A Christian and South
African perspective on naturism and nudism
ON the sixth day God created man; male
and female He created them. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt
no shame.[1]
Sadly, shame has become attached to nakedness in
many people’s minds, especially the people of the Bible – Christians and Jews.
As Strandloper, I’m not out to re-invent the wheel.
There is a learned theologian and pastor – sadly writing under a nom de plume
because of the ignorant response of his congregation – who deals at length with
the question of shame on his website, Reject-Shame.com
The roots of Christian naturism go right back to the
Hebrew tradition of the miqweh, as explained in this article.
But for a modern Hebraic case for nudism, see this website.
Here are a few of my own points of view on the
subject, starting with an explanation of the name of this site:
The Stone Age people called Strandlopers, and the use of the name by
white South Africans
Are sex and nudity inevitably linked, or is this a mistake the Church
has made?
The drawbacks of swimming in costumes, and some famous skinny-dippers
The obsession with removing hair; the naturalness of some hair on the
so-called Naked Ape
The so-called smoothie phenomenon, and hairlessness in Ancient Greece
and Rome
Women’s fears of over-exposure when disrobing, and the natural modesty
of pubic hair
How filmmakers and censors objectify nudity as sex, and keep natural
nudity from our eyes
How nudity in the shower and sleeping quarters is normal in military
life
Accepting men with or without foreskins in the present day, and
attitudes in the Classical world
Difference between male circumcision and female mutilation; and a
theology of circumcision
Things we don’t usually talk about
Putting a naturist mindset to work on privy-related matters
Nude baptism in
the
Nudity in baptism and the miqweh
in Ancient Israel and the Early Church
Nakedness and the prophets of the Old Testament
The Hebrew concept of decent nudity contrasted with obscenity
Nakedness in bathing and swimming
Nudity in public baths seen in the light of ancient Jewish and Christian
practice
Your roadmap to the world of naturism
