Tattoos and the Bible
Posted: December 15, 2006 Filed under: Anthropology, Tattoos, Theology 4 Comments
Many, if not all of us, in the world of tattoo have had Leviticus 19:28 thrown in our faces “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.” Usually it is meant to condemn either our profession or our obviously decorated skin. So what is a Christian tattooist or tattoo enthusiast to say? Is tattooing indeed defiling the temple of the Holy Spirit? Are we callously ignoring God’s commandment? Let’s shed some light on the subject by looking at it through Scriptural doctrines the law with its conviction, and grace with its freedom. First, by researching references to Leviticus 19:28, we find it refers to a heathen practice meant to invoke the attention of pagan gods and usually by means of cutting oneself to “prove” one’s sincerity (see also Lev. 21:5, Jer. 16:6, and Deut. 14:1). It was an attempt to make one worthy to approach some graven image of a god through self-abasement. God rightly admonished His chosen people not to follow the pagan rituals of such false “religions”. However, some critics will still hold fast to the literal letter of the law and conclude that regardless of its textual meaning, the act of tattooing is still forbidden granted, the entire Bible is indeed the inspired literal Word of the living God, but it also represents a progressive revelation of its Author His nature, His grace and His plan for redemption. Taken in the context of God’s plan to restore mankind into fellowship with Him, the law was given to show us that we could not redeem ourselves by our own efforts. Paul writes in Romans that the law that it was given to reveal sin will justify no man. Only through faith in the free gift of God’s grace, found in the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ, can man be justified (ROM 3:20-26). In fact, Jesus actually redeemed us from the law and its curse (Gal. 3:13, see also Gal. 3:22). But if one wants to live by the law the Old Covenant then one must keep all of it (Jas. 2:10). Transgressing any part of the law means we are guilty of transgressing all of it. According to Levitical law, we may not eat the meat of rabbits or pigs (Lev. 11:6-7), nor lobsters, crabs, prawns, oysters or clams (Lev. 11:10-12). Hybrid breeding of livestock and mixing linen and wool in fabrics is prohibited (Lev. 19:19). Shaving the sides of your head (being clean shaven) or disfiguring the edges of your beard (trimming) is also forbidden (Lev. 19:27). So if you’ve ever eaten a pork sandwich, dined on Maine lobster, trimmed your beard or worn wool blend suit or have gotten a tattoo you’re guilty under the law! Thank God that He has provided a better way for us to be reconciled to Him! A New Covenant! Romans 5:1-2 says we are justified by faith, given right standing with God through the Lord Jesus Christ (see also Rom. 5:8-11). The entire 5th chapter of Galatians deals with this issue contrasting the law and liberty, the lusts of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit. Under the New Covenant, all the law is fulfilled in loving God with all your heart, soul and mind and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:36-40). Jesus fulfilled the law and now our right standing with God is based upon His right standing. Our righteousness is based upon His righteousness not on the law. Galatians 2:21 puts it this way, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” In Paul’s day there was controversy over whether a believer would be defiled by eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Paul addressed this at length. In his understanding, the eating of that meat was neither good nor bad of itself. It was the attitude of the heart that was important. Heart motive either cleansed the meat or condemned the eater. Yet while all things were legal to Paul, not all things were without consequences. (Read the 14th chapter of Romans and I Corinthians, chapter 8.) Paul affirmed the freedom we have in Christ, but he also warned us to beware that our liberty does not become a stumbling block for others. With liberty comes responsibility. A word of caution: do not flaunt your Christian freedom. One man’s freedom can be another’s downfall. Yeah, so what about our body being the “temple” of God? Doesn’t tattooing defile it? Well, let’s look at the context of those scriptures (I Cor. 3:16, 6:19, II Cor. 6:16). In the first instance, Paul is addressing envy, strife and division in the church at Corinth and warning them to be careful of what is built upon the foundation laid down by Jesus lest the temple be defiled. In chapter 6, he refers to sexual immorality as defiling the temple of the body. In II Corinthians Paul warns against tainting the bodily temple with idol worship. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 15:11 that it is what comes out of the mouth of man that defiles him that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt.12: 34-35). It is the love, purity and faith that come out of your heart that keeps your temple holy or it is the strife, immorality and unbelief within your heart that defiles it. Personally, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. As Christians we should take dead aim at the devil and his unholy minions, not at brothers and sisters in the Lord who happen to be decorated (or those who are not). Paul himself advises us not to engage in foolish disputes and arguments over the law. He calls it useless and unprofitable (Titus3: 9).
Gospel-Centered Musings 
Yo Dewalt,
Give me a call! I like this post. I am going to show it to my Dad. He is reformed too…no joke on that last part.
Hi Micheal, 4 years later, but, perhaps you’ll read this. Your argumentation is interesting–and actually not very “Reformed” since you are arguing the Old Testament law is only used in one sense for Christians, what theologians call “2nd use” of the law, namely as kind of a schoolmaster sending us to Christ in His mercy for our sin… This is PRECISELY the same line of logic proponents of homosexuality use to dismiss the Old Testament prohibition of it–that we are not under law but grace…and, if you want to follow the Old Testament, you better not eat shellfish (or wear mixed fabrics, or shave your temples or…)!
Theologians, both Reformed and other Christians groups, have identified 3 uses of Old Testament moral commands: 1: Formation of civil codes (ex: murder is proscribed in the OT, therefore we should have civil laws against it) 2: As a schoolmaster–showing us our faults, and moving us to desiring God’s mercy in Christ, and 3: As an instruction manual in holy living for Christians (who have already followed #2 use…). yes, this is OLD TESTAMENT commands, not merely what is repeated in the New Testament. Bestiality, for example, is never mentioned in the New Testament–yet we as Christians know it is wrong, because…one small verse in Leviticus tells us so…. Why don’t we avoid shellfish, and follow all the rest of the Old Testament commands (all 613) then?
The Church has also identified 3 KINDS of commands in the Old Testament: Those relating to: 1) Civil government of ancient Israel 2)Ceremonial obligations to the animal sacrificial religious system of ancient Israel, and 3) Moral obligations for God’s people for all time…
Therefore, when we look at an OT command, we can’t just say, “oh, I’m under grace, not law…so this doesn’t apply.” NONSENSE! All kinds of immorality can be justified that way…as the New Testament ASSUMES an Old Testament form of morality. Do our good works save us? No….Paul makes that clear, in that SENSE we’re under grace, not law…still, Christians, to grow in that grace, must make an effort to please their Savior in how they live….that “3rd use of the law.”
So what laws apply in the OT? Any law that doesn’t directly relate to the civil-law system of ancient Israel (which are moot….as the Theocracy of Israel ended before Jesus was born…) and, any law which isn’t directly related to the ceremonial/sacrificial system of ancient Israel (which things were fulfilled in Christ)….these include (as the NT makes clear) all dietary regulations, and other provisios having to do with blood, and ritual purification. I’m not at all convinced that Lev 19:28, is part of the Ceremonial laws…and, neither have the last 2,000 years of Christian thought. It’s only been maybe 30 years when any Christian questioned our 2000 year practice…of not having tattoos. Yes, scripture, not tradition is the final arbiter, still, when all Christians everywhere, except f for one recent Western generation, read scripture one way as definitive–even though only one verse….humility should err on the side of caution.
My view is not a “reformed view”… Well that is good, because I am not confessionally Reformed.
4-years later… I’m not sure my view of the Law is the same as it was 4-years ago, but nonetheless tattooing and marking either way was not apart of the “moral law.” However I am not even sure I would make the reformed distinction that you say “the church has” done between the civil, creational, and moral. Go find some Jews and ask them how they would separate the Law. Oh, wait, they didn’t did they?
Okay. It is true that moral commandments from the OT apply to Christians, such as the examples of bestiality and homosexuality. However I think the distinctions you’ve made are fuzzy at best. Such distinctions are helpful in discussion, but the reality is that one category bleeds into the others in a number of ways. For example, Israel’s government was intrinsically tied to the Temple system, and moral commands apply to purity for temple rites, while performance of sacrifices were part of one’s moral responsibilities.
So the better way to determine if something is a violation of the law as it applies to Christians is simply to ask “Is this a moral commandment?” After all, that’s what we’re really asking anyway.
As Michael notes, the textual and historical context make it clear that the commandment is not about having ink in your skin but about Israel keeping themselves holy by not participating in their neighbors’ pagan religion. This has an obvious moral dimension, but again one that has little or nothing to do with the tattooing itself and everything to do with idolatry and paganism. It also ties into the temple system by keeping the people spiritually pure and devoted undividedly to the one true God, not a series of gods.
It also had a cultural aspect, keeping Israel separate from her neighbors. Israel is God’s chosen people, and were not to mix with pagans. This ensured Israel’s continuity to Jesus’ time (since all of Scripture centers ultimately on God’s redemptive plan) in a world where nations were wiped off the map with regularity. Israel’s separation also was intended as a picture to other nations. They were set apart, God’s people. By avoiding their neighbors’ culture they identified themselves with God and His people in a visible way.
It’s worth noting that Israel failed miserably at their charge over and over again.
While Israel was called to be set apart from the world and picture purity to it, modern Christians are called to go into the world and preach the Gospel of Christ. We are set apart from the world not by abstaining from everything the world does and building isolated communities in a land God promised to us, but by the Holy Spirit within us and the renewing of our minds.
If we strive to apply the principle behind this commandment without taking this distinction between modern believers and Israel into consideration we will be lead to conclude that Christians cannot listen to secular music, even Christian bands playing in popular secular genres, we also could not watch tv or movies, read popular books or participate in art or government; we couldn’t wear popular styles of clothing or hair and women couldn’t paint their nails or wear make up. We could also not be allowed to marry. Why? Because the pagans do those things, of course! Marriage being of course the worst of these because it is not only part of pagan culture but pagan religion!
Now, if I believed for a moment that Scripture called us to this kind of life I would take it up without hesitation. But I think it’s clear that this isn’t the case.
As to the argument that the context is irrelevant, the words say don’t tattoo yourself, I have two responses.
1. Ignoring context destroys progressive revelation which would be devastating for a number of reasons – we would lose our great Christological types in the Old Testament, and be faced with a great number of contradictions and logical/moral problems. For example if the OT tells us that God is one, and the NT that He is Father, Son and Spirit and we cannot say this truth was revealed progressively, we have a contradiction. If we cannot say that revelation is progressive then we have a real if not hypothetically insurmountable problem with the commandment to be fruitful and multiply since the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve were direct brothers and sister to one another.
2. If we are going to be so overtly literal then modern tattooing is fine, since we don’t tattoo ourselves but pay a professional.
Lastly, your assertion that you’re not convinced Leviticus 19:28 is not a moral commandment “…and, neither have the last 2,000 years of Christian thought. It’s only been maybe 30 years when any Christian questioned our 2000 year practice…of not having tattoos” is terribly misguided. It’s simply a fact of history that Christians have been tattoo’d since the 1st Century A.D. There are accounts of persecuted Christians who were found out as such because of Christian tattoos; this continues to the modern day (I’ve read no less than 3 accounts this year of Christians in anti-Christian countries having cross tattoos cut or burned off). Monks were often tattooed or branded with Christian symbols. Crusaders were tattoo’d (often with their name/heraldic sign for practical reasons in addition to Christian symbols and verses speaking of God’s protection) and pilgrims to the Holy Land from the earliest days right up to now would get tattoos to mark their journey and experience. It is simply untrue that Christians have always opposed tattoos. I might (baselessly) speculate that this idea has been pervasive in our culture for about as long as the idea that Christians don’t smoke or drink alcohol.