When I was at HersheyPark last week, I had in mind your (and other people’s) seasonal posts on modest dress aimed at girls and women.
I noted quite an eclectic array of long skirts and headdresses on female, presumably Christian, Park patrons. I say “eclectic” because most of it seemed to me entirely made-up, not as belonging to a recognized religious sect.
I absolutely like the religious traditions indigenous to eastern PA and western NJ. And yes, I even find those dresses entirely precious … ‘though I couldn’t wear them.

It’s a really pretty look, I think. With modern fabrics it might not be so bad – and with the modern “anything goes” clothing styles, it might even catch on.

I think it’s awful, but I recently read Carolyn Jessop’s wonderful, chilling book, “Escape,” so I may be biased. However, Halloween is coming.

Since this blog is about “the” Reformed perspective, how about a Reformed perspective, John Calvin’s:
“Wives are to adorn themselves sparingly and modestly: for we know that they are in this respect much more curious and ambitious than they ought to be.”
Calvin here does not mean that wives are to wear minimal clothing, in my view.
And how about these? The Scripture reference is I Peter 3:1-4.
“Peter did not intend to condemn every sort of ornament, but the evil of vanity, to which women are subject.”
““Two things are to be regarded in clothing, usefulness and decency; and what decency requires is moderation and modesty.”
Maybe the FLDS is not that far from the Reformed view on this issue.

And maybe neither is that far from the Muslim view.
Where’s my bathing suit? It’s hotter than you-know-what.

“Maybe the FLDS is not that far from the Reformed view on this issue.”
Yeah, if we were living in the 19th century I might agree but modesty is based on a subjective standard of current fashion norms. What is considered modest? A burka? A dress that shows no leg at all? Or a knee length skirt that my daughters’ Christian school finds acceptable?
Modesty, like any other exhortation found in the Bible is based on the wisdom of the Christian to know what to do based on the word of God. I don’t think it’s wise to dress my daughters like Laura Ingalls from a Little House in the Prairie. For one thing they would be in violation of their dress code and for another there is no reason for us to dress like aliens from another planet. We can be in the world but not of it by dressing in a modest manner but staying within the norm of what’s in style. For teenage girls this is very important.

How sensible of you, Michele. Perhaps your belief that some values and behaviors are based on a subjective standard of current norms and that “any . . . exhortation found in the Bible is based on the wisdom of the Christian to know what to do based on the word of God” will help you understand why, when I look at two people who obviously love each other, who wish to pledge lifelong fidelity and mutual support “for better or for worse,” I cannot condemn them or their desire to be united simply because they happen to be members of the same sex.* Wisdom tells me to do otherwise, just as it tells you in regard to your daughter’s clothing, and like you, I have wrestled with the pertinent verses in scripture on the subject. That’s also why I don’t cover my head in church, and I certainly don’t remain silent, and why I am only too happy to listen to a woman in the pulpit and to receive Holy Communion from a woman celebrating the Eucharist. And it is also why you will never catch me in a prairie dress or a burka.
(For people who are only attracted to members of the same sex by virtue of their God-given biological wiring, this is very important.)

St. Clement of Alexandria was once chastised for spending too much time with the women of his congregation and his response was, “The Lord was not ashamed to make them and I am not ashamed to look at them.”

St. Clement knew which side of his bread the butter was on. Where would the Christian church be without women?
From the Theotokos (God-bearer) to the first witnesses of the Resurrection to the virgin martyrs and the great teachers (Teresa of Avila, to name but one), abbesses and mystics like Julian of Norwich, who, out of intimate knowledge of Christ’s sacrifice and tender love, called him “our mother”; to valiant Jeanne d’Arc who led an army and endured the fire rather than recant; to the millions whose names are known only to God who toiled and tended, who nursed and exhorted and encouraged and served, who spoke truth to power, who faced danger and death for the sake of the Gospel, often with little thanks or recognition, regarded as of little account, abused and despised, reviled and belittled and condescended to and overlooked, even by their brethren in Christ.
No, God was not ashamed to make women.

“How sensible of you, Michele. Perhaps your belief that some values and behaviors are based on a subjective standard of current norms and that “any . . . exhortation found in the Bible is based on the wisdom of the Christian to know what to do based on the word of God” will help you understand why, when I look at two people who obviously love each other, who wish to pledge lifelong fidelity and mutual support “for better or for worse,” I cannot condemn them or their desire to be united simply because they happen to be members of the same sex.*”
Where did I say that “some values and behaviors are based on a subjective standard of current norms?” All I said was “modesty is based on a subjective standard of current fashion norms.” That goes without saying, don’t you think? What’s considered modest in the 21st century wouldn’t be considered modest in the 19th century.
But as to same sex marriages, I understand why you don’t want to condemn them but God has stated in his word his position:
ESV Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Now, if Californians vote against the gay marriage amendment, we can say that society’s morals are changing in California and it’s now part of the norm there. But that doesn’t make it the norm in other states that have banned it.
And that doesn’t make it moral in the eyes of God. No matter how acceptable the behavior in our society, God has pronounced his judgment on it and it has not changed even in NT times:
BTW, thanks for the compliment, I think it’s a first from you. I certainly won’t let it go to my head

“How sensible of you, Michele. Perhaps your belief that some values and behaviors are based on a subjective standard of current norms and that “any . . . exhortation found in the Bible is based on the wisdom of the Christian to know what to do based on the word of God” will help you understand why, when I look at two people who obviously love each other, who wish to pledge lifelong fidelity and mutual support “for better or for worse,”I cannot condemn them or their desire to be united simply because they happen to be members of the same sex.*”
But as to same sex marriages, I understand why you don’t want to condemn them but God has stated in his word his position:
ESV Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
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Posted By:Andrew William
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