the bible condemns piercing as a symbol of slavery, citing the following verse found in Exodus chapter 21:
2 "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything... 5 "But if the servant declares, 'I love my master... and do not want to go free,' 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
But they rarely mention that very symbolism is used as a representation of submission to God in Psalm 40:
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.
And although it is true that having ones ear pierced in that way was a symbol of willful subservience in the ancient Hebrew culture there are many verses in the bible that point ear piercing as being just another form of decoration held much in the same regard as today.
Ezekial 16:11-13
11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.
In this allegorical passage God is explaining to the Hebrews that he made them beautiful through (among other things) jewelry of the nose and ear. Having taken the Hebrews as his chosen people that he "passed by and saw you kicking about" he made them into a people set apart from the rest of the world, he lavished them with adornments.
Proverbs 25: 11
12 Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold
is a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear.
In this proverb the bible uses earrings as a representation of the value of accepting correction from a wiser man. It also demonstrates that a golden earring was something to aspire to owning as opposed to something condemned by God.
Exodus 32:2
2 Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me."
Although the context of the passage is negative (in Moses' absence the Israelites made an idol to worship for their escape from the Egyptians which God called them 'corrupt' for doing) it does note that earrings were very common and used as a form of adornment by both sexes.
A side note: My favorite assumption that christians have is that earrings are not 'piercings'. Anyone with any sense on the subject knows that ears are as much a part of the body as a tongue and that an earring is just as much of a piercing as a tongue ring.
And tattooes? The bible clearly states in Leviticus 19 that this is unacceptable to God:
28 " 'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
But then, in that same chapter it also forbids wearing anything made of a cotton/polyester blend, rare steaks and cutting your sideburns. Here's a bit of backstory: after the liberation of the Hebrews from the Egyptians they were a people without any set code. Using Moses as a mouthpiece God then sets down a set of rules and rituals to set the Hebrews apart visually from the rest of the people of the age, protect them from themselves, and atone for their sins. Without delving too deep into the difference between Judaism and Christianity the new testament states that we are no longer bound by these laws which were made as an impossible way to win God's favor through ritual and behavior. This is a concept openly embraced by nearly all Christians... except for Leviticus 19:28.
Well then it must say something about it somewhere else, right? Wrong. That is the only mention of tattoos in the entire bible.
So for all its proclamation of how evil tattoos and piercings are, Contemporary Christianity really doesn't have anything to back up their claims. In most cases they are cast in a good way, mostly as benign personal adornment. In the few instances where they are considered negatively it generally pertains to old laws that Christianity itself claims it is no longer bound to. So really where does that leave God on the matter? I don't really know, but from what I've read he really doesn't appear to care.