***WARNING: Some images will offend folks. I apologize in advance. Also, my views are STRICTLY my opinions and might not perfectly reflect those of Judaism / Catholicism - I'm still working on that. I admit that this particular topic is a little hazy for me, and I welcome anyone who wishes to comment or redirect my read on it. Just trying to get a conversation going - not supporting or condemning one way or the other. Thanks!!!*** So an interesting comment popped up on my Newsfeed this morning. A young woman expressed exasperation at a Jehovah's Witness who basically condemned her to hell for her tattoos. I jumped the gun a bit (having been "condemned" myself, this morning - I was on an indignant roll) and responded that tattooing was, in fact, in the Bible, and tattooing happens to be part of MANY religious practices all over the world. Just because Mr. Door-Preacher interprets the Bible as a condemnation of everyone's soul does not, in fact, mean that the rest of the world does. It also most certainly doesn't mean that God does. Anywho, I figured this would be a good topic to bring up since so many people seem to be confused about the "sin-potential" of tattooing and what the Bible actually says about it. I am, a bit, too, so open dialogue is always a plus. Disclaimer: I've always wanted a tattoo. I've never gotten one, but I've always been intrigued by some of the more beautiful body art I've seen. Some artwork truly is beautiful, and I admit wanting a piece of the action for myself. That being said, I've always refrained because of the stigma attached to them. I never - EVER - wanted my kids to utilize my tattoos as a means for their own questionable activities. I also never wanted to give them reason to think poorly of me (as I'm sure I can handle that on my own without the aid of taboos). Anyway, my desire for tattooing is what led me to research the Biblical history of tattoos. I figured if I ever did get one, I'd want to make sure it was permissible so I'd have evidence to back myself up when folks would inevitably start raining hellfire on me. So if you're wondering why I'd ever know any of this, my own selfishness is why. Ha! So - onwards with the discussion! First things first. What does the Bible actually have to say about tattoos? Leviticus 19:28: "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord." This is typically the number one quote used by those who want to condemn tattooed folks to hell. However, this is like using a microscope to view a sunset. When you only see a tiny part of the picture, you neglect to realize that there's a whole lot more to see. Until you remove the microscope and view the image in its fullness, you can't claim to pass judgement on the various colors, silhouettes, and cloud layers that work in tandem to create that sunset. So, let's zoom out a bit and put some context to that particular quote. Leviticus 19:26-31 deals with temple laws. You see, now that the Jews had to rely on Levitical priests to sacrifice and commune with God (instead of all the male heads of households before the Golden Calf incident), they were forced to create a gathering space in which these Levites could carry out the work of God. In developing their religious culture to match the punishment doled out by Divine Justice, a temple needed to be constructed which would serve as a central place for worship / sacrifice. This was the first time in Jewish history that they'd need a temple just like all the other pagan religions that were being practiced. Because of this, God foresaw the very real possibility of the Israelites slipping back into their "Let's do what everyone else is doing!" habits. As such, He made provisions in the Law to ensure that His people would not be led astray by pagan customs. The prohibitions in Lev 19: 26-31 ALL deal with prohibitions against pagan practices. God didn't want His people to slip into the idolatry of the surrounding nations because they were supposed to be set apart. Israel was MEANT to stand-out as different because their example of holiness (if practiced accordingly) would attract the pagan nations away from their sinfulness and towards God. So, now that we know that, we need to figure out exactly what that aforementioned verse 28 really stated. Leviticus 19:28: "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord." Alrighty - so understanding that these are based on the pagan religious practices of their respective temples, God is specifically saying, "Don't make yourselves LOOK like pagans." It was typical of pagans to mutilate themselves as part of the grieving process. Also, the tattoos of some pagan cultures wasn't the colorful ink we think of when we hear the word tattoo. That sort of tattoo was reserved for the wealthy because they could afford ink and such. Others, however, had their skin seared in a pattern that became raised as the skin healed into a scar. It would've looked something like this: So that's where the prohibition against tattoos originally came from. HOWEVER, there's an interesting line in Ezekiel that clouds the issue a bit. Credit: Catholic Caveman "And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." (Ez. 9:4) Hey now wait a minute! I thought God doesn't want us tattooing ourselves! Well, before you bust out your needles, again, let's pull away from the microscope and view the panoramic shot in full. God was commanding the prophet to go through the Holy Land and mark those who are innocent of sin against the Lord. Those without this special marking upon their forehead were punished by Divine Justice. Those marked with the sign of "taw" (a letter of the Hebrew alphabet meaning "truth") escaped the wrath of God. ***Interestingly, this letter is translated to "T" using our alphabet... a symbol of the Cross of Christ. Another interesting thing that makes me giddy is that the Arabic version of the Hebrew taw is what looks to be a smilie face. Ha ha!*** Anyway, God's not talking about marking folks with tattoos. He just wanted to make sure His harbinger of justice could easily discern who needed to be slain and who didn't. So it's not like this was a permanent mark. Not to make light of a truly horrible situation, but my guess is the man with the linen cloth had something akin to a Sharpie. The mark definitely stood out, but it could be scrubbed away after a period of time (that period lasting through the close of slaughter). Whew! Now that we covered all of that, we can get into the nitty gritty. Are tattoos allowed, or aren't they? According to most Jewish scholars, the answer is "No." Thus, if the Jews held that tattoos are a no-no, Christians would hold the same principle to be true (expounded upon in many of the epistles with the theme of our bodies being Temples of the Spirit). However, does that mean to get one would be a sure-ticket to hell? No. To my knowledge there's only one sin that is a sure-ticket to hell, and that's the sin against the Holy Spirit (refusing to trust that His Mercy is greater than your guilt). Granted, I don't claim to know the Mind of the Lord, but there's a difference between getting a tattoo of Zeus on your arm in the hopes that it brings you power and getting a tattoo of a butterfly after surviving breast cancer, ya know? Plus, with these particular "little laws" of Leviticus, they really do have a substantial amount of social influence. As such, we need to understand that times have changed and these principles (not dogmatic in nature) are free to be interpreted differently at different times (which is why Jewish women pierce their ears even though that's technically forbidden in the same verse that forbids tattooing). So is tattooing going to send you straight to hell? No. Could it possibly open the door to idolatrous actions that have you sliding down the slippery slope? Definitely - but so could that bag of Funions I'm currently eying. If I pop that baby open, I'm likely to go all sorts of gluttonous. We are tasked with moderation and keeping our consciences clear before the Lord. He gave us a body with which to love and praise Him with. If you'd like to show Him honor by keeping a tattoo of His Mother over your heart, I certainly won't be condemning you for it. If you wish to praise Him by tattooing His Word on your hand so you keep it ever in-mind, far be it from me to prepare a seat in hell for you. However, I can't see myself getting one simply because I don't feel doing those things would be beneficial to my spiritual life. I also tend to play it safe when it comes to Scripture. Ha ha ha. Moral of the story: You cannot condemn a person for getting a tattoo. Unless your name is Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High God, keep your mouth shut in judgement of another's soul. When in doubt, just offer a prayer to the Lord for their purity of heart. So, anyone else have thoughts on this? ***Large uptick in visitors after dinner. Please let me know who is directing traffic my way. Thanks! Also, please keep the language clean and the discourse civil. I don't want to be deleting / editing commentary all night.***
30 Comments
Skylar
7/20/2012 12:07:19 pm
Found this through a TnT thread on TPH. I had no idea about half of this, but I've definitely been told I'm going to hell plenty.
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Gina
7/20/2012 12:28:44 pm
Hi Skylar. Thanks for letting me know where you came from, but I have no idea what a TnT thread is. I also have no idea what "TPH" stands for. My apologies!
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Natalie
7/20/2012 12:07:58 pm
Tattoos. Wow. You really do cover everything.
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Gina
7/20/2012 12:58:56 pm
Tattoos, animal sacrifice and my personal marital life... who knew people would be so entertained by them?
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Kristen
7/20/2012 12:09:53 pm
So I'm still confused. Are they sinful or aren't they sinful?
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Kristen
7/20/2012 12:10:32 pm
I've got three. Ankle, lower back and neck.
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Gina
7/20/2012 12:33:14 pm
Hey Kristen,
Dom
7/20/2012 12:13:15 pm
(blush) I have two tattoos, neither of which are religious, but both of which have deep meaning for me. I got them while I was away from the Church, but I'm not sorry I got them - the first is a starflower on my left shoulder so that I always have at least one flower, even in the dead of the near-six months of Canadian winter, and the second is the Sanskrit word for light, in the middle of my back, so that I'll never be completely surrounded by darkness. Can you tell I have issues with depression? :)
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Gina
7/20/2012 01:00:13 pm
I had to look up starflower.
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Kelli
7/20/2012 12:17:06 pm
Yeah - I'm still not clear on that whole sinful not sinful thing. But does it really matter? Weren't those laws tossed away with the NT?
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Gina
7/20/2012 12:36:01 pm
Going against the command of God is sinful, yes. However, if you're specifically asking about where the sin falls in regards to mortal vs. venial, you're outta luck from me. I can't gauge that because I'm not God. Ha ha ha.
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Davit
7/20/2012 12:18:36 pm
Who cares what you people say about tattoos? We'll keep making art and you'll keep praying to unicorns in the sky.
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Gina
7/20/2012 12:37:53 pm
I'm gonna go ahead and assume that you followed Skylar and Kristen here from TNP, but instead of reading the article, you read the commentary on the thread over there and decided that instead of entering into an intelligent conversation, you'd troll instead.
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Gina
7/20/2012 12:42:27 pm
TPH, sorry - and could someone please tell me what that is?
JB
7/20/2012 12:50:17 pm
What you're saying is that the Bible says it's wrong, but because it doesn't state how wrong it is, we shouldn't tell others they're going to hell because of it?
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JB again
7/20/2012 12:51:40 pm
This might even make my mother and grandmother feel better about my sleeves. If not better, then at least get them off my back with the whole brimstone bull.
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Gina
7/20/2012 01:27:14 pm
Yes, exactly that, JB. And thank you.
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Margo
7/20/2012 01:06:18 pm
Why is it OK to cut off the tip of your penis but not get a tattoo? Why is it okay to pierce your ears but not get a tattoo? Why is it okay to rape a slave, but not get at tattoo? Why is it okay to take on mistresses and kill animals and sell your daughters into slavery, but you draw the line at tattoos?
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Gina
7/20/2012 01:23:41 pm
Circumcision is not the tip of your penis.
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Personally I don't care for tattoos and I don't understand why anyone would want them. That said though, the fact a person might have one or a few doesn't phase me and I don't think it is anything that will necessarily send a person to hell. I think the motivation counts for a great deal and an outsider can't know what that is. If it is vanity, the sin is the vanity, not the tattoo. If it is like a personal high to keep getting them until it wears off and then needing another, there are certainly bigger problems to consider. But I can also imagine someone tattooing something in memorial of someone and I don't see how there can be anything wrong with that. So I really think it depends. In terms of Leviticus, I'd be curious why theologians say God was against it and if it had anything to do with the way it was done back then or why it was done. I mean, if tattooing was something done by the followers of Baal, it might have been more to prevent scandal of idolatry or something and have nothing to do with actual tattooing.
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DivaHick
7/20/2012 03:17:06 pm
OK- I'm not sure on the whole tattoo thing, we also don't know what the tattoos were that were outlawed. But for the sake of "Oh wouldn't it be cool" that tattoos aren't going to send you straight to hell, do not pass purgatory, do not collect 200 indulgences- wouldn't it be awesome to get a scapular tattoo?
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Gina
7/20/2012 03:19:36 pm
Ha ha - here's the post on it (about halfway down):
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Martha
7/21/2012 04:01:52 am
I know most of my religious friends think it's a bit...funny...that I have a love for body art. But for some reason, tattoos are for a me a very real way of expressing what is eternal to me: my faith.
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Gina
7/25/2012 06:35:47 am
That's gotta be the most unique reason for a tattoo I've ever heard. :) Thank you so much for sharing. Blessings to you!
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Betsy
10/29/2012 02:09:05 pm
Thanks for this post. I know it was a while ago but I just now found it. I'm planning on getting a rosebud with JMJ underneath on my upper right arm. The rosebud is symbolic of my vocation to religious life and the picture has a whole is a reminder to me that said vocation belongs to the Holy Family and not to myself. I've not told many people because I've never really been able to explain the fact that I honestly feel like God is calling me to do this so I won't forget the event that made the rosebud important to my life. I now feel like I have a good way to refute the anti-tattoo argument in a concrete way.
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Megan
6/12/2013 04:05:59 pm
I like when I stalk your blog. I always find interesting things, and I hear your voice in my head as I read each word.
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Gina
6/13/2013 10:12:05 am
Glad you stopped by, Meg! :)
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Anonymous
4/8/2016 04:06:25 pm
People think they know how to honor God, but we fall so short. A great example is the photo of the woman with a rosary tattooed on her foot. A rosary is not useful as a decoration to just wear and look at, it is to be used for prayer. Next - I'm positive this woman did not mean it disrespectfully, but in the middle eastern and all eastern cultures, putting something holy on the foot would be the utmost disrespect!! Yes, that's Jesus' culture, too. And tattooing an image of his mother, she doesn't require or even want that you mutilate your body for her to "honor" her - she wants you to obey her son and grow as a Christian. I would never have understood this earlier - back when I myself got tattoos and piercings. But now I do, and I do regret my short-sightedness. Even if the Lord knows I didn't mean offense, in my ignorance, I did something that did nothing to honor Him and only damaged the original glory of His own work. It was like a child scribbling all over the wall hoping to please their Father with their "decorations", which in fact do not improve what He has created. I suspect it is always a desire to serve the self rather than God, even when supposedly done to honor God or to bolster our own faith, even if we don't realize it, if the denial is just too deep. What looks beautiful to us can be viewed very differently by God. I don't think we'll be condemned for it, but....let's not pretend that God praised people for getting tattoos, or remained silent, when the only thing in there is against it. Even in this article, the author says one reason might be to keep the Jews form running off and doing everything everyone else was doing - and yet, is that not what most Christians are doing when they get tattoos? It is 100% because of the popularity of tattoos nowadays - if it weren't so prevalent in the culture, the inspiration to do so wouldn't be there for most. I understand the love for tattoos and seeing the as beautiful and meaningful. But I also think God sees things differently - though he does also understand us, in ways we can't understand Him.
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Laura
9/14/2016 09:18:57 pm
Just came across your blog, and find it oh-so-interesting! As an RC attending a non-denominational seminary for a multitude of reasons, I face unwarranted comments and opinions quite a bit when people at my parish learn where I study and work. Tattoos and yoga seem to be something that people boast strong opinions on (whether they are or aren't inked or do yoga). I have been told that tattoos are wrong (from someone who I know is a practicing alcohol and is doing far more damage to their body on a daily and ongoing basis). I was also told by a Catholic yoga instructor "Well, you DO know what they say about tattoos." To which I smiled, winked and responded, "Well, you DO know what they say about yoga." To each his own in these regards. There are far more important issues for people to be concerned with. Loving what I read!
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Marjorie
2/24/2021 10:58:10 am
I do not know if anyone has studied the exquisite Chi Rho page in the "Book of Kells" or any of the magnificent Chi Rho pages in other illuminated manuscripts. These manuscripts were written on vellum, which was fabricated either from calf or lamb/sheep skin. The "Book of Kells" Chi Rho page is exquisite in its use of gold, green and blue as well as other decorations. When studying the page with its many intricate figures, I could not help but think about the monk, spending hours and days scribing the page - lovingly decorating the skin with iconography representative of Jesus - it struck me that in this manner, Middle Age liturgical manuscripts were created in the fashion as tattoos. During the MA, the Chi Rho symbol was a "living" symbol of Christ and books were created by using man-made dyes etched on to vellum.
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