Looking on Nakedness – The Law of God and Public Policy: Marriage and Sex (3)

Looking on Nakedness

The Law of God and Public Policy: Marriage and Sex (3)

The Law of God forbids looking upon the nakedness of others.

“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. Leviticus 18:6

“Uncovering nakedness” addresses a range of illicit sexual activities from lusting in one’s heart to lying sexually with someone other than one’s proper spouse. The basic idea, however, seems to be precisely what this statute forbids: looking upon the naked body of someone other than one’s spouse.

Adultery begins in the heart, as we have seen. Therefore, whatever appeals to the heart suggesting illicit sexual enjoyment should be discouraged. Looking on the naked bodies of others certainly encourages lust and therefore is a form of adultery.

The statutes which further elaborate the prohibition of Leviticus 18:6 make all forms of pornography unlawful. They also encourage modesty in dress and demeanor and, at the same time, promote the purposes of sexual enjoyment within marriage. When public policies are enacted which remove the prohibitions against unlawful looking upon the nakedness of others, they sanction adultery and create a threat to social stability.

To be blunt, pornography in all its forms should not enjoy the protections of free speech. Further, social practices promoting modesty and respect for others should be encouraged and taught. My own sense is that Christians helped to lay the foundations for the contemporary blight of pornography by their frequent use of nudity in the arts during the pre-modern period. Certainly Christians have contributed to the plague of pornography by their toleration of and indulgence in it and, especially, by failing to teach their children the Law of God and its value for social stability and human flourishing.

Returning to a more Biblical standard concerning the exposure of the human body does not portend the end of all fashion or cosmetics or the elimination of all social relationships between members of the opposite sex. Indeed, many practices, in many different areas of life—from advertising to fashion to film and pop music to ideas about entertainment and dating—would be affected, and dramatically so, were these statutes to be embraced as guides to public policy.

In the end, however, we can only suppose that the blessings of God would rest more fully on our society if public policy worked to restrain the natural inclinations of the sinful human heart by strictly curtailing the constant stimulation toward adultery which results from sexually suggestive and pornographic influences.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.