From a reader:
Church of God International take on tattoos.
Tattoos, cuttings in the flesh, and cutting the edges of the hair and beard were apparently associated with pagan religious practices at the time, so the underlying law, which is still in place, is: Don't attempt to serve God the same way the heathen serve their false gods and stay far away from superstitious and magical rites.
It is probable that some of those practices were magical rites designed to bring good luck. God is simply telling the Israelites to rely on Him and avoid putting their trust in magic and superstition for healthy crops, babies, etc. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence for some of these customs, but there are still uncertainties about many of the specifics pertaining to them.
Because of my age and background, when I see tattoos, I do not associate them with anything positive. However, I realize that the people who get them today usually do so for reasons other than magical or religious or as a sign of servitude, and since I usually don't know their motives for getting tattooed, I cannot tell them they are in violation of God's law. The most I could do would be to say to them that I think their tattoos are unbecoming and that someday they will most likely regret having gotten them.
The specific commandments within the Torah tell us something about how the timeless, universal Law of God applies to specific circumstances common to the time in which the Law was given to Israel. For example, Moses commands that a parapet be put on the roof of one's house (Deuteronomy 22:8). The purpose of that law was for the protection of the people who would go up on the roof and use it as a living area. Have I dis- obeyed that law by not putting a parapet around the roof of my house? No, of course not. My roof is not used as a living area; I've never had or served a single meal upon it. But I am to obey the underlying universal principle, which means that if I dig a swimming pool in my backyard, I must fence it in or do something to make sure my neighbor's children don't wander into it. It's called loving one's neighbor as oneself—and that is the timeless principle (law) underlying the parapet instruction.
33 comments:
In addition, they make a special case for getting tattoos; they don't follow all of the Old Testament's commandments. Just their selected ones.
Garner Ted Armstrong joined the US Navy in his younger days and reportedly came back with tattoos of naked women on his arms.
“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28, NKJV).
Anyone who reasons around that it is somehow okay to get tattoos will simply end up messing up their body with tattoos.
They seem to have no issue disobeying the business about trimming beards though...
This is their attempt to make something theological logical, and the writer didn't do a half-bad job of that. Getting tattoos is an expression of individuality. When the craze went viral about twenty years ago, most of the people who got them did so to make themselves different, and noticeable. It was a marked departure from the past practices in which someone might get one on each arm, or shoulder, or perhaps the leg. The newly emerging trend was towards excess. When it first started, it was a reason for business owners not to hire someone. These days, it is difficult to find anyone young and hip who has no tattoos. One actually stands out more by not having them. So, tattoos are no longer a glass ceiling to one's career.
My main critique is that most of the people who get them lack any sort of artistic flair. They litter their bodies with them with no sense of cohesion, and end up defaced like an unfortunate burn victim. I like tats if people follow the guideline that less is more. I think they should be special, and have personal meaning to the individuals wearing them. Bottom line is, it's their body, not mine.
You go first with the tattoos then NO2HWA. Show the way of happiness with your resounding mockery...of course you haven't an old reputation for mocking the brethren...oh no not at all....noone knows who the fake names are.. It's all a terrible mystery....
Oh dear! Is someone having a bad night? Poor thing.
Tatoos give me the creeps. Jesus did not wear them. He was unblemished spiritually and physically.
Eh, tattoos are a sign of buying into the worldly ways. There is nothing Godly about them. Some try to justify them by getting "religious" themed tattoos. That's even worse.
The writer of the statement made some perceptive observations. The writer understands clearly that archaic laws have a moral content that is durable. I do have some objections.
The writer refers to "The specific commandments within the Torah tell us something about how the timeless, universal Law of God ...". It is not clear if the writer is saying that the Torah reflects that Law or if the Torah is that Law. If it is the former, I have no disagreement. But if it is the latter I disagree. The eternal moral law of God would not contain a ruling against cuttings and tattoos in the flesh. God is the source of the eternal moral law of God and human flesh was created and is not an eternal condition. At one time there was no flesh and, it seems from scripture, there will be a time when there is no flesh again. Humans will be embodied spirit.
The Torah does not object to cuttings in the flesh for religious reasons per se. After all, circumcision is a cutting in the flesh to reflect the covenant made with Abraham. It is just certain kinds of cuttings and tattooings that are forbidden – from the context of Leviticus 19, those that reflect pagan practices or maybe mourning. This law also made Israel distinct from the peoples of other nations. The Jewish Study Bible associates these practices with magic and divination.
Cuttings and tattooings for purely decorative, aesthetic purposes do not seem to be addressed in the Bible. I take a dim view of such because of its associations with paganism and because it seems to me to be disrespectful of the body as God created it. But that is my opinion. Even prescribed circumcision is now spiritual. When I was a kid, my playmates and I would get inked images on paper and transfer them to our bodies with a damp washcloth. It was fun once or twice. The images were easily removed with water. That’s as close as I want to get.
Scout
...My parents disowned me for getting a tattoo of a bar code. I hope I can redeem myself.
...Reading a book about a short ballerina. The girl with the dragging tutu.
...A bald friend had some rabbits tattooed on his head. They look like hares from a distance.
...Friend of mine was feeling down, so I let them add some colour to my tattoos. They just wanted a shoulder to crayon.
Is this a CGI ministurd or publication's comment, or just a random CGI attender?
The Law of Moses expired when the Messiah came (Gal. 3). GTA had tattoos on both his arms and legs.
Anonymous noted:
My main critique is that most of the people who get them lack any sort of artistic flair. They litter their bodies with them with no sense of cohesion and end up defaced like an unfortunate burn victim. I like tats if people follow the guideline that less is more. I think they should be special and have personal meaning to the individuals wearing them. Bottom line is, it's their body, not mine.
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I agree. Many of my clients, male and female have tats. Some are absolutely stunning and beautiful with obvious significance. One female, for example, has beautiful PNW Native and Orca and totem tats and they are pretty cool. They symetrical and make perfect sense. That is the only theme she has adopted.
Others have random tats that frankly make no sense. A sun, a mouse, Goofy, a cross...all random and leaving me with "What the hell were you thinking?" lol But the vast majority are very nicely done and meaningful to the person.
I've thought that if I ever got a tat, and kinda late in the game, it would be of something off a cave wall in France of the 35,000 year old beliefs of cave art. That would be a meaningful connection to me for my interests. The Shaman of Les Trois comes to mind.
Best story. One male client had an amazing scorpion on his back from head to waist. Stunning and menacing. The stinger dripped red poison. Between the claws were two Egyptian Cartouches. He was long haired and I assumed he was a gang guy. Bad me. I asked about the cartouches and he said they were the names of little girls. I asked what the bigger one above them between the claws was.... "I will always protect you" Lesson learned! :)
"Is this a CGI ministurd or publication's comment, or just a random CGI attender?"
This is a response to a question sent to the church. It was written by Vance Stinson.
The Sorceror, Dennis? That's a fascinating idea.
Tats don't age well, either. There are no words to describe a wrinkled up old man or woman with shirtsleeve tattoos. Personally, I do not judge people by the colors of their skin, but I'm certain many other folks do.
My reaction when I see a tattoo? "Now there's a person with birthmark envy!"
So tattoos are OK since pathological womanizer GTA had tattoos on his arms and legs. His venereal diseases also shortened his life, so why follow his example.
How did the STD's shorten his life? I knew HWA had cirrhosis of the liver at the time of his death, probably due to his consumption of Harvey's Bristol Creme & his obesity for a greater part of his latter life.
What sort of STDs did UncleTed supposedly have?
Ted said many times that the tattoos were an act of rebellion against his father. That's why he joined the Navy in the first place. He also said that he regretted getting them. And yes, I heard him say that.
There is something that I think is odd about OT theology. Cutting yourself as an act of mourning for someone who has died is forbidden. Native Americans of some tribes did this historically. In modern times that practice is unknown. My Grandmother cut a lock of her hair and put it in my Aunt's coffin - that's about as far as it goes.
While the extreme mourning practice of self-cutting is prohibited to the Israelites in the OT, there is no counter-balancing doctrine of an afterlife - something that would mitigate the mourning process. There is no promise of an afterlife in the Torah. There is a suggestion of an afterlife in the Prophets - for example, in Daniel - although it may apply just to the few. Elsewhere there are references to people being in Sheol - an underground place of dim and much attenuated existence. The Sadducees, an upper-class sect with priestly connections in the time of Jesus, did not believe in a resurrection or afterlife. They thought the Pharisees were adled for living a hard life of law-keeping when there was no future after death. I am not sure how the Pharisees exegeted an afterlife from the OT.
The Torah, vaunted in Armstrongist theology, does not confer life just as Paul stated in Galatians 3:21 ("For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.") This means that if an Armstrongist were to keep the Torah perfectly from birth to death, it would not result in salvation - their doctrine of "Qualification" notwithstanding.
In a way, one cannot blame the Israelites under the Torah for taking mourning to an extreme. They may have seen for themselves nothing but a future in Sheol - something that could hardly be called life. Life is a property of grace in Jesus.
Scout
I do not know of tattooing being much of a practice among the ancient Assyrians, but Egyptian women (usually highborn, if I remember correctly) are known to have had tattoos sometimes, possibly as a sort of permanent amulet invoking favor from the gods. Akin to the ones we find in mummy wrappings and what not. Possibly that was what Leviticus referred to.
Mainstream Christian evangelists cite the righteous dead (not to be confused with the Grateful Dead) as waiting in "Abraham's bosom" until the coming of the Savior. The story of Lazarus and the rich man is based upon that. Judging by the number of internet articles which come up when you Google it, that place of comfort in Sheol is a popular concept. We did not have that same teaching in Armstrongism because the very idea conflicted with our soul sleep doctrine. They described it as metaphoric. This is an example of the results of eisegesis in Armstrongism, because quite prominent Biblical references and factors which conflict with soul sleep are simply thrown out.
I did find the Sadducees to be quite fascinating, that there were observant Jews in the first century who did not believe in an afterlife.
They were Sadd-u-cee, no afterlife.
4:52
The big question regarding GTA's tattoos is whether or not they constitute the unpardonable sin. Armstrongists define repentance as a change in action. If having tattoos or cuttings in your flesh is a sin, how do you quit having them? The Hebrew word for "make" in Leviticus 19:28 is "nathan". As you know, the ancient Jews did not leave us a dictionary of Mosaic Hebrew so we can look these words up so most word meanings are inferred from context. Other meanings of nathan are "to have" and "to bear". So Leviticus 19:28 could read, "you shall not have cuttings in you flesh". Does this mean that the incised and the tattooed, if they want to really repent must get a plastic surgeon to reverse the cuttings in order to be repentant? Or have the tattoos removed?
This, of course, is tongue-in-cheek but you see there is a problem with the way that Armstrongists define repentance.
Scout
What's bad about standing up to you ?
Cutting yourself is NOT permitted by God. It is not in scripture as an approved practise for mourning AT ALL.
Cutting of themselves is what the FALSE prophets did in derangement against Elijah.
Your little side "jokes" expose much. Keep it up athiest. You hang yourself repeatedly.
Ah, he probably felt badly about having gotten them, until some foxy chick in a casino asked him if she could get a better look.
The funniest thing I ever saw in Ambassador Review was a staged picture for the article "In Bed with Garner Ted". Whoever the male stand in for the picture was had a fake tat of the woman's legs on his left forearm. Them good ol' boys at the Review had a powerful sense of humor! And detail!
I actually understand Ted's reasoning for getting his tattoos and joining the Navy. I don't condone his other actions but I can see having HWA for a parent could really damage and cause harm that only someone who lived it or something similiar could relate.
I like Bill Burr’s description of tattoos ie they look like some sort of fungus growing on their skin lol
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