Can Christians Get Tattoos? What the Bible Actually Says
The Bible contains one passage that directly references tattooing. Whether or not it applies to Christians today is a question that theologians, denominations and individual believers have reached genuinely different conclusions on. This guide explains the evidence clearly so you can reach your own informed view.
Whether Christians can get tattoos is a question with a genuinely contested answer within Christianity. It is not a question with one universally agreed response and presenting it as though it were — in either direction — would be inaccurate. Some Christian denominations and individual believers hold firmly that tattoos are prohibited for Christians. Others, including the majority of mainstream Protestant and evangelical theologians, conclude that the prohibition in Leviticus does not apply to Christians under the New Covenant and that the decision is one of personal conscience.
As with our page on whether tattoos are haram, we present this information as accurately as we can and make clear that the spiritual dimension of this question belongs entirely to the individual and their church community or pastor. We are a tattoo studio. Our role here is to present the evidence clearly, not to take a position on how any individual should engage with their faith.
The Biblical Evidence, the Interpretations and What Christians Conclude
What Leviticus 19:28 Actually Says and What Surrounds It
The entire biblical case for a prohibition on tattoos rests on a single verse: Leviticus 19:28. This is not a minor point. The fact that the prohibition appears only once in the entire Bible — in the Old Testament specifically, in a particular legal code given to ancient Israel — is central to how theologians evaluate its applicability to modern Christians.
"Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord."
Leviticus 19:28 (NIV)The verse appears in Leviticus 19, within what biblical scholars call the Holiness Code — a series of laws given specifically to the Israelites to distinguish them from the surrounding Canaanite and Egyptian cultures. Importantly, the verses immediately surrounding Leviticus 19:28 contain prohibitions that virtually no Christian tradition applies literally today: verse 27 prohibits cutting the edges of the beard or the hair at the sides of the head; verses 23-25 restrict eating fruit from trees less than five years old; verse 19 forbids wearing garments made from two different types of fabric.
This surrounding context is not incidental to the theological debate. It is central to it. If Leviticus 19:28 is treated as a binding command for Christians, the question becomes why this verse is binding when the verses immediately before and after it are not. Answering that question consistently is the core challenge for those who take the prohibitionist position.
The original context of the prohibition
Most biblical scholars agree that the prohibition in Leviticus 19:28 was directed at specific pagan practices of the cultures surrounding ancient Israel. Canaanite and Egyptian cultures used body markings in mourning rituals for the dead and as acts of devotion to pagan deities. The phrase "for the dead" in the verse explicitly situates at least part of the prohibition in this ritual context. The instruction was part of a broader call for Israel to live distinctly from the religious practices of surrounding nations.
Why Most Christian Scholars Say Leviticus Does Not Bind New Covenant Believers
The dominant scholarly position among Protestant theologians — and the position held by many Catholic and Anglican scholars as well — is that the Mosaic Law as recorded in Leviticus constitutes a covenant between God and ancient Israel that is not directly binding on Christians living under the New Covenant established through Jesus Christ.
This is not a fringe or modern interpretation. It is grounded in the New Testament texts themselves. Paul writes in Romans 6:14 that believers are not under law but under grace. Galatians 4:4-5 and 5:18 make the same argument. The author of Hebrews argues at length that the Old Covenant has been superseded by the New. The theological framework of Christians not being under the Mosaic Law is not a convenient modern invention to permit tattoos — it is a foundational element of New Testament theology that predates any controversy about body art by nearly two thousand years.
Applied to Leviticus 19:28, this argument runs: the verse belongs to the Holiness Code of the Mosaic Covenant. Christians are not under the Mosaic Covenant. Therefore, the specific prohibition in Leviticus 19:28 does not constitute a binding command for Christians in the way it was binding for ancient Israel. The pagan ritual context of the original prohibition — body marking associated with mourning for the dead and idol worship — is also largely absent in the context of modern Western tattooing, which further weakens the application of the verse to contemporary body art.
What scholars who hold this position say
Wayne Grudem, in his influential work on Christian ethics, argues that even if the Leviticus prohibition were unrelated to pagan religious practice, it should still be understood as part of the physical purity laws unique to the Mosaic Covenant — laws that are not carried forward into the New Covenant. Jay Sklar has written that tattoos in modern Western culture do not carry the same pagan associations as in ancient Israel, and that believers are therefore no longer prohibited from getting them. These represent mainstream evangelical scholarly conclusions, not liberal reinterpretations.
What 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Says and How It Applies
The other passage commonly cited in discussions of tattoos and Christianity is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, which states that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that Christians should honour God with their bodies. This verse does not mention tattoos and was not written in the context of tattooing — it was written specifically in the context of sexual immorality, which Paul addresses explicitly in the surrounding verses.
Some Christians use this passage to argue that permanently modifying the body with tattoos is a form of dishonour to the body as God's temple. This is a legitimate theological application of the principle, even though it requires applying the verse beyond its original context. Other Christians use the same passage in the opposite direction — arguing that the body as a temple can be expressed through meaningful Christian imagery in ink, and that a tattoo honouring God's creation, commemorating faith or expressing Christian identity is itself an act of honouring the body as God's.
The 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 argument, unlike Leviticus 19:28, is not a direct prohibition on tattooing. It is a principle that individuals apply differently depending on their theology, their conscience and the specific content and intent of the tattoo they are considering. It does not resolve the question in either direction — it raises a consideration that each Christian must weigh for themselves.
What the surrounding verses of 1 Corinthians 6 are actually about
Reading Leviticus 19:28 or 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 in isolation from their surrounding textual and historical context produces a different conclusion than reading them within it. Both passages are used in the tattoo debate by people who may not have read them in their full context. Looking at the complete passage — the verses before and after — is always the appropriate starting point for engaging with any biblical argument about tattoos.
How Different Christian Denominations and Traditions Approach the Question
Christianity is not a monolithic institution and there is no single denominational authority that speaks for all Christians on questions like this one. Different traditions reach different conclusions and it is worth understanding where the major traditions tend to sit.
Mainstream Evangelical Protestant
The majority position is that Leviticus 19:28 does not bind New Covenant Christians and that tattoos are a matter of personal conscience. Many evangelical Christians with tattoos are open about their faith and see no conflict. Some conservative evangelical voices counsel against on grounds of body stewardship.
Catholic
The Catholic Church does not have an official prohibition on tattoos. The Catechism does not address tattooing explicitly. Individual Catholic theologians and pastoral voices vary — some counsel against on body-as-temple grounds while the mainstream position treats it as a personal decision not contrary to doctrine.
Eastern Orthodox
Orthodox Christianity generally discourages tattoos, drawing on a combination of the Leviticus prohibition and the body-as-temple principle. The position varies between Orthodox communities but tends toward caution. Small religious tattoos such as a Coptic cross are a centuries-old tradition in some Eastern Christian communities.
Conservative and Fundamentalist
More conservative and fundamentalist Protestant traditions are more likely to hold that Leviticus 19:28 remains binding and that tattoos are prohibited. These traditions tend toward a stricter interpretation of Old Testament law and the body-as-temple principle as a combined argument against tattooing.
The important note about church community
Even where a denomination does not officially prohibit tattoos, individual church communities and pastoral relationships vary enormously. A tattoo that creates no theological issue in one congregation might be a source of concern in another. If your church community or pastor's views on this matter to you — and they may well — that conversation is worth having with them rather than relying on a general denominational summary.
Romans 14 and the Role of Personal Conscience in Disputed Matters
When the New Testament addresses how Christians should handle matters that are not explicitly commanded or prohibited — what theologians call adiaphora or indifferent things — it consistently points toward the conscience of the individual believer. Romans 14 is the key passage. Paul writes about disagreements between believers regarding food offered to idols and the observation of special days: matters that were genuinely disputed and where sincere Christians held different views.
The principle Paul articulates is that each person should be fully convinced in their own mind and that everything not done from faith is sin. This does not mean anything goes. It means that where a clear command or prohibition does not exist, the individual's conscience — informed by scripture, by their relationship with God and by the guidance of their church community — becomes the relevant authority. A Christian who is genuinely convicted that tattoos are wrong for them should not get one. A Christian who has considered the biblical evidence and is not so convicted may proceed in good conscience.
This framework is the reason most mainstream evangelical theologians describe tattoos as a matter of personal conscience rather than a clear biblical prohibition. It is not a dismissal of the question. It is the honest theological conclusion that follows from taking the biblical evidence seriously.
What this means in practice for a Christian considering a tattoo
Read the relevant passages yourself in their context. Consult your pastor or a Christian leader you trust. Reflect on whether the specific tattoo you are considering can be done in genuine faith and with a clear conscience. Whether you ultimately conclude that tattoos are appropriate for you or not, that process of engaging seriously with the question is the appropriate one — far more so than either assuming the answer is obviously yes or accepting that it is obviously no without engaging with the evidence.
How We Approach This Question at Gravity Tattoo
We have many Christian clients. We have clients who hold sincere and deeply considered faith convictions of every kind. We do not ask about beliefs, we do not make judgements about personal religious decisions and we do not consider it our place to advise anyone on whether a tattoo is consistent with their faith. That is a conversation for the individual and their pastor or spiritual community.
What we do is provide accurate information for people who are researching this question — which is why this page exists alongside our page on tattoos and Islam. If you are a Christian who has worked through the question and is ready to discuss a design or book a consultation, we are here to help with that entirely. If you are still in the process of working through the question, we hope this page has been useful in presenting the evidence clearly.
A note on content and meaning
For Christians who do conclude that tattoos are permissible for them personally, the content and meaning of the tattoo is often part of the reflection. Many Christian clients choose imagery, scripture references or symbols that express their faith. If you want to discuss design ideas in a Christian context, we are glad to have that conversation — our artists are experienced in working with clients on meaningful, considered designs.
Key Points From This Page
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Part of our Tattoo Preparation Guide
Tattoo Preparation Guide
Everything you need to know before getting a tattoo — from health and safety questions through to day-of preparation. Written by the team at Gravity Tattoo.