This study undertakes a comprehensive canonical-theological investigation of the relationship between human body modification practices and the biblical doctrine of the imago Dei. Despite the exponential growth of tattooing, piercing, scarification, cosmetic surgery, and other forms of intentional bodily alteration across Western societies—with recent survey data indicating that approximately 32% of American adults now possess at least one tattoo and the global body modification industry exceeding 83 billion annually—systematic theological engagement with these practices remains remarkably underdeveloped. The study addresses this lacuna by examining nine primary biblical passage clusters spanning both Testaments, tracing their reception across Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant interpretive traditions, and constructing an integrative canonical framework grounded in four theological loci: (a) Creation and Imago Dei (the human body as bearing the tselem צלם and démuth דמות of God), (b) Redemption and Body-as-Temple (the Pauline naós ναός theology in 1 Corinthians 6: 19–20), (c) Sanctification and Living Sacrifice (the logikēn latreían λογικὴν λατρείαν of Romans 12: 1–2), and (d) Eschatology and Resurrection Hope (the somatic continuity implied by sōma pneumatikón σῶμα πνευματικόν in 1 Corinthians 15: 44). Employing a Graduated Moral Concern Framework composed of six evaluative criteria—alteration of tselem, permanence and reversibility, intent and motivation, degree of bodily damage, proximity to explicitly prohibited practices, and eschatological resonance—the study classifies eleven categories of body modification across five levels of theological concern. The dissertation argues, from a conservative ecumenical perspective, that all purposeful body modification constitutes a spiritually significant act warranting careful theological reflection, with the degree of moral concern varying proportionally to the extent of alteration to the God-given bodily form. The investigation contributes a hermeneutically rigorous, pastorally sensitive framework that bridges exegetical scholarship with the lived realities of contemporary embodied existence, offering the church resources for navigating an increasingly body-modified cultural landscape while maintaining fidelity to the canonical witness regarding the sacred significance of human embodiment.
Laszlo Pokorny (Thu,) studied this question.