Christian Naturism - Beliefs

Beliefs

• Christian naturists believe that much of Christianity has misinterpreted the events of the Garden of Eden story and the Fall of Man. According to this interpretation, God could see the sin that Adam and Eve had committed by eating the forbidden fruit. It was for this reason alone that the couple was ashamed, and therefore tried to hide by covering their bodies with fig leaves. They were not motivated to dress by being able to see one another nude. (If that were the case, Adam and Eve would have immediately run off in opposite directions, rather than remain together.) When God subsequently clothed them with animal skins, He made no mandate for humans to be dressed in public, but left a reminder of the severe nature of sin requiring a blood sacrifice.

• The human body was God's final and greatest earthly creation. Requiring the body to be covered rivals the legalism of the Pharisees. Many people have been deceived into thinking that their clothing keeps them from sin, when in fact the opposite is true.

• Other prominent figures in the Bible also participated in social nudity (see scripture below). Being nude is a wholesome way of life, and an acceptable state of dress which was never condemned by God in the Bible. Christian naturists note there is no command in the Adam and Eve story, or elsewhere in the Bible, to wear clothing.

• While "openness" and "loving people for who they are" are common concepts throughout Christianity, they are especially emphasized in Christian naturism through "body acceptance." Having a perfect body as the world sees fit is totally unimportant for both males and females of all ages.

• Many of the prohibitions of present-day nudity (both within Christianity and society at large) originate from the 19th-century Victorian era, rather than scripture. Two centuries ago, except for a Puritan minority, Christians did not generally equate nudity with sexuality.