WARDROBE WITNESS
One topic being raised in almost every area of society is what constitutes proper attire. There is an apparent relevance of attire in schools, workplaces, nightclubs, private beaches, and even churches. Some people have suggested that if students dressed in uniforms there would be a reduction in peer pressure and an increase in performance. Some have suggested that if workers were allowed to wear casual attire to work then they would produce more, while others feel that Friday, Dress Down Day is enough. Even at nightclubs there are strict dress codes, if you are not dressed in "professional casual" attire they will deny you admittance. Then there are some who feel that at the private beaches of our country, nudity should be an option, while others have complained about the scarce garments worn on these private beaches as being inappropriate for a family area. In all of these areas of existence there is an unending debate over the role of attire. In the modern Christian Church, this issue has not gone without incident. Some churches have decided that traditional "church" clothes does not appeal to the modern society in which the church is doing witness, while other have decided that traditional "church" clothes is good because the church-goers should dress differently on Sunday mornings than the "world" on Saturday nights. Subsequently, the questions for the Church in this modern age are does our outward appearance matter to our inward convictions and does our clothes make a difference in effective witness?
Concerning these questions, the Bible offers very little assistance. However, there are several biblical references to garments, which seem to indicate that garments are important. From the very beginning of man existence, outside of the garden of Eden, we are not told about the new dwelling that Adam and Eve will have to inhabit after the fall, but we are told about there coverings of fig leaves (Genesis 3:7) and the subsequent first sacrifice that God provided for more suitable clothing (Genesis 3:21). Vivid details concerning clothing seem to show up in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. In Genesis 37:3, we learn how Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. God gives a description of the garments to be worn by the High Priest, Priests, and the Levites to Moses in great detail. In Deuteronomy 22:5, this command is given: A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this. Here I am not giving a judgment on whether these passages should become law in the Church, but they illustrate the importance of clothing to Israel.
Not only in the Old Testament do we find these references to the type of garments to be worn, but there are also references to attire in the Gospels. Luke’s gospel describes the new birth of Jesus as a child wrapped in swaddling clothes, and as a sign to the shepherds the angel of the LORD tells them that, "Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes." In Luke 20:46, Jesus criticized the teachers of the law for desiring to walk around in flowing robes. It was the best robe put on the prodigal son at his return in Luke 15:22. Especially, surrounding the mockery and crucifixion of Jesus, we find a great deal of discussion concerning how He was dressed. Herod clothed Jesus in a robe or garment that was ornate, splendid in order to mock Jesus (Luke 23:11). After Jesus was scourged at Pilate’s orders, the soldiers put on him a scarlet cloak (Matthew 27:28, 31), which was apparently a cloak or robe worn by kings, magistrates, military officers, and so forth in order to scoff at the claims of the Jews that Jesus professed to be King. Jesus’ inner garment, over which the soldiers cast lots, was woven in one piece without a seam (John 19:23).
Outside of the Gospels there is apparent problems within the early Christian community church because of the warning of the apostles concerning the right and wrong views of dress. Christian women are advised not to let expensive, showy dress or style become the thing she seeks but, rather, to let her clothing be modest, yet well arranged, showing soundness of mind. She should, therefore, give attention to her dress but should put the primary stress on the apparel of a quiet and mild spirit (1 Timothy 2:9 and 1 Peter 3:3-5). The apostle James warns about discriminatory practices and the example that he gives is one surrounding a rich person wearing a gold ring and fine clothes versus and a poor man in shabby clothes. All of these seem to indicate that there was a witness of the wardrobe, one in which Jesus and the apostle felt it necessary to address.
This however, is not surprising since apparel played an important role in the Greco-Roman world in which the Church began. And because of this role clothes played in the society, the Church had to contend with what the meaning dress would have for this new group of Romans. Private and public life in the Roman society was something that only the rich could enjoy and only on a limited basics. The culture dictated that special roles should be demonstrated not only in behavior but also in dress. A citizen’s dress was to display externally the value of that individual internally. Even though men were not expected to show their wealth in their attire they were expected to demonstrate their position and power in their choice of garments. This gave rise to the men dressing their wives in order to demonstrate their affluence. However, the wives of wealthy men were often ridiculed for displaying their husbands’ wealth. Furthermore, in this society religion was a public affair and not a private matter and the mode of dress was a very public witness. Attendance at public events, which were often civil as well as religious, was expected, and many of the early writers struggled with what should Christian do to be distinguished from the Roman world. Men spaces were mainly public, they were expected to participate in political matters, economic matters and contribute to open discussions in the market place. Women spaces were primarily private, they were expected to keep the home, educate the children, and provide a place of solitude for the men. However, during the pagan religious festivals and parades women participated in these events and were usually scanty dressed. The Greco-Roman world and the beliefs that the Christian Church had began to come into conflict over what it meant to be Christian and Roman and whether an individual could be both.
This report will examine the continuing efforts of two of the early Church fathers to maintain a distinction between the Christian Church and the Roman society in the area of dress. This paper will examine the social and theological interaction between the Christian Church of the first three centuries and the Roman world. Also, I will examine the struggle of the early church to be distinct from the Roman culture especially in dress. In this paper we will examine the primary text of Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women and St. Cyprian, The Dress of Virgins. From these primary texts we will try to convey basic issues that they were attempting to address, the basic arguments of the two authors, and the audience that they were addressing. This report will focus on Tertullian’s work mainly and use Cyprian’s work as a supplementary source to discover these two authors views concerning the witness of our wardrobe and we will conclude with my views on this topic of apparel in this modern age.
The first work we will deal with is Tertullian’s On the Apparel of Women written around 197 AD. Tertullian was born in Carthage around 155 AD and died after 220 AD. He was one of the greatest western theologians and writers of Christian antiquity. Through his writings a witness to the doctrine and discipline of the early church in belief and worship is preserved. Tertullian converted to Christianity around 193 AD and because of his background in the law courts in Rome, Tertullian became a prolific writer. He greatly influenced the development of Western thought and the creation of Christian ecclesiastical Latin. On the Apparel of Women consists of two books, the first containing nine chapters that sets up his argument for the distinction in dress and the second containing thirteen chapters deals with why a believer should dress modest.
The issue is more than simply apparel. The issue is the effects of our garments upon our witness of the changed life in Jesus Christ. We will address some of the basic arguments that Tertullian presents in his work, followed by his audience, present his solution to the problem, and furnish the arguments that he is countering in this work.
First, the basic argument that Tertullian will present in his work is that demonic forces are at work to modify God’s good creation.
One of the main reasons that Tertullian has a problem with the common dress in the Greco-Roman world is that he sees the source of these alterations coming from the fallen angels. In this section, he relies heavily upon the prophecy of Enoch. He uses the scriptures of Enoch to prove that the fallen angels taught the daughters of men:
Operations of metallurgy, and had divulged the natural properties of herbs, and had promulgated the powers of enchantments, and had traced out every curious art, even to the interpretation of the stars-they conferred properly and it were peculiarly upon women that instrumental mean of woman ostentation, the radiances of jewel wherewith necklaces are variegated, and the circlets of gold wherewith the arms are compressed, and the medicaments of orchid with which wools are coloured, and that black powder itself wherewith the eyelids and eyelashes are made prominent.
Tertullian thinks that these practices should be rejected on the bases of the prophecy of Enoch and the origin found in these angels of death. Tertullian is aware that the Scripture of Enoch is not received by some simply because it is not admitted into the Jewish canon, but he refutes the argument for Christians because the Apostle Jude uses these text. These texts are important to Tertullian because it is in them that he will draw a considerable amount of data concerning the order of the angels and the demonic presence in the world.
Tertullian seems to think that this is a weak argument; consequently, he begins to consider the things on their own merits. In this section, he gives some basic definition of some of the terms and the outline for the rest of the discussion.
Female habit carries with it a twofold idea - dress and ornament. By "dress", we mean what they call "womanly gracing; " by "ornament," what it is suitable should be called "womanly disgracing." The former is accounted (to consist) in gold, and silver, and gems, and garments; the latter in care of the hair, and of the skin, and of those parts of the body which attract the eye. Against the one we lay the charge of ambition, against the other of prostitution; so that even from this early stage (of our discussion) you may look forward and see what, out of (all) these, is suitable, handmaid of God, to your discipline, inasmuch as you are assessed on different principles (from other women),-those, namely, of humility and chastity.
Beginning with gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls, Tertullian attack their origin and utility as compared to other metals such as iron and brass. Gold and silver share with other vile material substances their earthly origin and metallurgic operation in order for them to be of any use to humanity, therefore, obviously they should not be valued over these other elements. They do not have a greater utility than iron and brass and Tertullian argues this is reason that they should not be judged as more noble metals. In regards to precious stones and pearls, Tertullian describes the sources of pearls and precious stones back to the sea. He says that the pearl found in the oyster or sea snail or giant muscle should be regard "rather as a defect than as its glory" . He also adds, sarcastically, "Some say, too, that gems are culled from the foreheads of dragons, just as in the brains of fishes there is a certain stony substance. This also was wanting to the Christian woman, that she may add a grace to herself from the serpent! Is it thus that she will set her heel on the devil’s head," while she heaps ornaments (taken) from his head on her own neck, or on her very head?" In addition, within this section on gems he ends by saying that they receive their grace only because of their rarity and outlandishness, but within their own native lands, they are not held in high esteem. He concludes this section by also including that the same rules apply as regards to color namely the changing of colors. Here he gives an interesting argument about the proper purpose of created thing by God, the Author of nature and how the devil corrupts nature. He simply states that if God was able, then God plainly was unwilling and what God ruled out ought not to be fashioned such as purple and sky-blue fleeces. And the argument that, it was God that created the wool and the colors to change the wool is invalid for Tertullian because as he puts it;
Yet a Christian ought not to attach himself to the frenzies of the racecourse, or the atrocities of the arena, or the turpitudes of the stage, simply because God has given to man the horse, and the panther, and the power of speech: just as a Christian cannot commit idolatry with impunity either, because the incense, and the wine, and the fire which feeds (thereon), and the animals which are made the victims, are God’s workmanship; since even the material thing which is adored is God’s (creature). Thus then, too, with regard to their active use, does the origin of the material substances, which descends from God, excuse (that use) as foreign to God, as guilty forsooth of worldly glory!
The first book concludes with a chapter on God’s distribution must regulate our desires; otherwise, we become the prey of ambition and its attendant evils. Here Tertullian simply reiterates his earlier points and adds because it was by the providence of God that certain things are native to certain lands and foreign to others, it causes concupiscence to have, that which is rare to your land. Even though it may be permissible to have these things, a limit or bound should be observed in order to avoid the double vices of immoderation and ambition.
Next, we will briefly describe the major points of the second book which detail how Christian
should live modestly not only in essence but also in accessories, not only inwardly but also outwardly. The first move that Tertullian makes is to link modesty with salvation. He states plainly, "That salvation-and not (the salvation) of women only, but likewise of men-consists in the exhibition principally of modesty." He follows this strong connection with language about the Holy Spirit making us into the temple of God. This seems to be a strong argument, because it has been used in modern times to contend against Christians who smoke or practice other vices that age generally viewed as unhealthy. Also, Tertullian makes modesty the sacristan and priestess of that temple, furthermore, believers can run the risk of losing this Divine resident, if we allow the temple to become polluted. After setting this foundation for Tertullian throws a twist into the argument and begins to come at the discussion from a different angle. He wants to makes sure that his argument is not an internal discussion about the Christian confession or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but want to continue to focus on "the manner in which it behoves you to walk." Tertullian begins to deal with the argument that as long as the inner self was kept from sin the outer self should not matter. Nevertheless, for Tertullian, modesty or the sense of true modesty is absent when it is not practiced in the personal censure turning not only away from actual fornication but also in the arrangement of dress and ornament.
Next, Tertullian begins to describe what he considers as perfect modesty. You must know that in the eye of perfect, that is, Christian, modesty, (carnal) desire of one’s self (on the part of others) is not only not to be desired, but even execrated, by you. The basic argument Tertullian is trying to make is not directed at Christian dress or women’s attire while at church, but his concern is about how Christian dress when they are in public spaces. He asks and answers the following question:
Moreover, what causes have you for appearing in public in excessive grandeur, removed as you are from the occasions which call for such exhibitions? For you neither make the circuit of the temples, nor demand (to be present at) public shows, nor have any acquaintance with the holy days of the Gentiles. Now it is for the sake of all these public gatherings, and of much seeing and being seen, that all pomps (of dress) are exhibited before the public eye; either for the purpose of transacting the trade of voluptuousness, or else of inflating "glory." You, however, have no cause of appearing in public, except such as is serious. Either some brother who is sick is visited, or else the sacrifice is offered, or else the word of God is dispensed. Whichever of these you like to name is a business of sobriety and sanctity, requiring no extraordinary attire, with (studious) arrangement and (wanton) negligence.
Here we see that Tertullian main concern is with the public spaces rather than the private spaces. This is not an argument about "Church clothes" but about how Christian should dress in their daily lives. The message is clear coming from Tertullian that they should dress modestly. Tertullian sees modesty as a weapon in the struggle against the demonic forces that challenges the Christian community.
He sees the only way the Christian message can remain pure is if the Christian dress is modest. Being secure in oneself was not enough for Tertullian; he does not want them to put temptation in the way of others; therefore, he encourages obedience to the command of Jesus. Are we to paint ourselves out that our neighbours may perish? Where, then, is (the command), "Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself? " "Care not merely about your own (things), but (about your) neighbour’s?" Tertullian uses these scriptures effectively in support of his argument especially as related to the Church’s witness to the Gentiles. Which he continues when he contends against the pleas of pleasing the husband. He contends that a believing husband should not require immodest dress and an unbelieving husband is already suspicious of the faith, so why would you send mix messages by living modesty and dressing immodestly. However, Tertullian contends that some refinements in dress and personal appearance is lawful while some is unlawful, however the dyeing of one’s hair falls in the latter category. Here Tertullian gives an interesting argument concerning the dyeing of the hair by quoting the Bible where Jesus states, "Which of you can make a white hair black, or out of a black a white?" And so they refute the Lord! "Behold!" say they, "instead of white or black, we make it yellow,-more winning in grace." Most of Tertullian’s work have been directed to women, indicated by the title of this work, but here Tertullian also suggest that in the area of hair care that men are also guilty of damaging the witness of the Church. Tertullian sees that the argument rest on basic desires whether they are direct at this life or the life to come. That is the enemies of God control life and only by rejecting their dominion over them, do the believer truly move from death unto life. He is not suggesting that the body is inherently evil, but the adding of ornaments, cosmetics, and the dying of the hair distorts the creation of God.
Tertullian concludes this article disputing what some women will say, "To me it is not necessary to be approved by men; for I do not require the testimony of men: God is the inspector of the heart." Here is where Tertullian argument becomes clear. He is concern not about private but public issues, rather than defend the inward action, he regards the outward appearance equally important. He compares our clothing to the light of the world, which should not be hid under a bushel. They are to laminate our good works in order for the world to see and recognize. Therefore, says Tertullian,
To Christian modesty it is not enough to be so, but to seem so too. For so great ought its plenitude to be, that it may flow out from the mind to the garb, and burst out from the conscience to the outward appearance; so that even from the outside it may gaze, as it were, upon its own furniture,-(a furniture) such as to be suited to retain faith as its inmate perpetually.
Christians should always be concern about their outward appearance, remembering the martyrs who are passing away not in gold but in iron and those who remain should be ready to meet them arrayed in cosmetics and ornaments of the prophets and apostles, drawing your whiteness from simplicity, your ruddy hue from modesty; painting your eyes with bashfulness, and your mouth with silence; implanting in your ears the words of God; fitting on your necks the yoke of Christ. Tertullian recommends that women should submit their heads to your husbands, and this will be adornment enough. They should keep their hand busy work, keep their feet at home, and clothe themselves with the silk of uprightness, the fine linen of holiness, the purple of modesty.
Tertullian’s writings had a lasting effect on Christian thought, especially through those who, like Cyprian of Carthage, always regarded him as a "master." Now let us turn our attention to the work of Cyprian in order to see the effect upon Tertullian’s work upon that region. Saint Cyprian was born around 200 and died September 14, 258. St. Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and one of the major theologians of the early African church. He was the son of wealthy parents and became a teacher of rhetoric and literature. He converted to Christianity in 246. Shortly thereafter he was ordained a priest and elected bishop of Carthage in 248. Cyprian was forced to flee Carthage during the persecutions of Emperor Decius from 249 to 251. After his return he turned to the problem of Christians who had failed to stand firm during the persecution. Cyprian favored the readmission of such Christians to the church but under stringent conditions. Opposing the schism of Novatian, who believed that lapsed Christians should be permanently excluded, he argued that baptisms performed by the schismatics were invalid. On this issue Pope Stephen I opposed him. In the renewed persecution of Valerian’s reign, Cyprian was beheaded not far from Carthage. Cyprian’s writing reflects the influence of Tertullian, whom he held in high esteem. This influence is clearly seen in his second Treatise On The Dress of Virgins. Whether the two men actually met or whether Cyprian was able to become a student of Tertullian is uncertain but the similarities between the two works are undeniable.
In this work, Cyprian sees the major issue is not modesty as Tertullian argued but Cyprian focuses his attention on the issue of discipline. He sees discipline as "the safeguard of hope, the bond of faith, the guide of the way of salvation, the stimulus and nourishment of good dispositions, the teacher of virtue, causes us to abide always in Christ, and to live continually for God, and to attain to the heavenly promises and to the divine rewards." He also wants to deal with the concept temple of God similar to the way that Tertullian dealt with this idea, because he want to press the basic argument of glorifying and bearing God in a pure and chaste body.
Cyprian is addressing virgins, which he clearly lays out how he feels about them:
My address is now to virgins, whose glory, as it is more eminent, excites the greater interest. This is the flower of the ecclesiastical seed, the grace and ornament of spiritual endowment, a joyous disposition, the wholesome and uncorrupted work of praise and honour, God’s image answering to the holiness of the Lord, the more illustrious portion of Christ’s flock. The glorious fruitfulness of Mother Church rejoices by their means, and in them abundantly flourishes; and in proportion as a copious virginity is added to her number, so much the more it increases the joy of the Mother.
Now when Cyprian discuss virgins he means primarily women but also men and not simply those who are awaiting marriage but those who have chosen a chaste lifestyle. He says, "Some are not ashamed to be present at marriage parties, and in that freedom of lascivious discourse to mingle in unchaste conversation, to hear what is not becoming, to say what is not lawful, to expose themselves, to be present in the midst of disgraceful words and drunken banquets, by which the ardour of lust is kindled, and the bride is animated to bear, and the bridegroom to dare lewdness. What place is there at weddings for her whose mind is not towards marriage?"
Not just virgins but apparently wealthy and rich virgins, in four of the chapters Cyprian begins with the words, "You say that you are wealth and rich, but" and in each chapter he deals with a particular issue. The problem that Cyprian is trying to address is what standard or limits should there be in the area of Christian dress as oppose to the Greco-Roman world’s standard which we discussed earlier. This demonstration of wealth within the Christian community is causing a predicament in the area of witness during these times of persecution. Cyprian will later write a letter concern the Lapsed, and this issue of dress seems to be one of the ways in which the Christian community can retain a separate identity.
For Cyprian, the reward of the virgins’ sacrifice is second to that of the martyrs in the order of grace. In another place he says that since they have already begun to be the glory of the resurrection in this world by passing through this world without polluting themselves by the world, while they remain chaste and virgins they are equal to the angels of God. And because the sacrifice of the virgins is great and the rewards are great, Cyprian attempts to convey the importance of them holding a higher standard of dress.
Cyprian knows that the standard that he is about to set will be difficult to reach, so he uses a Jesus saying, "All men cannot receive this word, but they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb; and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men; and there are eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake (Matthew 19:11)" in order to establish the foundation that every one will not be able to receive this instruction. Because he too thinks that "continence and modesty consist not alone in purity of the flesh, but also in seemliness, as well as in modesty of dress and adornment; so that, according to the apostle, she who is unmarried may be holy both in body and in spirit." Since Cyprian is writing primarily to virgins the scope of his treatise is narrower than that of Tertullian. He repeats many of the arguments of Tertullian concerning the dying of the clothes, the wearing of jewelry, cosmetics, changing of one’s hair color and dress and adornment, however, he uses them more precisely because he has elevated the status of the virgins.
One similarity that Cyprian shares with Tertullian is that both see this as a public witness issue and a struggle against demonic forces in the world. It is not only a matter of being a virgin, but the person ought to be known and considered as a virgin. Cyprian seems to argue under the assumption that "clothes make the person". Even if a virgin remains pure and virtuous, he says, "Your shameful dress and immodest ornament accuse you; nor can you be counted now among Christ’s maidens and virgins, since yon live in such a manner as to make yourselves objects of desire." This is the main issue for Cyprian which is somewhat different than Tertullian. Tertullian was more concern with dressing differently whereas Cyprian is more concern with a style of dress that does not entice the desires of others.
In conclusion, both writers are concern with the public witness of the Christian community. These two writings were not written for attire to be worn exclusively while in the worshipping community but proper attire to be worn in public. This is what makes their argument interesting and compelling because they are in fact putting a significance on this topic. Even though both writers come from the same region, Carthage, it is in my opinion that this was probably an issue throughout the Roman world. So to answer the question I posed earlier in this report, "Does clothes make a difference in effective witness?" the answer is obviously yes, clothes does make a difference in effective witness in the Greco-Roman world as well as in this modern technical world. I agree with both men basic argument, that Christian should appear in public different, demonstrating modesty in their apparel. However, it would be a difficult task to articulate what that means. While entertainer are dressing more and more provocative, television programs are exposing more of the human body and the line between private and public becoming more blurred, the Church must begin to address the question of wardrobe.
