And...?

 "Neither I, nor any like me, can attain the wisdom of Paul, who, whilst among you, accurately and ardently taught the word of truth, continuing to do so in the epistle he then wrote to you, by which you may continue to edify yourselves in the faith that this has brought to you, which nurtures us all, granting us a true hope in the love of God through Christ, evidenced in our lives toward our neighbours. For when we become filled by this, we can fulfil what is required by knowing Him who is love and far from sin".  Polycarp's letter to the Phillippian church.

They kept on coming this month... the questions.

Should Christians take their kids out on Halloween for neighbourhood treats, and if they do, what should they do about all the 'negative' stuff? Should Christian women attend a mixed gym, and if they do, what should they be wearing - oh, come to think of it, should believers be going to a gym at all (never mind a bar or a leisure centre)?

You get the idea.

It's useful at such moments to think back to the early days of the church, when men like Polycarp were earnestly serving the likes of John and Paul.

He (Polycarp) relates in one of his writings how there was an occasion when he and John were enjoying a visit to a Roman bath house in Ephesus (let that sink in), but it was cut short by the fact that a man named Cerinthius - a vocal opponent of all John taught - was also present, so the two of them made a hasty departure.

It's moments like these that should make us pause.

Peter had no issue fishing "naked" (John 21:7) amongst his brethren when Jesus tells Him to cast his nets once again - it would have been quite a common thing in that region (which makes you think about Jesus' words afresh in Luke 6:29! - then look at Matthew 6:25-29). Scripture had no reservation about using the example of the gymnast (naked athlete) to speak of our running as believers in our life of faith (Hebrews 12:1).

It's with these things in mind we need to think about the early church and how it viewed the value and place of the body, and what was good when it comes to our employment and enjoyment of this in respect to a meaningful life.

We know from Tertullian in the 2nd century that in very many ways, Christians were normal citizens of Roman towns and cities, and this clearly included using the Roman baths (the leisure centres of their day) for bathing and relaxation (inscriptions have been found which show that some of these facilities were actually employed for baptisms). The Christian writer Hipploytius refers in his writings to a liturgy for such baptism which clearly involved nudity (as well as infant baptism), women having to remove any adornments from their hair first. In such ceremonies, re-clothing upon coming from the waters symbolised the renewal of becoming part of the family of God's church.

In his extensive study of the subject, Roy Bowen Ward notes how mixed baths were common in the empire 'Pre-Hadrian' (76-138 AD), and in many places these were the key facilities for normal bathing and cleansing, so would have been viewed as commonplace as our sporting and health centres today.

I touch on all of this here purely to raise the way we need to look at many of these issues the way that would have been done in the days of the Apostles themselves:

"For it has seemed to good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements - that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep these, you do well" (Acts 15:28 &29).

That's why in early Christianity, nudity and all, was fine.

It says we have a lot to learn.