“When you strip without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet like little children and ‘trample’ them, then you will see the Son of the (eternally) Living One” (The Gospel of Thomas, 37).
Despite that, as time goes by, church following is decreasing, the church in Malta still exerts a lot of influence. It is common knowledge that the church in Malta view nudism as something “evil”. But, does it have to be this way?
NUDISM 2000 YEARS AGO
Archaeological excavations in Israel suggest that nudism was acceptable. Latrines often consisted of many “holes” side by side which were open to all sexes including children. Obviously there was no swimwear and probably people swam nude.
VATICAN AND NUDISM
There was a time when nudity was accepted by the church. Nude was regarded as “beautiful”, an example of this is the Sistine chapel. At a point then “modesty” took hold in the church and nude art was covered by drapes etc. Why was there a sudden shift towards the new “morality”? The answer lies with human error!
THE BIBLE
"The Bible actually mentions nakedness quite often. If you carefully study the passages that talk about physical nakedness and pay close attention to the context in which they're found, you'll discover that it's never described as being inherently shameful or inherently sinful. After all, we were created "in the image of God" (Genesis 1.27), "naked" and "not ashamed" (Genesis 2.25). And God declared all this "very good" (Genesis 1.31). After Adam and Eve sinned, they made loincloths for themselves out of fig leaves (Genesis 3.7). That seems like an odd thing for a husband and wife to do, don't you think? In Genesis 3.11 God asked, "Who told you that you were naked?" Question: According to the Bible, who else had talked to Adam or Eve in the Garden besides God? Answer: the serpent, also called the devil or Satan (Genesis 3.1, Revelation 12.9). Just as Satan had lied to Adam and Eve about what would happen if they ate the forbidden fruit, he also lied to them about the goodness of their God-given nakedness. Adam and Eve believed Satan when he told them to hide the way God had made them, and to fear their nakedness (Genesis 3.7,10). They should never have listened to Satan's lies about their nakedness ... and neither should we!" copied from:
http://figleafforum.com/index.html
For more detailed information see: http://www.christiannc.com/cms/documents/What_does_the_Bible_say_about_nakedness.pdf
NUDISM HELPING CHRISTIANS
Many Christians not only practice nudism but are helped by nudism! In some instances, nudist Christians find that this naturist lifestyle brings them closer to God (for eg. http://ezinearticles.com/?My-Experience-With-Jesus-Christ&id=1217272).
I am proud to say that I had met on separate occasions at Ghajn Tuffieha, both a nudist priest and a nudist nun. I must say that at first I felt embarrassed but later on I found that that experience confirmed in me that nudism is not something immoral. Later on, while overseas, I had witnessed a nude wedding mass at a nudist beach and had a girl friend who was a priestess.
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS?
Since I am by no means a theologian, I suggest that you contact one of the pro nudist Christian sites.
The Biblical Naturist (http://thebiblicalnaturist.blogspot.com) welcome your questions or challenges. They will answer your questions from a theologically conservative Biblical perspective.
MORE HELPFUL LINKS
http://www.christiannc.com/
http://cnvillage.org/
http://www.hazelden.org.uk/l3_sauna_belief.htm
http://figleafforum.com/
http://teachings-of-jesus-christ.org/nudism.shtml
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