Is it wrong to look at nudes as art?

Question:

There are people who chose to put their bodies on display as art. Is it wrong to appreciate the body in that way? It's not porn. It doesn't cause the body to lust. It's just people standing around naked.

Answer:

When Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they immediately understood that they were naked and attempted to clothe themselves. "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings" (Genesis 3:7). Even then they hid from God because they understood that the clothing they made wasn't adequate. "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Genesis 3:10).

To be naked is considered shameful. Using that concept, Jesus used it to illustrate another point. "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame" (Revelation 16:15). But the reason it is an illustration is that being naked is shameful. In the Old Testament God said He would expose Israel's sins to their shame and He draws the same parallel. "Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame will be seen" (Isaiah 47:3).

Paul discusses modest dress in I Timothy 2:9-10 and uses three words to describe proper attire. One of them is aidos in the Greek, which means with a sense of shame or with a sense of bashfulness. One of the problems men have with their sins is that they become calloused to them. They are no longer embarrassed by their sinful actions. That was the point Israel had reached. "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down," says the LORD" (Jeremiah 6:15).

The Bible teaches that one ought to be embarrassed to be seen without clothing and we ought to be embarrassed when others are without clothing. The fact that some are no longer embarrassed by their sins doesn't make it suddenly right. It actually makes matters worse because it means their conscience no longer bothers them. "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, ..." (I Timothy 4:1-2).

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