Nudity in religion
Nudity in religion deals with religious beliefs as the basis for modern attitudes and behaviors regarding nudity.
Abrahamic religions
The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all recount the Genesis creation narrative in which Adam and Eve are unaware of their nakedness until they eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. After this, they feel ashamed and try to cover themselves with fig leaves. Judaism does not share the Christian association of nakedness with original sin, an aspect integral to the doctrine of redemption and salvation. In Islam the garden is in Paradise, not on Earth. This is to show that women and men should be covered in clothing, for nudity has the stigma of shame attached to it. Each of these religions has its own unique understanding of what is meant to be taught with the recounting of the story of Adam and Eve.The biblical story of Bathsheba and apocryphal story of Susanna provide no reference within the text for blame to be placed on women. Regardless, some have interpreted these passages placing the blame of the men's lusts on the women in the stories, despite the fact that the women are portrayed as victims in these stories rather than participants. In contrast, the apocryphal story of Judith portrays a woman who bathes publicly to seduce and later behead the enemy general Holofernes. The contrast of the story of Judith in her deliberate attempts to seduct contrast the actions of Susanna and Bathsheba, who were victims of the male gaze.
Of particular concern for both Islam and early Christians, as they extended their control over countries that had previously been part of the Byzantine or Roman empires, was the local custom of public bathing. While Christians were mainly concerned about mixed-gender bathing, which had been common, Islam also prohibited nudity for women in the company of non-Muslim women. In general, the Roman bathing facilities were adapted for separation of the genders, and the bathers retaining at least a loin-cloth as was the case in Victorian Turkish baths until the end of the 20th century.
Judaism
The Genesis creation narrative describes Adam and Eve as "naked and not ashamed" before eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Awareness of nakedness as requiring covering comes only after the Fall, presented as a consequence of disobedience rather than part of the original divine design. Judaism does not share the Christian association of nakedness with original sin, an aspect integral to Christian doctrines of redemption and salvation; in Jewish thought, shame arose from the knowledge of good and evil rather than from nakedness itself.In practice, Judaism developed detailed norms around body modesty, though these vary considerably between movements and communities. In more strict communities, tzniut encompasses detailed rules of appropriate behavior. Conservative and Reform Judaism generally promote modesty values but do not regard strict tzniut rules as binding, permitting individuals to set their own standards. With the exception of the Haredi community, Jewish communities generally dress according to the standards of the surrounding society.
Rabbinic sources distinguish between functional nudity and immodest exposure. The Talmud records that Rabbi Yossi dressed and undressed under his sheets to avoid standing bare even in private, which later authorities cite as pious practice rather than strict obligation. However, scholars note that male workers laboring in fields or fishing were commonly unclothed in ancient Palestine, as reflected in John 21:7 where Simon Peter is described as naked while fishing. A person entering a mikveh does so without clothing or jewelry.
Orthodox Jewish Law traditionally placed greater concern on male nudity in religious contexts, viewing it as an offense against God, while female nudity was primarily addressed in terms of arousing sexual passion; thus private or female-only nudity was not inherently immodest. The category of ervah in halakhic literature is highly contextual—dependent on social norms, habituation, and setting rather than fixed body parts.
Care is needed when reading biblical texts, as some references to "nakedness" serve as euphemism for sexual activity. The story of Noah's nakedness involves Ham "seeing his father's nakedness," which many commentators interpret as involving more than mere viewing.
In the early twentieth century, anarcho-naturism attracted some Jewish immigrants in America as part of broader radical movements. Moyshe Yitzhok Littauer founded a vegetarian nudist colony in New Jersey in 1917 with approximately sixty Jewish immigrants from New York's Lower East Side, combining naturism with anarchist and vegetarian ideals. This represented a secular cultural phenomenon rather than a religious movement, and no representative Jewish religious teacher, whether Orthodox or Reform, has advocated naturism as compatible with Jewish practice.
Christianity
Mainstream Christian denominations
There are verses in the Christian Bible that discuss the issue of nudity. Before the fall of man, "Nakedness was 'very good' from the beginning, but its innocence was corrupted by the fall", a concept taught in Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 2:25. Genesis 3:8–10, Revelation 3:18 and Revelation 16:15 discuss that after the fall of man, "publicly exposed nakedness a symbol of the shame of sin." In Genesis 3:7, Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness, though their attempt was inadequate for God and so God properly clothed humans in Genesis 3:21. Exodus 20:26 and 28:42–43 explicate that God instructed humans to cover their torso and thighs.The early Church reflected the contemporary attitudes of Judaism towards nudity. The Old Testament is not positive towards nudity. In Isaiah 20, Isaiah walks nude as a sign of shame.
The first recorded liturgy of baptism, written down by Saint Hippolytus of Rome in his Apostolic Tradition, required men, women and children to remove all clothing, including all foreign objects such as jewelry and hair fastenings. However Laurie Guy argues that complete nudity for baptism candidates would not be the norm. He notes that at certain times and in certain places candidates may have been totally naked at the point of baptism, but the Jewish taboo of female nakedness would have mitigated widespread practice of naked baptism.
Later Christian attitudes to nudity became more restrictive, and baptisms were segregated by sex and then later were usually performed with clothed participants. Some of the Eastern Orthodox churches today maintain the early church's liturgical use of baptismal nudity, particularly for infants but also for adults.
Several saints, such as a number of the Desert Fathers as well as Basil Fool for Christ, practiced nudity as a form of ascetic poverty.
Early Christian art included depictions of nudity in baptism. When artistic endeavours revived following the Renaissance, the Catholic Church was a major sponsor of art bearing a religious theme, many of which included subjects in various states of dress and including full nudity. Painters sponsored by the Church included Raphael, Caravaggio and Michelangelo, but there were many others. Many of these paintings and statues were and continue to be displayed in churches, some of which were painted as murals, the most famous of which are at the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo.
, in discussing logion 37 of the Gospel of Thomas, notes that early Christian art depicts, as one would expect, Adam and Eve in Paradise naked. The only other Old Testament figures who are depicted nude are Jonah emerging from the mouth of the Great Fish, Daniel emerging from the Lion's Den, and the resurrected in Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones: these Old Testament scenes containing nude figures are precisely those which were held to be types of the resurrection. Among the New Testament illustrations, apart from baptismal scenes, there are nudes only in one representation of the raising of Lazarus and one representation of the Miracle at Cana.
In light of Exodus 29:26 and 28:42–43 in the Bible, which teach that nakedness is inclusive of anything that exposes the torso and thighs, Methodists of the conservative holiness movement wear pants or dresses that go beyond the knees, as well as shirts that cover the underarms.
In 1981, Pope John Paul II expressed the Catholic Church's attitude to the exposure of the human body in Love and Responsibility: "The human body can remain nude and uncovered and preserve intact its splendour and its beauty... Nakedness as such is not to be equated with physical shamelessness... Immodesty is present only when nakedness plays a negative role with regard to the value of the person... The human body is not in itself shameful... Shamelessness is a function of the interior of a person."
Christian naturist sects
Sects have arisen within Christianity from time to time that have viewed nudity in a more positive light. For example, to the Adamites and the Freedomites, social nudity was an integral part of their ritual. The Adamites, an early Christian sect, practiced "holy nudism", engaging in common worship in the nude. During the Middle Ages, the doctrines of this obscure sect were revived: in the Netherlands by the Brethren of the Free Spirit and the Taborites in Bohemia, and, in a grosser form, by the Beghards in Germany. Everywhere, they met with firm opposition from the mainstream Christian churches.
A religious sect in Canada that immigrated from Russia, the Sons of Freedom, went so far in the 20th century as to publicly strip in mass public demonstrations to protest against government policies which were meant to assimilate them.
Christian naturism contains various members associated with most denominations. Although beliefs vary, a common theme is that much of Christianity has misinterpreted the events regarding the Garden of Eden, and God was displeased with Adam and Eve for covering their bodies with fig leaves. argues that the significance of the human need for clothing by far exceeds its theological meaning.