{"id":2770,"date":"2013-02-12T20:36:47","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T03:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/?p=2770"},"modified":"2016-08-17T15:02:18","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T22:02:18","slug":"i-dont-think-the-body-is-a-temple-scripture-is-about-tattoos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2013\/02\/12\/i-dont-think-the-body-is-a-temple-scripture-is-about-tattoos\/","title":{"rendered":"I don\u2019t think the \u201cbody is a temple\u201d scripture is about tattoos"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one of the breakout sessions I attended during a seminary training seminar this weekend, we briefly discussed 1 Corinthians 6:19:<\/p>\n

What? know ye not that your body\u00a0is the temple\u00a0of the Holy Ghost\u00a0which is\u00a0in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While the\u00a0discussion\u00a0evolved into another topic, I sat there pondering this passage. The verse is often used to justify the cultural prohibition against tattoos and the pseudo-hypocritical\u00a0prohibition on body piercings. While I was pondering the verse though, I began to realize how superficial this interpretation is.<\/p>\n

Consider the following verse:<\/p>\n

For ye are bought\u00a0with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God\u2019s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, that same\u00a0superficial\u00a0interpretation would tell us that the position to ban body modification is further\u00a0strengthened\u00a0because our bodies aren\u2019t ours, but God\u2019s. In other words, we need to treat them with the same respect we show to the physical temple we attend to perform ordinances.<\/p>\n

If we take a look at other verses, I think a different context emerges.<\/p>\n

Look at 1 Peter 1:18\u201319:<\/p>\n

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,\u00a0as\u00a0silver and gold, from your vain conversation\u00a0received\u00a0by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Mosiah 5:7:<\/p>\n

And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children\u00a0of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed\u00a0through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born\u00a0of him and have become his sons\u00a0and his daughters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It seems to me that when 1 Corinthians speaks of our body not being ours, it is because it has become God\u2019s (or Jesus\u2019s depending on how you interpret the verses) not through the loss of our ownership but because we become followers of Christ. It\u2019s not that our bodies become his property, but that we become instruments to spread his way of life and teachings.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 6:20\u00a0specifically\u00a0shows that it is not just our body\u2014but our spirit as well\u2014that is God\u2019s. It also counsels us to use both to glorify God.<\/p>\n

So when Paul counselled the Corinthians that their body was a temple, I don\u2019t think he was telling them to not get tattoos. I think he was telling them to\u00a0remember\u00a0that they covenanted to become followers of Christ and that they have a responsibility to use their body and the spirt (of which the body is a temple) to further God\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n

UPDATE (17 august 2016): See \u201cOf Bodies and Temples<\/a>\u201d by Jason K. for some additional insight on this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In one of the breakout sessions I attended during a seminary training seminar this weekend, we briefly discussed 1 Corinthians … Continue reading I don\u2019t think the \u201cbody is a temple\u201d scripture is about tattoos<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-modesty"],"yoast_head":"\nI don\u2019t think the \u201cbody is a temple\u201d scripture is about tattoos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2013\/02\/12\/i-dont-think-the-body-is-a-temple-scripture-is-about-tattoos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I don\u2019t think the \u201cbody is a temple\u201d scripture is about tattoos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In one of the breakout sessions I attended during a seminary training seminar this weekend, we briefly discussed 1 Corinthians …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2013\/02\/12\/i-dont-think-the-body-is-a-temple-scripture-is-about-tattoos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-13T03:36:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-17T22:02:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kim Siever\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kim Siever\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2013\/02\/12\/i-dont-think-the-body-is-a-temple-scripture-is-about-tattoos\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2013\/02\/12\/i-dont-think-the-body-is-a-temple-scripture-is-about-tattoos\/\",\"name\":\"I don\u2019t think the \u201cbody is a temple\u201d scripture is about tattoos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-13T03:36:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-17T22:02:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/99e996edc89affe5206808d3f65869d1\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2013\/02\/12\/i-dont-think-the-body-is-a-temple-scripture-is-about-tattoos\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/\",\"name\":\"Our Thoughts\",\"description\":\"Thought-provoking commentary on life, politics, religion and social issues.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/99e996edc89affe5206808d3f65869d1\",\"name\":\"Kim Siever\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/417c7b5f55d329bdd0f64ef4396831db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/417c7b5f55d329bdd0f64ef4396831db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kim Siever\"},\"description\":\"Queer Mormon poet with radical political views. 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