Comments on: The nude figure and Christianity

By: edo deweert

edo deweert — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 05:15:13 +0000

to zee:
i am an atheist, but i have been among enough people who believe in a god to have learned that the ultimate “plan” for all species on this earth is to procreate.
god, in all her splendid wisdom, has given us humans a brain to that end…an organ that actually is the largest sex organ in our bodies.
but, let us for the moment leave us aside and explore the totally mechanical way all species seem to have gotten “the message” that god wants them to procreate.
zee, my friend, ever had a male dog ride up your leg? and why do you think that was?
ok, now back to us, mortal humans.
jewelry, make-up, attire…….all designed by god to make her creation – WOMAN – to attract the male so as to mate for the sole purpose of procreation.
i find it actually hilarius that an atheist has to clarify this to someone who – i assume – has a faith

By: zee

zee — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:01:19 +0000

dear edo
from what you have said it seems all you think we are are animals with one aim: to reproduce. And that’s it? Not to mention other aspects that are distinctive to us, humans; have you never come across any form of beauty, anything that made you think, hmm, this is nice – with no reason to be nice, it’s just purely beautiful because it is beautiful?
And for the church, if it does what it says, the aim is not having numbers in people – but to proclaim the need for and way of salvation and minister to people both outside and inside his courts.

By: Michael Scott

Michael Scott — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:56:41 +0000

To begin with, I don’t think God would discribe himself as a christian or anything else except himself. I’m sure he is proud of his creation. The human form is both erotic and beautiful and any artist will tell you those are two different things. A tree is beautiful but, I don’t want have sex with it. Just because a model is beautiful does not mean I want to have sex with her. Erotic or beautiful depends on time and place. Life drawing class is not an erotic experience for me, it’s work. Anyone that is thinking erotic thoughts while trying to draw or paint is going to come up short.

By: edo deweert

edo deweert — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:37:52 +0000

the act of getting naked is erotic…the act of being naked is eritic….the act of rendering the human body naked is erotic
aestetically, there is nothing beautiful about the human body: a formless blob, from which a number of appendages protrudes.
as a species we have assigned qualities of “beauty” to all elements of the human body: eyes, chin, breasts, legs, lips etc. etc.
the reason? come on, you surely must know this: beauty equeates with desirability, which in turn equates with sexuality and sexuality is required in order to procreate…..which, after all, is what “the church” wants? go to my blog to read further : http://www.themodelundraped.blogspot.com

By: Curtis Neeley

Curtis Neeley — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:46:29 +0000

Romans 14:16
Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.

A figurenude is NOT evil.

Most nudes are evil.

Nude art can be done that is a manner of praise.
There are people who refuse to consider Christianity and Jesus because of the hypocrisy that surrounds this issue.

Ansel Adams did some VERY well known nudes.
Yosemite is always nude.

A nude human may have been too difficult for Ansel to photograph as purely art. It may have filled him with lust.

Did God make humans nude on accident?
My God doesn’t make mistakes.

God covered humans with clothes made from the skins of animals after humans sinned. The animals God ripped the skins off did not sin. Removal of skin usually results in death?

Did the same God who created everything prefer to kill animals to create the first set of clothes instead of just having humans grow fur and not need clothes? Was this also the first time humans had steak? *humor*

God was demonstrating his first example that sin could only be covered by blood being spilled. It foreshadowed Jesus’ sacrifice. God could have as easily made clothes from cotton.

He made clothes instead of giving humans fur so that they could be removed and his masterpiece appreciated without obstruction.

Out of the entire Bible there is no mention of nudity in art. In Rome at the time there were common examples of nudity in art. Members of the church addressed the consuming of meat that had been offered to idols.
(Romans 14:21) Most misinterpret this to mean to do nothing that your brother believes is sinful. Does this mean to be a vegetarian? NO Did they mention such a trivial detail that relates to idols of the time and overlook mentioning nudity in art?

I was in a coma for 6+ earth weeks. I have stood at the entrance to Heaven. Today heaven is filled with people who are happy and UN-happy people. If you are in heaven watching the results of your sins cause someone you love not accept Christ, you will feel sorrow. This is the plain truth. It is not mentioned in the Bible for good reason. Jesus deals with sorrow every day. Sorrow is not beyond Jesus. In the end times, there will be no more tears. NOT till then will that be true anywhere.
Revelations 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

I do figurenude photographs from a wheelchair with one fully functional arm/hand. I am paralyzed mid back and will never have sex. I do figurenude photography better than most others in my condition, if not ALL in my condition. I am in a fairly unique set of physical circumstances.

I praise God that I can. He uses me every day.

Romans 14:16
Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.

A figurenude is NOT evil.

Most nudes are evil.

A figurenude is NOT evil.

Romans 14:16
Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.

By: The Bird

The Bird — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:52:05 +0000

It’s one of the biggest challenges in the world, to study, draw or sculpt the nude figure or animals. It’s awesome but it makes me sad to think that many, many people only think of it in a sexual context or in a fearful context (media and peer pressure to conform to impossible cosmetic standards).

I love studying anatomy and biology and while my actual skills lie in images and music, I still have complete awe when studying the figure. I feel sorry for people who’s minds stay so small as they will never feel the wonder of God’s creation, in fact i’d also say, Gods pinnacle of creation as ALL of creation to the infinite universe is balanced to allow US to live.

…I love life drawing and am actually starting a photographic project of confident nude portraits and it’s going well so far:) People ARE changing thier perception of the figure and it’s good news.

By: Curtis J. Neeley Jr.

Curtis J. Neeley Jr. — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:34:40 +0000

As one of the best figurenude photographers in history, I know for certain that the female figure is God’s masterpiece and can be presented completely devoid of the erotic and sexual or it can be completely sinful. After 6-weeks unresponsive and in a coma, I was removed from a RESPIRATOR with a DNR to die.
——————————————————–
I am paralyzed mid-back and had a stroke that removed my ability to fully move my left arm. I also have a severe traumatic brain injury and had 99% of my past memories erased. I was in a coma for 6 weeks. My spouse and I had once talked of living via machine. She chose to have them remove my respirator or ‘let-go-and-let-God’. My parents did not wish her to do so, but they accepted her at her word. After they turned off my respirator, my brother sat encouraging me to breathe. I did but only enough to die more slowly. He said I squeezed his hand and was told by a doctor that it was a normal occurrence for bodies expiring to randomly contract. He asked a neurologist to re-examine me and said it wasn’t random. The doctor did and asked me that if I was there to give him a thumbs up. The doctors were completely amazed when I gave them a thumbs up. One doctor said that he had to acknowledge that he had just seen a miracle. They went to the hospital chapel and advised my wife who was there already morning her loss of a husband. He also advised her that I still was not breathing. She agreed about them returning the respirator. Over the next few weeks I was weaned from the respirator.

I had broken my fibulas, tibias, left femur, left humerus, left scapula, all my left ribs, and five vertebras along with my pelvis in six places. None of the broken back bones were the cause of my paralysis. I had broken most of the bones in my body and my broken ribs had penetrated my organs and torn my descending aorta from my heart. The surgery to repair the aorta left me paralyzed. The rib that broke and attacked my heart caused it. My brain injury was due to my head being jerked to a stop by the seatbelt and my brain impacting the skull that also stopped.

Over the next few years, due to pressure sore infections, I elected to have both legs removed above the knee. Most around me thought this was strange, but I could not remember ever using my legs. I do not miss them a bit and it was a good way to lose useless weight without a diet.
———————————————–
I would not still be here able to create images that qualify to be called figurenude if He had not chosen to grant a miracle.
90% of the nudes you see at the site linked were done by me from a wheelchair.

By: TAE

TAE — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:38:44 +0000

Just read CT’s “What to say at a naked party” (added link in post above). Very interesting, particularly the second half and towards the end. I read something very similar to this sentiment

“It may even turn out, in a supreme irony, that the current phenomenon of transitory student lesbianism was just a strategy of desperation, the only way society currently allows young women to tell boys, ‘Go away, I’m not ready.’”

last year in a book called Branded: The buying and selling of teenagers, where the author suggested jr. high girls performing of oral sex for boys was a way of protecting their own virginity.

By: David Taylor

David Taylor — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:15:55 +0000

I have the book, haven’t read the chapter, but thank you. I am familiar with Ed; not personally, just through CIVA. No long distance study for me. I’m leaving the mainland and headed to the land of William Wallace and golf and the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts.

I marry in ten days, throw the Transforming Culture symposium together in April, resign from my job at Hope Chapel in May, and head to St. Andy’s in September. Today I get to plow through a stack of articles and essays on Christianity and the nude — with a pure intent: to get a green light from the admissions committee.

FWIW, one of the articles I did for CT Movies was on profanity, violence and nudity:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/violenceprofanitynudity.html

We also ran a seminar on art and nudity for our arts festival back in 2003. Well attended, a lively discussion. Have the notes.

Just for fun, IMAGE journal published an essay back in 1989 by James J. Thompson with the title, “Does John Updike Write Dirty Books?”

And if you go onto Christianity Today you’ll find an essay by Frederica Matthews-Greene, “What to Say at a Naked Party.”

We’re all interested, we’re all listening. And there’s plenty of room for growth in this area, intellectual, biblical, theological as well as personal and social. Good times.

By: TAE

TAE — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:00:59 +0000

Hello again indeed! One of the books I mentioned on the blog in December that I received for Christmas — It Was Good: Making art to the glory of God — has en essay by Edward Knippers. Knippers, whom you probably know of, uses the nude regularly in his paintings. I was told earlier in the week by a friend that this particular essay discusses use of nudes in Christian work. I haven't gotten to that book yet though, so can't add anything more than this referral. Can you do a degree with St. Andrews long distance or are you moving?