Modesty

Post 132

Where do we get our values?
Christians will tell you they get their values from God, through the Bible.
But ask any Christian to identify their firmly held values such as; Abstinence before marriage, or don’t steel stuff, or don’t show your junk to strangers, and both you and them might be really surprised that they don’t actually know.
“That’s just the way it is.”
In a nation that universally accepted these cultural values, there was no reason to question the actual source. But today we have ignored the source for so long that even Christians have now forgotten just what was the rule on that anyway?

My last post asked the question. Why don’t we want to be seen naked in public?
Is this just a cultural thing with really no good reason beyond keeping goose bumps down to a minimum?

lets have a look at our source document.

Genesis 2:25 “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

Now why would God want to tell us this bit of unimportant information?
Is he just embellishing the story so the publisher wont complain about the low number of words? No. God was telling us something important.

Genesis 2:16-17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it..."

Genesis 3:6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food… and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

It is interesting to note this forbidden tree “of the knowledge of good and evil” was desirable in part because it would make her wise, but also in part because it was just plane good food.
So are we to understand that God wanted mankind to be stupid by keeping them from knowledge?

In 2:15 we see that before they ate of the forbidden fruit that would make them wise, Adam's job was to dress and keep the garden God called Eden.
In 2:19-20 we see another of Adam's jobs was to name the animals.
In science and biology we learn that the names given to the animals has incredible intelligence, insight and wisdom.
So just what wisdom would the tree give them that they did not already have?

By the name of the forbidden tree we know the specific wisdom was the knowledge of good and evil.
So what one example did God give to show they gained this knowledge once eating the fruit?

Genesis 3:7 “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

Naked. How evil is that?
Being naked before was not evil. Do the animals know they are naked? No. Is it evil that they are naked? No.
So did nakedness become evil once they became aware they were naked? Perhaps.
But the verse does not say their nakedness was evil.
It says they became aware with knowledge that they were naked. And because of this awareness they made coverings.
lets continue;

Genesis 3:9-11 “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”

There is a lot in these few verses, I won’t belabor the fact that God knew where Adam was, and that he had eaten from the tree, but to say this questioning conversation was for Adam's sake, much as a parent does with his young child.
But what we see here clearly is that it was indeed the gaining of knowledge from the forbidden tree that revealed to Adam that he was naked.
We also see that there was suddenly an awareness of shame in this nakedness.

God asked, Who told you?
Not that he didn't know, but for us to understand, nobody told him. He just knew it now because of this new knowledge of good and evil.

Who else was in the garden?
God, Adam, His wife, and the Serpent as well as the other animals. Hardly an airport full of people.
So we can reason that the shame of being naked was not a locality issue. It was not a public or private issue.
The awareness of being naked was shameful in itself. And no one had to tell them this. It was now in their natural knowledge. Modesty it seems is an instinct from the knowledge of good and evil.

Now of course there is far more to the knowledge of good and evil, but God chose to reveal this truth through this one topic of nakedness. Perhaps because it is so base, so foundational.

When a man and a woman wish in their privacy to give themselves to each other, there is still a very vulnerable act of exposure that coveys far more than a few words on a page can express. This is because of the knowledge of good and evil, not because the exposure is evil. Adam didn’t even want God to see him naked!
We use the word shame to describe this feeling of exposure.

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 1948
Shame: 1.A. Painful emotion excited by a consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety. B. Susceptibility to such feelings of emotion. 2. Disgrace; dishonor. 3. That which brings discredit or reproach; as, it’s a shame. - v.t. 1. To make ashamed; to excite in (a person) a consciousness of guilt. 2. To cover with reproach or ignominy; to put to shame; to disgrace. 3. To bring or drive (a person) by shame.

Adam used the word, Afraid 3372 yare, a prime root; to fear; morally to revere; causatiously to frighten.
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 1948
Revere: To regard with reverence; to venerate.
Reverence: 1. Honor or respect felt or manifested; deference. 2. Profound respect mingled with love and awe. 3. A gesture of respect, as an obeisance or curtsy. 4. The state of being revered; dignity; exalted position….

The reason we do not wish for strangers to see us naked is because it is in our very nature to know that it is wrong. It breaches the reverence of our Created being in the image of God.

Our founders understood this to extend far beyond our mere bodies, and included this reverence to encompass far more;
It is a human right to possess in security our privacy. Forced exposure is to steel from us our God given human sovereignty.

Article IV of the Bill Of Rights.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to us the protection of our human dignity.

You want to stop terrorism? Find a different way.

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It is interesting to note that even the tiniest bikini on the beach provides enough modesty for the wearer to have the pleasure of showing off her beauty while still feeling covered. But she had alot of self consciousness (shame) to overcome the first time she sported such a garment in public.
The Tribal people of remote locations in Africa have no one to instruct them, but even the barest of them adorn themselves with symbols of modesty.
Just what is modest may perhaps be a question for debate, but modesty and shame are none the less seated in our very nature and must be un-naturally driven out by effort and practice before people feel free to be naked in public without shame.

If the knowledge of good and evil is what tells us public nakedness is not good, then to become comfortable with showing your nakedness to strangers is to loose the ability to know what is good and what is evil.
Upon this loss of knowledge is the destruction of a civilized society.