Now the two of them were naked, the man and his woman, and they did not sense shame (Genesis 2:25) 

The nakedness of Adam and Eve requires several comments. First of all, against those who think that nakedness is what God intended for humanity as a permanent estate, we have to notice that God Himself is robed in a glory cloud whenever He appears in the Bible. Human beings, as the images of God, would also wear garments of glory and beauty. After all, we do not dress only to cover our private parts. We wear clothes of color and design, to express ourselves, signify our office or work, and to look good. Thus, Adam and Eve would soon have been robed in clothing for these reasons. 

Second, Adam was naked because he was a newborn baby. As we have seen, the concept of the “knowledge of good and evil” is associated with the robe of office, of rule and authority.

Third, Adam and Eve were naked to each other because they were married. The married couple are clothed together in one garment, not two separate ones. There were no barriers between them because they were not ashamed before one another. If a married couple cannot get openly naked with each other, there is a problem that needs to be resolved. 

Once Adam and Eve had sinned, they felt shame before God (and so they hid from Him) and before one another (and so they created clothing to put a barrier between themselves). A sense of shame and guilt is a tremendous barrier to proper sexuality. The sectarian forms of Christianity, such as Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, have a major problem with sexuality precisely because these religions do not have a proper doctrine of justification. They are never able to assure people that they are clear before God. As a result, they affirm such perversions as the perpetual virginity of Mary, require clerical celibacy, and grossly misinterpret the Song of Solomon. Suppressed sexuality finds an outlet in annual chaos festivals like Mardi Gras and in rampant prostitution. Sexual bliss between married couples is regarded as dangerous, and must always be linked with procreation. In paganism, the perversion of sexuality is even worse. Only in Protestant countries can there be any significant recovery of the liberation of sexual joy in marriage. 

When God interviewed Adam, the man said that he was afraid because he was naked, and therefore hid himself. Clothing is a barrier, and thus reduces fear. Lecturers prefer usually to stand behind a podium, because it protects them from their hearers, whom they fear. Only an accomplished speaker can do without one. 

God asked, “Who told you that you were naked?” (3:11). This question, in a sense, is rhetorical. It seems to mean, “So what if you are naked?” If anybody had told Adam that he was naked, it was God Himself. So why should Adam fear God? Adam’s problem was not that he was naked, but that he was estranged from God. Thus, God moves Adam away from his false excuse to the real issue: “Did you eat from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Using nakedness as an excuse for estrangement from God is mankind’s universal response. Human beings will not admit that sin is the issue. They want to make nakedness the issue. Practically, this means that people blame their powerlessness for their problems. They see themselves as victims, powerless, naked, instead of as sinners. They say that they cannot face the world because they don’t have money or strength, instead of admitting that they are sinners before God who need forgiveness. They want power, not forgiveness. Thus, those who have power and money always want more; they can never have enough, because deep down inside they feel naked before the omnipresent God. 

“Shame” means a feeling of weakness and impotence. But why do we feel that way? We say it is because we do not have enough power, enough clothing; because we are naked. But God says we feel that way because we are alienated from Him, and we need forgiveness. Then, even if we are poor and “naked,” we shall not be ashamed. 

Sinners try to cover their shame (impotence) by accumulating power and wealth. They hope that they can play the same game with God, accumulating good deeds so that they can appear before God clothed and negotiate with Him. But God does not play this game, because shame is not the issue. Sin is the issue. We must come before God in our shame, nakedness, and impotence, and receive salvation as a completely free gift. Then our shame can be removed completely, and we can rejoice with Him and face the world unafraid.

James B. Jordan is Scholar-in-Residence at Theopolis.

For more on this topic, see Jordan’s “Trees and Thorns,” and our podcast series on “How to Read the Bible.”