Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz has said that having tattoos does not go against Scripture.
Lentz, the popular pastor who has several tattoos himself, recently responded to those who say tattoos are unbiblical. In an interview with World Religion News, Lentz said that the Old Testament passage often used against tattoos must be interpreted in context:
“Biblical interpretation is huge right. So, with tattoos not being allowed you mean Leviticus. We play both sides of the coin I think that is healthy. Like this paradox of scripture, interpretation is actually is part of our faith, the tension of it,” said Lentz, who pastors the New York city megachurch. “So, on one hand,” he continued, “we say that is the Old Testament scripture, there is no New Testament verification of that. That law that had to do with slaves, that identified you as part of a tribe we don’t believe that came through the cross. We don’t believe that when Jesus died and rose again that old Levitical scripture applied to our modern life. That is ridiculous. At the same time, there are some things we do believe follow through on the cross.”
As The Christian Post reports, Lentz was referring to Leviticus 19:28 which says, “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.”
“We don’t believe that when Jesus died and rose again that old Levitical scripture applied to our modern life. That is ridiculous,” Lentz further explained. “At the same time, there are some things we do believe follow through on the cross. So, the way we break down we would literally put up the Old Testament and then put a cross in the middle and then we put up the New Testament and we say anything that comes through the cross is eternal. Anything that stops is Old Testament.”
Photo courtesy: Facebook/Carl Lentz
Publication date: December 1, 2017
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