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Nudity in religion deals with religious beliefs as the basis for modern attitudes and behaviors regarding nudity.
The biblical story of Bathsheba and Apocrypha story of Susanna provide no reference within the text for blame to be placed on women. Regardless, some have interpreted these passages placing the blame of the men’s lusts on the women in the stories, despite the fact that the women are portrayed as victims in these stories rather than participants. In contrast, the apocryphal story of Judith portrays a woman who bathes publicly to seduce and later behead the enemy general Holofernes. The contrast of the story of Judith in her deliberate attempts to seduct contrast the actions of Susanna and Bathsheba, who were victims of the male gaze.
Of particular concern for both Islam and early Christians, as they extended their control over countries that had previously been part of the Byzantine or Roman empires, was the local custom of public bathing. While Christians were mainly concerned about mixed-gender bathing, which had been common, Islam also prohibited nudity for women in the company of non-Muslim women. In general, the Roman bathing facilities were adapted for separation of the genders, and the bathers retaining at least a loin-cloth as was the case in Victorian Turkish baths until the end of the 20th century.
Orthodox Judaism (Halakha) explicitly makes women responsible for maintaining the virtue of modesty (Tzniut) by covering their bodies, including their hair. For men, nakedness was limited to exposure of the penis, but is not limited to public exposure, but in private as well. In late antiquity, Jews viewed with abhorrence the Greek and Roman practices of going naked and portraying male gods as naked. In any religious context, male nudity was of greater concern than female nudity because it was an offense against God. In everyday activity male nudity might be necessary, but is to be avoided. Female nudity was not an offense against God, but only about arousing the sexual passions of men, thus private or female only nudity was not immodest.
A person who enters a ritual bath (a mikveh) does so without clothing, and with no jewelry or even bandages.
Care needs to be taken when reading the Bible, where some references to nakedness serve as a euphemism for intimate sexual behaviour. For example, in the story of Noah the hesitancy of two of Noah's sons when they have to cover their father's nakedness can be seen, averting their eyes, after Noah's youngest son "saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside" what he had done to his father. Nakedness may also be a metaphor for empty-handedness, specifically in situations where a sacrifice or offering to God is expected.
The early Church reflected the contemporary attitudes of Judaism towards nudity. The Old Testament is not positive towards nudity. In Isaiah 20, Isaiah walks nude as a sign of shame.
The first recorded liturgy of baptism, written down by Saint Hippolytus of Rome in his Apostolic Tradition, required men, women and children to remove all clothing, including all foreign objects such as jewelry and hair fastenings. However Laurie Guy argues that complete nudity for baptism candidates (especially women) would not be the norm. He notes that at certain times and in certain places candidates may have been totally naked at the point of baptism, but the Jewish taboo of female nakedness would have mitigated widespread practice of naked baptism.
Later Christians attitudes to nudity became more restrictive, and baptisms were segregated by sex and then later were usually performed with clothed participants. Some of the Eastern Orthodox churches today maintain the early church's liturgical use of baptismal nudity, particularly for infants but also for adults.
Several saints, such as a number of the Desert Fathers as well as Basil Fool for Christ, practiced nudity as a form of ascetic poverty. Early Christian art included depictions of nudity in baptism. When artistic endeavours revived following the Renaissance, the Catholic Church was a major sponsor of art bearing a religious theme, many of which included subjects in various states of dress and including full nudity. Painters sponsored by the Church included Raphael, Caravaggio and Michelangelo, but there were many others. Many of these paintings and statues were and continue to be displayed in churches, some of which were painted as murals, the most famous of which are at the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo.
, in discussing logion 37 of the Gospel of Thomas, notes that early Christian art depicts, as one would expect, Adam and Eve in Paradise naked. The only other Old Testament figures who are depicted nude are Jonah emerging from the mouth of the Great Fish, Daniel emerging from the Lion's Den, and the resurrected in Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones: these Old Testament scenes containing nude figures are precisely those which were held to be types of the resurrection. Among the New Testament illustrations, apart from baptismal scenes, there are nudes only in one representation of the raising of Lazarus and one representation of the Miracle at Cana.
In light of Exodus 29:26 and 28:42–43 in the Bible, which teach that nakedness is inclusive of anything that exposes the torso and thighs, Methodists of the conservative holiness movement wear pants or dresses that go beyond the knees, as well as shirts that cover the underarms.
In 1981, Pope John Paul II expressed the Catholic Church's attitude to the exposure of the human body in Love and Responsibility: "The human body can remain nude and uncovered and preserve intact its splendour and its beauty... Nakedness as such is not to be equated with physical shamelessness... Immodesty is present only when nakedness plays a negative role with regard to the value of the person... The human body is not in itself shameful... Shamelessness (just like shame and modesty) is a function of the interior of a person."
A religious sect in Canada that immigrated from Russia, the Freedomites, went so far in the 20th century (1903–1950s) as to publicly strip in mass public demonstrations to protest against government policies which were meant to assimilate them.
Christian naturism contains various members associated with most denominations. Although beliefs vary, a common theme is that much of Christianity has misinterpreted the events regarding the Garden of Eden, and God was displeased with Adam and Eve for covering their bodies with fig leaves. argues that the significance of the human need for clothing by far exceeds its theological meaning.
Islamic countries are guided by rules of modesty that forbid nudity, with variations between five schools of Islamic law. The most conservative is the Hanbali School in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where it is widespread for women wear the niqab, the garment covering the whole body and the face with a narrow opening for the eyes. Hands are also hidden within sleeves as much as possible. The burqa, limited mainly to Afghanistan, also has a mesh screen which covers the eye opening. Different rules apply to men, women, and children; and depend upon the gender and family relationship of others present. The Sunni Islam scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi states that looking at the intimate parts of the body of another of either sex must be avoided. For women after puberty, the prohibition includes the entire body except the hands and face. However, hands and face may be shown only if they may be viewed without temptation. Men must cover themselves from the navel to the knees. Shame dictates that the genitals should be covered even when a person is alone. The dress of women must not only cover virtually the entire body, but cannot be either transparent or close-fitting to reveal the shape of the body. When onlookers are close relations, prohibitions for women do not include hair, ears, neck, upper part of the chest, arms and legs. The same exceptions are also made for men seeing women to whom they are proposing marriage.
In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great encountered, in India, wandering groups of naked holy men whom he dubbed the naked philosophers ( Gr gymnos : naked; sophist : knowledge). The philosopher Onesicritus investigated their beliefs and lifestyle. Pyrrho the Sceptic was impressed and incorporated nudity into his philosophy. The Gymnosophists were , but Jain and Ajivika monks practiced nudity as a statement that they had given up all worldly goods.
Among the Hindu religious sects, only the (monks) of the Nāga sect can be seen nude. They usually wear a loin-cloth around their waist, but not always; and usually remain in their Akhara or deep forest or isolation and come out in public only once every four years during Kumbh Mela. They have a very long history and are warrior monks, who usually also carry a talwar (sword), trishula (trident), bhala (javelin) or such weapons, and in medieval times have fought many wars to protect Hindu temples and shrines.
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