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This is part 9 in a series of articles I’m writing in response to Nick Peters, author of the Deeper Waters blog and host of The Deeper Waters Podcast. When I began this series of articles, I thought I would have only a dozen articles to respond to. And yet every day, there seems to be a new one on his site talking about this subject. I’ve no idea when I’ll finish, but I’d like to keep my series of responses to roughly a dozen, or at least no more than 15. Moreover, some of Peters’ criticisms get a little repetitive as he repeats straw men, false claims, and irresponsibly interpreted Bible passages more than once. So from here on, I’ll make my best attempt at streamlining things a bit so as to keep repetition of rebuttals to a minimum.

The series of articles is a critique of Aaron Frost’s book “Christian Body: Modesty and The Bible”. Although I am not the author of the book, many of Peters’ critiques are generally criticisms of the case for Christian Naturism. Many of the arguments Frost would use are ones I would use as well. And so, it seemed good to me to critique the critique.

Family Friendly Nudist Resort

Nick Peters writes \\“Frost tells us that if we were to visit a nudist society, we would find it is actually family-friendly. Well, that might depend on which one you go to. I daresay that across the board there are always exceptions. “\\ ^[1]Nick Peters, “Book Plunge: Christian Body: The Moral Effect Of Clothing” — https://www.deeperwatersapologetics.com/2024/08/16/book-plunge-christian-body-the-moral-effect-of-clothing/

First, given that Nick Peters has never been to a nude beach, nudist resort, or retreat, I don’t think we really ought to listen to him when it comes to the nature of nudist settings. Indeed, as I said in a prior article, if Peters did go to a Naturist retreat or beach, he would probably experience some sever cognitive dissonance at least. He’d see naked men hanging out with naked women and the men would not be the least bit erect. He’d see families spending quality time together. He’d see people doing perfectly normal, chaste activities….just without clothes. And he’d be forced to continue to hold the opinion that, despite not engaging in anything remotely sexual, they’re still all sinning just because they don’t cover their bodes in man made fabrics.

Exceptions? Sure. There are always exceptions. But given that the nudist movement has been fighting an uphill battle since its very inception, they come down very hard on anyone who takes advantage of the clothing-free zones to gawk, ogle, pleasure themselves, or to do other perverted things. Just as preachers being caught in adultery hurts the reputation of preachers in general and makes Christianity look bad, people claiming the title of nudist but are just voyeurs or exhibitionists make nudism look bad.

Liz and James Egger have been nudists for many years. In their book “The Complete Guide To Nudism, Naturism, and Nudists”, they write the following;

“There is no doubt that some groups and individuals who call themselves nudists are in reality swingers, swappers, voyeurs, exhibitionists and, worst of all, paedophiles. But let’s be quite clear—these people are not nudists or naturists at all, but sexually motivated individuals who use the terms to mask the purely carnal nature of their activities. Sadly, these are also the people who gain the most publicity, and when yet another ‘naturist’ club is exposed as a sex and swingers rendezvous the general public nudge each other knowingly, satisfied that their suspicions and prejudices have once more been justified.” ^[2]Egger, Liz; Egger, James. The Complete Guide to Nudism, Naturism & Nudists: Everything you need to know about nudism (And why you should try it!) (p. 80). Wyeland Publishing. Kindle Edition.

“Don’t confuse naturism with exhibitionism and voyeurism or sex and pornography. If this is really what you want, admit it to yourself and join something more appropriate.” ^[3]Egger, Liz; Egger, James. The Complete Guide to Nudism, Naturism & Nudists: Everything you need to know about nudism (And why you should try it!) (p. 184). Wyeland Publishing. Kindle Edition.

“Nudists are not sex-maniacs, but normal people who indulge in social nudity. Nudist venues are places where we indulge in social nudity, not public sex. Contrary to popular belief, being with other naked people in a true naturist environment is not sexually stimulating and at most genuine nudist sites you will not or must not: * Be sexually propositioned—or proposition others—in any way. * See other individuals or couples indulging in overt sexual activity. * Be allowed to indulge in overt sexual activity yourself. * See—or deliberately display— an erection.” ^[4]Egger, Liz; Egger, James. The Complete Guide to Nudism, Naturism & Nudists: Everything you need to know about nudism (And why you should try it!) (p. 82). Wyeland Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I trust the opinions of people who have been nudists since the 1970s more than I trust the opinion of someone who has never stepped foot in a place like Cypress Cove. ^[5]Granted, as of the time of writing this, I haven’t either, but I certainly plan to. And I’ve seen plenty of naturist documentaries to have a general idea of the normal activities that go … Continue reading Nick probably shouldn’t comment on things he’s ignorant of, but if he did that, I wouldn’t have had to write all these articles.

Nudity Induced Arousal Is How It Should Be?

Peters writes \\“However, one thing he does say is that the body loses its sexual connotation and becomes unprovocative, the way that it should be.

But is that how it should be?”\\ — Yes. Again, going back to Genesis 2:25, and cross-referencing with Genesis 3:10-11, we get the impression that naked humanity was God’s creation ideal. Were it not for the fall, there would have been no fig leaves. If humans were innately wired to get off at the sight of the naked human body, then as Adam and Eve had more children, the whole human race would devolve into a massive uncontrolled orgie and we’d drive ourselves to extinction because of the rampant STDs. Even Adam and Eve, who were married and were presumably attracted to each other, hung out nude together for some time prior to the fall. When reading The Primeval History, one gets the impression that they didn’t have intercourse at all until after the fall (Genesis 4:1-2). Now, we don’t know how much time passed between the creation of Adam and Eve and their fall into sin. The text doesn’t tell us. It could have been a day, two days, a week, a month, or even a year. Genesis 3 does come the heels of Genesis 2, but as I’ve said in footnotes in prior articles, this is because the author is just trying to quickly get the Primeval History over with because it’s all set up for the calling of Abraham in Genesis 12. Moses wasn’t really interested in telling us that Adam and Eve went skinny dipping on Tuesday (or as it would have been called back then; swimming) and then they played Chess with one of the resident Seraphim. He’s just trying to tell you the story of the three major falls and be done with it. ^[6]see Dr. Michael S. Heiser’s The Naked Bible Podcast Episode 94 “The Sin of the Watchers and Galatians 3-4” Dr. Michael S. Heiser With Residential Layman Trey Stricklin April 2, 2016. → … Continue reading But I do get the impression that it was at least a few days. And apparently the sight of Eve’s body wasn’t such an overpowering turn on that he couldn’t wait.

Although Adam loved his wife, and he did eventually have sex with her, I think the burden rests on Nick to prove that Adam was hot and bothered the whole time he was in the garden with Eve, ogling her, walking around with a constant erection, etc. I believe that Adam’s arousal was not visual, but relational. As Matthew Neal put it in the context of reconditioning one’s mind to not associate nudiy with sex; “If, for whatever reason, real social nudity is not possible for you to experience, then at very least spend as much time as possible with your own wife—both of you naked—when sex is not on the agenda. Grow accustomed to relating to her as a person non-sexually even while you can see every inch of her body. You’ll find that it’s really not that difficult. And have no fear that you will not be able to ‘perform’ if you get ‘too accustomed’ to seeing her naked… when you’re both in the mood for sex, relational arousal beats visual arousal any day!” (emphasis mine in bold) ^[7]Matthew Neal, “The Sexual Objectification Of Women – Part 2”, The Biblical Naturist Blog — https://thebiblicalnaturist.blogspot.com/search?q=relational+arousal I think I’m on a path where my desire for my future wife won’t be driven by voyeuristic lust, but erotic love. Not based on how hot she looks when naked, but based on how much I love her. So even if I have a wife someday who gets horribly disfigured in an accident, I don’t believe she’ll be any less desirable to me. “Relational arousal beats visual arousal any day.” This seems like a healthier sexuality on its face! Does it not seem more blessed for a woman to be desirable to a man regardless of what she looks like? Whether she looks like she could be a model or is the homeliest girl on the planet. And what woman would not feel a sense of peace and joy knowing that she is loved by her husband for who she is as a person, and not because of her body. Hey, real talk, pretty girls are a dime a dozen, but “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” (Proverbs 31:10, ESV), “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30, ESV)

Phillip Oak said it so beautifully in his book “Surprised Into Freedom”. He wrote “Now, the only time I’m ever aroused is during intimate moments with my wife. I absolutely love this change, and obviously, so does my wife! I now hate seeing anything that is suggestive or objectifying. My wife is the one and only person that excites me. Arousal comes as a result of our relationship, not her body. However, every time I see her, it’s like the rooster in the movie “Peter Rabbit,” who is so shocked and elated and can’t believe the sun has come up yet again. Every single day, I’m that excited to see her.” ^[8]Oak, Philip. Surprised Into Freedom: The Effortless Obliteration of Lust and Body Shame (p. 139). Kindle Edition. Who wouldn’t want this kind of sexuality!?

For the last time(hopefully), God didn’t create us to be voyeurs, and if Adam and Eve and their children would have had such a highly sexualized view of the body from the very beginning, it would have caused some severe problems early on. No, sexual responses to mere nudity is a learned behavior. And the fact that I don’t have them anymore is irrefutable proof to me that it can be unlearned.

On Saving Your Naked Body For Nupital Night Once More

Nick Peters wrote \\“For instance, you have some valuables that you do keep out in public, such as fine art that you want people to see, but at the same time, you might still keep them behind glass or something similar. Meanwhile, you have other valuables that you keep away for special occasions. You don’t put the fine china in a separate cabinet because you’re ashamed of it. You keep it there because it’s for special events. I have a suit in my closet. I haven’t worn it once since I came to New Orleans. Am I ashamed of it? No. It’s for special occasions.” ^[9]see Nick Peters, “Book Plunge: Christian Body: The Moral Effect Of Clothing” — … Continue reading

If we weren’t ashamed of our bodies, we wouldn’t freak out, act embarrassed and get red faced if someone walked in on us changing. In fact, almost as if God wanted me to have a real-life example of this, I accidentally walked in on someone naked a little while ago. She freaked out. Yeah, sounds like body shame to me. If we weren’t ashamed of our bodies, we wouldn’t be so compulsive about hiding them and then feel the immense weight of unimaginable embarrassment if we’re caught naked. If we weren’t ashamed of our bodies, we would not have nightmares about being naked in public. If we were naked in our dreams, they at least wouldn’t fall into the nightmare category. If we weren’t ashamed of our bodies “Revenge Porn” would not be an effective means of blackmail. But some are so ashamed of their bodies, that there have been instances of victim of revenge porn taking their own lives. ^[10]Psychologists Tahlee Mckinlay and Tiffany Lavis write “Bates (2016) found that female ‘revenge porn’ victims may suffer from trust issues, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety and … Continue reading

Nick, cut the crap. You’re not fooling anyone with this nonsense. People are obviously ashamed of their naked bodies. In fact, some people are SO ashamed that if a nude photo of them gets passed around, it feels like the worst thing in the world to ever happen to them. It’s one thing to endorse body shame, but it’s another thing to deny its existence altogether.

\\”What if the human body is sexual because we are sexual beings. What if parts of the body were made to arouse the opposite sex, among other things? What if a man or a woman doesn’t display their body not because they’re ashamed of it, but because they think they should save it for someone special that they trust. What if that body becomes a symbol then of the unique trust they only give to one another?”\\ –

Why would you save the sight of your naked body for your spouse? If you did not have a porno-prudish view of the body, then this doesn’t make sense. Why would you save the sight of YOU, mere you, you without man-made additives, for your spouse in the bedroom? The only reason why such a moral would be presupposed is if one classifies human nakedness as a sexual thing.

The reasoning isn’t too hard to follow especially in syllogism form

1: Sexual events should be reserved exclusively for your spouse (e.g Hebrews 13:4)

2: Being naked around someone else is a sexual event.

3: Therefore, you should only be naked around your spouse.

This is a logically valid syllogism. The conclusion follows from the premises. The problem is that Nick begs the question of favor of premise 2. We naturists call premise 2 into dispute. Unless all premises in an argument are true, you can’t reach the conclusion. I am a conservative evangelical Christian. I don’t deny premise 1. What I deny, and have taken great pains throughout all these articles to disprove, is premise 2.

What if it’s not the sight of each other’s naked bodies that “Become the symbol of the unique trust they only give to one another”, but the union of those naked bodies in the act of coitus? I’m sure being enraptured in erotic love is far more satisfying than getting to gawk at breasts. While a nudist man may see a lot of naked female bodies, and a lot of naked females will see his, only one woman’s body will be united to his in the beautiful one-flesh union established in Eden (Genesis 2:24). The very teaching that you should save the sight of your naked body for yourself is one of a plethora of things the church has done to sexualize human nakedness. Newsflash; I’m pretty sure some females saw me naked on the very first day I entered into this world. I also literally had to pass through an exposed vagina to get here. No one would have classified my nakedness as sexual as an infant. What changed? How does the fact that I’m bigger and harrier somehow make my unadorned body sexual? What real difference is there between a naked newborn and a naked 32 year old except age and size (and amount of body hair)? What magical mystical thing happens to make the innocence of a toddler me running around stark naked into a moral atrocity? Is there some Platonic entity that attaches itself to the naked body as soon as it reaches a certain level of maturity to make it “lewd”? Make it make sense.Please make it make sense.

Nick writes \\“This is part of the problem. Frost says we have a problem with lust, and he is right with that, but then says “Get rid of clothing and there’s no issue” and he’s wrong on that. The problem with lust is not that we see people as sexual beings. The problem is that is the only way that we see them. We see them as objects to fulfill our desire. A man sees a woman as something to conquer instead of a person to woo.”\\ ^[11]see again Nick Peters, “Book Plunge: Christian Body: The Moral Effect Of Clothing” — … Continue reading – So what would YOU propose we do about it, Mr. Peters? Bounce our eyes? Walk around with blindfolds? And what about the stuff on the internet? Oh, you want me to spend money on sofware that I can easily circumvent? What’s your solution? I dare you to propose a solution I haven’t already tried. The problem with the body of Christ, the church, is that we all recognize the problem and we all talk about how big of a problem it is. But they don’t do a damn thing to actually fix the problem. I was in bondage to porn since I was 13, and after giving my life to Christ at 17, I actually began trying to break the chains. I tried everything I could. I did so much study and research to find a strategy that would actually work for me. I would spend 3 hours uninterrupted begging and pleading with God to get me free from this pornographic monkey on my back. I searched he scriptures diligently. Whatever scripture had to say about sex, sexual immorality, the efficacy of prayer, the sin nature, The Holy Spirit, I read all of those passages. I desperately was trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I figured the problem had to be on my end. After all, according to scripture, it wouldn’t have seemed feasible that God was simply unwilling to help me. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;” (NIV) and 1 John 5:14-15 says “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (NIV) If it’s God’s will for me to not be sexually immoral, and I have assurance that I will receive whatever I pray for in accordance to God’s will, then God should be doing something.

So I thought “Do I just not want it badly enough?” “Do I not have enough faith when I ask God to set me free?” “Am I just weak willed? So I need to get more willpower?” ^[12]I bought a book called “The WillPower Instinct” by an author named Kelly McGonial. I spent years trying to find answers like a doctor desperately trying to find a cure to his own disease. No amount of prayer, willpower I could muster up, or bible study seemed to lead me to the right answer. ^[13]I should stress that the answers were in scripture all along, but like with so many other theological issues, I had blinders on keeping me from seeing them. When I came across South West Will’s article “Be Ye Transformed” on the Aching For Eden blog, I figured that I could give naturism a try. It was, at that point, the only thing I hadn’t tried. I read Phillip Oak’s book first, and I literally broke down crying several times when reading that book. For the first time, it felt like real hope. But I was scared. I didn’t want to believe that real freedom from lust was possible. Like Hawkeye in Avengers: Endgame, I said to God “Don’t do that. Don’t give me hope.” And yet, I could tell that this approach wasn’t just another possible strategy I could try which would probably fail. All other methods I tried were external methods designed to keep me from carrying out the evil that was in my hear (yes, even trying white-knuckle against the urge). This approach promised to change who I was on the inside which would make resistance completely unnecessary. I was being handed a totally different type of weapon than what I was given by Christians in mainstream Christianity.

Truth is, God did answer my prayers. He did free me. I remember asking God “Lord, just make me not want it! If I don’t even crave it, I won’t do it!” (similar to my moms prayers regarding tobacco addiction). He answered THAT prayer too! Just not in the way I was expecting. I was expecting a Holy Spirit zap that would either grant me an infinite amount of will power or I’d just wake up one day a-sexual. But he indeed took away the desire for porn. Now, if I watch porn, it literally induces nausea. Sometimes it makes me angry. There were a couple of times I sought out porn as an experiment to see what kind of effect on me, and that’s what happened. Not sexual arousal or an urge to masturbate, but anger and disgust. And because I don’t like feeling angry and sick, I don’t want to see that stuff anymore. Images of nude people doing chaste activities is fine (Like naturist photos or nude arts), but sexually explicit content that degrades and devalues God’s holy images is something I’ve turned away from. The former is non-stimulating and the latter is vomit inducing. But, I’m rambling now. Nick, what anti-pornographic alternative to naturism would you suggest? Would you like to place bets on whether I’ve already considered it and experienced the utter failure of the tactic?

The rest of Nick’s article is just more of him misunderstanding what he’s reading, and it’s a straw man I’ve already dealt with in a previous article. So we shall move on to his article “Book Plunge: Christian Body: Naked Baptisms”

Naked Baptisms

Not very any people know this, but baptisms in the early church were practiced in the nude. We know this not only from ancient iconography but also from explicit quotations of some of the early church fathers.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (4th Century) “Therefore, I shall necessarily lay before you the sequel of yesterday’s Lecture, that ye may learn of what those things, which were done by you in the inner chamber, were symbolical. As soon, then, as ye entered, ye put off your tunic; and this was an image of putting off the old man with his deeds. Having stripped yourselves, ye were naked; in this also imitating Christ, who was stripped naked on the Cross, and by His nakedness put off from Himself the principalities and powers, and openly triumphed over them on the tree. For since the adverse powers made their lair in your members, ye may no longer wear that old garment; I do not at all mean this visible one, but the old man, which waxeth corrupt in the lusts of deceit. May the soul which has once put him off, never again put him on, but say with the Spouse of Christ in the Song of Songs, I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on? O wondrous thing! ye were naked in the sight of all, and were not ashamed; for truly ye bore the likeness of the first-formed Adam, who was naked in the garden, and was not ashamed. Then, when ye were stripped, ye were anointed with exorcised oil, from the very hairs of your head to your feet, and were made partakers of the good olive-tree, Jesus Christ. For ye were cut off from the wild olive-tree, and grafted into the good one, and were made to share the fatness of the true olive-tree.”

Bishop Hippolytus of Rome:
“At the hour in which the cock crows, they shall first pray over the water. When they come to the water, the water shall be pure and flowing, that is, the water of a spring or a flowing body of water. Then they shall take off all their clothes. The children shall be baptized first. All of the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer. If there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them, or someone else from their family. After this, the men will be baptized. Finally, the women, after they have unbound their hair, and removed their jewelry. No one shall take any foreign object with themselves down into the water. …When the elder takes hold of each of them who are to receive baptism, he shall tell each of them to renounce, saying, ‘I renounce you Satan, all your service, and all your works.’ After he has said this, he shall anoint each with the Oil of Exorcism, saying, ‘let every evil spirit depart from you.’ Then, after these things, the bishop passes each of them on nude to the elder who stands at the water. They shall stand in the water naked. A deacon, likewise, will go down with them into the water. “ ^[14]Hippolytus. “Apostolic Traditions” of Hippolytus, 21:1-11. Translated by Edgecomb, Kevin P. Derived from Bernard Botte (La Tradition Apostolique. Sources Chretiennes, 11 bis. Paris, Editions du … Continue reading)

Nick Peters writes \\“Nudity here was for a specific purpose. It was not the norm. If Frost wants to show the early church didn’t have the standards we have about clothes, then we have to ask why did they dress again? If nudity represents freedom in Christ, why did they not stay that way?”\\ ^[15]Nick Peters, “Book Plunge: Christian Body: Naked Baptisms”, Deeper Waters – https://www.deeperwatersapologetics.com/2024/08/20/book-plunge-christian-body-naked-baptisms/ Gee, I don’t know, Nick. Maybe they were cold. Maybe they really like their outfits. Maybe they just weren’t nudists and preferred to only be nude for practical reasons…..like getting baptized.

This is honestly laughably bad, and I am trying so hard not to resort to mockery. He is inferring that clothing must have some sort of moral mandate because surely if nudity were such a good thing, they wouldn’t get dressed after getting out of the water. Matthew Neal left an excellent comment in the comment section of Nick’s article. He said “The very fact that the early church performed nude baptism makes it abundantly clear that the severe and visceral reaction that the church today has against the nude human form is completely and utterly unbiblical and an historical anomaly to Christian belief and practiced. Just imagine if someone was directed to strip naked, get into the baptismal at some local Christian church today. Every single thing that that act was intended to portray would be laid aside under the tremendous and uniformly condemning response of all in attendance who felt like the very sacrament of baptism had been desecrated.” ^[16]See the comment section of Nick Peters, “Book Plunge: Christian Body: Naked Baptisms”, Deeper Waters – … Continue reading

“bUt wHy dId tHeY dReSs aGaIn?” Maybe because they weren’t nudists. Nick Peters seems to be under the impression that Aaron Frost and other naturists think Israel were all nudists until sometime after the ascension. If you think I’m attacking a straw man, read the earlier articles in this series in which I have to correct him on this about two or three times. They were a clothed society, but they were not a clothing compulsive society. If they were, they would be baptized fully clothed as modern day Christians are.

Let me take a moment to give another personal story. About a week ago, I was experiencing severe mental torment as I was trying to go to sleep. I was wondering if it was truly a wise decision to publically come out defending naturism. After all the backlash I got on Facebook, the fact that there is such a powerful nudity = sex = sin attitude in the church, and given that on this issue, I appear to be on the fringe, I wondered if perhaps I should have kept this a secret part of my life. Why not? I hid my porn problem for years. Why not just live a double life? I figured no one would listen to me anyway. After all, I’m a seed planter, not a harvester ^[17]Greg Koukl talks about this in his book “Tactics”. I wondered “What’s the point of speaking the truth if no one’s going to listen anyway?” It was the night before church, and I was experiencing a lot of anxiety. I was worried that my pastor might greet me at the door with “We need to talk.” Before I wrote “The Case For Christian Naturism”, I prayed about it really hard. I thought carefully about whether I should go public with this. I thought about the potential good that could come about as well as the consequences. I determined that going public was the right thing to do. The true theology of our bodies will not spread if we Christian Naturists are too afraid to speak up. Men will languish in porn addictions for decades like I did, not knowing what is really needed to set them free. I reasoned that staying quiet would be immoral because it would be like a scientist finding the cure to his own disease, knowing he’s in the middle of a pandemic, but only partaking of the antidote himself as he watches the rest of the world suffer. I also reasoned that even if I changed no one’s minds, at least this would get people talking about it. And Nick’s articles are proof that it has to some extent. Naturism as anti-porn therapy has been well known among naturists for years (Matthew Neal was blogging since I was a baby Christian in the late 2000s!), but it wasn’t even on my radar for the longest time. I only discovered it by “accident” (scare quotes on purpose) while I was searching for imagery to jerk off to! But then I wondered “What about my prospects for an Academic career?” Richard Bushey pointed out to me that this could very well harm my chances of being a vocational biblical scholar. Would I even be allowed to speak at Defend at NOBTS again? If my pastor found out and he was unable to persuade me to “repent” of this non-sinful lifestyle, would I be kicked out of the church that I made my home? What about my friends? Nick’s silence is becoming increasingly conspicuous. I’ve commented on his posts, tagged him in memes, but he has not acknowledged me in the slightest bit. No responses, no likes, nothing. It’s as if he’s avoiding me despite explicitly telling me that he would not break fellowship over this.

I began to wonder if it was really worth it. I am a man of strong conviction, and if I’m convinced I’m in the right, I will scream at the whole world, telling them that they are wrong. As Captain America once said, “Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — “No, you move.” ^[18]Amazing Spider-Man #537 (by J. Michael Straczynski, Ron Garney and Scott Hanna). You could change phrases like “The Press” to “The Church” and “politicians or the mobs” to “The preachers and theologians”. But almost as soon as I posted the article, I started coming under spiritual attack. After 4 months of peace and joy, and not being bothered, my abusive cousin/roommate started pulling her crap again. Immediately. I believe the powers of darkness were angry enough that I found the truth, but spreading it around was unacceptable. I think they wanted me to be silent.

In the Naked As Created MeWe group, I posted a long post explaining my dark night of the soul. This is but a portion of my post. I said “Above all, I fear that this may cause far more division in the long hall among the brethren than any other view I’ve ever adopted. At least with some of my minority and controversial views, (1) They were large minorities, and (2) There was no suspicion of moral misconduct. Although accusing me of caring more about man’s word than God’s word gets pretty darn close imo (YECs).

I fear that I may have been thinking too individualistically. I only thought about the ramifications that this could have for me an individual level, in terms of reputation and career opportunity. But I didn’t think too much about the ramifications at the collectivist level. The fact of the matter is that Christian Naturists are a minority of a minority. The vast majority of Christians are textiles, and ones with a low view of the body at that. There is a part of me that is even afraid to return to church because I am afraid my pastor is going to pull me into his office before service for a talk. I haven’t gone in two weeks, but it’s because of other reasons. Being sick is why I missed last week.

And some recent conversation in the Naked As Created group chat about a Christian naturist author who lost his faith because of church hurt, (likely because of his naturism), certainly didn’t help my anxiety any. Not that I’m afraid of losing my faith, I would abandon naturism before I abandoned Jesus. Not that I will, but it might get to the point where I pretend to.
I am greatly regretting coming out in the open with this. Notice that I didn’t say I regretted becoming a naturist.”

No, if I regretted going down this path at all, I would be like the Israelites grumbling to Yahweh saying “We were better off in Egypt!” (Exodus 14:12). You don’t begrudge the Almighty for ending a long time of slavery. I could never regret coming across “Aching For Eden” and deciding to give naturism a fair hearing. After having some encouraging words from my fellow Christian naturists, a couple of phone calls with Matthew Neal, and after seeing how weak of a case Nick Peters has made against naturism, I no longer regret my decision.

However, something interesting happened that night and the following morning. I usually sleep naked, but that night, I put on underwear and a pair of sleep pants and a hoodie. Now, I get cold when I’m anxious so the hoodie makes sense. But why the pants? In the morning, once I started to get hot, I took my hoodie off and started going over to my drawers. I pulled out a red t-shirt and was about to put it on. I felt a heavy darkness in and around me. I wanted to put clothes on. Not because I was cold. Not because I was going out in public, but simply because I didn’t want to be naked. I realized that I was becoming once again ashamed of my body. I believe that the serpent was once again spitting his lies, and as it was thousands of years ago, The Holy Spirit got a hold of me and asked “Who told you that you were naked?” I didn’t put the t-shirt on, and soon, everything else came off. I spent my morning time before work in my bedroom nude as usual. But when I reached for the shirt, a thought occurred to me “Do you renounce Satan and ALL his works?” The emphasis was on the word “All”.

How does this story relate to baptism? Because in the early church, one of the things that would be asked of the person undergoing baptism is “Do you renounce Satan and all his works?” You had to affirm that before they’d put you under the water.

In his book “The Unseen Realm: Recovering The Supernatural Worldview Of The Bible”, After a thorough exegesis of 1 Peter 3:14-22 in light of The Divine Council Worldview/Deuteronomy 32 Worldview, Dr. Michael Heiser writes “Baptism, then, is not what produces salvation. It “saves” in that it reflects a heart decision: a pledge of loyalty to the risen Savior. In effect, baptism in New Testament theology is a loyalty oath, a public avowal of who is on the Lord’s side in the cosmic war between good and evil. But in addition to that, it is also a visceral reminder to the defeated fallen angels. Every baptism is a reiteration of their doom in the wake of the gospel and the kingdom of God. Early Christians understood the typology of this passage [i.e 1 Peter 3:14-22] and its link back to the fallen angels of Genesis 6. Early baptismal formulas included a renunciation of Satan and his angels for this very reason. Baptism was—and still is—spiritual warfare.” ^[19]Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (pp. 338-339). Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.

It’s interesting that baptism was done nude while the preacher would ask if they renounced all of Satan’s works. To be a Christian, you cannot just renounce some of Satan’s works, or most of Satan’s works, you must renounce ALL of them. You must declare that you are fully and completely on Yahweh’s side. You are his son (John 1:12), and no longer the devil’s (John 8:44, 1 John 3:10-18). In undergoing baptism, you are telling Satan that he has lost the custody battle over you. You’re no longer his kid. As I stood in my bedroom that morning after a night of mental torment, I stripped myself completely naked and said out loud “I renounce Satan and ALL of his works! That includes the body shame he introduced in the Garden of Eden! I have no need for the fig leaves. I only wish to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness.” The early church new this, and if baptism wasn’t enough of a declaration of war, doing it in the innocent nakedness of Eden surely must have added insult to injury.

Conclusion

Next time, we will continue to look at what else Nick Peters has to say on naturism. I am still not convinced that God hates nudity as much as Nick does.