Is it appropriate for Christians to practise body modification?

"Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD."
- Leviticus 19:28
Recently I received mail here saying, "I think you are doing is [sic] self mutilation and I for one am very disgusted. But there is hope for you! Read the BIBLE!" Now, I know the Bible fairly well, and I didn't think there was anything in it clearly outlawing body modification. Most people know of the passage from Leviticus quoted above, but it doesn't really apply for a couple of reasons. First of all, the majority of people do not practise cuttings or tattoos in relation to funerary rites. (Tattoos were even acceptably associated with funerary rites at times - The crusaders were tattooed with Christian symbols to ensure themselves a proper burial should they be killed in battle.) Secondly, these are laws from the first covenant, which Jesus replaced with the new covenant:

"But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
"But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."
- Galacians 3:23-24
By taking a look at the other laws in Leviticus, it is fairly clear that they are no longer practised by Christians, as they no longer apply - They were for preparation for the new covenant.

"Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard."
- Leviticus 19:27
As far as piercing, at least that of ears and noses, it was commonly practised by many of the peoples of the Bible, both the servants and enemies of God. In Judges 8:24 we see that the Ishmaelite (the descendants of Ishmael and the enemies of the tribes of Israel) men wore earrings:

"And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)"
However, this is quite unrelated from the fact that they were enemies of God. Exodus 32:2, Ezekial 16:12, and Isaiah 3:21 all mention the Israelites wearing earrings or noserings.

"Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
"And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
"And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem."
- Genesis 35:1-4
This passage seems to imply that the removal of earrings is associated with (spritual) cleansing, along with getting rid of the strange gods. However, keep in mind that this is old testament, and old covenant. Whichever the case, piercing was certainly not forbidden. In fact, there are several ceremonies which describe how a slave, who set free by his master, decides to stay rather than go free. The slave's ear is then pierced with an awl to show that he had voluntarily given up his freedom:

"Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise."
- Deuteronomy 15:17, see also Exodus 21:1-7
Piercing (nose) is also described in several places as being part of a marriage:

"And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands."
- Genesis 24:47
One point that should be made clear though is that pride and vanity should be avoided (although there is no need to avoid beauty) - Keep in mind that Christianity stresses that it's important what's on the inside, not the outside (1 Peter 3:1- 4).
"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
- Romans 3:28
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days."
- Colossians 2:16
This seems to say that we are not held accountable by God as to the law's statements on these issues - Likewise, we are not held accountable for tattoos. Obviously the type of tattoo is important - No more should a Christian have an occult tattoo than they should have an occult object. These things attract evil (Joshua 6:18).

To quote one piece of mail I received on the subject, "Surely, God would probably prefer that I eat a fresh salad instead of a big piece of fudge with an espresso. But God is good, and knows I'm made of flesh. So maybe no biggee (hey, this is pretty philosophical, no?). I say ditto for the tattoos and earrings. I think God is more concerned with matters like temper, pride, honesty, and so forth."

I think to sum up, if you are really in a crisis about what to do, God is the one to ask.

"For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church."
- Ephesians 5:29
I would like to acknowledge the following people, without whom this article would not have been possible. Their feedback and pointers are what wrote this article: Bob Felts, Andrew Gross, Chris Halasz, and Carenza Ivan Maddox. Also, let me humbly note that I am far from a Bible scholar, and would appreciate any feedback on any flaws in this article.

Here's one nice letter I received.
Here's another nice letter I received.
Here's yet another nice letter I received.
...And another nice letter I received.
Here's a bible/piercing study guide I received.
Here's some 'Earrings & Scripture' notes I received.

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