This has been a beautiful summer time when you comply with sports activities: tennis championships, end-of-season tournaments and soccer's European Championships and Copa America all main as much as essentially the most international occasion of all, the Olympics.
The Olympic Video games started as a spiritual pageant in historical Greece with competitions in honor of their gods. However the Olympics declined as soon as the Roman Empire changed Greek energy within the Mediterranean; the ultimate blow got here from the Christian emperor Theodosius I, who noticed the video games as a stage for paganism.
Within the late 1800s, the trendy iteration of the video games started – sans faith. This time they had been secular and spiritual worship was changed by flags and patriotism.
However even immediately, faith is clearly seen on the video games, even instantly on the our bodies of the athletes.
Particularly on the Summer time Video games, there may be lots of pores and skin on show and plenty of athletes use it as an indication of religion. There's Anthony Davis — normally taking part in for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers — with a cross and palms over his forearms in prayer. Fellow basketball participant Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics has a set of non secular tattoos on his again, together with “God's Will” and “Proverbs 3:5-6.”
As a spiritual scholar who writes about tattoos, I’m usually requested if Christianity condones tattoos. Didn't God reject them in line with the Bible?
The reply will not be so easy.
Biblical prohibition?
The first problem in researching the history of tattoos, whether religious or not, is what to call them.
Before the voyages of European explorers to the Pacific in the 18th century—where they encountered Maori facial tattoos, known as “ta moko”—there was no specific word for tattoo in Western languages. Latin, Greek, and their derivatives used words that could have many meanings, such as “mark” or “letter.” When the word “tattoo” appears in the English versions of the Jewish and Christian scriptures, it is an interpretation rather than an exact translation.
Regardless of what you call body modifications, the Hebrew scriptures indicate that the Israelites initially despised them, including tattoos and ear and nose piercings. In Leviticus 19:28, God forbids mourners from funeral rites that include self-mutilation to honor the dead—the only explicit prohibition of tattoos in the Bible.
More broadly, this rule appears in the midst of a list of forbidden activities intended to distinguish Jews from other groups of people and their gods. In some cultures of the ancient Middle East, tattoos had religious significance, for example, they were used in fertility rites and funeral ceremonies. The author of Leviticus seems to be saying, “If what you want is God's protection, don't get a haircut, shave, or tattoo.
Saved by 'X'
However, many other texts in the Bible take a more favorable view of body markings, including ornaments such as earrings. In the Book of Ezekiel, for example, God instructs a prophet to mark an “X” on the foreheads of the godly people in Jerusalem to save them from being killed by the unrighteous.
In one of the visions of the prophet Isaiah during the Jewish exile in Babylon, he prophesies: “One will say, 'I am the Lord's,' and another will be named after Jacob, and he will write on his hand, 'The Lord's,' and you shall be called Israel.” This verse seems to refer to the Babylonian custom of tattooing servants. Similarly, Isaiah portrays the Jews as faithful servants of the Lord who have no other master.
Another text from the Book of Isaiah describes God himself as tattooed, out of love for his people: “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are still before me.” God, faithful to Israel, tattooed the walls of Jerusalem on his arm—a reminder of his abiding love for the holy city.
The first Christians
Tattoos were not uncommon in the early days of Christianity. The Roman Empire used them to refer to some enslaved people and convicts, including persecuted Christians.
There is no prohibition against tattoos in the New Testament. Around AD 50, Saint Paul wrote, “Let no one trouble me; for I bear in my body the mark of Jesus.” While most biblical scholars accept the text as a metaphor for Paul's suffering for Christ, some think it refers to the tattoo of the cross. Paul “inverts” the power of the tattoo: he transforms something humiliating into a sign of membership and pride.
There are records of Christians tattooing symbols of their faith, including the image of a fish, one of the earliest Christian symbols. Christians in Syria and Egypt, who started tattooing crosses during the Roman Empire, continue to do so today. Some Eastern Orthodox churches, such as the Egyptian Coptic and Ethiopian Christians, have incorporated cross tattoos into baptism.
Constantine I, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, decreed in 316 that a person sentenced to gladiatorial school or to work in the mines should not be tattooed on the face, but on the hands or calves. His edict reflected the Christian belief that the face reflects the image of God and should not be marred. The problem was obviously not the tattoo itself, but the location.
Sacred systems
Among Olympic athletes—our modern-day gladiators—tattoos still say something. Each of them is a meaningful investment of skin, time and money. And they cover part of their body: the tools athletes use to race and the vehicles for their passion.
Skateboarder Nyjah Huston, for example, has more than 130 tattoos. Among them, one on the left side of his stomach says “Blessed” with praying hands; on his right index finger is the hamsa, a palm-shaped symbol popular in many Jewish and Muslim cultures.
Of course, many Olympic tattoos are not religious in the traditional sense. However, they represent what is sacred or meaningful to these athletes. Their importance depends on both design and location – for example, whether they are easily visible to passers-by or more private. An elaborate eagle tattoo on swimmer Caleb Dressel's left shoulder — inspired by the book of Isaiah — is visible the entire time he competes.
Not all tattoos have this meaning, but for many, the ink is a way to communicate what is sacred to them—another item to look for while enjoying the Olympics.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a not-for-profit independent news organization that brings you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.
Written by: Gustavo Morello, Boston College.
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Gustavo Morello does not work for, consult with, own stock in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant relationships other than his academic appointment.
