Frank Hammond reveals how he delivered a woman from demons she opened a door to because she had her ears pierced. After deliverance, she was healed of Bell’s Palsy.

Tattoos open people up to demonic possession. Here you can watch thousands of tattoo fans ‘become’ their tattoos:

Another video from Minister Rayford Johnson and Fernando Perez exposing tattoos: “ARE TATTOOS SPIRITUALLY SAFE?…CAN THEY CAUSE CURSES, DEMONIC TORMENT & MENTAL ILLNESS?”

 

Graffiti or Defacing God’s Image?

Leviticus 19:28
“Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”

John Wesley’s commentary notes that the Gentiles commonly practiced cuttings in the flesh both in idol worship and in solemn mourning (cf. Jeremiah 16:6).

Jesus said, “Ye worship ye know not what…” (John 4:22).

The Growing Acceptance Among Christians

One of the ways the world is turning toward practices associated with paganism is through tattooing and piercing. Pastors and Christians from many backgrounds are adopting these practices to fit in with contemporary culture. Just as some alter Scripture to make Christ more like the world, many are redefining what is right and wrong.

Scripture links certain forms of body marking and cutting with mourning the dead and with pagan rites. Should a Christian deliberately identify with practices historically tied to death and idolatry?

A century ago, photographs of tribesmen in Africa and elsewhere showed extensive markings and piercings that clearly reflected the gods they worshiped. Those images once caused many Westerners to shudder and recognize the nearness of spiritual opposition. Piercing and tattooing stretch back thousands of years. The recent rise of “Christian tattoos” is as contradictory as “Christian Satan worship.” It is not consistent with biblical separation.

Pagan Origins of Tattooing and Piercing

In many African tribes and other pagan cultures, tattoos served religious purposes. Female mummies bore tattoos linked to fertility gods; male mummies carried marks honoring warrior gods or the sun for good harvests. This permanent visible allegiance to pagan deities spread to Arabia, China, Persia, and Greece.

Piercing likewise had religious or protective aims. Ear piercing was practiced in some African cultures because metal was believed to keep evil spirits from entering the body through the ear. Other piercings served as beauty marks or were performed for sensual purposes. Virtually every pagan tribe practiced some form of piercing or tattooing alongside the worship of spirit gods. These practices did not originate with the God of the Bible, yet many Christians now align with them instead of standing apart as Scripture commands.

The emerging-church / church-growth emphasis on blending with the culture shares responsibility for this shift. Compromising biblical distinctives to make the world more comfortable ultimately serves the enemy, not Christ. Jesus confronted people and called them to change; His words were not always comforting, but they were truthful. Today some claim a “better way of doing church” than the one God has revealed.

We are called to be the salt of the earth:

Matthew 5:13
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

Salt changes the flavor of food; the believer is to influence the unbeliever. The present trend reverses that direction: Christians increasingly adopt the thinking and appearance of the world. When salt loses its savor, it becomes useless.

Brief History of Specific Piercings

• Tongue piercing was practiced ritually by the Aztecs, Mayas, and certain Northwest Coast tribes (Haida, Kwakiutl, Tlingit). Blood was drawn to propitiate the gods and to induce an altered state so the priest or shaman could communicate with them.
• Ear-lobe piercing was often done for magical protection; many primitive peoples believed demons entered through the ear and that metal repelled them.
• Lip (labret) piercing is widespread, though only a few groups (Dogon of Mali, Nuba of Ethiopia) use rings. Among the Dogon the practice carries religious meaning connected to creation myths involving speech.
• Septum piercing ranks second only to ear piercing among primitive peoples and was especially common among warrior cultures. Large ornaments gave a fierce appearance; the practice was favored by Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas.

Exodus 21:5–6 records a Hebrew servant who voluntarily pledged lifelong service by having his ear pierced with an awl against the doorpost—an act of ownership and allegiance under the Law, not a decorative or religious fashion.

Tattoos and Their Ritual Associations

Tattoos have long functioned in rituals. Marks around the wrists and fingers were thought to ward off illness. Like piercing, tattooing frequently signified ownership, religious devotion, or protection.

1. Graffiti on God’s Image

Genesis teaches that human beings are created in God’s image. To mark that image permanently with tattoos or piercings is comparable to graffitiing a portrait of God or Christ—or the temple of the Holy Spirit. We would not deface a church building; why deface the living temple?

Participating in a practice that began in pagan worship, even while claiming a different personal motive, remains problematic. The spiritual associations attached to the practice by its originators do not disappear simply because the wearer reinterprets them.

2. Blood-Letting

Tattooing involves repeated puncturing of the skin, producing blood. Historically, blood-letting has occult and demonic associations and has been viewed as a source of supernatural power. In 1 Kings 18:25–28 the prophets of Baal cut themselves until blood gushed out in an attempt to call down power from their god. Blood has always been significant in sacrifice—whether to Yahweh or to false gods. Whose sacrifice is being offered when the flesh is cut for decoration?

3. The Cup of Devils

The historical origin of tattooing is bound up with paganism, demonism, Baal worship, shamanism, mysticism, and related practices. It has no positive connection with historic Bible-believing Christianity. Yet in the twenty-first century the practice has been imported into Christian circles.

Pro-tattoo literature repeatedly links the art to magic, priests or shamans, religious ceremonies, and attempts to harmonize the soul with supernatural forces. Steve Gilbert (Tattoo History: A Source Book) records that Spanish conquistadors, encountering tattooed natives, recognized the marks at once as “the work of Satan.”

1 Corinthians 10:21
“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.”

4. The Mark of Rebellion

Scripture equates rebellion with witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23). Tattoo literature itself often describes the practice as an act of rebellion or deviance. When a society already struggles with sexual immorality, the acceptance of body marking that shares the same cultural category is a warning sign.

Representative Quotations from Pro-Tattoo Sources

• “Tattooing is often a magical rite… and the tattooist is respected as a priest or shaman.” (Michelle Delio)
• “In Fiji, Formosa, New Zealand and in certain of the North American Indian tribes, tattooing was regarded as a religious ceremony, and performed by priests or priestesses.” (Ronald Scutt)
• “The actual tattooing process… could only be done by priests and was associated with beliefs… intended to put the human soul in harmony with supernatural forces…” (Steve Gilbert)
• Laurie Cabot (witch and author): “The origins of tattooing came from ancient magical practices.”
• “When the designs are chosen with care, tattoos have a power and magic all their own. They decorate the body but they also enhance the soul.” (Michelle Delio)

Those who study the history of the practice repeatedly affirm its pagan character; many modern Christians dismiss that testimony.

Historical Response of Converted Peoples

Whenever pagan tribes that practiced tattooing were converted to Christianity, the practice was among the first to be abandoned. The converts recognized that the mark contradicted the Word of God. The Holy Spirit convicted them; the old passed away and the new came (2 Corinthians 5:17). Missionary and historical records confirm that Christianization regularly outlawed tattooing, piercing, and scarification as incompatible with the faith.

Handling of Leviticus 19:28

Many who defend Christian tattooing dismiss the verse with the claim that it belongs only to the Old Testament. Yet the same section of Leviticus forbids bestiality (18:23; 20:15–16) and the prostitution of one’s daughter (19:29). No serious reader concludes that those prohibitions have expired. The selective dismissal of 19:28 is inconsistent.

Some argue the prohibition applies only “for the dead.” The Hebrew, however, places two distinct commands side by side: cuttings for the dead and the printing of marks. Standard reference works agree that the second clause refers to tattooing itself:

• Unger’s Bible Dictionary: the prohibition of tattooing “has no reference to idolatrous usages, but was intended to inculcate… a proper reverence for God’s creation.”
• Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia: while cuttings relate to mourning, “the tattooing does not appear to pertain to such practice.”
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Freeman, Coffman, Erdman, and Nave’s Topical Bible all treat the verse as a direct ban on tattooing.

Misused Passages: Isaiah 44:5 and Ezekiel 9:4

These verses are sometimes cited as biblical endorsements of tattoos. The Hebrew does not support that reading. Isaiah speaks of writing or signing with the hand as an expression of allegiance, not of inserting pigment under the skin. Ezekiel describes a temporary ink mark placed on the forehead, not a permanent tattoo. A reader of the original language would not understand either text as authorizing body marking.

Defiling the Temple of the Holy Spirit

The body of the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19–20; cf. John 14:17; Romans 8:9–11).

1 Corinthians 3:16–17
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

Most Christians would never deliberately desecrate a church building. The same reverence should apply to the living temple.

A Word from Someone Who Left the Practice

A former apprentice tattooist wrote:
“This is just another tactic of unregenerate/carnal Christians trying to marry the world to the Church… I personally have come out of that type of lifestyle… God makes it perfectly clear in the Scriptures that we shall not do these things to our bodies… We should honor this temple that God has given us and not defile it with graffiti.”

Past mistakes made before conversion are covered by grace and should not be held against anyone. The concern of this article is with believers who knowingly adopt practices rooted in paganism after they have been taught the truth.

In the last days deception increases (2 Peter 3:17–18). Sound doctrine is often exchanged for teachings that itch the ears (2 Timothy 4:3). The call remains the same: separate from the world’s patterns, honor the body as God’s temple, and walk in the light of His Word.