You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks on you: I am the LORD. [Leviticus 19:28]
From those passage in Leviticus it is pretty straight forward the prohibition of tattoos for any reasons including religious. Also bear in mind Deuteronomy 12:29-32 clearly forbids pagan religious acts from being used to honor God as well as biblical use of engraved images in worshipping God. I fail to understand why is it symbol like cross which has pagan origin are used by Christians as part for their devotion and worship.
Here in Cairo Egypt, Coptic christians get their bodies tattooed for Jesus even their youngs.
I would love to hear how other christians feel about this centuries old tradition.
Categories: Christianity
Blogging Theology 
Circling the kaaba, kissing the black stone, praying 5 times a day, fasting the pagan month of ramadan, drinking camel urine – all of these practices are pagan rituals not commanded by allah in the quran.
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The ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca stretched back thousands of years to the time of Abraham, the father of Monotheism.
Do you have view on the tattoos for Christ?
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My view is that I am confounded by your cognitive dissonance – muslim practice is nothing but paganism warmed over.
As for tattoos, jesus made it clear that you can perform as many rituals as you please and follow to the letter a thousand laws and regulations, but if god is not in your heart, all of your rituals mean nothing.
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which muslims practise you are confounded? I bet it is not our daily practise that we muslims must put our head on the ground the way prophet Jesus prayed to his God, is it?
Btw you think you can have tattoos and ditch the biblical laws and rituals just by thinking that god is your heart?
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I’m confounded by your cognitive dissonance, not by the fact that you practice pagan rituals.
“Btw you think you can have tattoos and ditch the biblical laws and rituals just by thinking that god is your heart?”
I said that your rituals are meaningless if you have not submitted in your heart.
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So you think that Islamic praying rituals which was certainly practised by Jesus was Pagan?
You do not answer my question, I repeat:
Can you have tattoos and ditch the biblical laws and rituals just by thinking that god is your heart?
Also how do you know muslim not submitted in their heart when praying?
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You can fool your gullible muslim co-religionists with baseless claims about how jesus prayed, but I require more evidence.
You have absolutely no idea how jesus prayed, so don’t pretend that you do. Allah gave no commands in the quran for msulism to perform their prayers the way you do. That was taken from pagan prayers.
“Also how do you know muslim not submitted in their heart when praying?”
I don’t know and never said I did. God knows, though, and he sees when rituals are mere rituals.
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Jesus put his head on the ground when he prayed, it is in Matthew gospel, so ritualistically muslims pray the way Jesus prayed. It astonish me you think it’s baseless.
Back to my question, can you have tattoos and ditch the biblical laws and rituals just by thinking that god is your heart?
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Please don’t spread (David & Nabeel )s’ ignorance here!
Try to learn something new.
Unfortunately , David & Nabeel have created a big circle of ignorance to spread lies about Islam.
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Eric bin Kisam
“Jesus put his head on the ground when he prayed, it is in Matthew gospel, so ritualistically muslims pray the way Jesus prayed. It astonish me you think it’s baseless.”
WHere in the quran does allah command muslims to pray the way that muslims pray? Muslims don’t pray the way allah wants them to because allah did not tell muslims how to pray. So jesus prayed like jesus, not like the pagans of mecca.
“Back to my question, can you have tattoos and ditch the biblical laws and rituals just by thinking that god is your heart?”
Where in the bible does god tell us to pray towards the pagan kaaba? Where in the bible does god tell us to pray 5 times a day? Where in the bible does god tell us to make a pilgrimage to mecca? where in the bible does god tell us to circle the kaab 7 times like the pagans? Where in the bible does god tell us to perform the silly marwa ritual?
Jesus fulfilled the law, so the law is no longer necessary.
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Abdullah
“Please don’t spread (David & Nabeel )s’ ignorance here!
Try to learn something new.
Unfortunately , David & Nabeel have created a big circle of ignorance to spread lies about Islam.”
So where in the quran does allah command muslims to kiss the blackstone? Pray 5 times a day? Circle the kaaba 7 times?
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Jesus clearly commanded his disciples to OBEY the Torah (as per Jesus’ clear teaching in Matthew 23 and elsewhere). So by whose authority do you over rule this teaching?
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Paul
Okay, where did jesus command his followers to circle the kaaba, kiss the black stone, pray towards mecca and all the other pagan worship rituals that muslims do? Where in the torah does god tell his chosen people to perform these pagan rituals? Where in the quran does allah tell muslism to follow these pagan rituals?
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What a silly question. Jesus was a Palestinian Jew not an Arab.
Now back to my question:
Jesus clearly commanded his disciples to OBEY the Torah (as per Jesus’ clear teaching in Matthew 23 and elsewhere). So by whose authority do YOU over rule this teaching?
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PAul
So you have no answer. You follow pagan rituals that are not commanded in any bible or quran.
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I have answered you but you are too silly and brain dead to realise lol
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Paul
Come on man, you guys have made these remarkable claims that you have failed to support even with your own holy book.
So let’s have it. Where does god command anyone to perform muslim religious rituals? Show me chapter and verse in either the bible or quran where god tells us to kiss the black stone or circle the kaaba 7 times.
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We follow the Qur’an and the examples and instructions by the last Prophet of God. Together they make up as our authority.
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Genesis 28:18
Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.
If Jacob can pour oil on a stone upon which he had a vision of heaven, then why can’t we symbolically kiss a piece of paradise?
Knowing fully that the stone is neither called upon nor depended on. We neither fear it nor hope for any reward from it. It is not a means for a mediation.
It is simply a cornerstone of a building built for the worship of the One God. Like the stone Jacob poured oil on and made into Bethel another building for the worship of the One God.
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Eric
“We follow the Qur’an and the examples and instructions by the last Prophet of God. Together they make up as our authority.”
Exactly. You follow the “examples” of documents written hundreds of years after mohammed died, by men who never knew him, probably did not even have through first-hand knowledge of Arabia., and who wrote their fairy tales hundreds of miles away from the events they supposedly describe.
Islam is a man-made construction whose followers perform pagan derived rituals that allah never commanded them to perform.
Alice In Wonderland has more historical credibility than the hadith.
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Fawaz
That is desperate of you.
JAcob laid down a stone as a pillar – he did not worship it, or kiss it, or rub its tummy, or slobber over it. Allah never commanded muslims to kiss the black stone, nor to perform any of the pagan rituals that muslims practice.
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Eric, ceremonial laws from Torah are no longer binding on those in the New Covenant.
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…not according to Jesus. See Matthew 23 etc
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Sure, except Jesus instituted the New Covenant. Your quote mining is disingenuous and childish and you certainly know better.
Anyway, Eric directed his question to Christians, so he has been given a very easy, accurate and helpful answer based on centuries of Christian thought. Tattoos are neither here nor there for those that follow Christ under the New Covenant.
Ceremonial laws are not binding.
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Paulus you seem incapable of conducting a conversation without personal attacks.
Anyway, Jesus clearly commanded his disciples to OBEY the Torah (as per Jesus’ clear teaching in Matthew 23 and elsewhere). So by whose authority do you over rule this teaching?
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Paulus, if Jesus obeyed and practised Torah Law, it’s hard to believe those who believe in him should not follow his examples.
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Eric, why then ask the question to Christians if you aren’t interested in the answer? Your appeal to Leviticus was answered clearly- Christians believe they are no longer under the ceremonial laws of Torah based on Jesus’ initiation of the New Covenant. Thus tattoos are neither here nor there.
Paul, you are still quote mining and ignoring the greater life and teaching of Jesus. It’s unconvincing and disingenuous argumentation.
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I see. So what are you to make of this teaching in Matthew 23.
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”
and here:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
There are others just like these.
You have repeatedly failed/refused to deal with this teaching, and simply attacked me instead. Some people might think you are running scared.
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C’mon Paul. Jesus initiated the New Covenant with his death and resurrection. While on earth he was a Torah abiding Jew fulfilling the law.
See, it’s not difficult. Instead, you try to isolate one text from the broader context of the TOTAL life, death and ministry of Christ.
Thus, now that Christians live under the new covenant, in that Christ has fulfilled the law, Christians are no longer required to adhere to the ceremonial laws.
Now, i know you know this, so why play dumb?
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So lets see what we can agree on.
According to Matthew, Jesus spent his entire ministry teaching that his disciples were to be Torah-observant Jews (but not like the hypocritical Pharisees).
You claim that all this was abrogated when Jesus initiated the new covenant. You talk of ‘ceremonial’ laws (which Jesus does not mention). What are these laws and where did Jesus say not to obey them?
It strikes me as a bit of a waste of time for Jesus to preach torah observance then to contradict himself at the last minute – as you allege – without any evidence.
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It appears that Jesus taught that strict Torah observance was necessary in the Kingdom of God, and he criticised those who relaxed even the smallest commandments:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This teaching would have horrified St Paul who taught that the law had been abolished in Ephesians 2:15.
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Paul Williams
“It appears that Jesus taught that strict Torah observance was necessary in the Kingdom of God, and he criticised those who relaxed even the smallest commandments:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ”
He fulfilled the law – you’ve outed yourself on your cherry-picking!!!
The laws are fulfilled and they are no longer binding, it really is not that hard Paul.
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Trey
You say that Jesus fulfilled the Torah and therefore Christians need no longer follow its ‘ceremonial law’ but what does he mean with this statement?
Jesus said regarding the Torah:
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. – Matthew 5:18
This seems to tell us that the Torah is still very much in effect as ‘heaven and earth’ still exist. He seems neither to recognise the distinction Christians often make between ‘moral’ and ‘ceremonial’, for Jesus they are referred to as one Law.
Jesus told all his followers to obey the commands of God and as has often been pointed out on this blog that when people approached him and asked regarding salvation he would always respond that obedience to the Torah was required. No mention of a belief in him as seperate from belief in the Torah as Gods law and its necessity on the Jews.
My point is that Jesus is a Torah obedient Jewish man who taught Judaism to his fellow Jews, this idea of him somehow doing away with it does not come from him but rather those who came after him who neither met nor knew him. In order to know and follow Jesus we must pay attention to what he said.
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Patrice
“This seems to tell us that the Torah is still very much in effect as ‘heaven and earth’ still exist. ”
“Until all is accomplished” – and jesus accomplished the fulfillment of the law.
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Paul, it makes complete sense if Jesus fulfilled the law, as he claimed to do.
It makes complete sense when all of the early disciples and literature, from Jews none less, teach what I have summarised re the New Covenant and Christian living.
The only problem is you and you stubborn insistence to isolate one aspect of Jesus’ teaching with disregard for context, purpose or occasion of the author. You wouldn’t pass a basic hermeneutics or exegetical class with such an approach and I know you know it.
Don’t you see how much you need to twist, distort and fabricate to make Jesus anywhere close to Islamism? I honestly don’t know how you keep a straight face.
Anyway, I have answered Eric and leave it to the other readers to comment further shall they choose.
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Trey
You seem to have missed out a crucial portion of that quote which is that ‘heaven and earth’ must pass away before the law is no longer required to be followed. Read the quote from Matthew 5:18 again.
Furthermore you didn’t answer any of my points namely where does Jesus make the distinction in the Torah between ceremonial and moral? and second if faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation and he established a new covenant whereby the Torah is to be no longer followed, then why when people approach and ask him how salvation is gained, he answers that they must obey the commandments of God?
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Patrice
Does jesus say that heaven and earth “must” pass away before the law is no longer required to be followed? I don’t think the word “must” is used there at all. The passage clearly says that the law will no longer be followed once everything is accomplished that is, jesus’ fulfillment of the law.
Also, I never said anything about “ceremonial laws”.
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Trey,
You keep talking about the “Fulfillment of the Law.”
I just want to know, how does one “Fulfill the Law?”
If I break the law by speeding in my car, I will eventually get a speeding ticket, through which I am fined and in debt to the city. If I then go to the court, plead guilty and then pay the fine, does that mean I have “Fulfilled the Law” and that all manmade Laws in the Law books no longer apply to me or anyone else in perpetuity? I wish, but I think the City and State Government would say otherwise!!!
It seems like a stretch, especially in light of what Paul has already pointed out, Jesus commanded to OBEY the Law (Matt. 23 etc.)
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I wish Christians would obey the law if for no other reason than that I am sick of having their disgusting and sick self mutilations and tattoos forced in my face every time I go out of the house. If someone has to get a tattoo in order to “express yourself” then they either have a developmental communicative disorder, or serious mental issues, or both. Tattoos are now so common and ubiquitous among Christians that, now, if you want to express your individuality you should NOT get a tattoo!!!
I think it is criminal and even a form of child abuse that Christian’s in Egypt would tattoo babies who are not even old enough to give their own consent. It is shameful that Christians around the world do not speak out against this abusive practice.
Unfortunately, Paul’s Gospel of freedom from the Law has misled Christians into all sorts of sinful practices, including the arrogant insult to God in thinking that one can improve upon, or deface the bodily creation that he has already made perfect.
I cry for these poor lost souls, and I pray that Allah will lead them to the straight path of Islam.
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I have two tattoos. One is my daughter’s name and the other is a symbol from Star Trek. Then again, I can’t identify as Christian.
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Lol
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Out of curiosity Darthtimon, have you ever thought of getting your infant daughter a tattoo?
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Strangely enough, no.
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In regard to those who received tattoos while in a state of disobedience or ignorance of the law, Allah is all-forgiving to those who repent sincerely, and Islam offers the best path.
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“According to Matthew, Jesus spent his entire ministry teaching that his disciples were to be Torah-observant Jews” Paul
[and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.]
from matt
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“Jesus told all his followers to obey the commands of God and as has often been pointed out on this blog that when people approached him and asked regarding salvation he would always respond that obedience to the Torah was required. No mention of a belief in him as seperate from belief in the Torah as Gods law and its necessity on the Jews.” Patrice
No man comes to the Father except through me
To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.…I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I receive.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’…I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
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This dispels the myth that Christians are persecuted so much that they must hide their faith in public. On the contrary, they display it proudly wherever they are. Oh what lies we hear about the savage muslims.
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