George Instagram 6 days ago

Orthodox teaching on tattoos: no canon, historical exceptions, pastoral advice

The speaker explains that the Orthodox Church has no canon permitting tattoos and has historically discouraged them, citing the Old Testament command not to print marks upon the body and St. Paul's reminder that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. He notes two historical exceptions: Coptic Christians in Egypt have for centuries tattooed a small cross on the wrist to show they belong to Christ in times of persecution, and many Orthodox pilgrims to Jerusalem received a small cross tattoo to remember their pilgrimage.

The speaker got all his tattoos in the years he was far from Christ; he honestly likes them but would not do it again because God gave him a healthy body and he changed it without asking. He has confessed about his tattoos and now they are part of his story. He will tell his children to think again and to talk to a priest before they put anything permanent on their body.

He emphasizes that tattoos do not stop anyone from being baptized, from confessing, or from receiving communion; God meets each person exactly where they are.

Key moments

There is no canon in the Orthodox Church that says you can have a tattoo.
Most of Christian history, the church discouraged tattoos, referencing the Old Testament command not to print marks upon you and St. Paul's reminder that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Coptic Christians in Egypt have tattooed a small cross on their wrist for centuries to show they belong to Christ in times of persecution.
Pilgrims to Jerusalem, including many Orthodox, got a small cross tattoo to remember their pilgrimage.
The speaker got all his tattoos in the years he was far from Christ, honestly likes them, but would not do it again because God gave him a healthy body and he changed it without asking.
He has confessed about his tattoos and now they are part of his story.
He will tell his children to think again and to talk to a priest before they put anything permanent on their body.
Tattoos do not stop you from being baptized, from confessing, or from receiving communion; God meets you exactly where you are.

19 opinions in the discussion 16 participants, 11 replies to each other The opinion with the most support I'm tattooed from head to toe, including my face. These topics are silly, unless you are heavily modified. When I first came to the Orthodox Church, nobody judged me. And I'm more tattooed than 99% of you, stop worrying about modern societal issues and focus… Read the discussion

62 comments at the source Original on Instagram

Discussion · 19

Opinions are anonymous retellings of real comments from the original discussion. The same colour marks the same participant.

opinion#3277 3 likes at the source
I'm tattooed from head to toe, including my face. These topics are silly, unless you are heavily modified. When I first came to the Orthodox Church, nobody judged me. And I'm more tattooed than 99% of you, stop worrying about modern societal issues and focus on your personal relationships with Christ.
- opinion#3283
  
  Exactly dude... I'm covered neck to toe and nobody judged me either. Infact my priest pointed out one specific tattoo that I have of vestments and he liked it.
- opinion#3284 1 likes at the source
  
  I'm a tattooer, and I painted an American Traditional painting of Christ for my priest, and his Wife. They love the Church I have tattooed on the back of my head. Regardless of peoples opinions, Christ knows our hearts better than we do ourselves. I pray anyone with tattoos that reads this, doesn't feel unwelcome in the church!
opinion#3281 3 likes at the source
The Bible says it, if the Bible says so, it is. If you still like them, it's not real repentance. Try removing them, there are even natural remedies. Did having a tatoo cause pain and you took it? Then you should accept the pain of removing it. God bless!
- opinion#3285 4 likes at the source
  
  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"
- opinion#3286
  
  Thank you, brother! May God bless you with his Grace!
- opinion#3287 28 likes at the source
  
  Thank you for caring, sister. I got most of my tattoos before I came back to the Church, and I've talked about them with my spiritual father. Repentance is about turning our hearts back to God, not erasing every mark of our past. Many saints carried visible signs of their old lives. Whether to remove them is something I leave to my spiritual father, who knows my whole journey. God bless you
- opinion#3288 2 likes at the source
  
  Ma'am you should study a lot more
- opinion#3289
  
  In Pateric, I am not sure how to write it in English, there's a term of self-honesty and a term of seeing yourself beyond anyone else. Seeing yourself is actually higher than seeing angels. Be true to your own consciousness. What does it say? After this video there's a level of guilt, right? Listen to it. God speaks with us on every matter. And His will always gives peace.
- opinion#3290
  
  And to everyone upset by my comment, I'm honestly sorry for you. If you listened to the video carefully, you'd hear the Bible verse in there. Is it upsetting? Probably. Can you still save yourself? Absolutely!
- opinion#3291 1 likes at the source
  
  I'm gonna answer with another Bible verse. Matthew 7:3-5: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." The point isn't that we should never correct anyone. It's that we should first look honestly at ourselves before pointing out someone else's faults. ❤
- opinion#3292
  
  Why do you feel judged? Did I say what a lousy man, did I say he deserves hell? I didn't. Do I have the right to speak the truth and talk from the bottom of my heart? Absolutely! When men stop telling the truth, the stones will do it for them.
- opinion#3293 1 likes at the source
  
  I get what you're saying, and even the man in the video admits tattoos weren't worth it for him and don't fit his spiritual life, but you have to read the Bible in context, not just throw verses around blindly. You're quoting from the old covenant, the Old Testament, and Christians aren't bound to every Jewish law from the old covenant. For example, we don't keep the sabbath or eat kosher, so we can't take Old Testament verses and treat them as hard rules for everyone.
opinion#3282 2 likes at the source

Tattoos are bad reminders because they're so passive. It just sits there on you, forever. While a cross or other necklace is something you'll pick up and take care of and you can kiss and engage with it meaningfully.
opinion#3275

I have one I made myself, "Liberté Libre", two words from the poet Arthur Rimbaud that translate to "Freedom Free". Now I think I was young and stupid when I put this on my body, because I now know Freedom comes with following the rules of God. Sorry if my english is not correct... It's now a kind of memory of how ignorant we can be..
opinion#3276

I became a Registered Nurse at 40 in the peak of the pandemic. It was traumatic putting bodies in body bags. I got 4 tattoos in 4 months at 41 years old. I never wanted tattoos. Never thought I would get any. But here I am. It was my way of coping. They are cartoon sweet animal tattoos that have meaning to me.
opinion#3278

I have one tattoo and this was a time in my life where I was rebellious against God but after many years later I realized it was wrong. Honestly, many Christians think it's okay to have them but my question is why do you want something permanent on your body when God made you perfect without them? Your body is the temple where you respect God's creation, it's like you wouldn't want to add unhealthy food in your body and later in life it adds up to gluttony which is a sin. You can honor him in different ways as we view icons but it is something I never understood from different Christians.
opinion#3279

This body we got from god we are borrowing and its not ours to do what we want to. I have also being, Young and dumb but Im taking these of my body becuse I made up my mind and free myself from these tatoo.
opinion#3280

Yes I have tattoos, they all depict scenes from the life of Christ. I originally started with a resurrection icon one in memory of my brother who had passed away, and then felt the need to have more done. Would I get them again? I think I would, being that what they are...