Body Piercing: A Sin or Not? A Biblical View

Christian Pure Team

·

Summary

  • Body piercing is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, leaving the morality of it open to interpretation.
  • Scripture offers guidance on inner beauty, modesty, and the importance of blessings that surpass outward adornment.
  • Personal convictions and cultural nuances may influence one's interpretation of body piercing.
  • True beauty resides in the soul’s depths, not outward appearances.
  • Pursue inner radiance as you consider the implications of body piercing in your own life.

​

What specific verses in the Bible mention body piercing? As we explore this question, let us approach the Scriptures with both reverence and careful discernment. Although the Bible does not extensively address body piercing as we understand it today, there are several passages that mention piercing in various contexts. In the book of Genesis, we find an early reference to ear piercing. When Abraham’s servant sought a wife for Isaac, he gave Rebekah “a gold ring weighing a half shekel…

Continue reading with a subscription

Get unlimited access to all our premium content and exclusive features.

Subscribe Now

Enjoy unlimited access, cancel anytime.

Bibliography (Click to show)

Adzovie, R., & Dabone, K. T. (2021). Relationship between premarital counselling and marital success: Perceptions of married Christians in Ghana. International Journal of Psychology and Counselling.

Arthur-Holmes, F., Ahinkorah, B., Agbemavi, W., Mireku, D. O., & Seidu, A. (2023). Safer Sex Negotiation Among Ghanaian Women in Sexual Unions: Does Women’s Household Decision-Making Capacity Matter? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 52, 1379–1387.

Baltazar, A. M., Vanderwaal, C. J., McBride, D., & Hopkins, G. (2012). My Body is God’s Temple: Self-Identified Reasons for Not Engaging in Risk Behaviors Among Adventist Young Adults.

Baxter, B. (1972). Man’s Body–God’s Temple.

Brown, G. (2014). Earspools in Mexico. 1–3.

Erlings, E. (2024). Of Welfare, Sacred Places, and Rice Christians: Freedom of Religion and Multiple Religious Belonging. Journal of Law, Religion and State.

Giles, B. T. (2010). The Headpots of Northeast Arkansas and Southern Pemiscot County, Missouri. Southeastern Archaeology, 29, 376.

Hansen, D. P. (1957). A Bronze in the Semitic Museum of Harvard University. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 146, 13–19.

Hellwig, F., Wado, Y., & Barros, A. (2023). Association between women’s empowerment and demand for family planning satisfied among Christians and Muslims in multireligious African countries. BMJ Global Health, 9.

Herdman, E. (2020). Piercing Proverbial Crows’ Eyes: Theft and Publication in Renaissance France. Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme.

Isakhan, B., & Shahab, S. (2022). The Islamic State’s Targeting of Christians and their Heritage: Genocide, Displacement and Reconciliation. International Journal of Heritage Studies (IJHS), 28, 820–835.

Issaris, V., Kalogerakos, G., & Milas, G. (2023). Vaccination Hesitancy Among Greek Orthodox Christians: Is There a Conflict Between Religion and Science? Journal of Religion and Health, 62, 1373–1378.

Jacob, R. (2015). Ethnic Conflict between the Muslims and Christians in Nigeria: The Dilemma of Decision-Making of the Political Elites. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 1, 1–11.

Kao, J. S.-T. (2020). Olfactory Experiences and an Unknown Force in Patrick Süskind’s «Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders». 27.

Karasinski, M. (2024). The God Who Is Visible to All: Healing and Sun Worship in Śrīvidyā Tantra. Religions.

Kawashima, T. D. (2021). The Authenticity of the Hidden Christians’ Villages in Nagasaki: Issues in Evaluation of Cultural Landscapes. Sustainability.

King, S., Burgess, E., Akinyela, M. M., Counts-Spriggs, M., & Parker, N. (2005). Your Body Is God’s Temple. Research on Aging, 27, 420–446.

Kumar, V. (2024). Hindu Temple Architecture in India. Studies in Art and Architecture.

Lapsley, J. E. (2012). Body Piercings: The Priestly Body and the Body of the Temple in Ezekiel.

Lilleorg, A., & Murakas, R. (2024). The Effect of the Members’ Religious Activity and the Church’s Clergy on Church Growth by the Example of Estonian Protestant Churches. Journal of Empirical Theology.

Lombaard, C. (2021). The Bible, ODeL (Open and Distance Education and Learning) and Spirituality: Possibilities in a Post-secular Time. Acta Theologica.

Maraš, I., & Golić, D. (2021). PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL. Kultura Polisa.

Mawere, J., Mukonza, R., Hungwe, A., & Kugara, S. L. (2021). Piercing the veil into Beliefs: Christians Metaphysical Realities vis-à-vis Realities on African Traditional Medicine. African Journal of Religion Philosophy and Culture.

McCann, C. (2020). My Body Is a Temple/I Am the God It Was Built For: An Examination of the Confrontation of Male Entitlement in the Spoken Word Poetry of Savannah Brown and Hollie McNish. 3.

Monzer, N., & Ãâ€hlmann, P. (2024). Religion and Migration in Iraq: Investigating the Reasons for Return of Internally Displaced Christians to Baghdeda. Journal for the Study of Religion.

Morrissey, C. S. (2023). The Cloven Hoof under the Cassock: Sacrifice Hidden in the Hebrew Bible and Roger Scruton. Perspectives on Political Science, 52, 66–74.

Myers, A. D. (2023). Revelation through violence? Jesus in the Temple in John 2:13–22. Review & Expositor, 120, 46–59.

Regassa, T., & Fentie, W. (2020). Exegesis Integrative Review of Salvation Because The Love Of God Is The Basic of The Church As The Unity of The Body of Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22). Journal Didaskalia.

Rosenbohm, C. J. M. (2010). Not My Church! (Chapter 5 of Grappling With Faith: Decision Cases for Christians in Social Work).

Sarki, D. S. (n.d.). TATTOO MARKING: A CHALLENGE TO THE CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANS’ CALL FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE BODY AS THE TEMPLE OF GOD.

Schredl, M., & Mönch, J.-H. (2023). Dreaming of God and the Role of Faith in Everyday Life: An Empirical Study. Pastoral Psychology, 72, 469–478.

Simajuntak, H. A. (2023). A Interfaith Marriage based on Positive Law and Protestantism Perspective. Al-Ahkam.

Sirait, D., Agama, I., Tarutung, K. N., Pangaribuan, D. H., & Situmeang, D. (2024). Tinjauan Penggunaan Media Sosial dalam Etika Kristen. Tri Tunggal: Jurnal Pendidikan Kristen Dan Katolik.

Sloan, A. C. (2021). Book Review: Robert Alter, The Art of Bible Translation. Anglican Theological Review, 103, 363–364.

Smirnova, A., & Tolochin, I. (2022). Dreams in the Bible and in Modern English Discourse: A Shift in Perspective. Changing Societies & Personalities.

Sommer, B. (2009). God’s Bodies and Sacred Space (1): Tent, Ark, and Temple. 80–108.

Southwood, K. (2022). The resistance to mainstream assumptions about retribution in Job and Tobit as theologically positive deviance. Avar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Life and Society in the Ancient Near East.

Tallon, R., & Domdom, J. (2022). Navigating Tensions in the Secular Workplace by Christians in the Social Services: Findings from an Aotearoa New Zealand Study. Proceedings.

Tamba, G., Nainggolan, S., Sinaga, J., & Sinambela, J. (2023). Keteladanan Spiritual dalam Kepemimpinan Yosua: Pengaruhnya dalam Meningkatkan Ketekunan Rohani dalam Konteks Kepemimpinan. JUITAK¯: Jurnal Ilmiah Teologi Dan Pendidikan Kristen.

Tasmuth, R. (2020). Pauline Anthropology: Temples and Bodies as God’s Sanctuaries. Open Access Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology.

Timbuleng, N. M. (2024). The Development of Youth Morality In The Millennial Era: A Theological Review of Youth Morality In Mandolang Satu, Minahasa Based on The Characters of Jeremiah and Timothy. Eduvest – Journal Of Universal Studies.

Wang, S., & Zolotykh, L. G. (2023). The way of discursive cognition of the ancient Chinese treatise Tao Te Ching in Russia. RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism.

Wells, B., & Karydas, A. (2009). A smiting-god-figurine found in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia. 2, 143–154.

Willis, G. (1972). God’s Altar on High. The Downside Review, 90, 245–250.

Zeedan, R. (2019). The Role of Military Service in the Integration/Segregation of Muslims, Christians and Druze within Israel. Societies.

Abhau, J. (2020). Taking Away the Sin of the World: Egō Eimi and the Day of Atonement in John. 19, 43–58.

Anderson, W. R., Summerton, D. J., Sharma, D. M., & Holmes, S. (2003). The urologist’s guide to genital piercing. BJU International, 91.

Boiliu, F., Harefa, D., DewiLidya, S., Lahagu, A., & Sinaga, S. (2021). KAJIAN PENYALAHGUNAAN NARKOBA DALAM PERSPEKTIF PENDIDIKAN AGAMA KRISTEN. ETNOREFLIKA: Jurnal Sosial Dan Budaya.

Books Received. (2019). Studies in Christian Ethics, 32, 302–303.

Chandrasekaran, S. (2019). TARAIYIL (GROUNDING THE BODY).

Daly, T. T. W. (2021). Chasing Methuselah: Theology, the Body, and Slowing Human Aging. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith.

Damayanti, R., & Awaludin, A. (2024). Nadzoriyatu Khalqu al-Insan fi al-Kitab al-Muqoddas: Naqdu ‘ala Nadzariyatu al-Tathowwur li Charles Darwin. Journal of Comparative Study of Religions.

Darmaji, A. (2016). MANUSIA DALAM PANDANGAN YAHUDI. 11, 17–32.

Dinkova-Bruun, G. (2018). GRETI DINKOVA-BRUUN / APOCALYPTIC VERSES: MNEMONIC TECHNIQUES IN THE VERSIFICATIONS OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES (S. XIV–XV) 235.

Doak, B. R. (2021). Book of Job. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion.

Eakin, F. E. (1918). The Gospel versus the Bible. The Biblical World, 51, 332–337.

Gangiah, S. (2022). Pollution from cooking in rural and poor urban households of Africa: A methodological review. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies.

Goldstein, E. W. (2010). Impurity and gender in the Hebrew Bible¯: ideological intersections in the books of Leviticus, Ezekiel and Ezra.

Grant, D. (2015). Fire and the Body of Yahweh. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 40, 139–161.

Gruseke, A. A. (2022). Convivial Gardens: Genesis 2–3 in Agrarian and Space-Critical Perspective. Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, 77, 18–32.

Hulster, I. J. (2020). The Challenge of Hebrew Bible Love Poetry: A Pleonastic Approach to the Translation of Metaphor—Part 2. The Bible Translator, 71, 209–220.

Kim, B. H., & Trimm, C. (2014). Yahweh the Dragon: Exploring a Neglected Biblical Metaphor for the Divine Warrior and the Translation of ’Ap. The Bible Translator, 65, 165–184.

Laitman, J. (2014). Those Who Know What the Nose Knows. The Anatomical Record, 297.

Langton, K. (2024). YHWH as a Woman in Labour: The Controlled Pregnant Female Body in Labour. Journal of Theological Studies.

Ludwig, B. (2018). Seasoned Antisemitism: Cannibalism in The Destruction of Jerusalem.

Maria, S., & Bram, B. (2023). Metaphors and Similes in The Book of Revelation. International Database Engineering and Applications Symposium.

Mongi, K. L. (2022). Pandangan Terhadap Disabilitas: Upaya Menjadikan Gereja Inklusi. Jurnal Teologi Cultivation.

Nadeak, R., Nainggolan, K. T. A., Hutabarat, W. N., & Hombing, H. B. (2023). Peraturan Tentang Mezbah didalam Keluaran 20: 22-26. Tabsyir: Jurnal Dakwah Dan Sosial Humaniora.

Puică, M. (2016). THE DISPUTE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS FOR MOSES BODY IN THE BIBLICAL TEXT AND PAINTINGS.

Putra, A. (2020). Analisis Dan Evaluasi Terhadap Pandangan Thomas Aquinas Tentang Gambar Allah. 7, 45–64.

Quinones-Roman, L. (2022). Reading Backwards: An Inner-Biblical Interpretation of The Bible. Expository Times, 133, 400–401.

Sargent, B., & Barthes, R. (2015). Psalm 119 and the spirituality of the Bible in the local church.

Schwartz, B. J. (2008). Perspectives on purity and purification in the Bible.

The Bible in the Church. By Leander E. Keck. Abingdon, Nashville, 1978. Pp. 172. $4·95. (n.d.).

Whitaker, J. L. (2015). I Boldly Took the Mace (Vájra) for Might: Ritually Weaponizing a Warrior’s Body in Ancient India. International Journal of Hindu Studies, 20, 51–94.

Williams, D. T. (2014). ECOLOGICAL DISHARMONY AS THE SIN AGAINST THE SPIRIT. Scriptura¯: International Journal of Bible, Religion and Theology in Southern Africa, 112, 1–13.

Zondervan, G. (2022). Galatians Zondervan Exegetical Commentary On The New Testament |.

Discover more from Christian Pure

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

RedditWhatsApp
Share to...
CopyLinkedInMastodonPinterestPrintRedditSMSThreadsWhatsAppBlueskyVK