The topic of the "Official Position" of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on non-sexual nudity has been discussed and debated by many both for and against naturism. Some have tried to draw some kind of inferences from one statement or another. However, to date, there is actually no official statement or stance by any church leaders on the matter, either for or against Naturism/Non-sexual nudity. While I have heard of at least one instance where someone caught a General Authority and asked a quick question on it only to get a quick conservative response on the matter. Most telling though is the story done by Channel 2 News (Utah TV station) several years ago on the topic; the reporter approached the church offices and asked directly about the matter only to be told there was no official position.

Simply put there is absolutely no condemnation (or support) for Naturism/non-sexual nudity by any of the leaders of the LDS church in any official stance. While many lower leaders tend to strongly condemn anything even resembling nudity they do so purely on their own and without blessing or censure from the church headquarters.

And so what do we do when there is no "official guidance" or direction on the matter? We do as the prophets and apostles have taught, we look to the scriptures. But here again, they are devoid of any direct reference to the matter. We are once again left to make inferences from what is stated or occurs. Many Christian naturist sites have long discussed the various verses that talk of nudity from Adam and Eve to King David, King Saul and the prophets, Isaiah and even Peter. In these verses, there is direct nudity involved and no condemnation (actually one commanded situation of nudity). The common-sense analysis might lead one to accept the concept that in God's eyes non-sexual nudity is not sinful or evil but perhaps just part of life and in the most conservative view neither good nor bad. But we must also consider the verses found in Leviticus 18 where it talks of "uncovering" one's "nakedness". This is probably the closest anyone will come to anything in the scriptures that can be considered touching the matter. However, many Hebrew/Bible scholars indicate that this is intact a poor translation and actually refers to sexual sins of incest, homosexuality, and bestiality. If we take this interpretation of the verses then there is no official scripture anywhere that directly deals with nudity in the negative. Well, perhaps the scriptures that talk about providing clothing for the poor and naked (covering their nakedness). In this, we merely need to understand a little bit of the culture and environment to recognize that it is not actually condemning nudity at all but only expressing a need for those of means to ensure that the poor have the ability to get or retain necessary protective clothing and/or not be required by their circumstances to be nude. There is no allusion to nudity itself being evil or wrong.

And so if the scriptures are devoid of any direct statement on the matter and the church leadership in this dispensation is just as silent (or more so) on the matter where to do we draw our understanding of the matter? It can only come as the prophets and apostles have taught us to do; namely, to study it out, ponder and pray on the matter individually. We are left to our own to seek out and receive guidance from our Heavenly Father on the topic. When this happens it is not up to any of us to say what is right or wrong for anyone else, to pass judgment on anyone else's decision or to press our views onto anyone else. We are to do the same as we have been guided to do with Tithes and offerings as well as other similar issues; we determine between ourselves and our Heavenly Father as to what is right and what if any limitations there are to be.

My personal opinion is that we will not see any "official" position put out by the General Authorities as any position will become a bombshell and have significant repercussions. Perhaps during the Millennium people might be in a position to better understand and accept a position on the topic of non-sexual nudity but until then it'll never be a consideration.  — MormonDad