Make-up and Fingernail Polish are a Sin...

There are five scriptures that are used to establish the doctrine of make-up and fingernail polish as sin. Below are the scriptures and how they are used to support/oppose this belief (taken from the King James Version).

1. II Kings 9:30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

2. Jeremiah 4:30 And when thou art spoiled what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

3. Ezekiel 23:40-41 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments, And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.

4. Proverbs 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

5. I Timothy 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

Ok, what do we have here? Out of 66 books of the Bible, we have five taken-out-of-context scriptures used to support this doctrine.

The first is just a description of what an evil woman did in her attempts to seduce a man. It is not a yes or a no to make-up, it is an account of what happened.

Two of them are hidden deep within in the prophetic cries of the prophets, and none of these even insinuate that make-up is evil. In fact, if you try to use these scriptures, you would have to also conclude that wearing red, wearing gold wrist watches, making thyself fair, washing thyself and sitting on a bed are also wrong.

The proverb is a command to the men: be wise when dealing with beautiful women and the temptations of adultery.

The final scripture (finally one in the New Testament), doesn't even mention paint. It is a stretch to apply lack of make-up to shamefacedness. Shamefacedness is an attitude, not an appearance.

In short, we have five scriptures that have been twisted and taken out of context to attack a woman's attempt to beautify herself. Also, the multitude of New and Old Testament scriptures that speak of the beautiful made-up woman in a positive manner are purposely overlooked in favor of these five references.

Study the books of Esther and Song of Solomon and Revelation. You will get a blast of make-up with God's approval. The no make-up and fingernail polish doctrine cannot be proven by scripture, only the convincing philosophies of man, or a PERSONAL conviction from God.

Also, those who are condemning cosmetics and fingernail polish....ummmm many of you are using clear cosmetics with the justification that it has no color and is natural looking.....ummmm why use it if it's just going to make you look "natural". Either it is wrong or its not. Let's be consistent here.

This writing is the copyright of Jason Pound and was posted with his permission. Jason Pound is a former UPC minister. He was an assistant pastor at Turning Point, formerly North United Pentecostal Church, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and is now a hopeful skeptic. These articles were written while he was a believer. View all of his available articles here. You will find articles and videos on standards here.

Page added July 6, 2006