On Tattoos and Body Modifications
Within the Church today there is a great tension between whether tattoos are sinful or permittable. What makes this debate interesting is that you can enter nearly any assembly and you will find people who land on either side of the issue. The percentages may differ according to denomination or individual assembly, but the fact remains the debate is pervasive. We must therefore determine what specifically is outlined in scripture and what isn’t regarding tattoos and in a broader sense body modification. The reason for this is because often a determination or conviction may be reached based on a cultural or legalistic belief without proper exegesis of the scripture.
The immediate passage most people who are anti-tattoo will go to is Leviticus 19:28 which says, You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD. This passage feels like a slam dunk. The Bible says no tattoos so no tattoos. But we must not ignore context, immediate, intermediate, and total context. What I mean by this is, what does the entire chapter say, what does the book of Leviticus say, and what does scripture say? An out of context quote that supports my position is a foundationless doctrine. We must compare and contrast scripture with scripture.
What is happening within Leviticus 19? Fundamentally God is outlining what the national laws and regulations should be, naturally that includes what might be considered moral rules like 19:4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God. But what we might consider religious laws are also given like in 19:5-8 ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted. Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from his people. While other rules seem purely national like 19:9-10 ‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God. The point I am driving at is that if we take the command to not get a tattoo from Leviticus 19 as a necessary command then we must take the entire passage and by extension the whole book but that would be to put ourselves under the law something Paul in Galatians speaks against especially in Chapter 5 when he is telling the Galatians they do not need to do circumcision because as 5:18 says, But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
Based on that fact we can confidently say putting ourselves back under the law in its entirety is not something God. But now the Leviticus passage is no longer a passage that we can use as a moral command we must obey then is there any other scripture that speaks to tattoos? Well Isaiah 44:5 does not speak specifically to tattoos, but it says, “This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’S’; And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the LORD,’ And will name Israel’s name with honor. While whether the writing on the hand is permanent or temporary is not clear we can see from the passage that God is showing favor towards a body marking that declares one’s allegiance to God. This is obviously not a slam dunk passage, but it must be entered into consideration.
There are no more passages that specifically reference marks being made on skin, but tattoos naturally fit into the category of general body modification. What this means is we can look at what scripture has to say on other forms of body modification then apply those guidelines to tattoos.
In the Old Testament earrings and nose rings are spoken of positively and both are forms of body modification because they require the piercing of ear and nostril. We have in Genesis 24:47 Abraham’s servant when he is getting Isaac a wife and finds Rebekah one of the gifts, he gives her is a ring in the nose. Within the passage there is nothing that indicates God disapproves of this action, but this book is primarily focused on history so just because a moral judgement is not passed here does not make it right. Instead, we must go to Ezekial 16 where God is talking to Israel comparing them to an abandoned baby who He rescued then cleaned up and adorned richly which then in verse 12 God says, “I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Here God himself refers to giving someone a nose ring and earring, which are presumably piercings, as forms of beautification God approves of. Proverbs 25:12 says, Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold Is a wise reprover to a listening ear. Which again uses a piercing in a positive manner. Even when God is pronouncing judgement on Judah in Isaiah 3 in the section where he gets down to the punishment against the women of Judah starting in verse 16 it says Moreover, the LORD said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, And go along with mincing steps And tinkle the bangles on their feet, Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the LORD will make their foreheads bare.” In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, finger rings, nose rings, festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils. The taking away of the beauty of the women’s earrings and nose rings are listed as punishments alongside totally fine things to have showing God has no issue with the piercings this is merely a punishment for immorality.
We could point towards the covenant sign of circumcision present throughout the Old Testament. Even though we as Christians are not required to do it the fact it was an explicitly God ordained form of body modification specifically given in Genesis 17:10 to Abraham demonstrates at the very least that body modification is not evil.
Despite all of the above evidence an argument may be made that in 1 Corinthians 6:19 it says, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? Meaning we should not do anything to our bodies because they are temples. The issue with this reasoning is the lack of context the verses immediately prior say, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. The context tells us that what is being talked about is sexual immorality with a prostitute. In other words, since our body is God’s because it is a temple, we should not lie with a prostitute and by extension we should not intentionally enter into sin because we are then profaning God’s temple. This passage has nothing to do with physical alterations or what we should or shouldn’t ingest but it is all about spiritual purity.
My point with this lengthy spiel is that there is nothing scriptural that tells us body modification is frowned upon by God. If the piercing and hanging of jewelry from your person is not wrong, then why would the permanent placing of pictures or words into your skin be wrong? But there is one last element to consider, in what mindset should we enter into getting a tattoo or any body modification for that matter? For that I think one passage sums it up Matthew 22:34-39 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ This rubric can and should be used in every facet of life is “is what I am doing showing my love to God and secondarily is it loving to my fellow man?”
My opinion is that what you put on your body should either declare your loyalty to God either to those who will see it or to yourself as a reminder or as something specifically to God. If it does not do that make sure it is not something that promotes sin like having a pinup girl on your arm promoting lust. Instead, it could build up yourself by being a tattoo that is meaningful to you which can serve as an important reminder, or it can benefit others by being a beautiful piece of art that people can see and appreciate its beauty and appreciate the artist behind it.
If the previous paragraph is to difficult to keep in mind then remember this, “what you put on your body, make sure it is not sinful anything else would fall into being permissible.”