Naked for Jesus

A German church group has generated a kafuffle with the release of a calendar that features naked people depicting notable Biblical scenes:

The calendar, on sale for £8 in the Katzwanger church in Nuremburg, contains photos such as a naked Eve holding an apple between her breasts for Adam.

Another month shows a topless Delilah cutting the hair of a sleeping Sampson.

Other pictures portray the baptism of Jesus, Lot's daughters, the dance of Salome and the sacrifice of Isaac - many involving nudity.

Stefan Wiest, 32, spokesman for the Katzwang Evangelical Youth group, said: "We wanted to bring old religious paintings to today's people by translating them in a contemporary context.

"We did not intend to cause any provocation and have received more positive responses that [sic] negative."

(Click on thumbnails for full images—not work-safe.)
Now, mind you, I have an opinion about these images based on my feelings about the role of women in the Bible; I’m not convinced that some T&A reenactments of stories depicting women as the conduit of worldly evil, the source of men’s weakness, or the sex surrogate for a lonely father are of any particular value. That said, if one has no problem with the Biblical message, I don’t think there’s much reason to get one’s panties in a bunch about the nudity. It’s not exactly hardcore porn.

However, the local archdiocese is none too pleased:

Winfried Roehmel, a spokesman for the region's Catholic archdiocese, said: "It is not acceptable to pose naked in a church. The right way to approach the Holy Scriptures is not by pulling your pants down."

Heh. But unsurprisingly, the majority of the criticism has come from the US. Shocking, eh? The puritans just don’t have enough to bitch about at home; they’ve got to scold the Germans, too.